The Gauntlet Thrown - Lord Bent's Manor Vol. 2
Copyright© 2025 by Commissum
Chapter 10
Fantasy Sex Story: Chapter 10 - The second novel in the world of Lord Peter Bentencourt, an earth born magic user now living on the magical world of Kreven. Volume two continues after the events of the first novel, Fire and Ice. Beware, the ethics of Kreven are unlike those of Earth. Also, book one has a map of the Mirror Lake region.
Caution: This Fantasy Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Mind Control Lesbian Heterosexual Fiction Magic non-anthro DomSub Spanking Group Sex Cream Pie Masturbation Oral Sex Pregnancy Squirting Hairy Size
The weather the next morning proved to be favorable for boat travel: warm, partly cloudy, and with a slight breeze out of the east. This allowed the use of a sail to assist Klup’s rowing and help push Peter’s karakoa swiftly towards Lord Garl’s estate, which lay just over a mile to the northwest of Peter’s island. Peter sat relaxed at the rear of the boat, manning the tiller, while Miranda sat on the bench just in front of him. She looked serene as she returned his smile, clearly enjoying being out on the water on such a glorious day.
As they progressed further out onto the lake, Peter surveyed his holdings behind them. The island was showing signs of spring, with the guard trees along the beaches now in full bud, some even showing open leaves. The pine, fir, and spruce trees on the hillside further beyond were a healthy deep green despite the recent dry weather. In the clearing of the saddle, his manor’s west-facing windows sparkled from being washed only a few days ago.
Down near the southern point of the island, the grasses of the grazing meadows were greening in contrast to those portions with exposed, recently plowed, black soil. Northward, Hamm and Reed were visible working on the roof of the barn, busy replacing damaged wooden shakes. Peter observed the mind-altered slave and noted he had no trouble using a shingle hatchet to nail on the new material. Peter sighed in satisfaction before turning to face forward.
Bemilda stood in a striking pose on the main hull’s gunwhale next to the mast. The left hand of the athletic teen was gripping a shroud to support herself, while her right held a small harpoon at the ready. Peter smiled at the young woman’s beauty and vigor. Like Peter and Miranda, Bemi was dressed in a long-sleeved sailor’s shirt and trousers. Peter admired her form, as her curves filled out the tight-fitting shirt quite nicely. The girl’s trousers were too loose to cling properly to her sporty ass and Peter had to wonder if bringing tight-fitting blue jeans over from Earth would be worth the effort.
Before she had been taken from Earth, Bemi had been old enough to appreciate blue jeans, so bringing over a pair in her current size might please her be greatly. He then realized that his XO would surely love a pair as well. Maybe he could bring three pairs; two for the women and one to give to a tailor to attempt to reproduce the garment here on Kreven. The effort should be successful, as Kreven and Earth cotton were identical, and the blacksmiths here could easily duplicate the brass rivets. As he considered the zipper, he realized the jeans here would have to be button-fly. He made a mental note to discuss zippers with Miranda. Could the metalsmiths here duplicate them?
His blonde apprentice was busy scanning the close-in water between the two outriggers, keeping watch for lake devil rays, which, with the increasing water temperature, again became a concern for small craft like his. Peter had never actually had one of the predatory fish attack his boat, but he had seen them prowling close by on more than one occasion. Other boatmen had told tales of having lost inattentive crewmen to the rays, so he felt it prudent to keep watch just in case. Besides, the anxiety the young blonde was currently experiencing did wonders to curb her normally enthusiastic chatter.
Klup sat just ahead of the mast in the karakoa’s forward rowing position. The she-troll was resting at the moment, with her oars up out of the water and one paw holding her swollen belly. She was also watching the water, but more with curiosity than worry. If a devil ray attempted to pull the mountain troll underwater, it would have quite a fight on its hands.
Ahead of Klup were two canvas-wrapped crates. Peter was taking advantage of having been summoned to deliver his yearly payment of potions and tonics to Lord Garl. In exchange, Garl supplied Cursed Island with a barge-load of lump coal every three months, and, in the fall after harvest, a shipment of flour, cornmeal, and oats to help top off the island’s human and animal food reserves moving into winter.
“I wonder why Lord Garl has summoned you, Milord?” his XO asked quietly. “It’s too early for the yearly payment. Do you think he wants to negotiate a higher price?”
