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The Voyage of the Silken Siren (The Corsair and Xanaphia)

This was one hell of a away to start off her night. Sure, she’d be working, but it hardly felt like work when Yusef left her pleasantly trembling.


“The high bid for this whore’s mouth is 50 endubis. Do I hear 60?” Balsheba called as Yusef caught his breath, half hard cock still pulsing inside her.

“60!”

“75!”

“90!”

“100!”

“Hear that whore? A hundred endubies to use that mouth of yours. Going once…twice…last chance…Sold, the tall man in the grey yukata!” Balsheba declared. She gathered Aurelia up by the hair and dragged her over to the winner of the auction, tossing her at the man’s feet. “You best get started, slut. You have a lot more money to make this evening.”

Aurelia didn’t need to be told twice, undoing her client’s robe to pull out his cock. It wasn’t a surprise to find him hard already –her and Yusef were pretty fucking hot together– and she hoped she might be in luck. Each client she would take on tonight would already be amped up from her performance, and it wouldn’t take too much to push them over the edge. Hopefully, she decided, opening wide to swallow half her client’s length from the start. Slow lingering blow jobs could wait another day. Tonight, she intended to get as many people off as possible, filling her pockets all the while.

Balsheba turned her attention on the recovering Yusef, “Shall I clean that whore’s filth from your cock, oh Son of Bajir?” she offered, pushing him back into an unoccupied chair. She didn’t even wait for an answer, dropping to knees to savor his sticky shaft. Exploring every inch of his meat, along the top and underside, meeting his eyes as she tended to him. “No wonder the whore moaned like a bitch in heat. You have a delicious cock. Tell me, batal, do you have blessing enough to share with me?”



Delinda squeezed her eyes shut as yet another rapist streaked his cum across her face. She was covered in it, inside and out, dripping from every hole.

She found herself wincing, as she heard Had’s scream. Was she luckier than him? They had stopped hurting her intentionally, content to use her body for sex. More interested in humiliating her, it seemed. The humiliation was bad, truly, but the guilt was even worse. The only reason Had was even here was because she asked him to come. If she had come alone, they likely would have still raped her, but at least someone else wouldn’t be tortured on top of that. Or if she hadn’t stupidly agreed to service Had. He was supposed to be her bodyguard, and how was he supposed to do that when she was showing off her talents. Now they were both suffering…

“Use that fucking mouth, dumb bitch,” another man demand, smacking her with an open hand. She squealed from the sudden pain, catching her off guard. How many more could there possibly be? Her jaw ached. Her cunt throbbed. Her ass was raw. “Better get me off bitch, or we will give you over to those two,” Her latest rapist threaten, yanking her hair to make her look at what they had done to Had. She hated herself, as she proceeded to suck yet another cock.
 
Balsheba still wore her all-covering desert robe, meaning he could only see suggestions of her figure. The only skin on display was that of her face as she dropped to her knees before him. Even her hands were covered, with thin gloves of black silk. All of which made the erotic filth that dripped from her tongue even hotter as she swallowed his cum-slick meat. Because God's she was good with that tongue! Nearly as good as Aurelia, and he was certain Aurelia could bring a statue to climax with her tongue. "I think you already know how much blessing I have for you," he replied, clenching his muscles and making his cock twitch in her mouth. "Can't you taste it?"

Balsheba's response was to swallow his cock to the base, gripping his head with her throat and cupping his balls with her silk-sheathed hands. He leaned against the table, groaning as
She murmured something. The words were indistinct, but the sounds made her tighten and flex around his cock. And if he turned his head a little, he could watch what Aurelia was doing.

One of the gamblers was a talk, lean man with skin the color of coal. He had rolled Aurelia onto her back, and was busy licking purple wine from her bare breasts with her halter hanging from one fist. As he did a second gambler, an olive-skinned man, was standing between her spread thighs and rubbing a swollen purple-headed dick over her slit. "Eighty endubis," he grunted as he pushed into her slick cunt. "Never fucked an eighty endubis whore," he groaned as he slammed into her. "Gonna show me you're worth it?"

The black man stripped off his trousers and climbed into the table, resting his own long shaft in the valley of her breasts. "Oh, she is," he rumbled, gripping a generous hand full of her tits and squeezing them around his cock. He began fucking them, his length lubricated by saliva and wine, his head brushing her chin with each thrust. "Aren't you, you cheating little slut? You're going to be worth every drach I paid, aren't you?"


Muhyaddeen was certain he'd hurt this much before, at some point in his checkered career. But he couldn't remember when. His ass burned, but not as badly as his back - the brands had seen to that, and the scent of his own burnt flesh mingled with the taste of blood and cum that filled his mouth. The bastards had knocked teeth out before raping his throat, fearing - rightly - that he'd try to bite a dick off. He'd still clamped down hard enough to earn another beating.

Delinda was still alive, for now at least. That was something. But how long would that last? The bastards were bringing in random guards now, having them rape her as the nobles watched and laughed. The latest was a thickset man who pinned her to the stone floor by her throat, choking her as he slammed into her. Finally, with a grunt, he climaxed in her.

Lord Tenumoyo rose. "Gentlemen," he declared. "I believe it is Tim for our new white to put on a special performance..."
 
Another cock, another load on cum and another heavy bag of coins. One man pawed at her breasts and shot across her face and the other slammed deep into her quivering cunt, adding his release within her.

An attractive older couple, perhaps husband and wife, approached. She was fair, with hair as dark as her eyes and lips painted bright scarlet. He had sharp features that were still dignified on sun worn skin. “We want her next. I believe 150 should suffice,” he suggested, tossing a bag of coins into the pile that was already building.

Aurelia was only given a moment to recover, a moment to drink a swig of wine, before the next couple grabbed her. Not even enough time to clean off her face before she was put on hands and knees before the woman. Her robes opened to reveal a dripping, hairless snatch, and she tugged on Aurelia hair to bring her right to it. “Drink,” she directed, her voice firm and silky smooth, her lips curling into a smile as Aurelia obeyed.

The man kneeled behind her, stroking his length against cum drenched lips. He claimed her in a single thrust, abs smacking ass. “Are you going to make my wife cum, before I do?” he taunted, slowing pulling out before pushing back in again. There were a few more strokes, deep into her, before he pulled out.

Aurelia wasn’t given a chance to ask why he pulled out. Not with her hair tangled in the woman’s hand, guided to where the woman wanted her. She hardly had a chance to wonder why, so focused on licking and sucking the clit of her latest client. It was simple enough to figure out, especially once her rubbed the slick head of his meat against her ass. She groaned into his wife’s cunt, thrusting her tongue deep as inch by inch pushed into her.

Belsheba crawled up Yusef’s body, capturing his lips in a kiss that tastes of him and Aurelia. “My lips tremble to receive your blessing.” Another kiss, hungry, before she pulled away. Hiking up her desert robe, she leaned against him, her back against his chest. Her slippery slit soaking him in her scent. “Let me ride this divine cock, oh Son of Bajir, and we can watch together as this whore makes you back your money.”



The two that had been torturing Muhyaddeen approached now, standing over her as she gasped from her last rape. Had they grown bored of him? Were they more interested in one who would perform her agony, who would feed their sadism with tears and wails? They dragged her over to Had, who didn’t look like he could have move if he wanted to. “Get him hard.” One directed her.

“Why?” she whimpered, terrified what they might do to him next. Her answer was a closed fist into her jaw, rocking her head into the hard wood floors. Her world was dark, just gruff hands fisting in her hair and calloused fingers pinching her nose. She had time for one deep gasp before her mouth was forced down Had’s cock.

“You can come up when he is hard,” her tormentor said simply. She struggled against the thought of playing into Had’s torment. Struggled against her dwindling air and a desperate need to breath. Finally, survival won out over her ethics, and she licked and sucked his meat in an urgent race against asphyxiation.

With a breathy gasp, she was finally let up, dragging air back into empty lungs. Laughing, the sadists lifted her again, positioning her body over Had’s. Sore, swollen lips swallowed his shaft. She might have wanted this, when the night was young and innocent, but the feel of yet another man inside her now was misery. She mouthed “I’m sorry,”, as her hands were bound before her, resting against his chest.

“As soon as you cum in her, you are free to go,” one man told Had. He yanked on her hair, forcing up and erect atop his body.

“It might be difficult for him to enjoy her, yes? Now that she is so used up?” One of the nobles watching commented, not sounding terribly concerned.

“We can help with that,” the other sadist remarked, lightly. Before she could figure out what they meant, there was a crack of a whip, and the burning pain against her back. Barbs on the lash caught onto the skin of her back, and ripped flesh and they were torn free. Her entire body spasmed with the strike, squeezing already tense walls around Had’s cock.
 
Yusef took a seat, watching Belsheba's hitch up her robes as she straddled him. Modest as the veil and robe appeared, she proved to have nothing on underneath as her bare thighs gripped his and her bare ass pressed against his spit-slick cock. She leaned forward, bracing her hands on the table, and glanced back over his shoulder at him. "Will you guide me, oh son of Bajir?" she purred, sliding her slick lips against one thigh. "Will you... OH!". Her eyes went wide as he gripped his cock and pushed the thick head into her, and she moaned as she took his length.

"Is this what you wanted?" he laughed, enjoying the wordless pleasure on her face and the way she eagerly nodded her head. "To mount me, to feel the thick rod of the favored of Bajir split you open as you watch my shameless whore used by the crowd?". He gripped her hips, resting his chest on her back as he pushed deeper into her. "To let a stranger use you before the tavern, until my cum drips from you?"

God's, he didn't know what was hotter - fucking this woman, or watching Aurelia. Because the older woman she was eating out was perched on the table, dripping rivulets of wine down her stomach and sweetly blaspheming as his lover's skilled tongue brought her to the edge if pleasure again and again. And the woman's husband was driving his dick deep into her ass, slow and then fast in an effort to stave off orgasm as long as he could. One hand gripped Aurelia's shoulder and the other had slid beneath her hips. He couldn't see, but from the way the man's arm moved he was sure that more than one finger filled Aurelia's well-used cunt.

"Do you wish you were her,?" he growled, rhythmically moving his cock in Belsheba's pussy. "Spreading yourself for all comes, stripped bare for the gaze and lust of all around you?"



Muhyaddeen screamed as Delinda was forced to straddle him. Her weight, slight as it was, ground his lacerated and burnt back into the wood of the table, and he bucked beneath her in a grim parody of pleasure. The onlookers laughed, and then a whip slashed across her back. She moved and he clenched his fists against another scream, only to remember through pain the damage done to his hands. Agony hissed from his split lips as broken hand bones lacerated split flesh, and more blood dripped from the nail wounds to pool in the clotted and fresh blood from his back.

"You work in a brothel, whore!" laughed the man with the whip, slashing it across her back once more. "Get him off, and you get a few hours rest!"
 
Aurelia slid another finger into her client, moving in time with the fingers inside her. The woman was close to her climax, and that was a blessing. It was hard to focus on anything else now, consumed with the cock driving in her ass. Fingers tightened in Aurelia’s hair, the woman’s fingers, she thought, matching the tension in her body and the ecstasy in her voice. Echoing Aurelia’s own building pleasure.

Was Yusef enjoying himself as much as she was? She could hear Belsheba’s lustful moans, as she took him or was taken, Aurelia couldn’t be quite sure, and she could hear Yusef’s sexy tone, made sexier by the dirty things he said.

With her tongue buried in her client’s cunt, Aurelia felt the woman clench. Heard her high-pitched moan, ecstatic and hoarse and filling the tavern. The man behind rooted himself deep inside her, flattening her ass against his abs. The jet of hot semen was especially intense in her ass, bringing on her own climax as she milked every last drop from him. Over her, she could feel the couple lean closer together, kissing as bliss swept through them.

Her limp, cum soaked body was lifted now. Strong hands went under her knees, keeping legs spread and putting her on display for the crowd. Now she could see Belsheba, riding Yusef backward, eyes half closed in delight. Yusef’s stare was intense, fucking her with eyes while his cock drove into another woman. That was hot. Knowing he could be balls deep in another woman and still crave her.

The woman holding her up, a large man with velvet ebon skin and thick arms, shifted her. Aligning her used ass against his cock. She helped him where she could, wrapping one arm around his neck. Still dripping with the cum of the last man, he slid easily into her. Gravity overcame his thickness, until she was impaled on his length, lulling her head back against his. “You like it, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she sighed, meeting Yusef’s eyes again.

“You want more, don’t you?”

“Yuh,” she started, until he bounced her. “Yes!” She screamed out, toes curling as he used her. Another man, maybe the first again, the one she sucked off, was before her, brushing his head against swollen pussy lips. The next time she was bottomed out with the first man, he pushed inside her slit, making her squeeze tight against both of the cocks inside her.



She was hurting him, Delinda knew. His screams were agony, exceeded only by the contortions of his face. She did what she could to ease his pain. Not bracing against him, maintaining a slow, smooth movement of her hips. He was hurting her as well, her cunt aching from countless rapes this evening, protesting every slight movement or involuntary spasm.

She rose up above Had, trying to get away from the anguish. Still, the whip lashed across her back again. She rolled hips more, hating herself for going along, fearing the next lash. Longing for rest, but not believing for a second she would actually get any. Another whip, striking lacerated flesh and she convulsed, pain begetting even more pain.
 
Belshiba moaned like a wanton, doing her best to grip Yusef's muscular thighs with her legs as her dripping cunt gripped his thick dick. "Oh... oh fuck... son of... of Bajir..." she gasped, back arching as she pushed herself down onto him. He responded by gripping her hips and standing up, sending her sprawling across the table. She cried out in ecstacy as gravity forced her deeper into his meat. "Gods..." she begged, the words coming out in a desperate while. "gods... fuck... me..."

Yusef grinned and held himself deliberately still, his hands hard on her hips. The sight of Aurelia's bare, well-used figure getting rammed full of dick was fucking hot, and made him wish he'd stripped Balsheba's robe away. But then, there was something erotic about being balls deep in a fully-clothed woman. Too. So he watched the big black man grip Aurelia's shoulders and slam into her, then grinned as Balsheba's ass flexed and hips moved as she tried to fuck herself on him. His response was to slap her ass once and then thrust hard and deep, fucking her with powerful thrust that shoved her across the table top.

Balsheba whined helplessly as Yusef used her, writing and grinding against the table. One hand gripped the table edge, the other flailed and landed on Aurelia's naked back. She groped upwards, tangling in the other woman's long hair and dragging her in for a kiss. She tasted of cum and wine, and Belsheba drank deeply of the flavor.



Muhyaddeen gagged as his raw back scraped over the wood, agony making it impossible to even cry out. Dimly, he watched the cat of nine tails rip into Delinda, heard her cry out and saw droplets of blood fly as the whip came up again. Noway. He wasn't - couldn't cum. Not like this. But they'd tear the flesh from his back if he didn't.

Then, an idea came to him. She'd been raped, more than once. Who'd know for sure?

Steeling himself, he arched his back and pushed his pain-softened dick up into her. Screaming as the wood ripped at raw flesh, he jerked his hips in a passable imitation of orgasm. The arm with the whip lowered, and laughter filled the air. He didn't care. It had worked.

Then a hand jerked his head back. He had a confused impression of a figure, and a glint of steel, and then more agony seared a line across his throat. The last thing he saw, as his vision greyed and dimmed, was his own arterial blood spraying across Delinda's abused form...
 
Watching Yusef use Belsheba made Aurelia hot, while she herself got used. Had her wondering if she could go another round with him. She was swollen, and starting to get sore as the next man fucked her cunt. For now, the pain added a delightful ache to sensations. Maybe she’d have to be satisfied with cuddling into his arms at the end of the night. Then she could wake up him up by riding his cock.

The image of it, flashing in her mind, made her tense and shiver euphorically. She couldn’t tell if it was mere fantasy or reincarnated memory, but it fucking worked for her, clamping down and clenching on the men inside her. The man in her ass didn’t fight it, spearing her on his length to fill her with yet more cum. The other fucked her through her climax, firm arms tensing as he dragged her along his cock.

