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

“That’s the problem with explosives,” Vati complained, hiking up her dress, “they are messy.” She caught the pleased look on Muhyaddeen’s face, and just shook her head and laughed, “Undeniably effective, however.”

“Why are you two dressed like that, and not for a fight?” Aurelia asked, watching their backs as the group made their careful but quick way up the stairs.

“We came under the guise of entertaining clients,” Mei explained, lifting her sandal out of a sticky pool of blood.

The gate was locked, but Fayette made short work of it, ramming it with her shoulder. Metal screeched as the hinges flew off, “Left!”

To the left was a dozen guards were rushing at them. Saifa and Igama met them head on, cleaving the first two in half before they could get in range. Vati got between the two enforcers, blasting a stream of fire that made short work of their adversaries, and left the hall reeking of cooking flesh. More merciful than their captors, they finished off the agonized soldiers as they passed them by. Another looked door, more solidly built than the last. Fayette tried twice to break it open with no avail, before Aurelia pulled a clip from Mei’s hair to work at it. As she attempted, another of Rudain’s servants was there, on the other side. Esmeralda. Instead of the anticipated mocking, she held up a key.
“I’ll let you out, if you take me with you,” she offered. Safia scoffed loudly, recognizing her from the performance a few days past, but Aurelia nodded.

“Of course. We can take on one more. How do we get out?”

“This way,” Esmeralda called, beckoning the group. It was another locked gate before they made it to the streets, another gate she had the key for. Once they made it outside they were able to blend in with the panicking crowd who were trying to escape the arena. Still, not slowing in the slightest, they heading for the Siren.
 
"Get aboard!" Yusef barked, standing with drawn sword at the foot of the gangplank. He barely gave the mixed crew a glance as they hustled aboard, focusing instead on the road behind them. As he watched, explosions thundered in two dockside warehouses, sending oily black smoke belching into the sky as flames began to leap and spread. "The fuck..?"

"Confusion and terror,"" Muhyaddeen laughed. "Had a few bombs left, so I put them to good use.

"Get aboard, you fucking psychopath," Yusef laughed. Then, as the others passed, he caught Esmerelda's arm. "Listen, bitch," he snarled, raising his scimitar, "the Captain may have..."

She blanched. "I just want to get away!" she insisted, pullning as hard as she coukd to escape his iron grip. "I..."

"You fuck us over," he continued, "and I'll be the last thing you see. Understand?" She nodded, and he shived her up the gangplank. "Then get aboard!" Even as he said it he was following her up the ramp, dragging it up as soon as he hit the deck.

Wind filled the sails, canvas billowing and popping as it did. Slowly, speed increasing as they moved, the Siren moved out into the harbor. Behind them, flame raged across the warehouses of the port.
 
“Sail for Korikinou!” Aurelia declared as she climbed to the deck, unfurling sails to let wind catch. The gods must have been smiling upon her because it was a good day to sail, strong winds and easy waves. “Nishi’s sister runs a temple of Edana off from the mainland, and we’ve used it to lay low in the past. I imagine Gwynn is already heading there, on the Clooney.”

“Cluanai” Seith corrected, but Aurelia didn’t hear the difference. By now everyone was gathered on on deck, letting the wind carry the ship away from Garabahad and danger. And there were a lot of questions to go around. The captain took up the first charge, turning towards Fayette.

“You’re a paladin.”

“I was a Paladin,” Fay explained, shifting uncomfortably, “an aspirant really. I never took vows. Never… never got a chance.”

“No, you are Paladin. Vows or not, doesn’t seem to matter,” Aurelia countered, shaking her head in awe. “You were amazing. I should be mad at you all for risking yourselves over us, but Godsdammit if it didn’t work!” There was some laughter, relief that the plan had indeed worked, because failure meant punishment too terrible for any of them to imagine. Except the woman who had escaped Rudain’s clutches, who went right into the next question that needed to be cleared up.

“That weapon,” Esmeralda spoke up, shrinking back as half the crew glared at her. Most hadn’t –wouldn’t– forgive her for the part she played in mutiny, but Aurelia didn’t hold it against her. “It wasn’t supposed to be magical. Just a rusted rapier. What did you do to it?”

Aurelia pulled the weapon at that, amazed to find it still shining silver, still perfectly intact as the day it had been crafted. “I didn’t do anything to it but…It was the Onyx Queen’s, wielded in her final moment of rebellion against the demons. It seems that I am her, reincarnated in this life. Rudain though they could merely punish me in this life for the things I did in my last life. I doubt the demon prince knew they were giving me a weapon that could defeat them.”

She looked up at Yusef now, knowing in the moment she was looking into the eyes of the man she loved almost a century ago. They had survived, and there was no going back. Words and feelings had been shared in that cell, like their bodies and passions had been shared. He had told her he loved her. And proven it, too, so close to fulfilling her last request no matter how it hurt him to do so. He loved her and she had to acknowledge that her past had left her damaged, damaged in a way she hadn’t really recovered from. A fact she had run from over the past five years.

No. She had overcome so much. Too much, to let the past continue to haunt and control her. How close had she come to losing everything, because of her own stubbornness? It shouldn’t have taken a death sentence, to admit her feelings for Yusef, but it had, and there was no going back.

“Yusef, I should have told you last night, I…” She looked up into his eyes, finding the strength to reclaim that 17 year old girl that believed in romance, “I love you.”
 
Yusef held Aurelia, his breath catching at her confession. It had been easy to say the words last night, when they'd been staring death in the teeth and saw no future. And he'd meant them. But now, in the light of day with a possibility for life stretching out before them both, it felt... overwhelming. So much so that, for the span of three heartbeats, he couldn't speak. Couldn't think. Couldn't...

Something clattered on the deck. "Holy. Shit," he heard Igama gasped.

"Right," Yusef barked, wheeling while keeping one hand posessively around Aurelia's waist. "Any if you dogs have anything funny to say?"

"Oh, hell no," Igama responded, hands wide. "Except that I just won the pool!"

Yusef stared at him, hard. "What... were the terms?"

Igama shifted awkwardly. "Uhm... everyone put an endubi down on when you two woukd finally, uh, fuck."

