The muscles between her thighs kept squeezing and releasing until she finally went limp. Brune looked at her face.

  “I finished,” she said with a funny little smile, like she was proud of herself.

  Brune carried her into the bedroom to find Endellion lying on a bed with her hands behind her head.

  “Didn’t hear you come in,” he said, laying Phia down on the other bed.

  “No wonder,” Endellion said, giving Phia a wink.

  Phia giggled and threw the blanket over her feet.

  “Hang on a minute,” Brune said, returning to the bathroom. He came back out with the shackles. “Sorry, Miss… Phia. Gotta put these back on.”

  Phia pushed the blanket down and sat up, pulling her knees to her chest. She watched Brune with bedroom eyes as he clicked the irons back onto her ankles.

  He looked at her, doing his best to appear cold and heartless. “You’re going back to your husband. You understand? In two days, you’ll never see me again.”

  She smiled and nodded. He might as well have said, “I want to be with you forever, my love.”

  “Okay, big boy,” Endellion said. “Bedtime. I’ll take first watch since you didn’t sleep last night.”

  Brune was glad to lie down on the bed, but sleep did not come easily. It turned out that shooting a load on Phia’s ass did not sate his appetite for her. It made him want her even more.

  Eventually, he drifted off to sleep.

  It seemed like only a few minutes had passed when a violent jolt zapped through his body.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “OW! WHAT THE—Who’s that?”

  Brune floundered around like an elephant spooked by a mouse.

  Endellion stood over him, whisper-laughing and beating her thigh with a fist. “Shhhh. Calm down; you’re gonna break the bed.”

  The elf still held her finger over him; it sparkled with electricity.

  Brune’s face twisted with indignation. “Did you just electrocute me?”

  Endellion threw her hand over her mouth, laughing hysterically. “Be quiet,” she whispered, catching her breath. “You’re so dramatic. It was just a little shock. I had to do it; you wouldn’t wake up.”

  Brune scoffed. “You had to do it.”

  Endellion’s shoulders shook again. “The look on your face...”

  Brune sat up, rubbing his eyes, a little smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. “You scared the shit out of me.”

  Phia stirred under her blankets.

  “Shhh,” Endellion said. “You’ll wake our sleeping beauty.”

  Brune took his post in an armchair by the wall, across from the foot of Phia’s bed. The seat was still warm from Endellion’s bum.

  His eyes were heavy. At some point, he closed them and drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.

  The sound of clanking chains woke him up.

  Phia’s ass. There it was, sticking up in the air. She slid her shackled feet onto the floor.

  Was she trying to escape?

  Brune shut his eyes as Phia whipped her head around to look at him. A few seconds later, the chains rattled again.

  Now she was leaning over the bed. She touched her forehead and looked up at the ceiling, making a sign with her hand.

  Good Gods, is she... praying?

  Brune could count all the times he’d ever prayed on one hand. And he couldn’t remember the last time he’d done it. Phia’s head whipped around again. He shut his eyes.

  The chains tinkled as she settled herself.

  “O Feron, hear my prayer. O Goddess divine, hear my plea. Please, please let me become an adventurer with Brune and Endellion.”

  Brune opened his eyes. Phia’s elbows were on the bed, fingers interlocked, head down. Her voice, hardly more than a whisper, was humble and earnest.

  “I know they have feelings for me. I—I’m sure they do. But they still close their hearts to me. Please... let Brune fall in love with me, as I love him.”

  Love me? She just met me!

  “O Feron, you have seen me hunt. I am proficient with the bow and arrow, thanks to your grace. But Brune and Endellion don’t take me seriously. Please, Feron, give me a chance to prove myself to them.”

  She darted another look in Brune’s direction, but he shut his eyes. Then she crawled back into the bed, making a great fuss with the blankets and pillow until she finally plopped down and curled herself into a ball, her tail wrapping around her legs. The purring started almost immediately after that.

  Brune groaned.

  The wholesome scene had confirmed how sweet Phia was, like some rare flower freshly bloomed.

  She would be trampled eventually. That was the way of the world.

  Suppose he rescued her from Vladnoch. Rescued for what? So that he could drag her through the mud just the same? Only not the same—worse. At least with Vladnoch she had a magnificent house, servants, and fine clothes.

  One more night and Phia would be in the guild’s hands. Commission completed. Two more nights and she’d be a memory.

  It would be better that way.

  * * *

  Brune tightened his grip on the reins again. The horses broke into a gallop.

  “Wooh! Look at them go,” Phia enthused.

  She’d whined and pleaded with Brune to let her sit beside him. He’d finally agreed, lifting her into the seat just to make her shut up.

  But she’d been nuzzling up to him all morning, resting her head on his arm or watching him with big, adoring eyes.

  He’d shoved her away a few times, but it didn’t make any difference. The surlier he became, the more she seemed to be drawn to him. At one point, she even curled up beside him, using his leg as a pillow while she purred and flicked her tail.

  Short of picking Phia up and tossing her into the back seat, all Brune could do was speed up the horses. He had them galloping for most of the morning.

  He reluctantly pulled into a roadside inn for lunch. The sky was gray when they disembarked.

  They were met by more staring eyes. The waitresses looked at Phia’s chains with pity in their eyes, as if they wanted to rescue her. A table of men leered as if they wanted to buy Phia for a pet slave.

  Brune glared daggers at them. He wished he could just cover Phia in a sheet and take her directly to the guild. Seeing her looked upon as a common slave was intolerable.

  It was drizzling rain when they climbed back into the carriage after lunch. Phia’s ears went flat, and she started every time a raindrop plopped on her head. Endellion reached over the back seat and got her cloak.

  “Here, