Chapter 3

Danica put on a brave face all the way home, but the moment she walked in the door, she fell into her mother's arms, weeping.

Danica was unable to relate what was wrong with her, and Devan simply mouthed the words, "Wait," and "Later," when her mother looked up with concern in her eyes. Pursing her lips, the older woman nodded slightly and continued to comfort Danica. She held her daughter tight against her, stroking her hair and kissing her, as the young woman continued to sob uncontrollably. When her father walked into the sitting room from the bedroom down the hall, Devan started to signal that he should go back and wait, but her mother acted first, shaking her head almost imperceptively with tears welling in her eyes. He narrowed his eyes for a moment, but nodded to indicate he understood before retreating back down the hall.

Eventually Danica's sobs grew weaker, and her mother guided her down the hall to tuck her into bed. Emotionally exhausted, Danica drifted off into fitful slumber almost immediately. Watching her daughter sleep for a while, Danica's mother fought back tears and sobs of her own, one hand pressed tight against her lips. She turned to see Devan standing in the doorway, gesturing, and followed her older daughter back into the front room to find out what had so upset the younger.

"What happened?"

Devan sighed, "Dunthain's big cousin picked a fight with her, but that's not the problem, she won the fight. She had a cracked rib though, and one of the clerics healed her. He noticed something while he was healing her. Danica's barren, Mom."

Devan couldn't help but tear up as she saw her mother begin to cry. Stepping forward, Devan embraced her mother for a few minutes, until the older woman regained her composure.

"I don't know if she'll even hear anything about it from me. Will you try and help her get through this, Devan?"

"I'll do what I can, but she needs you too, Mom. She's bullheaded, but Danica loves you and respects you."

Mother and daughter embraced again, before they both went to their beds.

Devan noticed the panties lying in the floor next to the bed, where Danica was dead asleep, although obviously her mother had not. There was ample evidence that Danica had done a little more than exploratory petting that night. Devan picked up the panties and hid them, knowing her little sister would not want their mother to find them, and not wanting to add any sort of burden to the troubled young woman right now.

Devan looked at her sister, Danica's face still red from weeping, her expression distraught, even in her sleep. With a sad sigh, Devan dressed for bed and lay down.

Devan delivered messages to both Jared and the school, letting them know that Danica was not feeling well, and they wouldn't see her that day — or perhaps for several days. Seeing the expression on Jared's face, Devan scandalized him thoroughly by informing him that what he and Danica had done the night before had nothing to do with it, so he wouldn't be concerned that he had scared Danica off. She patted the furiously blushing young man's face and told him, "She obviously had a good time. Be good to her, or I'll turn you into a toad."

Devan had enough of a reputation with her magic that Jared's eyes opened wide when she said that. Devan rolled her eyes and laughed, "I was kidding about the toad part."

Jared's expression revealed his relief, beyond any doubt.

"I won't vouch for Danica, though. Ask Geraldine what happened to her that night when she tried to pick a fight with Danica. If you ever decide to break up with her, you'd better be nice about it."

Jared's expression became confused, "Why would I want to do that?"

"Just some advice. I'm sure she'll be here to see you as soon as she's feeling better. I'm going to go back and take care of her."

The young man blushed and blurted out, "Tell her that I love her."

Devan smiled and assured him, "I will," before turning and walking back to the edge of town.

It took two days before Danica was able to talk about it, and until then, she moved like a puppet through the house. Devan shooed their father and brother out of the house, sending them fishing, and the three women sat down for a long talk. By the end of it, Danica had at least come to grips with the harsh reality that she would never bear children. They found out along the way that she was more worried about disappointing her mother than she was about her own prospects for motherhood.

After reassurance from her mother, Danica appeared to recover. When she and Devan went to bed that night, Danica suddenly went into a panic, looking around on the floor and under the bed. Devan guessed what was wrong and laid a hand on her sister's shoulder, "I hid the panties and washed them for you. I made sure Jared knew that you weren't staying away because the two of you had sex, either. He said to tell you that he loves you."