"Ah. And you were all in on it?" Yusef scanned the crew with hard eyes as they all nidded uncomfirtably. "Who bet on yesterday?" He glared at Vati as she raised a tenative hand. Then he laughed. "She gets the money, then." Ignoring Vati and Igana bickering, he pulled Aurelia and kissed her, vigorously and enthusiastically, in front of the whole crew.

"I love you, too," he grinned as the crew cheered. ""And hand onto this costume, why don't you?" Still grinning, he nipped at her lower lip. "You'll probabky be wearing at least part if it the whole night. My Onyx Queen."
 
“If that’s what my Caliph wishes,” Aurelia cooed, pressing her forehead to his. “As long as you wear this, because I’ve been wanting to peel you out of it since this morning.”


Over the next two weeks, they made their way to eastern islands. If Rudain had sent ships in pursuit, there were no signs of them. There was still some suspicion surrounding the newest crew member, and how sincere her defection was, but the Siren had always been a refuge for slaves, and Aurelia wasn’t going to turn her away. Not after the glimpses of well controlled fear she saw in Esmeralda’s eyes around Rudain. Hopefully in time her crew would find sisterhood with Esmeralda, understanding rooted in shared experience. For now she threw herself into learning the ropes of sailing, literally.

Yusef and Aurelia spent the evenings making up for lost time spent being stubborn. Trying not to keep the rest of the crew up with their antics, but often failing. They were left wondering if this was better than the palpable tension between them before they were fucking. But they were clearly in love, and no one was going to begrudge them their happiness. Just tease them relentless.

Isshou was off the southern coast of the mainland, a verdant paradise surrounding a dormant volcano. The Cluanai was already docked. There was a young woman ready to greet them, dressed in a flowing red and white kimono with an undeniable resemblance to Nishi. Aurelia embraced her outright, hugging her tight for a few moments before. “I wish you visited more often, but that’d be wishing more trouble you. And from the sounds of it, you have trouble enough.”

“I hate to burden you, but I hope it’s okay if we stay for awhile.” Aurelia admitted, still in physical contact with her.

“Of course. We’re sisters, aren’t we? Born in bondage, perhaps, but sisters none the less,” she insisted, brushing a strand of Aurelia’s hair behind her ear. Aurelia turned towards Yusef, and the rest of his crew.

“This is Kiyone Saburo. She was with us on the Sinner’s Delight, before we overthrew it. Her temple of Edana serves as refuge for former slaves who haven’t the stomach to continue the work we did before. It also serves as a place where we can lay low, when things get heated,” Aurelia introduced. She reached for Yusef’s hand, bringing him before Kiyone, “And this is Nasir Yusef al-Udain. The captain of al-Udain mercenaries and…my lover.” The last admittance got Kiyone’s attention, who took a second appraisal of Yusef, before nodding in approval.

“Well, from what I already heard from everyone else, it’s about time.”
 
"Need a hand with that?"

Esmeralda started, looking up from her work to find the slim, hard-faced figure of Fayetteville standing over her. "Why?" she snapped, defensively. "Not doing a good enough job?" She stared in disgust at the brush she held, and the deck of the Siren, and flexed her aching shoulders.

"Nah, you're doing fine," Fay replied absently. "I just, you know, thought you could use a hand." She dunked a deck brush on the bucket, and began scrubbing.

Esmeralda watched for a moment. "What's your game?"

"No game," Fayetteville answered, not looking up. "Thought maybe you could use a hand, is all. And someone to talk to." She scrubbed a little longer. "I sure could."

Esmeralda barked laughter as she squatted back down. "You? You're part of this crew, and a Paladin. And I'm just...". She recoils as Fayette uttered an angry snarl.

"I'm not!" she shouted, hurling her brush at the mast. "I'm not a Paladin! I'm just... just..." The brush bounced back and she threw it again, sending it over the side. "Fuck."

"But..." Esmeralda sounded puzzled, "I saw what you did..."

"Everyone saw what I did," Fayette muttered, morosely. "And now, they all look at me differently. Like I'm some kinda damned hero or something."

Esmeralda considered that. "If it's any help, " she said slowly, "first time I saw you, I figured you for a cold, murderous bitch." She smiled, just a little. "Paladin just makes you a scary cold murderous bitch."

Fay laughed despite herself. "I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"Yeah, well, don't think I'll make a habit of it or anything." She offered a hand. "Esmeralda Iurian, former slave and self-centered cunt. I'm not much for listening, but I can stick a knife in someone if it'll help."

"Fayette Ceryillia," she replied, shaking the offered hand. "Former Paladin Aspirant, former slave, and cold, murderous bitch." She made a show of looking around. "And if Muhyadeen calls me 'your grace' one more time, I may take you up on that offer."


"It is a pleasure to meet you, Kiyone," Yusuf said with a formal bow. "And our crews have been saying that for the past two weeks, now."

"Only when you emerged from her cabin," Senzang corrected. "So you haven't heard it that frequently."

"Shut up," Yusuf said absently, before turning his attention back to Kiyone. "We can't stay long, I'm afraid. We have offended the Evening Star Rising In Scorpio, and..."

"We do not fear Rudain, here," Kiyone responded. "We..."

"Are fools, then," Yusuf shot back.

"Are warded by ancient prayers and blessings laid down centuries before the demons ruled al-Nishir," Kiyone continued, not acknowledging his outburst. "Defenses crafted by priests of Edana and Afodisia and Moressa, by the faithful of Ilivia and Iluviar, and Kormoth and Solon and many more." She gave him a challenging look. "This isle cannot challenge the power of the demons, but even the Veiled Whisper cannot set foot here."

Yusuf looked over the harbor, then turned and stared out to sea. "We embarrassed the Rising Star," he repeated. "Before his entire kingdom. Can your wards withstand an army of men?"
 
Aurelia cringed in guilt as Yusef laid out exactly what the danger was. Not just for them, but for everyone who helped them. They may have escaped the jaws of defeat, just to spread the death and destruction much further and wider. Given the choice, she wouldn’t have asked their crews to come to their aid, but they had. The only option was moving forward, and to move forward they needed a plan. The needed breathing room. And they was why they were here.

Kiyone remained unfazed by Yusef’s calculation. “They’d have to land first,” She asserted, sharing her brother’s infuriating serenity. “Come, everyone else is resting at the temple, and has been awaiting your arrival for a few days now.”