She could hear Belsheba follow her over the edge, moaning filthy praise to a dozen gods and goddesses as release consumed her. Over the shoulder on the man fucking her, Aurelia could see Yusef was not letting on Belsheba, not stopping his pace as she arched and squirmed beneath him. Maybe she could go around round with Yusef tonight. Or maybe he’d take her anyways, even if she couldn’t.




Delinda didn’t know she had another scream in her, until his blood spurted on her stomach and breasts, splattering against her own blood and the semen of countless men. She wasn’t even off of Muhhyaddeen when they slit his throat. Overwhelmed and panicked wails filled the room, terrified and distraught and enraged and guilty. He only came because she asked, and now he was dead. Would they kill her now? Was that a kinder fate?

She found new energy to struggle as they pulled her off Had, rolling his battered body in a woolen blanket. Seeking her own death, perhaps, for bringing him here. Seeking her own death, so she could escape slavery once more. A swift fist in her jaw took most of the fight out of her, and a second took the rest. As the world faded away she prayed she wouldn’t wake up.
 
The sight of Belsheba's slim fingers tangled in Aurelia's hair as the two women kissed was incredible. Maybe, he thought, he'd convince Aurelia to invite her back to the Siren for a while. They could share her. But then the two men fucking Aurelia began to climaxed, and Aurelia with them. and he turned his attention back to plowing deep and hard. Belsheba's was calling on various gods now, moaning and begging him to fuck her, and he obliged. When she climaxed, her cunt was like a slippery velvet vice on his dick. Aurelia climaxed as well, throwing her head back as the man she rode roared and emptied himself into her. That was what sent him over the edge, the sight of her body arched in pleasure as cum gushed around the thick meat spearing her.

Yusef slammed his meat home one last time, eliciting a cry from Belsheba's. He climaxed with a hoarse gasp, pleasure burning through him as he felt his hot cum gush into her, coating her walls and dripping down his balls and into her robe. He drove himself into her again and again, using her to milk the last drops of pleasure from his body. Finally, gasping for breath and dripping with sweat, he looked around. The soul was now a scene of debauchery. Patrons in all States of undress fucked on tables, against walks, and on the floor. Grinning at his woman, he wiped sweat from his face. "Well. It seems our work here is done."
 
Aurelia let out a tired laugh, putting her clothes back on enough to walk back to the ship, “This is certainly better than a riot. Though, I can hardly walk straight, so that’s same as the first time,” She joked, wrapping an arm around his waist for balance and closeness. Yusef gathered up the money they collected this even and she nudged Belsheba, who was still recovering. “Join us back on my ship. We can drink and catch up.

Belsheba laughed, not hiding the way she looked both of them up and down, “Is that all you’re planning?”

Aurelia gave Yusef a playful smirk before turning back to Belsheba, “Why don’t we see where the night takes us?”

The evening air was cool on sweat drenched skin, as the trio walked towards the docks. “How did you end up with a ship?” Belsheba asked, also walking carefully after having been with Yusef.

“Much of the same way we had anything of value when we ran the streets together. Took it as payment for wasting my time,” Aurelia joked, not wanting to get into a sob story now. Her explanation was true enough, anyways.

Belsheba let out a chuckle, “And how did you learn to sail it?”

Aurelia shrugged, “Picked it up easily enough.” With the knowledge of reincarnated memories, she now understood why. “Turns out it was my calling. I just love the sea.”

“So, what happened? I thought you were going to be Lady ul-Alfrayit?”

Aurelia cringed at the question. She hadn’t spoken of her past to Yusef much, and he knew enough of it not to pry. But now her past and present were colliding in ways that would have to be answered for at some point. Just not right this instant. “It’s a long story. Suffice it to say things didn’t work out with Markesh.” Painful memories bubbled up, and she leaned into Yusef.

Belsheba tsked, and nudged Yusef, “He was supposed to be our big payday. A wealthy heir who was utterly smitten with Aurelia. We just needed one night, and we could have walked out of his manor with as many valuables as we could carry. But Aurelia let herself get swept up in the romance, and set her goals even higher. Marrying into wealth and nobility would have been far more lucrative than a mere robbery.”

“What about you?” Aurelia injected, needing to get the attention off herself. “What have you been up to in the last ten years?”

“Much of the same, admittedly, though I’ve gotten much better at it,” Belsheba mused, “find a nobleman in an unhappy political marriage, and make them happy. They dote on me with favors and gifts and then I skip town once their wives start to catch on.”

“And who is the lucky man here?” Aurelia asked, arm wrapped around Yusef. Closeness mostly, but perhaps a hint of possession.

“Tenumoyo Shinzen. This one is actually unmarried, so maybe I can get dig my hook in him and become Lady Tenumoyo.” Belsheba laughed, smoothing out her robe, “Probably not though, his father dislikes me.”

"My advice? Take everything that isn't nailed down and leave him pining for you. It about what most of these nobles deserve" They arrived at the Siren now, mostly deserted. The Cluanai was bigger, and so most of her crew tooks their clients there. "Shall I open a bottle of wine? Or do we want some rum?"
 
"Water first, I think," Yusef said, examining a pitcher and then pouring out three mugs. "I don't know about you two, but I'm parched."

Belsheba's laughed, accepting a mug and perching on the edge of Aurelia's bed. "Parched? You've just fucked the two most desirable women in the Isles, and all you can think of is being thirsty?"

Yusef managed to smirk and drink at the same time, all while watching Belsheba's down her own water. "Oh, hardly. But everything I can think of is dependent on not passing out from dehydration.". Taking a seat, he eyed Aurelia carefully. She was keeping her tone light, but mention of the ul-Afrayits had clearly soured her mood. And it wasn't hard to guess why, not with what he'd pieced together of her past and what Balsheba had said. She'd tried to run a con, and been enslaved for her troubles. So, with a sigh, he caught her slim wrist and pulled her down I to his lap. "Come here, love."

Belsheba's leaned forward, lips parted as she watched. "And what are you doing..?"

"Just taking care of her," Yusef replied, raising his mug to her lips. God's but she felt good on him, though. He could feel her belly muscles move under his fingertips as she leaned back, molding her smooth back to his chest and - coincidentally? - nestling her sleek rump against his slowly hardening meat. His fingers traced her navel, and his lips caressed her ear as she drank.

Then Belsheba's was on them, her weight pressing Aurelia into him as she straddled his lover's thighs. Her hands stroked up Aurelia's throat and cradeled her face as she kissed her, leaning I to Aurelia and tasting her mouth slowly and deliberately. "I want you," she whispered, sucking on Aurelia's lower lip. "Right now, Aurelia."
 
Aurelia might have wanted to drown her memories in liquor, but Yusef’s idea to drown them in love suited her mood even better. And after spending the evening selling herself to strangers, Yusef’s touch was just what she needed. He might have helped her arrange the scenario, and would be getting a cut of her earnings, but he wasn’t her pimp. He loved her, cared about her beyond their mind-blowing sex.

Though, as his erection came to life once more underneath her, their mind-blowing sex life pushed to the forefront of her mind. And Belsheba added another layer to that, adding her weight to Aurelia’s lap and pulling her into a kiss. Old habits die hard, it seems, remembering the evenings spent in each other’s arms, celebrating the latest take or recovering from nearly getting caught. Finding some pleasure in each other, after faking it for a clueless idiot with more money than brains. And in this moment, it only made sense to share that with Belsheba and Yusef.

So while Belsheba’s hands were soft on her face and neck, her own hands explored the other woman’s hips and legs. Bunching up the robe until she could feel that familiar skin under her fingertips. Find her slit, still dripping with Yusef’s cum. “Should we clean each other off?” Aurelia whispered, nibbling at her jaw and throat while parting her silken walls with two fingers, “Like we used to? Maybe Yusef can use your ass while I ride your face.” Yusef seemed to get even harder at the idea, and, as much as she ached, she considered just fucking him again herself. He was worth a little pain.