“That’s a possibility,” Peter replied. “Although, in fairness, I feel the current agreement does tip in our favor somewhat. I would not be opposed to increasing our payment slightly if he insists.”
“That’s only because coal prices were higher than normal this past season, Milord. And, you do pay him in advance and in sufficient quantity that he can sell some of the excess. That alone is worth a great deal to Lord Garl.”
“Lord Pete!” Bemi called out from her place by the mast. “If you have to renegotiate, I can flirt with Lord Garl and help keep the price down.”
Peter laughed, and even Miranda smirked as she rolled her eyes. He was surprised that Bemi had been able to hear them. It was a good reminder that sound travels easily over water.
“Now there’s a thought,” he said more loudly. “I could lease Bemi’s services to old Garl! That ought to get us quite a bargain.”
Bemilda’s grin faded as his words sank in.
“Milord!” Miranda exclaimed. “Surely you’re not going to whore this apprentice out like you did the others?”
Peter looked down to catch his XO’s wink. Bless the woman for being quick-witted enough to join in on his teasing of his apprentice. Bemi now looked more than a little worried. He stared her down as if appraising her worth.
“Hmm ... on second thought, maybe not,” Peter replied, stroking his chin as if considering. “Once Garl learned what Bemi is really like, he might cancel our deal completely.”
Miranda turned to face Bemi, as if also appraising the blonde. “Perhaps you are right, Milord.”
Bemi saw through their teasing when Peter was unable to suppress his grin. The teenager scratched her nose toward them using her middle finger and went back to watching the water.
“No,” he said, laughing, “I guess not. We’ll keep our new apprentice out of any bargaining.”
“I see movement at Lord Garl’s docks,” Miranda said.
The shore was still half a mile ahead, so Peter muttered a sight enhancement spell and focused his gaze. Garl’s harbor had three small docks protected by two short, pincerlike breakwaters. From their current location, only the north and center docks were visible. A barge was tied to the center, and, from the half-dozen basket-carrying workers scurrying about, it was in the process of being loaded. Also visible beside the docks was a short beach area with four small fishing rowboats partially pulled onto the sand. Two were undergoing repairs of some sort.
“Busy, busy,” he muttered. “It looks like they are loading a coal barge. At least Lord Garl’s coal mine continues to produce.”
“That’s reassuring,” Miranda replied. “What can you see of activity in his fields?”
Lord Garl’s lands had three main sources of revenue. The first was a coal seam, which produced fuel for Garl’s needs plus enough extra to fill over a dozen barges a year for sale elsewhere. The second source was his farming and grazing lands. Garl’s holdings consisted of about a square mile of tillable farmland and half that again of meadow pastures in the hills abutting the Sunset Range. The final source of significant revenue was from a toll bridge on the lightly used coastal road running south from Priam’s Cove and extending all the way down to Port Barth at the southern end of Mirror Lake.
Most of the cargo and traffic passing between Priam’s Cove and Port Barth used shipping on the lake, but some did go by land using roads on both the east and west shores. The western route crossing Garl’s lands was called the Coast Road and was only suitable for use by those on foot or horseback, or horse-drawn carriages and light wagons. It was also considered a somewhat safe route, being occasionally patrolled by the Order. The roadway was maintained by the lords of the lands it traversed, and, if there were bridges, higher tolls for upkeep were allowed to be charged, although the prices were kept reasonable by the Order. Still, as long as the bridges were not washed out too often, the tolls allowed a tidy profit.
Beyond those three sources of income, Miranda had once calculated that Garl’s lands had enough free timber to allow limited sustainable lumbering, although Lord Garl had never developed this resource beyond milling just enough lumber and firewood for his own use. These heavier stands of trees were also visible in the distant foothills, beginning well over a mile from the shore.
“The winter-sown hyseeth fields are greening nicely,” Peter finally answered, “and I see many teams of naroxen working the unplanted cropland. Garl’s villeins are busy today, taking advantage of the warm, dry spring day.”
“How big are his lands, Lord Peter?” Bemi asked.
“Lord Garl controls the land ahead of us from the lakeshore to the foothills of the Sunsets,” Peter replied, “a depth of about two miles.” He then pointed to a rock outcropping on the shore about half a mile to the northwest. “Do you see that rocky point?”