The temple sat at the base of the mountain, built into the stone in harmony with the natural surroundings. It was massive and ancient, a physical representations of the powerful and primeval wards that protected it. Aurelia had been here dozens of times in the past five years, and it still caught her breath to gaze upon it’s immensity, it’s artistry. It filled her with the knowledge that there were things greater than mere humans, or even the demon lords, that had shaped everything. Within, priests and priestess were doing chores, but several came up to Aurelia to greet and hug her as she moved through the hall.

Passing by several large, open rooms, the remaining crew of the Siren were resting or eating or relaxing. If yusef was right (and he often was) they wouldn’t have much more time for peace, so it was good for them to get it while they could.

Finally they arrived in the main ceremony room, adorned with red and golden silks hanging from the walls, devoted to one God or another. In the center, there was a banquet of fish prepared a dozen different ways, as well as rice and noodles in broth. A modest, and hearty feast. “Eat, rest and relax. If Rudain does come with an army of men, they come not today. And you will need your strength to face them if they do,” Kiyone reasoned, her logic sound. She took her place at the head of the table, beside Aurelia who sat beside Yusef, and poured tea into ceramic cups.

“The winds say that Hydranes, and her dread dragon fell,” Kiyone mentioned, casually once the group began to eat.

“That winds say that?” Aurelia asked, with skepticism in her voice.

“If you care to listen to it, you can hear the song of liberation in the air.”
 
Yusuf accepted the meal gracefully, tucking in with enthusiasm. Simple or not, it was good. And one thing he'd learned over the years was to never turn down free food. Mercenarying was hard work, after all, and you mever knew where your next meal was coming from. The fact that the delicately-spiced rice fish tasted good was just a bonus.

"Funny," Muhyaddeen remarked, looking around. "This isn't what I expected."

"Hm?" Yusef didn't bother to look up from his food. "What do you mean?"

"Temple of Edana, right?" The hard-eyed killer gestured around. "Figured there'd be porn on the walls, and more whores."

Yusuf rolled his eyes, but it was Fayette who spoke up. "There's more to Edana than you think. She's the Maiden of Pleasure, not the Madame of Prostitutes."

"So...?" Mihyaddeen prompted.

"So there are other kinds of pleasure than sex," she filled in.

Muhyaddeen scratched his head, considering that. "So, for example, she's in charge of the boner I get when I kill someone?"

Esmeralda choked on her rice. Fayette slapped her on the back until the coughing subsided. "I think I'll let the priestess field that one," she decided.

“The winds say that Hydranes, and her dread dragon fell,” Kiyone mentioned.

Yusuf looked up sharply at that. "What?" he asked, in time with Aurelia's “That winds say that?”

"If you care to listen to it," Kiyone replied, "you can hear the song of liberation in the air."

"Hydranes?" Igama questioned, scooping up more rice.

"The Demon Lord of Torment," Fayette answered. "But... how? She was..."

"Rumors and whispers," Kiyone answered. "The winds sing of the wrath of the Godslayer. Merchants speak of a divine avatar of the Lady of War, armed with a golden spear."

"And drunkards see elephants," Yusuf sneered, "and madmen proclaim themselves gods". He snorted. "The Lords of Hell are too powerful to fall to the might of men, and the gods have abandoned us."

"They haven't!" Unexpectedly, it was Esmeralda who spoke up. Seated next to her, Fayette tried to hide behind her bowl. "You escaped the arena - we all escaped Rudain! How else..?"

"You said it yourself," Yusuf replied. "We escaped. We escaped. We defeated nothing, and the best the gods could do was lend Fay enough strength to aid us. If the gods still have power, why do they permit Hell to rule the earth?"
 
Kiyone looked over Yusef, patience in her composure “It is not our place to question the Gods in their wisdom. What can a human mind comprehend of eternity and infinity? Besides, you said yourself, the Gods granted her the power to resist and fight back against the demons. The Gods empower their faithful to fight back, if they had the courage to do so.”

Yusef, hit on the argument that caused Aurelia to leave Korikinou in the first place. Slavery had left Aurelia with a bitter taste in her mouth, and a bitter view of the world. Cynical and faithless, unable to trust anyone. Hardened by what she had experienced and what she had seen, she shared Yusef’s derision for the divine. Breaking her bondage has strengthened Kiyone’s faith somehow. Proof the Gods were still watching over them.

What about those who died that day? Where the Gods then? Aurelia merely sighed, a dozen arguments past playing through her mind. “How long have the Paladins been fighting the demons head on? After a century or two it seems to me they’d have more than the one victory. Perhaps a millennia from now they will finally get around to liberating the Jeweled Archipelago from the whisperer in the shadows, may her gaze not fall upon me.” Aurelia charged, tracing the rim of her tea cup.

“It is proof that even demon lords can fall, a symbol of hope for the entire world.” Kiyone answered, finger laced together.

“You could find hope if anything, if you were looking hard enough.”

“And you’ll never find it anywhere, if you refuse to look.”

“I see the word as it is. I see the horror that demons and humans bring against one another. I charge you to find a ship filled with tiny starving children, awaiting lives as slaves or sacrifices, and tell me the Gods give a damn about us.”

“Aurelia, we escaped that and–“

“No, not like what we went through, Ki. Nothing like what we went through. Young children, uninitiated by adulthood. Crammed into every available inch of the Clooney. Left to wallow in their shit and piss and cry silently in their hunger. I dare you, go out into the world, where you have to come face to face with that, and tell me the Gods watch over us.” Aurelia barked, barely restraining the rage in her voice. There were several quiet moments filled with tension before the priestess responded.

“You found them. You, who knew an ounce of their pain and fear, Aurelia. You, who could save them, and wouldn’t stop until you found them a safe place. That you were the one who came upon them, is proof enough to me that the Gods watched over them,” she reasoned.

“So, now even the sacrifices and difficult choices I have made are credited to the Gods? That’s fair,” Aurelia scoffed, setting down her utensils in a huff.

“It’s not about diminishing what you’ve done, it about recognizing that you were in a place to do it at all. We all have our role, and we can all be instruments of the Gods’ wills.”
 