Before they could decide, The sound of footsteps thudded on the gangplank. Were some of the crew turning in for the night? And was that going to stop them? Probably not, but it sounded like several people. Was it really so late? Aurelia let her mind wander, enjoying’s Belsheba’s softness and Yusef’s hardness, giving herself permission to take a night off from being captain. Between her crew and Yusef’s, everyone could take care of themselves, at least for one night. But the sound of a thud, like a crate being dropped on the deck, was out of place, and the footsteps faded away as if they were leaving the ship, instead of heading downstairs.

“What do you think that was?” She asked, half turning towards Yusef.
 
"I... don't know," Yusef said, a touch archly. Then he was slowly rising, lifting Aurelia and reaching for his sword. "And I'm sorry," he added, voice contrite but distracted. "I didn't mean to snap. But that doesn't sound right out there." Steel whispered as he drew his scimitar, and the scabbard thudded against the foot of the bed as he tossed it to one side. Whoever it was that had been out there, it sounded like they had left. But sounds could be deceiving, and he'd feel better about investigating if more of the crew were aboard the ship. Aurelia could handle herself, of course, but he had no idea how many people might be lying in wait.

He flexed his hands, then blew out the oil lamp and counted to ten. When his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he cracked the door and peered out. Nothing was visible on the deck, except for a cheap-looking trunk by the gangplank. Still, he didn't step out. Instead he stared into the shadows, and then crouched. Pricking his finger, he sketched out a small circle on the floor and decorated it with a few glyphs. "Xilka," he murmured, voice commanding. "Xilka. Besa. Besa. AGLA!" With the final word the bloody circle shone with a pale light and flowed together to take on the shape of a tiny, humanoid creature. "Adhhab," he told it, holding out his hand. It stared at him, then hopped up onto his palm. "Taslit aldaw' ealaa alzalam."

The figure nodded, then lept from his palm through the gap in the door. Soaring into the air above the deck, its body glowed brighter and brighter until no shadows remained. Sucking at the prick on his finger, Yusef peered out again. No hidden assassins. "I think we're clear," he said, opening the door wider. "Let's go see what that is."

Cautiously, he approached the chest. It was large, the sort of thing a sailor of modest means might purchase to store his worldly belongings. There was a hasp that was closed, but there was no lock in evidence. After examining it for a minute, he stepped to one side and levered his sword under the lid. It creaked, then thumped open as it fell backwards. "Fuck," he breathed as he saw the contents.

Muhyaddeen. The man's nude, broken corpse was stuffed into the chest with his throat cut almost to his spine. It took a moment to process that, and the visible damage to the man's body. His teeth had been broken out, and his back looked like ground meat, and his hands were mangled and clasped around a scroll case. Shaking a little, he reached out and took it. "Fuck," he repeated softly. The scroll was sealed with wax, embossed with the seal of the Tenumoyo.
 
Yusef’s sharp tone was jarring, cooling Aurelia’s desire. She watched the careful movement and precautions he took, and decided the sound might have been more serious then she wanted to admit. It still could have been nothing, but vigilance couldn’t hurt. So while he summoned a small spirit she changed into a practical outfit. Not that she couldn’t fight in a belly dancer’s costume, but she would do better in a loose tunic top and tight breeches. And this could still be easily pulled off, if they were overreacting.

Passing an extra rapier to Belsheba, she strapped her own weapons to her belt. “Haven’t had to pull a weapon in years,” Belsheba noted, tying it to her own belt, “But I am sure I still remember which end to hold.”

Aurelia responded with an absent laugh, observing his careful exit from the room. “It’s probably nothing,” she said, without turning to Belsheba, “But stay back here. If things go bad, you could probably hide behind the door and slit their throat before they know you’re here.”

Following Yusef onto the deck, she stayed a few feet back, watching the shadows on the docks. People milled about, mostly drunken sailors coming back after spending their pay, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. By now, she was nearly convinced Yusef was making a tsunami out of a wave. Still few steps behind when he opened the chest, she was close enough to clearly see what lied within.

“Edain spare us,” she murmured, swallowing hard to hold back the bile in her gut. The body reeked of death and violation, and it was obvious his final moments were agony. Had might have been one of his people, but the distinction between his crew and hers had shrunk since their relationship deepened, and she had begun to see his people as her own. This was a message to her as much as Yusef.

She took the scroll from his hands and opened it, eyes glazing over the characters on the parchment. “Can you read this? I can barely speak Qinshi.” She admitted, voice brittle with pain and rage. Belsheba pulled the scroll from her hands.

“It’s a receipt of sale,” Belsheba noted, glancing over it. “Two hundred bolts of cotton cloth. One hundred bolts of silk. Twelve barrels of molasses. Ten pounds of pepper. Five pounds of cinnamon. Five pounds of coriander. Twenty pounds of opium. Under payment received, it lists one whore and one mercenary, though the mercenary is marked as returned.” Belsheba’s voice was steady, until she got to the end, and caught on the meaning of the message. “It….” She stopped herself, sighed and taking a deep breath, before continuing, “it says you owe them another whore in payment.”

With a tightened jaw, Aurelia nodded, “Thanks. You…” she clenched her fist, struggling for calm, “You should probably go home or where ever you can stay safe for the evening.”

“What are you going to do?”

Aurelia didn’t turn back, just closed the chest lid, “First, we need to find all our people, and ensure no one else is in danger. And then…?” She just shook her head, “I don’t know yet. But it won’t be pretty.”
 
Hours passed before everyone could be gathered. Yusef didn't know how many contracts Fay had broken when she'd dragged people away from their patrons of the evening. Not as many as he'd broken when he boarded the Cluanai and stormed through the small orgy on deck, shouting that they were closed for the night. Gwynn and Kaarim had kept him from physically throwing a few recalcitrant patrons from the deck, but they hadn't argued with him. Him, and the hard expression on his face. And now they were all gathered on the Siren, staring at the chest that contained Muhyaddeen's remains.

"Clearly," Fay said, voice calm, "we kill them. All of them." The rest of Yusef's crew nodded, staring at the corpse. Not all of Aurelia's crew agreed, though.

"The Tenumoyo?" Phaedra asked. "All of them?"

"Yes." That was Senzang. "They..."

"That's insane," Nehime declared. "I mean, revenge. Yeah, I get that. But... all of them?"

"Look at him!" Yusef barked, throwing back the lid and heaving Muhyaddeen's violated corpse up. "And they've still got Delinda, assuming she's survived this long. Imagine what they've done to her. What they're doing to her." He let his dead crewman slump back. "No. They declared war on us, Nehime. You heard the letter they sent. They've got Delinda, and they want another one of us. And they won't stop, not until either we or they are dead." He looked around. "It's not going to be us."

"Do you have a plan though, captain?" Senzang asked.

Yusef sniggered. "Fuck yes, I've got a plan. We're going to load all of Had's bombs onto a wagon, all of them. And strap him on top. Then we're gonna roll that wagon right the fuck up to their front door, and blow it to hell. And then we're going to hit them with all the magical support we can summon and conjure and prepare in the next 24 hours, and with fire and steel. We're going to go through the Tenumoyo compound like razor-edged shit through an incontinent goose, and we're going to kill everyone."

Folding his arms across his chest, Senzang stared at him. "That, Captain Nasir Yusef al-Udan, is the worst plan I have heard from you in years."

Murder flared in Yusef's eyes. "We need to teach them a lesson, Senzangakona Ulwazi. We need to teach everyone a lesson, a simple, basic lesson. You. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Us! Or have you turned into a coward on me?"

There was a collective intake of breath from the rest of his crew. All of them moved back a step or two, watching the exchange with nervous eyes. Senzang didn't flinch away from Yusef's hostile expression, and he didn't move. For a long moment, he didn't even speak. "I'll do you a favor," he finally said, "and accept that your words were ill-considered out of deep emotion. Captain." His nostrils flared. "Otherwise, I would cut your heart out for that insult."
 
