Chapter 1

The muscles in Cerebus' bare chest rippled as he hefted the sack of grain into the wagon. It groaned a little under the weight, but had proven its solidity with numerous round trips.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and walked toward the front of the wagon, where his employer was busy secreting a loaded crossbow beneath the seat. "That's the last of 'em."

"Excellent. Excellent. Just one moment, and I will fetch your coin," the rotund merchant responded after a start.

Cerebus' voice had a quality that he'd heard described as sounding like an ominous whisper emerging at normal volume, and it quite often unnerved people. He more or less ignored the nervous twitter in the man's voice, having grown quite accustomed to such reactions over the years. He was the product of a brutal rape by a warrior goblin, and he knew that his features were unsettling to most people. His size and strength alone made him stand out in a crowd, but his pointed ears and odd skin tone with hints of grayish-green marked him as someone unquestionably alien.

Yomen counted out his pay, and then took a deep breath. "I wonder if you might wish to earn some additional coin?"

Cerebus shrugged. "Depends on what I've got to do for it."

"The reports of highwaymen along the road to Lakenshire have grown alarmingly frequent of late, and I fear to undertake the journey alone."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You want me to ride along?"

"I have seen you practice your swordplay, and you seem quite competent. I'm willing to offer double your usual pay, and your normal pay to help me unload when we arrive."

And you can't find another man who will risk the run for what you're willing to pay. Only a desperate and green mercenary would take the pittance after hearing of the attacks along the road. Fortunately, he had a good reason to accept the opportunity. "I was headed into town today anyway. Let me go belt on my sword and pick up a few things from home, and you've got a deal."

"Splendid. I wish to leave within the hour, in order to reach Lakenshire before nightfall."

"Not a problem," he responded as he turned to walk home, snatching up his shirt from a fencepost as he passed it.

The people crossing to the other side of the hard-pack dirt road barely registered in Cerebus' mind as he walked. All of his thoughts were on the rare visit to the town, and the opportunity to finally earn a little coin with his sword. The short ride might not be much, but it was experience. If he could convince Yomen to speak to other merchants once it was over, he might find more work - perhaps even jaunts beyond the backwater villages and towns of the area.

He could see his sisters and mother through the wavy glass of the kitchen window, already at work on supper. He stayed out of view, and walked to his room at the back of the house, which he'd built with his own two hands to gain a measure of privacy and quiet. The family was used to him coming and going with little to no announcement, and he had no desire to worry his mother with the knowledge that he was going into town.

A loud thud sounded as he turned the corner - a familiar sound of late. As expected, he found his half-brother straightening after a throw of his mace. Though only twelve years old, Vladamir had already found favor with the local priest of Heraklan, and proved a devoted follower of the god.

"Ha! Take that, you ugly troll!" Vladamir declared, and then noticed his brother. "Did you see, Mindblind? The log cracked!"

Cerebus nodded his head, actually quite impressed that the mace had managed to do such damage. Once the boy filled out, he knew that anything - or anyone - in the path of that mace was in big trouble. "Good throw, Vlad."

Vladamir hurried to the log to pick up his mace, as he had not yet mastered the devotion necessary to call upon his god to magically return it to his hand. "I told you that I'm going to come with you on an adventure some time, Mindblind."

Though the nickname was meant as a cruel joke when his sister started it, Cerebus had actually liked the sound of it. He wasn't bothered by having no magical ability, unlike the rest of the family, so it didn't hit home as his sister would have hoped.

"Maybe someday," he responded, though he hoped to have left to find his fortune by the time his younger brother was old enough to leave the novitiate of the priesthood.

"What you doing?"

"Headed into town. Don't tell Mom. I don't want her worrying."

"I won't. Can I come in?"

Mindblind shrugged and answered, "Yeah." His brother was one of the few people he let inside, even though Vladamir could be a pain at times. Deep down, he liked the way his younger sibling admired him - a sharp contrast to the way most people treated him.

His room was utilitarian, meant for little more than sleeping and storing his things. The closest thing he possessed to decoration was the wooden frame where he hung his leather armor, shield, and sword.

"You're going on an adventure," Vladamir declared when he saw his brother pull down the armor.

"No, just into town. I'm riding with Yomen as a guard," he argued as he pulled on the chest piece of his armor.

"It is too an adventure."

"Okay, it's an adventure, if that will make you happy."

"You have to tell me all about it when you come home. You can't leave out anything because you think it will give me nightmares."

"All you're going to get is a story about a bumpy wagon ride, but okay."

A voice rang out from outside. "Vladamir!"

Cerebus cinched up the strap he was working on and nodded toward the door. "You'd better get going, or Mom'll tan your hide."

"You promised," his brother reminded him, and then hurried out the door.

"Adventure," he muttered, and then chuckled. Maybe once I get there and make it to the Cat.

That thought convinced him to finish strapping on his armor in a hurry.

The ride into town proved to be exactly as he had predicted. Either the bandits reputed to have taken over the road were well-fatted and resting, or decided that a single wagon loaded with grain wasn't worth risking their lives for.

With more coin in his pocket than expected after helping the merchant unload, Cerebus decided to splurge on a night at the inn. Most times, he made the long walk home in the dark after visits to town. Having the extra coin, needing a safe place to leave his sword and armor, and the summer storm approaching made the decision to stay for the night an easy one.

A loud squeal drew his attention, and Mindblind rolled his eyes at the sight of a young blonde woman playfully fleeing from one of the local boys. He returned his gaze to his path just in time to see someone emerging from a storefront ahead, right in front of him.

The man snorted, lifted his chin, and tried to look down his nose at Cerebus - an impossibility because he was at least a foot shorter in stature. "Watch where you're going. If you cannot manage simple courtesy and manners, do the rest of the civilized world the kindness of remaining in your rude fields and barns."