Yusef laughed, then poured Aurelia a cup of wine. "You aren't going to win this one," he chuckled, handing it to her. "I've talked to more priests tyan I can count, and they have a way of twisting things around so that they're right. No matter what." He winked at Kiyone. "No offense."

"Oh, none taken," she replied with a dismissive gesture. "I've grown accustomed to the stubbornness of those who lack faith."

"We're not all as bad as all that, Captain," Senzang added.

Kiyone gave him a quizzical look. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Senzang here," Yusef declared, "is - along with so many other things - an ordaned priest of... Beltar?" He pronounced the last word tenatively, unsure of it.

"Baaltecer," Senzang corrected. "The..."

"Baaltecer?" Kiyone repeated, eyes wide. "Baaltecer Fire-Lord? The fallen god? The Lord of Hell?"

Senzang shook his head. "Indeed not. Baaltecer is the Lightbringer. He stole fire - the gifts of knowledge and wisdom - from the gods and gave them to man. And for that gift, he was chained by the gods." The older man shook his head sadly. "He doesn't rule Hell. He is its first prisoner."

"Hang on," Fayette interrupted. "I'm really rusty on my theology, but I was taught that Baaltecer is the bastard son of Thandes and Afodisia. And that he wanders the realms driven by curiousity."

Yusef poured himself a new drink as well. "Brace yourself," he whispered to Aurelia. "The only thing worse than arguing with a priest is listening to priests argue."
 
“At first, there was one perfect consciousness, existing in all places at all times, Akkyo. Unchanging, immutable, and all encompassing. While traversing the realms, they came into contact with the primodial chaos, which was almost exactly a perfect opposite of them. Ever changing, shifting, creating new life unlike any before it. This contact broke Akkyo into two parts, Athera and Thandes. Two halves of the whole, perfect opposites of one another. Athera and Thandes tried to reform back into Akkyo, again and again, but instead of becoming one, they became many. From their union came six gods. Afodisia, Besheba, Moressa, Verdan, Malover, and Akhimin. Each new god took a fragment from their parents, diluting Akkyo into smaller and smaller parts.

"Thandes would not stop, trying to reform Akkyo through his daughters. Afodisia begat him Edana, Hemares, Illisia and Baaltecer. Moressa, who eventually replaced Athera as his wife, begat Peresth, Lilacias and Devisat.

"From there the gods paired off among themselves, creating the angels and eventually humans. Afodisia and her brother husband Malover bore Baath Me’el and Hydranes, Angels of Passion and Mercy before they fell. Besheba and Akimin bore the muses and furies. Their first-born son, Vaebahl, angel of judgment lead his brother and sister in rewarding and punishing the first mortals. Eventually, all of Akkyo’s remnants were spread among their children, a pantheon of Gods and angels.

"Thandes could still recall having been Akkyo, and the perfection of form. He blamed Chaos for the fracturing, and believed if he could tame chaos, he could once more absorb his children and reform back into Akkyo once more. Thus, started the Dragonfall wars. They raged for Eons, threatening to sunder the earth and heavens. Would have, if it were not for Afodisia, who reached out to Verrier, the Godslayer. He had killed her brothers, her husband, her children, but she had known that many more would fall before her would. The Heavens would have been a ruin of its former glory. So, she made peace, marrying Verrier to signify a truce between Gods and dragons.

"Thandes, however, refused to give up, and rallies the angels to continue the fight. The angels, after all, had been the hardest hit in the dragon fall wars, dying in scores and droves. Retreating into Hell, Thandes continues to plot the demise of the last dragons. Afodisia and Verrier together stopped him, but his death ripped a hole between realms, that allowed the fallen angels, who had by then become twisted and corrupt versions of themselves, to travel into the mortal realm.” Kiyone spoke, relishing the opportunity to talk on the subject. Everyone stared at her as her lecture went on and on, but she hardly noticed until she had finished, feeling their gaze upon her as she sipped from her tea. Embarrassed laughter followed, as she rubbed her neck,

“I just spent the last few months reading through a dozen mythologies to piece this all together, and create a family tree for the heavens. It was a massive undertaking, that I just recently finished. Would…would anyone care to see? It’s in the library.” She stood now, taking the dirty plates and utensils from the guests, before leading the way, “Of course, if anyone would rather rest, I can show you to the rooms we had prepared, they are in the same direction.”

As everyone filed out of the room, Aurelia pulled Yusef back, “If you want, I can show you to the Library later. I was really hoping to get a chance to soak in the hot springs and, well, I was really hoping you’d join me.”
 
"I'm sure Senzang will be in there all night," Yusef laughed. "But me? I checked out in her explanations around the time she started talking abiut Yakko or whatever it was. And the hot springs sound a whole lot better to me than more of that."

He and Aurelia trailed along at the rear of the little group, watching the interactions of the joint crew with amusement. Gwynn and Kaarim weren't part of it, of course. They hadn't even bothered to show up for dinner and were probably fucking wildly at this very moment. Senzang was talking animatedly with Kiyone, eagerly debating some boring point of religious dictrine or another, and Igama was just checking out her silk-wrapped ass. Esmerelda and Fayette - a friendship he would never have seen coming, were jabbering away in the barbaric northern language they both shared, and Seith was watching one (maybe both) of them with a longing gaze that made him resemble a kicked puppy.

Aurelia tugged his hand, leading him off along a decorated side-passage. He followed after, feeling a strange, delicious thrill of doing something forbidden. Strange, because he knew the whole crew knew he was fucking Aurelua, and because he doubted that a priestess of Edana would care what he planned. Still, the feeling that he was ditching the crew and slipping off for a bout of sex in a...

A...

"Well, this is not what I expected."

The hot springs were an open air garden, steaming pools of water nestled in rocky pools, screenedby trees and bamboo. Lounging couches and low tables of wicker were scattered around. At the center stood a sculpture of a voluptuous nude woman, hand extended. The goddess Edana, watching iver her worshippers. As he watched, several acolytes of both sexes approached. "Greetings," one of them - an olive skinned woman with hip-length black hair - said, bowing. "I am Tessa, Handmaiden of the Shrine. High Priestess Kiyone instructed us to show every hospitality to her guests."

As she spoke, one of the shrine maidens began unbuttoning his shirt. Meanwhile, a tall shrine acolyte began unfastening Aurelia's clothes, slinging them over his briad shoulders as he did. "Would you bathe first?" Tessa asked. "Or would you prefer massage with scented oils?"
 