Danica breathed a sigh of relief, but then blushed when she realized her sister had washed out her cum soaked panties.

Devan knew exactly what Danica was thinking and told her, "Just pee afterwards, you'll probably feel like you need to most of the time anyway. It gives things time to ooze out a little."

Danica made a face and said, "That is so disgusting."

Devan laughed, glad to see some spirit in her sister, "True, but it's fun!"

Danica went back to school the next morning, and Devan decided to go with her. Sitting in one of the cramped private study rooms, they worked on the lightning bolt spell, and once again, Devan told her sister that she should be able to cast the spell.

"You have everything right. I think you've just decided you'll never learn it, and you're blocking it. You have to believe that you can do it, or the spell will fail. I think you need some kind of push to get you there," Devan speculated.

Danica shrugged and hung her head, "Maybe I'm just not meant to learn it. I had a lot of trouble with the electric arrow too. Maybe I just don't have an affinity for electrical magic."

"That's really rare, unless you devote yourself to one elemental study," Devan mused. Her eyes lit up then and she said, "That reminds me. I brought one spell with me that I saved just for you — acid arrow. I'll let you learn it, and then you can give it to the Master to teach to the other students. Why don't we take a break from lightning bolts and work on that one for a while?"

The idea intrigued Danica, because other than the electric arrow, the rest of the missile type spells were one of her few strong points, "Okay."

Devan reached into her bag of holding and rifled around until she found the parchment. She ran through the spell once to speed Danica along with the pronunciation. After that, Danica knuckled down for some real study, while Devan practiced her telekinesis. After seeing Danica so thoroughly whip Geraldine with it, Devan was less convinced than ever before that the magic was useless. She knew she would never catch up to Danica's mastery of the spell, but even half that skill level would be twice as good as she was now.

While Danica studied the spell, she watched Devan in her peripheral vision. Her chest grew tight when she saw that Devan was improving with the telekinetic magic. I'll lose even that little advantage over her soon, now that she's bothering with it, Danica mused sadly. She suppressed the sigh, somehow, and stared back down at the parchment.

Seeing the script on the page — written in Devan's handwriting — caused Danica's mood to turn even darker. Even though she would be presenting the spell to the school if she learned it, it still came from Devan. Danica would only be contributing it second hand.

Gritting her teeth, Danica concentrated on the spell, not who had written it. She was determined to learn the spell, and at least defeat that piece of parchment. As happened frequently, Danica's mind focused in on her studies, and thoughts about being Devan's sister steadily retreated to their normal place at the edge of her consciousness.

Danica mastered the acid arrow spell before the day was over. She cast it in the "bowl", the small valley behind the school used to contain dangerous magics, to the cheers of the other students. Danica frowned a little when she saw a couple of students speaking to Devan as well. Probably praising her for teaching her second-rate sister a new spell, Danica thought.

The personal praise from the Master snapped her out of her self-destructive reverie a few moments later, however. He asked her to come inside and scribe the spell in the master tome of the school.

Danica smiled and followed the Master inside, and then copied the new spell into the tome. The master would teach the spell at the school from today forward. Danica and Devan both took great delight in watching Dunthain go through the motions of clapping, his face tightened into a barely masked scowl. Danica pulling the pen she wrote the spell with out of her bag of holding had only twisted the knife in his gut all the more.

They both were polite enough to go some distance down the road toward home before they broke down into laughter. They knew that Dunthain was waiting for them to gloat, and not doing so would bother him even more than if they had stuck their tongues out at him.

Devan glanced at the trees and undergrowth along the road as they walked, the former putting on a show of bright autumn colors, the latter turning pale and dry as their season ended. Although she had only been living in the city of Destindale for a few months, Devan was fascinated by how different all the natural sights she had grown up with appeared in her eyes now.