His fingers curling into a fist, Mindblind watched the immaculately dressed, boyishly handsome man walk away, superimposed by a daydream of him lying face-down in a pile of horse droppings. The flash of anger lasted only for a few seconds, and he blew out the last of it in a snort as he continued on his way.

It hadn't always been so easy to rein in such thoughts without acting on them. He had a pointed reminder of that only moments later.

Once again, someone stepped into his path - intentionally this time. This wasn't his first run-in with the man who served as the law in Lakenshire, and he doubted that it would be the last. Reed had been fourteen - six years older than Cerebus - when they'd first crossed each other's paths. He'd made the mistake of calling Mindblind's mother a whore, and received a beating that left his nose crooked.

"Move it along," Reed growled, his hand on his sword.

"That's what I was trying to do until you got in my way."

The guard captain's eyes hardened. "That's not what I saw. If I hadn't been here, you had every intention of assaulting an unarmed man."

"Not worth my time," he retorted, irritation creeping into his voice even as the sound of thunder from the approaching storm grew louder.

"He's worth a dozen of you." Reed pointed his finger and warned. "I'm watching you."

"Guess I'll be safe from pickpockets while I'm in town then," Mindblind said as he walked around his nemesis. The irritation that he'd felt drained away almost instantly when the sarcastic remark entered his head. It was one of the numerous tricks that he'd learned to keep his emotions under iron-clad control. He could feel Reed's eyes boring into his back, but didn't bother to look back.

Thunder crashed and the clouds opened as he stepped onto the wooden porch of the inn. The innkeeper didn't look any less nervous when he approached the counter than the last time he'd splurged on an overnight stay in town. As before, he paid for his room without a word, and accepted the key.

The storm fully descended as he climbed the stairs. He could feel the building shaking from the force of the wind. The pounding of the rain against the walls and roof was only outstripped in volume by the deafening thunderclaps. He had to wait for a flash of lightning to find the keyhole for his door when he reached it, because the only lanterns lit at the moment were shaking too much to offer any steady light.

Once he finished unbuckling and removing his armor, Cerebus looked out the window and discovered that he couldn't see across the street through the blinding sheets of rain, even when lightning split the gloom. No man without a good reason would even consider going out into such a display of nature's fury.

He had a damn good reason.

When the door opened, Delly looked up from her mortar and pestle, which contained a mixture of talc and rose petals. Her voice was filled with surprise bordering on incredulity. "Really?"

The new girl, a large breasted young blonde assigned to Delly to break in, nodded her head and answered, "Tamara said to tell you that there was someone here for you."

Delly dusted some of the powder under her arms. "Hell, Kayleen - he must be fit to bust if he's out in this."

"I was supposed to tell you that it's him - whatever that means."

Her eyes coming alight, Delly hurried to the door and looked down over the balcony to see Cerebus trying to shake off some of the water pouring from his body after the long walk to the brothel at the far edge of town. Even though the worst of the storm had passed, the rain was still torrential.

"He's frightening. How can you... ?"

"Honey, you'll learn in time to forget the faces, even when you're looking at them." She tugged the younger woman back toward her door. "Cerebus is different, though. Give me a minute or two to get ready, and then bring him up."

The young woman's voice warbled with anxiety. "Me?"

"You're going to have worse humping you - a lot worse. He won't hurt you." She licked her lips in anticipation and added, "Exactly the opposite, if I was foolish enough to let you have a romp with him. Go on, then."

Kayleen had already learned not to question one of the established women of the Cat - both for the knowledge they possessed and the pull they had with the Madame - so she did as Delly asked.

Meanwhile, Delly hurried to get ready for her favorite client. She stripped off her nightgown and panties in favor of similar, worn garments from a bottom drawer. Even though she'd washed up after her last client an hour ago, she did so again before changing. In front of the mirror, she teased out her long red hair, and made sure that her stiff nipples were well displayed. Then, she went to wait by the door.

Mindblind could tell that the woman was new - and scared of him. Her voice had quavered a bit when she'd greeted him, and her gait was stiff as she led him to Delly's door. The door opened almost before the sound of the blonde's knock had ended. All contemplation of his guide vanished from Cerebus' mind when he saw Delly. She wore a wide smile as she greeted him. "It's been too long."

"Yeah," he agreed, and then brushed a dripping lock of his dark hair out of his eyes to better admire her barely-hidden body.

The blonde started to walk away from the door, but Delly said, "Wait," before leaning in to whisper in Cerebus' ear. "Kayleen is new, and I'm showing her the ropes. Mind if I see if she can handle it?"

When she leaned back, he glanced over his shoulder at the nervous blonde, and then answered, "No problem."

With a stroke of her hand between his legs, Delly guided him into the room. She then told Kayleen, "It's time to see if you really know what you're getting into," and waved her into the room as well.

The door creaked as Delly closed it behind her protégée. Cerebus avoided sitting on the bed, since his clothes were soaked. He leaned back against the wall instead to remove his boots as the women approached. He nearly thought better of it when he felt the wall groan in protest. Though stained and shiny, the wood was little more than a decorative partition, having little structural support.

Kayleen paused at the foot of the bed, but Delly swooped in on him for a kiss. She pressed her body up against him and squeezed his already hard cock through his pants. She licked her lips and moaned after the hungry, tongue-wrangling kiss, and then turned to Kayleen.

"Why don't you show him what you've got? You may as well get used to taking your clothes off."

Though her expression still held hints of fear, Kayleen reached for the strap on her left shoulder and slid it down. The right followed, slow enough to be sensual, but quick enough for an impatient customer. A tug pulled the cloth past her large breasts to fully reveal them, and then the thin cotton pooled at her feet.