Aurelia giggled at the shocked expression on Yusef’s face as he looked over the hot springs, and at the attendants in particular. He had said he’d wanted to fuck her in front of everyone, wanted an audience to their passion. All she was doing was holding him to his word. And after spending the past two weeks getting her brains fucked out from every angle, she was beginning to get sore in muscles she’d forgotten she even had. “I could really go for a massage.”

She recognized Tessa, of course. They had been together on the Sinner’s Delight. And Liandra, the dark-skinned dancer, whom she had brought over here last year. The almond skinned man was not someone she recognized, so he must have been new. She did recognize the tattoo on his wrist, a mark he had gotten from the Sons of the Scorpion, who marked all their slaves that way. He was tall and thin, nearly as thin as her. Handsome enough, but he didn’t quite get her blood pumping the way Yusef did. Though she expected most people would have difficulties competing with the reincarnation of her late husband.

Still, she let the attendants strip her down and laid on her stomach on lounge chair. Smooth, strong hands spread oil over her skin, and Aurelia sighed at the sensation. “Really dig in there,” she instructed, eyes closed as she allowed herself to cast off the burden of leadership for a little while.

“You’re so tense,” the priest noted, knuckles kneading lower back muscles. He worked down, hands ghosting over flanks before resuming their work on her thighs. “Even here.” Aurelia moaned.

“I am. I need this.”

“Allow me to loosen you up some, then.”

She laughed, opening her eyes to meet Yusef’s gaze. “Not too much. I wouldn’t want anyone thinking I was sloppy.”
 
Yusef snorted. "Oh, I think we've already - ow! - established that. Aagh!"

"You have some real tension in your back," Lilandra observed, thumbs dogging into muscle. "Do you need me to be gentler?"

"Yeek. No, no, probably - ow - not," Yusef decided, eyes watering as she worked his back. He lay on the lounge, grunting and tensing his fists for a hile, before slowly beginning to relax. Finally, he managed a contented sigh. "This is not what I'd planned when I came here," he confessed sith a chuckle, "but by the gids this is nice."

Lilandra, whi was now massaging his thigh, laughed at that. "Edana is goddess of many pleasures, not just the carnal ones."

"I've heard that, yeah," Yusef grunted.

Lilandra slapped his ass. "Oh, stop that!" she remonstrated playfully.

"Hey, that stung!" Yusef bitched, somewhat playfully as well. "What about your sermon on pleasure?"

"It was an observation, not a sermon," Lilandra corrected with a f,giggle. "And who said all the pleasures have to be yours? Roll over."

"Uhm... well..." Yusef hesitated, then complied. As he did, his erect cock rose into the air like a flagpole.

"Many kinds of pleasure," Lilandra repeated, rubbing his thighs. "The pleasures of good food and good company. The pleasure of cool sheets on a warm evening, or a hot bath in the chill of winter. The pleasure of time spent quietly with loved ones." She glanced sideways to where Benani was massaging Aurelia, shifting a little to make sure she had an unobstructed view. Then, lowering her head, she ran her tongue up the length if Yusef's shaft. "And yes, the oleasures if the flesh," she smiled as he gasped, before swallowing the head if his cock.



"Certainly not sloppy," Benani assured Aurelia. "Not with muscle tone like this." His hands worked over her lower back, finding a knot of muscle and kneading it before setting to work on her rear. "So many sailors, I've found, neglect their bidies. They exercise only what must be exercised."

He chuckled as Yusef's outraged cry was heard along with the crack of Lilandra's hand on his rear. "Don't worry," he said with a smile, as his hands went to work on one thigh. "I rarely slap. Unless asked to, that is." Falling silent, he watched Lilandra out of the corner of one eye, nodding as the dark-skinned woman swallowed Yusef's dick. As she did, his fingers slid lower and forward, tracing Aurelia's pussy lips and theen parting them. "There's some tension here," he observed with a studied air of professionalism as a finger slowly pushed into her walls. "I'll need to do some work..."
 
Liandra watched Yusef’s eyes and expression as she swallowed his thick meat, pulling off to lather the shaft in her saliva. Long, lingering licks, from base to head, letting the pleasure become unbearable, before opening lips wide to wrap full lips around him. Spit slick lips rolled over the veins and bulges, a slow, savoring rhythm that drew out the erotic act.


Aurelia was melting into her chair as Benani worked her over. Fuck, she had really needed this. Had she fully shed the weight of her death sentence before now? The weight of Rudain’s obsession, or the weight of her own denied desire for Yusef? There was still danger waiting for them, beyond the horizon, but for now, everything was fine. She was safe, her people were safe, and Yusef was hers. Did she really need anything else right now?


Naturally her gaze turned towards Yusef, his delightful figure glistening with oils. But she watched with hunger and perhaps a touch of jealousy as Liandra sucked his cock. Not that she hadn’t gotten enough chances in indulge on the trip here, but truthfully, she knew it’d never be enough to sate her longing for Yusef. Benani distracted her from that jealousy, teasing her eager sex with a strong, slender finger. She answered his remarks with a moan, spreading herself open to invite him in.

One fingers pushed into her depths, and then another, fitting exquisitely inside her. “Goddess…” she sighed, hips bucking into his motions. Her cunt took two fingers with a moist sucking sound, echoing the sounds Liandra made as she slurped on Yusef’s cock. Aurelia’s cries parroting her lover’s, building and growing in unison.



Liandra pulled off Yusef’s meat to breath for a moment, a slick string of spit drooling from her chin to the tip of him. The air was cold on his rigid rod for but a moment, as Tessa joined from the other side of him. Half of his length burired between her cheek in a single motion, bobbing her way down his shaft. Liandra moved lower as his cock was occupied, fondling his balls before sucking one between slobbery lips.
 
Yusef moaned softly, enjoying the look and feel of the two priestesses as they savired him. They weren't as skilled or as lovely as Aurelia, but few women were. And they were still quite skilled, and quite beautiful, and still felt amazing on his dick. "Weren't.. weren't you just... explaining... that Edana wasn't..." He gasped, losing his remark as Tessa's tongue slithered up his shaft.