Turning to her still chuckling sister, Devan asked, "So, do you feel up to going into town this evening? I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow, and you never know how often Mom will let you go once I'm not around to keep an eye on you. Although, now that word has gotten around about Geraldine, Mom might be a bit less worried about you."

Danica shook her head, "I don't even remember most of it. I was just so mad — and hurting so bad — I just wanted to make her go away."

Devan chuckled, "If I hadn't showed up when I did, I think you would have made her go away rather permanently."

"I wouldn't do anything like that," Danica disagreed.

"I don't really think you would either, but the look on your face certainly suggested it." Devan then looked at her sister, her expression a playful demand for an answer to the original question, "So, are you going into town or not?"

Danica nodded and her lips turned up into a crooked grin.

Devan laughed, "Take a towel or washcloth with you this time, so you can clean up before you get dressed."

Dunthain sat in a smoky tavern, nursing a tankard of beer, and a black eye. His cousin had demonstrated very well how little amusement she found in Danica magically beating her within an inch of her life. Dunthain had assured the woman that Danica was inept with magic, at best, and certainly didn't know how to fight. Geraldine didn't like fair fights, let alone one where she was at a disadvantage.

Already well into his cups, though it was still only late afternoon, Dunthain's anger smoldered within him. Not only had Danica turned his revenge back on him, she had brought a new spell to the school on top of it. On top of that, the bitch stubbornly refused to try to cast the lightning bolt again, thus rendering his other subterfuge useless as well.

Dozens of new plots swirled through his head, each one darker and more disturbing than the last. It was several hours later when he drained the dregs of his beer, lurched to his feet, and stumbled toward the entrance of the tavern.

Muttering darkly to himself in his drunken stupor, Dunthain crossed the square, sneering at the laughter and merriment of those who played at being adults near the well at its center. Through the crowd, a flash of auburn hair caught his eye and he clenched his teeth.

Danica.

He had already started to form the gestures and speak the words of the fireball spell before he realized what he was doing. A moment of clarity caused him to clench his hands into fists and stop, though he had been slurring the words of the spell so badly it would have never worked anyway. No, not here. Not now, he thought.

Narrowing his eyes and trying to focus, he stared at the boy sitting next to her. He snorted dismissively upon realizing it was Jared, a woodsy simpleton. Only a farmer would be more appropriate for you, Danica, you big-uddered cow, Dunthain thought and chuckled at his own wit, losing his balance as he turned to walk behind some bushes.

Thoughts of her breasts stirred his blood, however, and Dunthain stared at them across the distance. It took him three attempts, but he managed to cast a clairvoyance spell to get a closer look. His manhood swelled as he stared at her body, her legs well revealed by her skirt, nearly to the thigh, and her nipples poking out accusingly against the thin material of her blouse.

The idiot hunter grasped her breast as the couple kissed, and Dunthain growled. Danica pushed him away, but the look in her eyes indicated that she was not so much opposed to the touch as she was to it happening with so many people nearby. A wide, dark grin replaced his scowl as a new way to take revenge upon the Ardane sisters entered his beer-fogged mind.

Releasing his magic, Dunthain fell into the bushes, and then turned to walk unsteadily toward a nearby building, his plan already starting to take form.

Jared and Danica waited for darkness to fall, swearing that the sun was cheating and staying in the sky for hours longer than was natural. They held hands and chatted, not really trusting themselves to do more, since even the few kisses they shared worked them both up into a near bonfire of passion.

The waiting — and anticipating being with Jared again — brought up memories that almost destroyed Danica's mood. She understood that she was barren, and that she couldn't do anything about it, but it didn't stop it from hurting. She didn't dwell on it, but the thought was always there, lurking, in the back of her mind. Studying helped, it took her mind off the memory, and Jared certainly could distract her, but now it intruded upon her again.

Danica wondered how Jared would react, whether he would want to stay with a woman who could never bear his children. The same thing applied to any man. Would she ever have a husband, when she couldn't offer him a family?

