Chapter 42

Early in the morning I watched the activity in the bedroom from the comfort of the bed. Both mothers fed our children in our room whilst giving me an erotic view of a natural task, Weaver holding two children as each mother fed one baby at a time. The children were provided an intimate connection with their mothers, not having to fight siblings for attention. Once the last child seemed content and stopped suckling, each mother took her other child back to comfort and hold too. This left Weaver free of babies.

With a huge grin on her face she raced to my bed like a starting pistol had fired to indicate the beginning of an athletic event. The young woman lifted my covers and went straight to my morning hardness, milking me with her mouth as the babies had done on their mothers' breasts. I felt this was a bit brazen even for my two lovers.

Derwen sensed my ill ease and said, "I agreed to the experiment to see if you could heal the poor child. This is the most convenient way to get it done. We know you'd like to explode in her mouth, so enjoy her and think of this as her daily medical treatment."

"Daily!" I said, finding it hard to pout. Weaver's tongue rolled over my crown in the most pleasing way.

"At least daily until you heal her, Von. I know this will work. Katsu told us about your blue eyed lovers," Mercedes said with a challenging tone.

What witty retort could I give to the mothers of my children? They sat watching Weaver's technique, surely comparing it to their own. My children rested comfortably as both women gently rocked to the rhythm of Weaver's head bobbing. Weaver's eyes remained attached to my eyes watching my every reaction to her efficient efforts. The deaf woman grinned as I felt my face tighten up. My jewels moved under their own power, a harbinger of my eruption and imminent bliss as a complete night's volume pulsed into Weaver's mouth. She held the tip of my head firmly to the base of her lips, keeping all of the healing liquid for the benefit of her taste buds. After the wonderful feeling passed, my bed partner gave a few careful licks at the opening of my crown, as she stroked my shaft. "She is truly milking me, " I thought, feeling the orgasmic pleasure.

Weaver bounced out of bed back to the babies and took one child from each mother as I closed my eyes enjoying the afterglow of my feelings. I opened them briefly and saw Mercedes kiss Weaver's lips, telling her well done. The women all left the room, with the children, and I fell asleep again.

I awoke alone and quickly got dressed for the day. The new events and expectations of my lovers had me in a very good mood. Once upon a time I would have felt nervous and fidgety when faced with the prospect of facing my wife after such a strange round of love-making. This time, while I felt eager to discuss the matter with Derwen, my heart felt free of concern. I even whistled as I made my way down the stairs, thinking, "When was the last time I'd whistled?" A memory arrived as if it was summoned from darkest recesses. The image caused me to stop in my tracks. The last time I whistled playfully was with my lover. An ebony woman, my age, cuddling with me after a session of love making and I whistled at her beauty in a playful way. She was an athlete. No, she was a soldier. No, a student soldier. I was her unit cadet commander. She was a noble of some sort. This wasn't our first tryst. The memory was incomplete and I felt angry. I felt sad.

"I don't know what to feel. Who are you?" I said.

"Excuse me, Lord Solon, can I help you," Ridgeworth said. The friend of Derwen stood next to me looking uncertain.

Another maid announced a gentleman was at the door for me. While Derwen made it clear to me this was my house as much as hers, I felt odd at the prospect of receiving a visitor in the manor.

I sputtered, "Who is it?" happy not to have answered Ridgeworth. The old maid still looking oddly at me.

"A blacksmith named Arim, Lord Von," the maid responded, politely.

The maid and I ambled through the hallway to the front door. She waited behind the threshold of the door when I walked outside into the fresh air. In front of the manor were both a mule drawn wagon and a set of men. A young man held the reins of the wagon animal and looked around the grounds with disinterest. Two estate guards sat comfortably on their idle horses watching the guests. It was the large blacksmith that drew my attention. The ebony man's barrel chest and thick arms bulged even with him standing meekly with both hands holding a walking cap. When he saw me his mouth turned up in a smile showing a missing tooth and an honest face. I had to bend my neck backwards to look up at his smile. My neck muscles had long ago adjusted to having to look up to such tall men.

"Milord, thank you for seeing me," the giant man, said. "Captain Hajin directed me to talk with you, sir."

Anyone Hajin sent my way was worth my time.

"Did Hajin have something particular in mind for you to talk with me about?" I inquired.

"Yes, yes, that is, you see, Milord I make weapons and sell them to mercenary companies," he answered, with a rapid set of words.

He had my attention but the blacksmith was clearly nervous.

"Hajin said you had an open mind to new ideas. I invented a dagger that is very clever but thus far none of the mercenary companies want it," Arim said, almost running each word together. "You see, Milord they say the weapon is too short for a primary weapon and too long for a backup weapon. Captain Hajin is the only fighting man that has shown an interest but he said if anyone can see a use it would be you."

I shrugged at the praise and inquired, "Can I see the weapon and will you tell me why you believe it is special, Arim?"

The huge man smiled while putting his cap on and walked me behind the wagon. He opened a large wooden chest with his dagger inside. Arim was a smart man. He made no move to pick up the weapon which might have stirred the guards.

Arim waved both hands at the long dagger, and said, "Please pick it up and feel it."

The hilt and scabbard were lavishly decorated with silver. A fancy set of fittings were on the dark wood scabbard which was about 12" long. The blade sang a sweet song when I unsheathed it. The weapon was well crafted with high quality steel and a cross-guard that looked like horns of a bull. The pommel was a round ball of steel with a setting for a jewel. The dual sharp edges shone in the sun, yet the weapon looked odd to me as I examined it closely. "It is not one piece," I thought.