"No," Lilandra corrected gently, nipping his inner thigh. "I was explaining that she was the goddess of all pleasures. Not just the flesh."

Tessa shifted, taking his meat in the soft valley between her bressts. "But certainly she is goddess if thise pleasures as well," she smiled, as Lilandra poured a sweet-scented oil over her chest. She began to move, stroking his cock in her cleavage. "And those pleasures, freely offered, are a delight to her."



Benani worked methodically, working a third finger into Aurelia's dripping sex. Tgey plunged in and out with a gentle rhythm, slowly building speed as her sounds of pleasure grew. "You honor me," he murmured, bending sliggtly and biting the firm curve of her ass. "As your lover honirs the priestesses."

He turned the table, keeping his fingers buried in her as he did, granting her a clearer view. Lilandra, her bare body glistening with mire if the oil, was straddling Yusef's chest and moaning as his rough hands gripped her rearcand his tongue filled her slit. His cock jerked up and down between Tessa's slippery tits, and from time to time Likandra caught the head with her dark lios and sucked it hungrily.

Benani's free hand slid beneath Aurelua's belly, angling her hips upward as he continued finger-fucking her. "Does the sight please you? The sight of his pleasure?" As he spoke another acolyte approached, a colossal man with no clothing to hide his glossy ebon skin or the towering erection that rose befire him. Wordlessly he gripped it, offering it to Aurelia.

"Shall we pleasure you more?" Benani murmured, letting his own cock rub against the slick lips. "Shall we annoint you with offerings to Edana?"
 
Was it possible to make a man getting sucked off by two women jealous? Aurelia wasn’t sure, but she intended to try, at least. She hummed in approval as Benani’s suggestion, grinding ass and slick nether lips against him, “Yes. Anoint me. Bless me until I can take no more pleasure.”

With that she reached towards the new man, another freed slave from the Sons, she suspected. Slender fingers gripped his shaft, drawing him closer, close enough to taste, to breathe in his masculine scent. While it lacked Yusef’s musky appeal, a scent that had been mingled with hers more and more as of late, it was exotic and exciting, and she was already peaking her tongue out to trace along veins. The new man, who hadn’t even spoken to her yet, gathered her hair in a fist, guiding her closer still, his iron rod twitching form the sensation of a soft tongue teasing it.

From behind Benani showed her equal teasing, dragging the tip of her cock over her slit, pressing against her clit and along the opening. “Edana teaches us that, in giving pleasure, do we receive it,” he reminded her, instructed. So she opened her mouth to the thick black cock before her, and felt her lips spread over another from behind. Moaning against the cock on her tongue, while rocking her hips back to take more of Benani. Hands explored the firm physique of the new man, His dark, velvet skin tone glistening in the sun light of late afternoon.



Liandra sucked on the head of Yusef’s cock, smothering her own face in Tessa’ luscious tits while Yusef in turn licked her. Pleasure was meant to be shared, and there was plenty to go around. So she kissed Tessa as she came off Yusef, letting her fellow priestess taste the precum on her tongue. Once the kiss broke, and Tessa tasted Yusef in turn, Liandra toyed with her breasts, taking a nipple in her mouth as they caressed and massaged Yusef’s cock.

“Should I ride this cock?” Tessa asked, tongue running along the mushroom ridge of the head.

“I don’t know. Doesn’t Captain Aurelia have poor taste in men?” Liandra chided, joining Tessa in licking him.

“Occasionally. But they usually are good for this,” Tessa decided, kissing Liandra along his cock once more, before getting up. Her outfit was scant, and did not impend her as she climbed up his thighs, to bury his meat within her silken folds. “Hmm, Captain Aurelia does have good taste in cock.”
 
If he'd been asked when he awoje what his plans for the day were, Yusef knew he wouldn't have answered "fuck two gorgeous women while watching Aurela take two men at once." Not that he would have been opposed to the idea, mind. It was just that, in the past few weeks, neither of them had been of a mind to share. But he'd caught the look in her eye as the two priestesses had started in in him, and he'd had to smile at it. She wanted him to watch her take them. Wanted to watch him have the two prietesses.

He gasped as Tessa sank around him, gripping his cock with her skilled, silken folds. Tyen he gave her a feral, hungry grin. "Oh, she has excellent taste in cock," he assured her, running his hands over her milky curves. "But you can tell that already, can't you?"

"Rather... full of... yourself," Tessa gasped as he cupped her heavy breasts, pinching her nipples through the thin silk. "Aren't you?" She began flexing her thighs, rising and fallng on his thick meat, only to gasp aloud as Yusef's hips lifted. Her gasps became a moan as he fucked upwards, hard enough to lift her knees entirely off the couch, and she gripped his shoulders to steady herself.

"No," Yusef laughed, turning his head slightly to see Aurelia's reaction. "You are."



Benani pressed against Aurelia's slit, the blunt head of his cock slowly parting her lips. Responding to the backward thrust of her bidy he gripped her hips, controlling the pace if his entrance. "No need for hurry," he assured her, nails biting into her dusky skin and cock barely within her. "Edana is a patient goddess, and receives her offerings in due time."

The ebon skined man still said nothing, wordlessly sighing as Aurelia's hands played over his firm, glossy flesh and her skilled mouth explored his iron-hard shaft. His own hands played over her face, stroking her arched neck and tangling in her long, curly hair. His hips moved smoothly, sliding his meat in and out across her scarlet lips, respnding to the wordless demands of her touch as he increased his pace. His testacles slapped against her chin with every movement, and he groaned as he felt her throat stretch around his head.

Benani was patient, allowing the thrusts of the nameless ebon giant to slowly impale her on his shart. He ran his hands over her ass and lower back, letting his nails rake tiny white lines on her skin. Then his hips began to move in time with the man in her mouth, filling her from both ends. "Edana," he moaned as he slammed into her. "Oh, fuck... Edana..."
 
Aurelia nearly choked on the cock in her mouth at Yusef’s quip, her entire body struggling for air. A feat made more difficult by the two men fucking her, enjoying the seizing of her body. Still, far from distressing her, the sensation of lightheadedness seemed to make everything feel more intense, make her want this deep fucking all the more.