Aurelia put herself between Senzang and Yusef, trying to cut through the tension between them. “Senzang’s right, it’s a dumb plan. We should take our time to come up with a better one, except that Yusef’s right that they have Delinda. We don’t have the time to discuss and argue amongst ourselves. Not unless we want them to deliver another defiled corpse to us.” She wasn’t any calmer than Yusef, but she had better control in the moment, while there was a problem to direct her energy towards. “We need to act.”

“We do need to act,” Belsheba agreed, moving towards the front of the crowd, “And we need to be smart. I can help with both.”

“There’s no ‘we,’” Aurelia argued, “This isn’t your fight.”

“We always had each other’s back before; the years don’t have to change that,” Belsheba insisted, “Besides, what’s the point of becoming Lady Tenumoyo if you all are just going to burn them to the ground?”

Aurelia managed a half smirk, “What are you thinking?”

“I have access to Shinzen. I can tell him I have a couple friends who want to meet him, looking for some fun. Give me your three strongest women warriors, and as many bombs we can smuggle in. The rest of you wait in ambush just outside the manor, ready to strike once bombs start blowing up.”

“I don’t know. He has one of my crew, and you want to walk more into that lion’s den.” Aurelia countered, but she didn’t see a better option. Tenumoyo lured Had and Delinda in bad faith. Why not use that same tactic against him? “But we need to get Delinda out, if she is still alive, and having people on the inside would be much better. Vati, you can remotely trigger the bombs, can’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, me, you and…” She turned toward Fayette, “I could use you on the inside, Fay. If you are okay with it.”
 
Fay froze at the question, an unfamiliar expression crossing her face. Yusef, still fuming at having been called out by his woman, took a moment to place it. Fear. Fay was afraid, and that shocked him. He'd never seen her afraid, not ever. "For the record," he grumbled, "I hate this plan." Then he decided to make a peace offering. "But, at least it isn't stupid."

Fay ignored him, clenching her fists to try and hide the trembling. Objectively, she knew that what she'd gone through hadn't been any worse than any of the women of the Siren. She knew that. But she'd been so young, and... and.... and damnit, thsi was the sort of thing she'd been hired for! And that was a long time ago. "I..." she breathed. "I... yeah. I... I can do it."

"I'll go too," Esmerelda suddenly declared, stepping forward and hooking her arm through Fay's.

The former Paladin shook the arm loose. "You don't have to," she grumbled. "I've got this."

"Yeah? Well, I still had your back in the bar last night." Esmerelda chuckled at the daggers Fay glared at her. "I..."

"No," Yusef interrupted from where he leaned against the mast. "Too many women, and it starts looking suspicious." He gestured into the distance. "Three is - almost - pushing the bounds of belief as it is." He glanced at Belsheba. "I mean, I assume you're not bringing them back as whores?"

Belsheba snorted. "As if the future Lady Tenumoyo would do such a thing." A grin. "No, just what I said. I ran into a few friends, and they always wanted to meet a nobleman." Her voice rose to a sing-song. "They'd be ever so excited, and they'd to anything to meet him. Anything at all." She rolled her eyes. "It's the sort of thing he'll like."

Reluctantly, Esmerelda nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I see what you mean."

"C'mon," Belsheba said, "let's go raid the wardrobe and get you all looking the part."


Fayette stared at herself in the mirror, barely recognizing herself in the blue blouse and skirt she was now wearing. "I look like an idiot," she declared, self-consciously touching her short, dark hair. "I mean... look at me!"

"Hush, you," Vati said, smoothing the silk of her black gown. "You look fine, and Nehime did a magnificent job tidying up that rats nest you call hair. She's a magician, she is, especially given the time constraints." She smacked Fay's fingers with a folded fan. "Stop fiddling with it! You want to pass as a lady, not as a warrior!"

"I am a warrior!" Fay snapped back.

"Yes? Well, you also have lovely eyes and that blouse brings them out." Vati eyed her speculatively. "Speaking of which, take a seat. I'll need to soften those rough features of yours for you." She sighed. "What do you do to take care of your skin?"

"I wash," Fay grumbled. "With water. And soap."

"Yes," Vati nodded. "It shows."
 
Aurelia pulled up the long skirt she had settled on, strapping a slim dagger to each thigh. She would have preferred to bring her rapier with her, but it would never fly. Not with the bombs she was already smuggling in. Split between Vati, Fay, and herself, the plan was to spread them all over, creating chaos and confusion before the rest of the crews could descend. But it meant that those on the inside would be without their preferred weapons, and would have to improvise with whatever was available. Aurelia knew this was riskier than the little missions she regularly undertook, but what choice did she have?

A ivory silk veil covered her features, matching the bodice she had chosen. Stark against her dark skin, her curvy were on display, drawing attention away from her face. She didn’t need anyone recognizing her before they rescued Delinda, after all.



“Lord Tenumoyo?” Aurelia gushed, placing a gentle hand on his chest. “Why Belsheba, you really weren’t lying.”

“Not Lord Tenumoyo,” He insisted, pulling Belsheba to his side, “That title belongs to my father. I am just Shinzen.”

“Oh, not just Shinzen,” Belsheba giggled, drawing him into a lingering kiss. Somehow, Aurelia managed to hold back her disgust. Wondering for the moment if he had a hand in torturing Had, or Delinda. Oh, how she wished she could replay the torment Had suffered in his last moments, but she knew it was unlikely. She’d have to be satisfied with the man death. Too quick and too clean for what he deserved, but dead was dead. But her distraction gave Aurelia an opportunity to hide a bomb by the south entrance. “The ladies would just love a visit to the manor.”

“Shall we have some sake?” Shinzen asked, leading the women through the estate, “Or shall we head right to the hot spring?”

“Sake first!” Belsheba declared, “Then, perhaps hot spring. And more sake.”

Shinzen laughed, “Whatever my beloved desires.”

The wooden halls of the Tenumoyo dwelling were conspicuously empty. Were the guards busy elsewhere, perhaps? “I do hope we don’t bother your lord father very much,” Aurelia mentioned, watching Shinzen’s body language. His laugh was hideous.

“Little worry there, I assure you. He had a very fruitful meeting with his business partners, and will be resting deeply for the evening.” Aurelia’s fist clenched over another bomb, placing it in the hall feeding into the living quarters. Every last one of these bastards would pay in blood.

Half the bombs were placed by the time they reached Shinzen’s room, a spacious abode littered with sliken cushions around a low table. Belsheba took her place beside Shinzen, while the other three women sat across the table. Rice wine was poured into small cups, and the women pretended to drink as Shinzen tossed his back. “So, have I impressed you ladies yet? Or will we need more encouragement?” he teased, leaning into Belsheba.

“I don’t know if I could take much more encouragement,” Vati mused, wrapping her slender pale arm around Aurelia, “Sake always makes me so excited.” She turned towards Aurelia, capturing her lips in a kiss. Aurelia letting her hands wander the lithe mage’s figure, quite sure Shinzen was staring. Saliva bridged their lips as they broke the kiss, turning to meet Shinzen’s gaze simultaneously.

“Would you be able to handle that, if we all were quite excited, at the same time?” Aurelia cooed, holding his gaze as she groped Vati’s breast, toying with the nipple through the thin fabric.

“Only one way to find out,” Shinzen answer, voice thick. He scooted closer to her and Vati, and Belsheba was right behind him, running hands under his yukata and over his chest. Vati crawled onto his lap, and Aurelia half turned to Fay.

“Go find Delinda and finish placing the bombs. We will keep him distracted.”
 
Fay nodded and left the room as swiftly as she could, without looking like she was running. She'd been in a hundred fights and more, but this was making her gut clench and her palms sweat. Why the hell had Aurelia selected her fir this one? Why not Gwynn, or one of the other pretty ones? The ones that could stomach the very thought of being touched like that?

It didn't matter that she knew the answer. She was better in a fight than anyone from the Siren, except Aurelia herself. Maybe. And this was fucking touchy as it was. So she grumbled to herself, then fished a bomb out of her skirts and stashed it. One down, this one packed with bits of broken pottery so it would shred anyone near it. Muyhaddeen had enjoyed his toys, maybe a little too much. He'd always been a sick son of a bitch. But he'd been their sick son of a bitch.