Arim's eyes twinkled as I looked over the weapon's construction. A touch of a half-grin worked across his face.

"You see it don't you, Milord. Hajin bet me you would," the blacksmith said.

I pushed on a bit of metal on the grip at the base and the blade sprung apart to form a "V". At first the dagger appeared like any normal dagger but when the wielder pressed the release two spring loaded sides spread out making a triple dagger. This was a parrying weapon to capture an opponent's longer sword.

"I like it. We will buy three or four dozen to start," I said.

Arim kicked his heels and said, "Thank you, Lord Solon. You won't regret it. I have a dozen in the wagon."

His face went sour for a moment.

"Sir, it might be some time before I can fill such a large order," Arim explained, holding his cap again. "I had some trouble with the Port City guards and I will be moving my smithy."

My own past trouble in Port City had me intrigued with Arim's blight.

So I asked, "What kind of trouble?"

The blacksmith looked me straight in the eyes, holding no shame or cowardice.

"The guard captain wants protection money and I have a moon to respond with coin or leave the city," Arim said.

"Port City was a den of vipers as far as I am concerned," I answered. "Set up shop next to my small foundry in the village. We will give you the steel to make our blades at cost to assist you in your time of need. Call it a goodwill gesture to encourage a skillful craftsman to move near to my home. We will even provide an escort for you with extra wagons to make your move happen all at once."

"That is an offer I can't pass up, my Lord. Thank you," Arim grunted.

We clasped forearms to seal the deal and I sent him to see the estate manager for payment and assistance in moving. I called the two guards over to unload our new goods from the blacksmith's cart. I planned on convincing the High Priestess to give up using dirks and replace the ceremonial weapons with the spring-loaded daggers. I could easily teach the female guards how to use the tricky weapon to disarm unaware opponents. The rest of these weapons were going to Juniper Hills. These daggers just became the standard weapon for my household of women. I particularly wanted to empower the handmaidens with a little self-defense training. It would be wrong to assume they could defeat trained fighting men, but some of them would rather sell their life with blood instead of being enslaved again.

I turned the scabbard around with my fingers tapping the hilt while looking at the temple. The right thing to do was to talk to the High Priestess now and then let her deal with these boxes of weapons; however, the strain in my neck reminded me I'd see Lady Katsu there and she was literally a pain in my neck. I liked the idea of avoiding the woman, but my feet started walking towards the temple as I continued to resist my responsibilities.

"I really dislike that woman," I mumbled. "Maybe they have her working in the public area and I won't see her," I thought. "You're kidding right? They wouldn't want to frighten the visiting villagers," I privately argued.

Two perky looking female guards smiled at me as I entered the private temple door. The temple uniform conforms well to marketing this building as a fertility temple. I am sure these two young women were selected by design to twist a male's tongue. Each guard had a dazzling smile; accompanying an attractive hourglass figure, which presented her natural beauty in black leather pants and crisscrossed chest straps that covered nothing.

I made sure not to stumble across the entrance, feeling mortified they would ask me something. "Don't stop," I thought, really wanting to stop and enjoy the scene. "Seriously, who needs to go inside with these two here to stop traffic," I mused, strolling into the temple's inner sanctuary.

I stopped and centered my mind while I watched the activity across the room in the temple. The main chamber felt warm from the sun's rays without the gentle breeze I'd experienced outside. Numerous young girls, certainly acolytes, sat on simple chairs holding a slate and chalk, while a few priestesses I recognized from my last trip were diligently conferring around a lesson board hung on the wall. All the ladies wore sheer green shirts that dropped to the tops of their thighs. The fabric's ability to breathe was ideal for the conditions in the warm open-air room. The flimsy cloth was semi-transparent and the ebony skin background complimented the light green shirts in a way that naturally enhanced my lustful mood. My natural thoughts turned to a desire to see the shapely women much closer as I realized they wore no pants.

I adjusted my station pants to remove a constriction to my crotch and then completed my survey of the room. Letters of the alphabet hung on small wood framed blackboards nailed to the far wall. A barrel stamped with a wolf head rested by the wall next to the teachers. The senior teacher, at least she looked the oldest, took the ladle atop of the barrel and dipped it into the water. The teacher poured the Juniper Hills water into a goblet and drank; turning around, she saw me.

I acknowledged the senior teacher with a tip of my head, not wanting to disturb the classroom with a proper greeting. She rested her goblet on a table and picked up a slim wooden rod and tapped it against the blackboard. The class and teachers had their back to me so the sudden thump, thump sounds had their full attention.

"We have a guest today. A royal treat to be sure. The author of the language you are learning stands behind you," the senior teacher said, loudly in a singsong voice.

The screeching of the wood chairs on the floor was nearly deafening and hurt my ears. All of the students stood and looked at each other not sure what to do. I walked across the room to get a better view of their faces. It took real effort not to glance at chests that were about the level of my chin. An attractive young woman broke the silence and bowed deeply. The other girls seem to take this as normal and appropriate and followed the bold girl's example. The teachers just nodded their heads in respect.

The senior teacher said, "Welcome, Lord Solon. We are so pleased to present our newest class of acolytes. They were selected from temple families as far as the Old Port Capital on the Amarian mainland. The temples specifically sent them to train under you."