Soon, the three of them moved in rhythm, Aurelia letting Benani pushed her down the Black man’s cock, and swaying hips back as she gasped for air. Taking both men, as much as she could, as much as they could give her. Fuck, it was hot and it felt amazing. The only thing that could have been hotter was having Yusef as well. A thought that drove her wild on the cocks within her. A thought made hotter by Tessa’s moans, knowing she was getting off on that thick dick too. A thought that inspired her, chasing her pleasure back and forth between the two men that had her.


Liandra stood beside Yusef and Tessa. One hand trailing down Tessa’s spine, causing her to arch her back and stick those heavy breasts out. The other hand traces the smooth muscles on Yusef’s chest, glistening in the late afternoon sun by the scented oils. Tessa maintained her pace, aided by Yusef, and his exquisite thrusts. Filling her soaking and stretched slit with all of him. A union of “too much” and “not enough.”

Liandra’s hand journeyed down the spine, and arrived at the destination of Tessa’s full ass, smacking it playfully. Still, Tessa rode Yusef, bouncing along his thick column with enthusiastic delight. Liandra continued to tease her, palming the fat ass until fingers slid between buttocks, finding an unoccupied hole. Tessa groaned, slightly disrupted from fucking Yusef as the darker women worked the finger in.

Now Liandra was focusing her attention on Tessa, fingering her ass in time with Yusef’s thrusts up into her, and stroking her clit. “He feels good inside you, doesn’t he?”

“Yes!” Tessa gasped out, her motions becoming desperate and erratic as her arousal grew

“You wanna cum on him, don’t you?”

“Fuck yes. Oh, Edana please,” Tessa cried out, nails biting into Yusef’s shoulders as her bliss become immense.

“Your pleasure honors our Goddess, and she looks upon you now. Show her your devotion.”

“E…Edana! Oh, Goddess!!!” Tessa praised, head thrown back as her body tightened, gripping Yusef’s cock like the euphoria gripping her mind.



Aurelia was moaning now too, humming along the meat fucking her face. Spit slick lips sliding up and down a spit slick shaft, letting her nameless lover set his own pace. A pace that quickened as his fingers fisted in her hair. She could tell he was close, growing thicker and harder in her mouth, her own body shuddering in response. Tessa’s erotic cries played lovely background to their carnal acts, driving all three closer to release.

Aurelia could take no more, wrapping her arm around the man before her, directing him into her throat with a handful of his ass. Unable to pull out, his cum poured from him, shot down her throat in thick streams. Her own climax flowed close behind, swallowing his cum in time with the squeezing of her core muscles.

Benani howled his rapture as she held him fast inside her, leaving him nowhere to go but deeper within her, stretching her far wall to release his elation within her.
 
Yusef bit his lip, gasping at the feel of Tessa's orgasm and the sight of the two acolytes getting off on his woman. As the priestess riding his cock shrieked her pleasure and milked his meat, and as Aurelia moaned her pleasure at the two cocks filling her, it was difficult not to cum himself. Difficult, but he managed it. Because he had an idea.

Tessa gasped as his hands gripped her full ass, easily lifting her up and down on his cock. "We're not done," he tokd her, sitting up and then standing up. Tessa moaned, arms and legs wrapping around him. He turned his head to watch Aurelia as she ckeaned the last of the glistening oearls of cum from the black man's dick, and as Benani slowly slipped from her depths. Then, as she watched, he began using Tessa to fuck himself, miving her dripping slit up and down his shaft. He felt hiscown irgasm building, felt his cock thickening.

Tessa gasped as he lifted her off his dick, leaving it slick and glistening as he set her down, then pushed her to her knees. She opened her mouth, noisily sucking her juices from his meatas he gripped a fistfull of her hair and moaned aloud, then moaned again as Lilandra joined in. Then, throwing his head back, he roared his pleasure as cum erupted from his cock. The first stream shot down Tessa's throat, but he glanced at Aurelia and pulled out. Another spray of cum splashed across her face and then Lilandra gripped his dick and aimed it, paintig Tessa's tits with ropy pearls of cum and causing the filmy giwn she wore to cling to her curves.

"Now," Lilandra purred, running her tongue over his dripping head, "can you get hard fir me? Or do I have to get some toys out and fuck the captain to get something hard in me?"
 
“Maybe I want to fuck you,” Aurelia growled, prowling towards Liandra then. Liandra half turned to smirk at her, at her request, taunting her with the sight of her lips wrapped around Yusef’s cock. Aurelia’s fist wrapped in Liandra’s hair, pulling the other woman off Yusef and bring her in for a deep, hungry kiss. Strands of saliva bridged their lips as Aurelia pulled away, holding Liandra fast as her turned attention to Yusef. Tasting another woman’s pleasure on his cock, while another man’s pleasure lingered on her tongue.

While Aurelia and Liandra shard Yusef’s cock, licking and sucking him back to hardness, Tessa had retrieved an implement for them to use. A glass toy, curved in a wide U shape. Smirking, Aurelia took it, and sighed as she fit it inside her. She let the other end brush against Liandra’s thighs as she pulled the priested into another kiss, savoring the taste of Yusef’s cum on her mouth. Then, without warning, she pushed Liandra down, crawling over her sprawled body. Dark bodies intertwined, as breasts flattened into breasts and thigh forced thighs open. Grinding against Liandra’s soaking slit, Aurelia managed to push the ridged tip of the glass phallus inside her, and then drove the rest of the shaft into with hungry force.

“Fuck!” both women cried, almost simultaneously. Fucking Liandra hard with the toy forced it harder within her own slit, exquisite rough pressure driving her mad. “Hard enough for you?” Aurelia teased, biting at Liandra’s lips. She rocked back and forth on hands and knees, craving this hard pounding she was giving, and receiving, to the priestess.

Liandra responded by grabbing a handful of Aurelia’s ass, pulling her even deeper into her depths,” It is now.”

Meanwhile, Benani and the other priest pulled Tessa into the hot spring, kissing her, and cleaning her off.
 
For a brief time Yusef was content to simply watch, stroking his stiff cock as Aurelia fucked Liandra deep and hard. He knew she was sexy as hell, and that she was a mind-shatteringly good lay. But watching her on her hands and knees, driving the glass cock deep into the both of them as she straddled Liandra? Watching Liandra grip Aurelia's ass and urge her to fuck harder as her hips rocked up against Aurelia? Well, it was just a visual reminder of just how fucking hot his woman was.

