Chapter 10: Equipment

My Queen, Ciarra, will kill him.

Once he finished with me, nothing mattered. I was dead, in all but name. Little more than a walking corpse. My Queen changed everything. Tail wagging, I looked over my shoulder and smiled. Her eyes met mine and I shivered in fear. When she hunts me, I truly feel alive. Tonight, she’ll take me again. Her burning touch. Pain. Pleasure. It makes no difference. An overwhelming explosion of sensations emanating from My Queen will ravish my soul. With a quiet whimper, I shivered again, this time with lust.

Everyone stared at her. Flushing, I forced myself to face forward again. Shouldn’t that be impossible? How can covering an already perfect body be more sensual than nudity? The dress she designed exposed half her bosom, arms, legs, and half her back. Glimpses of her pale thigh flash through the slit in her skirt. Our skirts. Flush deepening at the reminder, ears flat against my head, I tried not to think about it. She wasn’t the only one people stared at. Most men, and some women looked like they had been poleaxed. People pointed, and a wave of conversation crested around us. Stopping myself from crawling into her arms to hide from the lascivious gazes around me, took all I had. Amazing. She truly doesn’t care.

Arriving at the shop, I all but clung to her legs. She stroked my head, and I melted against her. This shop focused on high end adventurers gear, things I had never dreamed of being able to afford. Ciarra wanted the best available, and as far as I knew, this was the best Gravestead had.

Few people were inside, because only high level adventurers and nobles could afford their merchandise. Without breaking stride, Ciarra pulled down an enchanted belt pouch and coin purse, and passed them down. Soon they were followed by enchanted tools and other equipment.

Arms overflowing, ears twitching in amusement, I had to run to one of the shopkeepers, placing everything on the counter in front of him, I warned him that she was just started. Preemptively putting a stop to any concerns he might have had, I stacked a dozen nobles gold coins on his desk, just so he knew she was serious.

Darting back to My Queen, I acted as her mule. She loaded me down, and I’d drop everything off at the counter then run back to accept more. It was almost as though she planned on purchasing everything in the shop.

Two firestarters, the best set of lockpicks I had ever seen, a dozen crystals enchanted with eternal light, magnifying glass, coil after coil of silk rope, several candles, torches, a very expensive stack of parchment, ink, several quills, two mirrors, several mining picks and shovels, a dozen waterskins, whetstone, lots of soap, sealing wax, several empty vials, two spyglasses, pots and pans, a firestone to cook on, hammer, grappling hook, several toiletry kits, several toothbrushes, empty jugs, and a dozen long poles later, she started slowing down.

Almost everything was enchanted. Why anyone other than My Queen would purchase enchanted shovels was beyond me, but they were enchanted for toughness and preventing rust.

Ciarra paused when she reached the tents, then she moved on without purchasing any of them.

When I finally followed her to the counter, both the other shopkeepers had joined the first one. They quickly sorted through what looked like enough gear to start our own business.

“Several of the items M’lady has selected are quite expensive, especially when purchasing twelve of them. May I suggest putting a few back? With them your total would come to about 750 gold, and-”

Ciarra interrupted him without a word, summoning 75 nobles from storage. Even though it was her, I couldn’t help flinching when she didn’t bother haggling. A week ago, I could have lived for years just on how much I haggled them down. I still laughed at his expression, tail wagging in amusement.

“I’m dissatisfied with your tents. I’m looking for something that can fit a dozen people comfortably. Preferably one enchanted with spacial magic. Where can I find one?”

“The enchanters guild might be able to create it for you, Silverflower is the closest city they have a presence in. I’d be happy to share our contact’s information with you.”

Ciarra sighed, then picked up one of the three person tents, several bedrolls, blankets, and a large hammock, and added them to her order. Then she dropped a single gold coin to cover the added cost, and placed her hand on the small mountain of supplies. They vanished into her storage with a flash.

Amused at their bewildered expressions, I couldn’t help grinning. As always, My Queen was a force of nature, even when doing something as simple as buying supplies.

She entered the alchemist shop across the street, and simply purchased everything, including a terrifyingly large amount of alchemist fire, poison, and acid. 900 gold later, we left the stunned alchemist.

Next Ciarra purchased every barrel the cooper had available.

Then we visited the weaponsmith where Ciarra purchased two of her best mythril daggers, her heaviest maul, and a horrendously expensive set of adamantine full plate. A thousand gold later, we left for the leatherworker. From there she purchased a set of drake leather for me. When she saw me in the ebony black leather, a wide predators grin filled with sharp triangular teeth spread across her face. I thought she was going to take me right then, right there, but after a few moments she passed both mythril daggers and their sheaths my way.

My Queen ordered me to take her to one of the last places I wanted to go. The adventurers guild. Heavy memories of the only time I had darkened their door seemed to weigh me down. Tail almost dragging the ground, I touched the wall, I could remember collapsing and drifting to sleep leaning against this very spot. Hours later, a guard kicked me awake. I had limped to the one district they didn’t patrol, the slums. If only she had been chasing me instead of them. She would have taken me right here on the streets, and I would have felt alive again.

Distracting myself, I asked Ciarra something that had been bothering me.

“Why didn’t you take any of the seamstresses? Several of them were pretty, and they were already sworn to you.” My Queen should have dozens, no hundreds, of women. Silently, I prayed that she would still want me. Either way, I’ll always serve her.

“None of them had the ... spark. Without the spark, everything sexual is less. Less pleasurable. Less gratifying. Less fascinating. It’s less in every way. Let lesser beings waste their time on such bland playthings.” So I have this spark? My tail twitched, and my ears perked up.

“Spark? What do you mean?”

Ciarra looked at me thoughtfully, then pulled me into her arms, and sat down on some boxes in the shade.

“Tell me, how often do you think about sex?”

My tail froze. “Constantly, at least since meeting you,” I admitted, “It’s always in the back of my mind. Stray thoughts catch me unawares. Often at the strangest times and in the strangest ways. When I turned and saw you holding that wooden pole in the shop, I couldn’t help imagining you claiming me with it,” I admitted, then shivered, fingering my new dagger. I didn’t want to admit the rest, but she had asked.