Bemi looked, then nodded.
“That’s the north boundary of his holdings, which runs almost directly east and west. North of that line, the smaller holdings are mostly controlled by wealthier families living in Priam’s Cove. Some keep summer homes on those lands, but most have sharecropper agreements with villeins or lease the farmland out.”
“The southern edge of Lord Garl’s holdings lies just beyond Blushing Creek, which you can see there,” Peter continued, pointing to a small stream inlet directly to their west. Lord Garl controls both sides of the stream, with the land boundary mostly paralleling the waterway a few hundred paces further south. You can see the stacked-stone fence boundary where it meets the lakeshore. Garl also owns and maintains the covered bridge over Blushing Creek, which you can just now see coming into view, as well as a grain-milling waterwheel further upstream.”
“Is Blushing Creek named that because of the stained water?” Bemi asked.
“Very good, Bemi,” Miranda answered for Peter. “Yes, the red-tinged water is from minerals leaching into the stream from metal deposits up in the Sunsets.”
“I thought the mines in the Sunsets were located mostly north of Priam’s Cove?” the teenager asked.
“All the Sunsets contain minable amounts of metal and minerals, Bemi,” Peter replied. “While you are correct that the richer deposits are located mostly to the north of Priam’s Cove, some mining does happen in the southern Sunsets as well, though most of these are located on the western side of the range.”
“Hamm said Lord Garl once had a working tin mine, but it became played out a few decades ago,” Miranda added.
“That, or Garl lacked the ability to recruit or keep hard-rock miner villeins,” Peter added. “His coal seam is mostly open-pit, after all, and even unskilled miners can shovel open coal. I think he does not want to pay the higher wages required to attract and keep deep-shaft miners like those working the northern mines. But Hamm is probably right about the tin mine, though, I’ve seen it.”
As they were Cursed Island’s closest neighbors, Hamm and Bella were friends with some of Lord Garl’s villeins and visited occasionally via boat. Lord Garl had almost a dozen villein families in total living on his lands. Miranda also surveilled Garl’s lands often over the past few years using her treasured Zeiss binoculars, which Peter had brought over from Earth. She had also often queried Hamm on other details of Garl’s household.
She had tallied seven families of Garl’s villeins tasked primarily with working the lands, maintaining the roads, and grazing the meadows. Two families fished and worked his barge, two families jointly worked the coal seam, and one family maintained Garl’s manor itself. All told, she had estimated Lord Garl maintained over fifty able-bodied villeins on his lands, although the number varied as seasonal workers were brought in or let go.
Klup resumed rowing, which increased their northwesterly pace. They were now about a quarter mile off from Lord Garl’s harbor, and Peter could now see the third dock come into view around the end of the closest stone jetty. There was a second, smaller barge tied to this dock, and Peter focused his enhanced sight again.
“There is a second, smaller barge being loaded with various crates and canvas-wrapped bundles,” he reported. “The laborers are wearing Garl’s house uniform, and there are two guards stationed on that dock keeping watch.”
“He must be shipping something valuable,” Miranda speculated.
Peter watched for another minute but found the activity on the second barge progressing very slowly, with the workers spending a great deal of time carefully stowing and securing each crate on board. As Peter altered course to bring the karakoa directly into the entry of Garl’s breakwaters, the guards on the dock took notice and began gesturing with concern.
“Bemilda, please raise my pennant,” he instructed. “I would think those guards would have been informed of our arrival today, but it is always nice to be polite.”
Bemi pulled the line to raise the pennant higher on the mast where it could be more easily seen. On the dock, one of the guards spoke to a laborer, who went trotting up the path leading inland. Garl’s manor was located away from the lake, almost at the center of his holdings, over half a mile inland. From their current location this near the shore, only the central tower of his main manor was now visible.
Peter guided the karakoa carefully so that it would enter the narrow breakwater opening at the proper perpendicular angle. Next, as the boat lacked a deep keel or a sizable rudder, he ordered Bemi to lower the sail to both slow them and lessen the chances they would be blown out of alignment by the variable breeze. Thankfully, their course remained true and the karakoa split the narrow gap in the breakwater quite nicely.
