Chapter 16: Progeny

Cassandra and Egbertha each give birth to healthy boys while we are encamped in the ruined settlement. Although it is an Elven rather than a Thurnian custom, we delay naming the babies until the whole community can be assembled to bear witness. That way everyone can join in the inevitable party that follows.

Akenehi had initially intended that we stay in the ruined settlement for a few days, while a place is found to ford the river that is blocking our route north. Search parties had been sent upstream and downstream as soon as we had arrived, but both groups were unable to locate a suitable crossing place nearby. A heavy storm added a further delay. The river was in flood for nearly a week, and attempts to locate a more distant place to cross were postponed. Akenehi finally ordered her daughter, Makareta, to search upstream to the west.

As soon as the level of the river reduced, Makareta set off upstream, accompanied by two of the adolescent elves, on a search along the river bank to find a suitable place to cross. They are due to return in three days, at which time we will hold a naming ceremony for the two babies, followed by a celebration.

Our prolonged stay in the remnants of the settlement enable me to investigate the likely origins and reason for the settlement’s existence. Both Cassandra and I had undertaken extensive research into Thurnian history when we were students. Nothing in our studies suggested that this part of the northern continent was anything more than unexplored wilderness. And yet, we are camping in the remains of a settlement we estimate was abandoned around a hundred years ago, long before Elf Maidens were brought to Thurn from the southern continent.

Although the contracts Defina35 and Defina36 signed with me back in Thurn city have lost all relevance, I still think of them as part of Cassandra’s and my extended family. Although they have had little opportunity to use their respective skills in metalwork and leathercraft, they have not been idle in finding raw materials with which to work. The deer we saw when we arrived here are now fewer in number as the elves hunt for food. The hides of the slain deer have been added to Defina36’s stock of materials.

It’s Defina35’s search for metals that give me an insight into why this settlement existed, and probably why it was later abandoned. Gold. As the level of the river drops following the storm, Defina35 discovers traces of gold along the river bank below the flood level. Could this settlement have once been a centre for gold panning the river? The main sources of Thurnian gold are in the mines far to the east of Thurn city. In all my research into Thurnian history, I don’t recall anybody mentioning the discovery of gold this far west. And yet it seems possible that the High Ridge to the west of us is ... or was ... a source of gold.

I share Defina35’s discovery with Cassandra, and she adds to my theory by recalling the legendary gold knife that is mentioned in several tales originating from Thurn’s western cities. It’s probably only a myth, but the mere mention of it in the tales suggests that gold was available in the western cities long before the the emperor relaxed Thurn city’s monopoly on the use of gold.

“Does my discovery mean that I can ask a favour?” asks Defina35 of Cassandra and me.

“You can ask a favour at any time,” replies Cassandra.

“I’m in heat. Please can we have sex.”

At first I think Defina35’s request is strange, since any of the commune’s Elf Maidens in heat has an understood right to expect sex from Drew, Seamus or me. But I quickly realise that it is too soon after giving birth for Cassandra to be ready to engage in active sex, and Defina35 doesn’t want to propose sex with me if Cassandra is unable to participate.

In many ways, my marriage to Cassandra is a step into the unknown. For centuries, Thurnian men and women have only come together for a few weeks once a year during the rutting season, when Thurnian women are fertile. For the rest of the year Thurnian men and women live apart. A Thurnian man is never expected to have any contact with offspring conceived during the rutting season, let alone any responsibility for the child’s wellbeing. Even the arrival in Thurn of the regularly fertile Elf Maidens didn’t change the social structure of Thurn.

Last year Cassandra and I discovered the benefits of a tripartite relationship between a man, woman and an Elf Maiden. Suddenly regular sex was possible for all three of us, and a longlasting relationship became beneficial to all. Marriage has always been permitted in Thurn, but only a few have followed Cassandra’s and my example. Marriage is still a rarity. Few Thurnian men and women openly welcome elves, and far too many see them as nothing more that subhuman beasts of burden. Adolescent elves have no legal rights and are openly exploited in Thurn’s factories, farms and mines. Several of our commune’s elves arrived in the wilderness having escaped from cruel Thurnian overlords.

Not even Cassandra and I know how our marriage will evolve, particularly now we have a child. Defina35’s request shows that she too needs us to describe how we want our relationship to move forward now we have an addition to the family.

“Of course we can have sex,” replies Cassandra. “Alex has been bursting to fuck someone for days.”

“That’s not exactly true,” I reply, sensing Cassandra is only teasing me. “None of the Elf Maidens has been in heat for the last two weeks.”

With eight of the Elf Maidens expecting their own babies, there has only been Defina35, Akenehi and her daughter, Makareta who have been periodically in heat for the last couple of months. And without a female in heat around me, my libido is nonexistent.

“Two of the adolescent elves will likely mature in the next few weeks, and all of the pregnant Elf Maidens will give birth in the next eight to ten weeks,” says Defina35. “Before long you will have plenty of Elf Maidens to fuck. I hope you have been keeping your cock in good shape.”

“It’s fortunate that Akenehi, Makareta and you haven’t become pregnant,” says Cassandra.

“That wasn’t by accident,” replies Defina35. “Akenehi is our leader, and a pregnancy would be an additional burden for her until we reach our destination. Makareta only reached adulthood at the start of winter, and I was chosen to ensure our three men wouldn’t have to go without sex all through early spring.”

“If that’s the case, then why are you asking if we can have sex now?” asks Casandra.

“Because you have only just given birth, and Alex is your husband. Thurnian customs are different to elven customs. I wasn’t sure if your new arrival required a period of celibacy for Alex.”

“Only to the extent that Alex and I can’t fuck each other for a while,” laughs Cassandra in reply. “Thurnian custom dictates that neither a woman, nor the child she delivers, is the responsibility of the father. Alex may be an exception to that custom given our living arrangements, but there is no customary constraint on where he shoves his cock. I knew about your arrangement with Alex before I married him, and I’ve benefited from that arrangement as much as he has done. As far as I’m concerned, you and Alex may have sex together whenever you feel the urge. But if you disturb my baby’s sleep with your rutting then beware.”