More bombs were left behind as she prowled the corridors Rounding a corner, she found a door. Heavy wood, reinforced with iron, guarded by a man with a halberd. It had the look of a dungeon door, which seemed a likely place to find Delinda. Assuming she was still alive. Ideally, she'd just launch herself at the guard and skewer him, counting on speed and surprise. But the dagger strapped to her thigh just wasn't enough to make that plan work. So, what would the Captain do?

She grimaced as she realized it was the wrong question. What would Aurelia do?

Swallowing hard, she stepped out into sight. "Well, hi there," she said, trying to put a sway into her walk as she moved towards the guard. "I was here for a little... party, with Lord Shinzen. But I got turned around. Maybe you can..." she made an effort not to look like she was sizing him up as she ran her eyes over him, "help me out?"



"You are far too good to me, my love," Shinzen declared, staring at the lithe young woman in his lap. Her little show with the other one had left him rock hard, which surprised him. After using the whore, he'd thought himself finished for the evening. Clearly, he wasn't.

Belsheba's fingers worked at his yukata, barring his chest. "I have a small confession to make," she whispered, her tongue playing over his ear.

"What?" he asked, gasping a little as the woman in his lap leaned forward to kiss one of his nipples.

"I want to watch you fuck them," she breathed. "Then I want you to watch me lick your seed from their bodies.". She nibbled on his ear as the woman in his lap worked at his belt. "And I want you to fuck me while I do."
 
Toda was bored. Bored and unsatisfied. He was the last to fuck the whore the master had brought to the manor, and by the time he got his turn she was dazed and reeking of a dozen men. She hardly even reacted as he used her, just a few whimpers and tears. And now he was charged with guarding her. As if anyone would bother breaking in here just rescue a used-up whore. More than once, he considered entering the cell, and waking her up with a rough fuck. See if she was a little more responsive after a few hours rest.

Footsteps demanded his attention, warning him against his plan just yet. The figure that appeared before was unfamiliar, but a pleasant sight. A tall woman, with short, dark hair and a firm, strong figure. Though softened some by her loose blouse, she didn’t have the typical look of a whore, and that excited him even more. She looked like a fighter, one that might struggle before he took her. So he flashed her a dark smile as she mentioned getting turned around, and didn’t hide the way he looked over her body “Oh, I could help you with something...”


Aurelia was grateful Vati offered to handle this end of the ruse, because she was still sore from her own evening. And while Yusef might have been worth a little pain, this piece of shit wasn’t. But she ran this ploy with Belsheba often enough they knew how it went. How one woman would distract a man while the other grabs everything that isn’t nailed down. There, hanging on the wall was a katana and a pair of wakizashis. At least they wouldn’t have to fight their way out unarmed.

She was behind Vati, pulling the slender woman up against her while she still straddled Shinzen. Slow, teasing touches. Make the bastard beg, and go mad with lust. So mad he won’t notice the missing fourth woman. She worked Vati’s perky breast free of her top while the other woman worked Shinzen out of his hakama. He was already hard, and it was hardly a surprise. All three women were experts at seduction; Shinzen never stood a chance. Nor did he deserve one, whatever his part in kidnapping and murder was.

Vati didn’t have to undress to climb astride Shinzen, just lifted her skirt enough to line up with his length, before sliding slowly down upon him. “Oh,” she sighed, head thrown back in exaggerated pleasure, “noblemen really do have amazing cocks.” Aurelia rolled her eyes at the obviously transparent flattery, but Shinzen ate it up, groaning loudly and thrusting up into Vati.

“That right!” he cried out, “tell me how good my cock is!” Aurelia cupped one of Vati breasts, offering him the taut nipple, in hopes he’d shut up. Vati maintained a slow, steady rhythm, writhing hips against his. She was good at this, like a dance that hypnotized her client, stretching out the minutes. Aurelia just hoped Fay was close to rescuing Delinda.


A loud thud pulled Delinda from the darkness, only for her to open her eyes to more darkness. Her cell let in only a sliver of moonlight. Still, even without sight, she took stock of her situation. Sore, aching everywhere, but the worst was her shredded back, whipped bloody until the skin tore open.

Just outside her cell, something heavy bang against the wall and thumped on the floor. Then a clinking followed, keys being used on her cell door. Delinda curled into herself, despite the ache of shifting position. Oh Edana, not again. Not again so soon. Please Afodisia, just a little more rest, if they would not grant her death. Please, goddess, please… The cell door swung open, and, as if answering her prayers personally, there stood Afodisia herself. Beautiful in her blue blouse and skirt, hair cropped short in a style that was more practical for warfare, Delinda was half certain she’d died alongside Had, and was making for the afterlife now. But then her Goddess spoke.

“Thank the goddess you’re alive!” She murmured, voice cracking. Rough hands grabbed Delinda’s, pulling her to her feet, “Can you walk?”

“I…” Delinda’s voice was hoarse, even words hurt right now. Instead she attempted a step, and another. Each one jarred trauma to the forefront of her mind, but Delinda nodded, “I think so.”

“Okay, here.” Afodisia wrapped the man’s robe like clothing around Delinda’s nudity. She hissed as the cloth grazed her injured back, but there wasn’t time to worry about it now. If the Goddess herself came to her rescue, Delinda could suck up her pain. Afodisia pulled her along, into the hallway.

“The Captain and others just a little ways away.”
 
“Oh, I could help you with something...” the guard leered, looking over her like... well, like the slavers had looked at her, a decade ago. Faye forced herself to stay calm. Play it cool, she told herself. Simper. Giggle. Pretend to be an airhead. I can do this.

"Oh, thank you," she forced herself to say, trying not to grit her teeth. Drawing a deep breath, she walked forward and tried to think what she should do. What would Aurelia do? Probably try to get him thinking with the wrong head. So she ran a finger over his chest, stroking the exposed skin along his kimono. "I'd be ever so grateful..."

The guard grabbed her, pushing her back against the wall. His weight pressed against her as he gripped her throat with one hand and pinning her right wrist to the wall with the other. "Oh, you'd better be," he growled, forcing his tongue between her lips. He tasted like stale wine and halitosis, and for a split second she was paralyzed by flashbacks. Chained down, screams of agony tearing from her throat as yet another of the slavers forced himself on her. Vile laughter and the stink of stale wine and stale sweat and old cum, and the taste of her blood as a rapist backhanded her for struggling.

Fuck this.

The guard gagged, mewling in agony as her knee crushed his balls. She grabbed his topknot with her left hand, jerking his head back as she wrenched her right from his slackened grip. Callused knuckles smashed into his throat with a crunch of cartilage, and he gurgled. She punched him in the throat again, sniggering as he gasped and wheezed and tried to scream. "Oh, I am grateful," she snarled, kneeing him in the stomach. Blood sprayed from his mouth as the air exploded from his lungs, before he fell to his knees and tried to vomit through a collapsed esophagus. "Grateful for this," she added, tearing his short sword from his scabbard. She slashed downwards, severing his Achilles tendons, and laughed again as choking, gurgling sounds of pain escaped his throat. Then she drove the blade into his lower back, hard enough to force the blade through his abdomen. "Now fucking die," she hissed, twisting the blade as blood flowed around it.

The guard collapsed, twitching and whimpering. She tore the blade free, then crouched to get his key ring. His head turned, staring at her with fading attention. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot," she said, staring back. "Tee. Hee. You're so helpful." Then she cut his throat.


"Oh, fuck yes!" Shinzen gasped, bucking his hips upwards. He didn't know how Belsheba knew these women, and right now he didn't care. This well-to-do bitch was a far better fuck than the whore he'd had earlier, and it was even hotter knowing that his fiancee was watching him fuck her. And when he was done with this one he'd fuck the dusky one as well, bend her over the table and pound his cum into her from behind. Make Belsheba jealous for his cock, make her want him badly. And he'd make her beg for his dick, then. And she would, because she'd see how desperate other women were for him. And the things he'd maker her do, before he fucked her.