There was only so long he wanted to watch, though. Oh, sure, both of them would probably enjoy it if he just jerked off to them fucking. But he wanted more than that. So he moved to kneel behind Aurelia, resting his cum-slick meat against her ass as he reached forward to cup her heavy breasts. "Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked, rubbing against her as he teased her hard nipples with his fingers. "Did you enjoy watching me fuck the priestess while you were full of cock?" His teeth scraped over her back, biting hard enough to leave little red marks on her shoulders.

Beneath them both, Liandra moaned and gripped Aurelia's ass harder, fingers digging in for leverage as she lifted her shoulders from the ground. Her lips closed on Aurelia's breast, tongue running over Aurelia's firm nipple and Yusef's hard fingers. "Did it feel good?" he asked, biting the back of her neck. "You looked so fucking hot like that," he whispered, the length of his shaft running over her ass as he squeezed her nipples harder. "Fucking those two. You were showing off for me, weren't you?"

Liandara gasped, then pulled at Aurelia's cheeks. Feeling her spread wider, Yusef shifted. The blunt head of his thick cock pressed against the ring of muscle, coating it with the remaining traces of his and Tessa's cum and with Aurelia's saliva. In time with Aurelia's thrusts on her glass toy he pushed into her, groaning as he felt the tight muscle stretch over his head and down his shaft. Then he held himself in place, feeling the glass against his dick through the thin wall of flesh and muscle. "You feel so fucking good on me," he groaned, biting at her ear. "Now, should I use you to fuck the hot little whore beneath you? Or do you want to fuck us both at the same time?"
 
Yusef’s hard body was a delicious counterpoint to LIandra, as he pressed her tighter against her. Had, calloused fingers contrasting with soft lips and a hot tongue.

"Fucking those two. You were showing off for me, weren't you?"

“I wanted you to get jealous,” She moaned, grinding her ass against his meat, soaking him in her juices and the cum of a man who her first. “At least a little. Inspire you into a hard, possessive fucking in retribution.”

He didn’t respond, except to push into her ass, forcing her to take his thick meat in the tight hole. She was still as he filled her, but Liandra wasn’t, thrusting up into her, keeping the rhythm. Aurelia whimpered, shuddered, digging fingers into Liandra’s shoulders as the sensations grew intense.

"Now, should I use you to fuck the hot little whore beneath you? Or do you want to fuck us both at the same time?"

“Fuck her into me,” Linadra groaned, losing her grip a bit as sweat was forming on Aurelia. She was able to reclaim it as Yusef’s thrust drove Aurelia even closer to her, harder on the toy inside both of them. It was a few more thrusts between Liandra and Yusef before Aurelia was relaxed enough to take them easier, but soon she was moving with them. Along and against them, craving the feeling of her body stuffed full of cock. Or cock-like objects, anyways.

It took a bit of effort, to coordination a pace between th3e three of them, but they made it work. Liandra and Aurelia especially, fucking each other hard, enjoying the way this angle caused the ridged toy to rubbed against their clits. Each women greedy for her orgasm, greedy for each other’s orgasm, and taking advantage of the fact that Yusef had just cum, so he would be nice and thick and hard for awhile now. LIandra reached it first, seizing as eyes rolled back into her head. Aurelia took that sigh as a challenge, fucking her hard, encouraging Yusef to fuck harder. Wanting to fuck the priestess through her climax, but Yusef hilted himself in her colon, the sensation of fullness was incredible, overwhelming her in exquisite waves, “Yusef!”
 
Yusef's weight bore down in Aurelia, driving her deeper onto the glass shaft as his thick meat filled her ass. "Gods but you're a hot fuck," he grunted, hands squeezing her breasts as he fucked her. Lilandra's cries of rapture brought a smile to his face and then he picked up his pace. His cock pounded into her, rubbing against the glass shaft with each thrust. "That's it," he whispered, teeth marking her skin as he felt her muscles clench around him. "Fucking cum on that hot little whore you're fucking. Use her to get yourself off in this thick cock."

Her body arched against his as she screamed his name, and he responded by digging his teeth into her shoulder. He heard her scream again as he bit with bruising force and drove his length into her colon, fucking her through her orgasm. When she finally collapsed atop Luandra, he was still hard and deep inside her.

Sounds of pleasure came from the pool, drawing Yusef's attention momentarily. Tessa was perched on the edge of the spring, her almond-colored skin pressed against Benani, hands gripping his shoulders and long legs wrapped around his hips and hooking around the ebon rear of the nameless priest. He gripped Benani's hip and Tessa's thigh, and his whole body flexed as he drove himself into Benani. Benani gasped with each thrust, using the forcevif the bigger man to drive into Tessa's depths.

Yusef turned his attention back to Aurelua, wrapping her long hair around his fistvand tugging her back to her hands and knees. "We're not done yet," he growled, his balls slapping against her slit as he pounded into her. "I'm going to use you to get off." He tugged harder, forcing her back to arch. "Should I fill this tight ass of yours? Want to feel my cum hot in your ass while you're still full of glass dick?"
 
The aggression in his voice made her orgasm even sweeter, more intense. Calloused finger, rough on her body, driving her mad. Biting her shoulder, nearly hard enough to draw blood (again), certainly hard enough to draw a gasping cry from her lips. She loved this. That struggle for dominance, for control. It didn’t matter if she won or lost. Triumph proved as arousing as surrender, taking him as pleasurable as being taken. The surge of adrenaline making each act of passion that much better.

So she obeyed his demands, on hands and knees beneath him, feeling him pound that ass. Loving when he was buried all the way inside her. Craving it, moving her hips to meet his, swallowing his fat cock each time he slammed into her. “Use me,” she growled, a sharp cry escaping her lips when he thrust into her again, even harder, “Use your Captain’s ass to get off. Take your pleasure from my body.”

"Should I fill this tight ass of yours? Want to feel my cum hot in your ass while you're still full of glass dick?"


She answered his questions with hungry grunts and growls, “Yes! Fucking...yes! Cum! Fucking… Cum in me” Liandra sat up now, pulling her into a kiss as she pushed back against Yusef’s strokes, matching his strength and power and need.
 
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