Seeing Danica's expression darken, Jared cupped her chin and turned her to face him. He smiled, but Danica could see the concern in his eyes. Danica smiled back, pushing her dark thoughts away, and leaned in to kiss him. The kiss quickly became very serious, just like the rest they had shared this evening. Danica felt light headed, and the tingling in her sex was demanding attention. The sensation only increased when Jared's hand found her breast, squeezing it gently. Danica shuddered, and then remembered they were still in the square.

Danica pushed him away, but her smile and the nod toward the other couples let Jared know that she was only doing it because they were putting on a show for everyone else.

The sun sank lower, and Danica's anticipation increased. All her dark thoughts vanished in the light of Jared's smile, and his touch.

At last, the light faded and they hurried toward their secluded little clearing in the woods. They fell into each other's arms, and out of their clothes, not long after they sat down.

"I love you, Danica," Jared breathed, his muscular body pressed tight up against hers.

Danica quivered when he said it, because he didn't say those words very often. It was even rarer when he initiated the exchange. "I love you too, Jared."

After a few kisses, Jared looked down at Danica below him, obvious hope in his eyes. It took him a moment to overcome his hesitation and get the question out, "Will you take me in your mouth again?"

Danica offered a sultry smile and nodded her head.

Jared levered his upper body away from Danica's, looking into her eyes, but his gaze wandered to her breasts as he moved off her and lay down. Danica licked her lips, watching his cock twitch in the cool night air, and then moved to position her head over his erect manhood.

Danica ran her tongue up the entire length of his shaft in a broad stroke, looking up with a lusty expression. It made her blush, but Jared's eyes locked with hers, and he growled, the sound playful and aroused. Danica found she liked the control this gave her over him. When she reached the tip, Danica wrapped her lips around it and wiggled her tongue over the bottom. His cock swelled and twitched in her mouth, and his hips came up off the ground below. He groaned in satisfaction and reached down to brush her hair away from her face.

Danica wrapped her hand around the base of his shaft and pulled back until he was barely between her lips, then sucked back down to engulf the helmet of his cock in her mouth again. She repeated the action several times, and then took a little more of him in her mouth, looking up into his eyes the whole time.

Again, he groaned and sighed, "That feels so good. You look so sexy."

Danica moaned, and the vibrations caused him to shudder. He gasped sharply and laid his head back on the moss. The reaction encouraged Danica to greater efforts, and she sucked him deeper into her mouth, taking a little over half of him this time. She bobbed her head up and down over his manhood to this depth, delighting in the feeling of him pulsing in her mouth. After a few strokes, she found the proper angle and increased her speed.

Jared groaned and gasped — his hand on the back of her head now. He alternated between watching her, and letting his head fall heavily to the ground. Danica could see, and feel, his muscles contracting as his pleasure mounted. His reaction to her ministrations so fascinated Danica that she was unprepared when his hips rose up toward her.

She gagged and quickly jerked away from him, trailing thick strings of saliva from her lips to his hard organ. After a cough, she said, "I'm sorry," wiping her mouth, her face bright red.

Jared groaned, "It's okay," and closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry I choked you," he apologized.

Danica didn't answer with words, but with action. She moved back over him and took him in her mouth again. It didn't take Danica long to get lost in feeling him throb between her lips again, though she kept her hand wrapped around the base of his shaft this time.

She had to fight down her gag reflex twice more as she sucked him, his sounds of pleasure steadily increasing in frequency and volume. The sounds, scent, taste, and feel of him were the only things in her world as she pleasured him with her mouth. She was completely unprepared when he let out a loud, inarticulate sound, and exploded into orgasm.

Danica's eyes opened wide when the first spurt of thick semen flooded her mouth. It was a little bitter, and the texture was odd and disconcerting. The sound of his release was incredible, however, as was the powerful pulse of his organ in her mouth. Danica pulled back to the tip just as another spurt filled her mouth to capacity.

Danica had no idea what to do, but the thought of spitting it out was repugnant to her, because it seemed so unromantic. With little other alternative, Danica swallowed.