"Ah!" The thought of it, of degrading her with wax and his urine, made him cum hard. His cock jerked in the cunt of the bitch riding him, pumping his cum into her. "Fucking like that?" he gasped, rolling his head back. "Like feeling a nobleman cum in you?"

Gods. He would use Belsheba tonight.



"Delinda?" Faye called as she opened the door. No response. Just echoes from the stairs, and cool air streaming upwards. "Delinda, you down there?"

Cautiously, moving slowly to let her eyes adjust to the darkness, she made her way down the stairs. Moonlight glittered on the short sword she'd taken off the guard and the dirk she'd smuggled in under her dress. No sense in taking chances. But there was nobody else. Just a cluster of four doors, and only one of them was locked. Sheathing the dirk, she opened it. Inside, Delinda huddled on the floor and flinched.

“Thank the goddess you’re alive!” Faye murmured, trying to sound cheery. The woman had clearly been through hell, face and body bruised and back torn into raw meat by whips. Stooping, she caught Delinda's arm and pulled her upright. “Can you walk?” Goddess, please let her be able to walk. Carrying her out of here will be a pain in the ass.

“I…” Delinda’s voice was hoarse, so she tried a few steps and whimpered a little with each one. “I think so.”

"All right, hang on." Faye half-carried her into the main room and let her slump onto a bench, then flew up the stairs. The dead guard wouldn't need his kimono, so she stripped it off him. It was soaked with blood, but it would have to do she decided as she headed back down. “Okay, here,” she said, pulling Delinda back to her feet and draping it over her. The injured woman sobbed a little as the silk scraped her raw back. "I know it hurts," she said, trying not to think of the times it had happened to her. "But we need to go."

Delinda nodded. "Yes, Afodisia," she whispered.

Gripping Delinda's hand, she led her back up the stairs and peered out. Nobody was coming. Good. “Let's get going. The Captain and others just a little ways away.” Looking back, she forced a grin. "And Aurelia and Vati are here, just waiting to hear you're free. Stay close, all right?"

The going was slow. Too damn slow. But Faye knew she needed to be able to move if they were discovered, so carrying Delinda was out of the question. Retracing her steps was a nightmare, her skin crawling with anticipation with every step. But Shinzen's room was just up ahead. Just a few dozen more feet now, and...

"Hey!"

Faye spun, in time to see two men with halberds staring at them. "What the hell's going on?"

Maybe a bluff..? No. If she wasn't carrying a naked blade, she might be able to manage. Claim Shinzen had asked her to fetch Delinda for him. But that wouldn't work now. So stepped forward, putting herself between the guards and Delinda, then drew and threw her dirk underhand. It spun and buried itself in the gut of one of the guards, who screamed and went to his knees. "Aurelia!" she bellowed as she jogged forward, ducking inside the reach of the remaining guard's halberd. He threw himself backwards and away from her thrust, tossing his halberd aside as he did. She stepped forward again and he twisted and spun, drawing his katana. "We're made, Aurelia! Get a move on!"
 
"We're made, Aurelia! Get a move on!"

Shit! Aurelia had hoped the first sign anything was amiss would be the bombs going off, but it didn’t matter now. She’d made for the weapons on the wall as Vati finished off Shinzen, hiding the slender curved blades in her sleeves.

“Aurelia?” Shinzen asked, wide-eyed and not completely recovered from his orgasm. Vati was still on him, and Belsheba behind, so he wasn’t going anywhere. Confusion turned into realization then into fear, as the razor edge of his wakizashi gleamed in the candlelight. She opened his throat before he could scream and it came out a gurgle as his blood streamed down his chest.

Before he was finished dying, Vati pulled her dress up and began her prayer, making complicated hand gesture in time with the chant. Aurelia opened the door to Shinzen’s room just enough to pull Delinda in and to call to Fayette, “Pull back!” They’d be safe from the explosions in Shinzen’s room, and as soon as they went off, Yusef would lead the charge in with the rest of the crews.

As it was, Fay was just able to duck under a high swing from one guard, dashing for the room as Vati finished her spell. The guards pursued her but were caught in the spray of an explosion, bits of glass and clay tearing into their faces. Fayette was safe in the room with them as more explosions went off in sequence. Aurelia passed her the katana from the wall before detailing the plan.

“Alright, I’ll take lead, and Vati will be right behind me. Belsheba, you help Delinda in the middle and Fayette will cover our rear. Our goal is to get out, but each bastard we take out en route honors Had’s memory. Let’s move!”

Under the cover of smoke and confusion, Aurelia prowled the manor, dealing quick and silent death to men who deserved to suffer. Most of the guards and occupants were fleeing, where they meet more death at the hands of men and women hungry for revenge. For what had been done to Muhyaddeen, for what had been done to Delinda, for a past too many of them shared.

Fires raged through the dwelling, making the trek out even more perilous than merely fighting their way out. Flames weakened the structural integrity in places, and the way they had entered was consumed by the blaze.

“I know another way,” Belsheba offered, pointing down a different hallway. The group turned to follow her now, with Aurelia in the rear, making it a short distance before a burning wooden beam dropped from the ceiling. Aurelia dodged, just rolling out of the way, but she was cut off from the rest of the women.

“Keep going. I will find another exit,” Aurelia ordered, scanning the surroundings. Without arguing much, the rest continued towards freedom. Cutting through a thin wall, Aurelia exited into a central courtyard, filled with koi ponds and cherry trees. It was untouched yet by the fire. A figure rose in the shadow of the moon and flames, towering and terrible. Silver streaks in his dark hair caught the orange of the flames. Face curled into a hideous snarl, he stood firm before her, great katana naked before him. He had to be Lord Tenumoyo

“You burnt down my home for some whore?” he demanded, blocking her path out.

“Yes,” Aurelia hissed, unsheathing both blades, “And for the man you killed, I slit your son’s throat.”

He hacked forth with more speed than his age would have suggested. Aurelia rolled under the blow, but he turned before she could strike back. “You best pray I kill you then, Onyx Whore! I promise if you live I will spend years squeezing my vengeance from you. Years of suffering before I gift you to the Evening Star.”
 
"Aurelia!" Vati gasped, watching Lord Tenumoyo drive her backwards. She wasn't as skilled with a blade as many of the crew, preferring ritual magic and needle-pointed daggers in the dark when blood needed spilling, but she recognized skill when she saw it. And Tenumoyo was clearly more skilled than her Captain. "Fayette, can..?"

"The Goddess will save her," Delinda murmured, sounding delirious. "She saved me."

"Hang on," Faye replied, weighing her odds and the short-bladed sword she had acquired. It didn't look good. Maybe if she'd had the foresight to grab one of the halberds, then she'd have reach to offset his skill. Because damn but he was good. Aurelia was no slouch, but Tenumoyo was better. Better enough that she wasn't confident that her second blade would change things.

"The Goddess," Vati murmured. "You're a, a Paladin, right? Can't..."

"That was a long time ago," Faye snapped. "I don't think that I can." The change in her voice startled her, but not more than the sudden feeling that surged through her. The same feeling as at the arena, when she'd heard - or hallucinated - the voice of Afodisia. But there was no way that was true. She'd never been ordained, and she'd been abandoned by the Goddess when the slavers took her. Over and over, before selling her. She'd become a murderer since then, more times over. How could she defend those who need protection. Be strong for those who need strength.

"Tenumoyo!" she shouted as he drove Aurelia back, feeling like a passenger in her own body as she headed for him.

The noble turned, giving her a contemptuous look. "Another of your bitches?" he laughed. "I thought you had some standards, Onyx Whore. This one isn't even pretty." He shifted his grip on his blade, raising it with both hands. "And she'll be uglier yet, when I finish with her." Stepping forward, he slashed downwards.

Faye twisted with inhuman speed, sidestepping the downstroke. Before Tenumoyo could recover she raised a foot and slammed it down on the flat of the blade, snapping it as she drove it into the ground. He released the hilt and brought his arms up, one to try and catch Faye's wrist and the other jabbing in a vicious blow at her gut. Before it could land Faye's arm hammered into his wrist with irresistible force, slamming his forearm against his skull. There was a cracking sound, and Tenumoyo screamed as his hand went suddenly limp, then again as Faye slammed him hard into the wall before pinning him there by driving her short-bladed sword through his shoulder into the beam beyond. "Years of suffering?" she asked, stooping to pick up the hilt of his katana.