A guard yelled, and two of the workers from the coal barge dropped their baskets and hustled to the empty third dock to meet them. Peter instructed Klup to use her oars to bring the karakoa to a stop well short of the dock. He then had her rotate the boat in place so their stern faced the dock, and then backed them in. The dock was just narrow enough to fit between the main hull and port outrigger. Just before the karakoa bumped into the dock and rebounded, Peter tossed the man on the dock a line to help hold them in position.
When they were tied securely in place, Peter stood carefully. His leg was no longer splinted, but he was wary of bending or stressing the joint too much. Once standing, he helped Miranda make the long step off the corner of the boat and directly onto the dock. He then handed her the travel bag containing their formal robes before carefully stepping onto the dock himself.
Peter then directed Klup and Bemi to get the payment crates off the karakoa. Garl’s workers stepped back and let them do the task unassisted, likely nervous about the troll. They’d seen Klup before but still remained uncomfortable; but fortunately, aside from a few frowns, they kept any negative comments to themselves.
Miranda and Peter walked to the end of the dock where the two guards waited near the combination boathouse and guard shack. Peter noticed neither of the guards carried the trident of a magic user. Lord Garl, like the majority of Kreven’s population, didn’t possess magic. To compensate, he always employed at least two former battle wizards as guards and for magical protection. Those must have had duties elsewhere on the estate at the moment.
Inside the boathouse, Peter and Miranda stood on the narrow walkway next to Lord Garl’s ornate gondola and took turns helping each other change clothes. His XO left her trousers on under her formal robe, while Peter stripped completely out of the boating garb. He slipped on his formal robe, adjusting the front to keep just the top of Mohennial Sala’s gifted fire crystal amulet he wore around his neck visible.
Once properly robed, each donned a pair of stockings and sandals to complete the change. Peter noted Miranda had packed an extra pair of the footgear for Bemi. He grabbed those before repacking their sailing apparel in the bag for the return boat trip. They exited the boathouse just as Bemi approached, having finished unloading the karakoa.
“Klup is waiting in the boat,” his apprentice reported as she took the sandals from Peter. “She bedded down for a nap, and I reminded her of the smoked fish we brought for when she gets hungry.”
Peter thanked his apprentice then, noticed a horse-drawn buggy coming over the rise on the cobbled road that led to Garl’s manor. The buggy slowed at the crossroads of the Coast Road, and Peter noted a passenger seated behind the driver. This would likely be Lord Garl’s steward, Yonklin, or one of his other minions, coming to welcome them formally and to see them delivered safely to the manor.
They went to the turning circle to meet the buggy. The guard stationed there nodded politely. Peter had seen the man before but did not remember the guard’s name. Miranda apparently did and walked over to the man and began idly chatting.
As the buggy turned the final corner and arrived at the loading dock area, Peter realized the passenger was not the elderly steward Yonklin, but was in fact Lord Garl’s granddaughter. He had met the girl years ago but couldn’t quite remember her name—Isabel or something?
The granddaughter had been a young teenager at the time, and estimating the passage of time since that visit, Peter calculated the woman in the buggy must now be around twenty, at least a year or two older than his assistant. He noted Garl’s granddaughter was a beauty like Bemi, except with raven-black hair instead of blonde. His smile toward the woman went unreturned as the young woman kept a serious expression on her face as she appraised his party.
The buggy came to a stop, and Peter moved forward to offer his assistance, but the young woman didn’t wait and nimbly hopped down from the top step.
“Welcome, Lord Bentencourt,” she said in a cool manner.
“Um...” Peter began awkwardly.
Miranda stepped forward to save him. “Thank you for meeting us, Isorina,” she said, glancing at Peter with the slightest smirk.
Isorina offered her hand to Miranda, who took it before curtsying. Isorina then turned to Peter and offered her hand, which Peter took and kissed lightly. Lord Garl’s granddaughter was technically beneath him in rank, but it was still wise to be polite, as he was unsure of the man’s line of succession.
“It was kind of you to meet us in person, Isorina,” he said graciously. “We were expecting Lord Garl’s steward.”
“My Lord Garl has other duties for Yonklin,” Isorina replied after hesitating briefly.
Peter noticed that Isorina had looked worried for a moment. He wondered if Yonklin was ill or had simply grown too old to perform his normal duties. Hamm had expressed the same worry the night before. Garl would likely soon be in need of a new steward.