Tenumoyo watched wide-eyed as Faye brought the blade closer to his face. He tried to push her back, screaming as he twisted and writhed against the blade embedded in his shoulder. None of it helped as Faye grabbed his jaw and held his face still. He screamed again as she began carving into his forehead with the jagged stump of the blade. "And how long will you suffer, when Rudain sees that you have allowed the Onyx Queen to escape your grasp, I wonder?"

"I told you," Delinda murmured, watching with unfocused eyes. "I told you."
 
Sweat dripped into Aurelia’s eyes, the heat of the surrounding fires wearing her down. Why wasn’t it wearing down Lord Tenumoyo? There were no opening’s, Aurelia just able to scramble and defend herself. Perhaps taunting him with his son’s demise wasn’t the wisest course. Whatever, fi she could keep his attention, he couldn’t turn it toward the others. They would escape.

Yet again, Fayette refused to let her die. Goddess, she was a vision of vengeance and glory. The samurai lord who had given her so much trouble was cut down, but that wasn’t enough for her, carving a familiar symbol into his forehead.

“For all your days, you will wear my mark, and you will serve as warning to those who would cross me. The Onyx Queen is not to be trifled with.”

“Shit Fay,” Aurelia said with a nervous laugh. Partially our of gratitude for the rescue, partially because the sometimes paladin had left the man’s face a messy mask of blood and flesh. “Remind me not to piss you off. How do we get out now, Belsheba?”

“This way,” Belsheba pointed “It’s the servant quarters. Shinzen used to sneak me in that way. We didn’t set any bombs there, so it should be clear, but not for long.” BY now the manor was empty, and the fighting had taken to the grounds.

“Back to the ship!” Aurelia called, helping the limping Delinda. “I am not making another rescue mission tonight!” With the estate aflame, and most of the household dead, especially the heir, they had a measure of retribution for Muhyddeen. It wasn’t enough, but it would have to do. They weren’t safe yet, and more deaths on their side wouldn’t honor Had.

Now practiced at making swift retreats, the ships took to the seas. Gwynn had a handle of the Cluanai, and Yusef lead the Siren, while she helped Delinda into an empty room, so Senzang could tend to her.

“She’s burning up,” he hissed, digging through his pouches.

“She thinks Fayette is Afodisia,” Aurelia explained, bringing a soaking rag to her head.

“Let’s make sure she doesn’t actually meet the Goddess .” Senzang suggested, mixing a white powder into a vial of dark liquid, “Here, drink this…”
 
Fay stood in the sterncastle of the Siren, watching the flames rage and dance in the distance. Yusef had clearly decided to occupy himself, rather than fret about Aurelia possibly being in danger. Now every ship that sailed under the Tenumoyo banner was ablaze as well, and other ships sailed to escape burning or fought the flames so they wouldn't reach their own decks. With such a cover in place, two more ships setting out to sea would attract no more attention. "Burn, you fuckers," she murmured, gripping ther rail so tightly she forced the blood from her knuckles. "All of you."

"That is a different look for you," Igama said, walking up behind her. "Going soft on us?"

In the rush to get Delinda to the safety of the Siren, and then in the rush to get the Sirn under way to make sure it was safe, she hadn't even thought to change. "Don't you have anything better to do right now?" she snapped.

"Nope." The stocky fighter leaned against the railing as well, watching the distant fires. "Not now, anyway. Maybe if you'd screwed it up, I'd have had some action." He grinned. "Instead, all I've got is deviling someone. And everyone else is busy or on the other ship."

"Lucky me," Faye grumbled.

"Damn straight," Igama replied, spitting into the ocean. He stared for a moment, then spoke again. "What happened? Word is, Delinda saw a goddess?"

"Delinda's been tortured and abused," Faye replied, wishing some other subject had come up. "She's feverish, and delusional. All she saw was me, killing a few bitches to get her out."

"Really?" Igama asked.

"Really."

"Because," he continued, "I seem to recall someone making a fucking impossible jump in the arena, a..."

"I said," she snarled, whirling on him, "that! All!"

The fury in her expression, and the hand gripping her sword, made Igama step back. "Right, right," he said soothingly, holding his hands up. "That's all. She's just seeing things. You know I didn't mean nothing..."

"Then," she snapped, storming off, "let. It. Drop."

He watched her stomp away, then shook his head and looked back at the island. "Must be on the rag," he decided.



In the end, Senzang had to feed Delinda the medicine one spoonfull at a time. It wasn't that she was uncooperative, but the fever and her injuries had left her unable to cooperate in any meaningful way. Hells, given the way her back looked he was surprised she was able to lay down. But slowly, carefully, he got the mixture into her. "This will help with the pain and let you sleep," he assured to her as he spooned the mixture in. "And it will help break the fever."

"D'n wnna sleep," she protested faintly.

"You need to," he told her gently. "I need to tend to your wounds, and sleeping will ease the pain."

"Goddess," she mumbled. "Th' Goddess'll help me. Afodisia will..."

He fed her another spoonful. "Perhaps she did. But..."

"Was th're!" she insisted. "Saved... saved me. She'll..."

"If she was," Senzang replied soothingly, "then she helped bring you here. So that I can help you. Now drink up."

Soon, thanks to a combination of her own weakened condition and the medicines, she was asleep. Only then did he begin examining her wounds, carefully soaking the cloth in places where dried blood glued it to the injuries. "Animals," he murmured, examining her swollen face and lacerated flesh. "Did you make them suffer? I hope you did." Cataloging the full extent of her injuries took time, but finally he looked up at Aurelia. "She's badly hurt, but only a few of the lacerations will require stitches. We can bandage the rest. Given what she went through, she's not as severely injured as I might have feared." His gaze hardened. "Physically, that is. Mentally?" He shrugged. "I... don't know. I really don't know."
 
It another hour still before Senzang finished up with Delinda. As he had said, she could be tended to with a few stitches bandages. Physically, at least. Mentally, well, that’d be a slower healing process. But she was asleep now, and that was best for her. A few hours rest away from her torment.

Exhaustion was beginning to catch up with Aurelia as well, but she knew there’d be no sleep this night. However much of it was left. The adrenaline of the fight and flight from the city hadn’t really worn off, weighed down by the specter of Muhhyaddeen’s death. The resurgent reminder of her own past, written in Delinda’s abused flesh. The guilt of feeling at fault for all of it, because she’d gone pirating.

“Hey,” She called to Yusef, who didn’t look any better off than her. She’d brought up the rum, but when wasn’t it time to drink on the ship? “Looks like Delinda will make it, but time will tell if those bastards left enough of her mind intact for her to recover fully. Goddess willing, she’s still in there somewhere. She had enough sense at least to survive as long as she did.” The last sentence came out with her really thinking, and then she felt guilty. Because from what remained of Had, he had gotten the worst of the sadism. Because he didn’t have a history of enslavement to draw lessons from? Or because those bastards never intended to let him live? Aurelia drank down the questions, and passed the bottle over to Yusef.

“How are you holding up?” she asked, watching him. “I know it’s fucking hard to lose someone like this. When we…when we rose up against the slavers, there were thirty of us. I managed to convince the rest of my fellow slaves that, even though the slavers had weapons and armor, we had numbers, and we could overwhelm them. That it would be better to die on our feet, fighting back, than to live on our backs.”

She looked out over the sea now, eyes distant, “They believed me Yusef, and followed me into battle. They trusted me, and five of them earned their death for that trust. Five of them. Probably still be alive now if I hadn’t convinced them death was better than slavery.” She scrubbed the tears beading in her eyes at that, angry at herself. Trying to comfort Yusef, and clearly, she was doing a shitty job of it.

“I know the burden you carry. I carry it too. If you ever need to just… fuck I don’t know, just to unload it, I guess? Just let me help, Yusef. Just let me be there for you.”
 
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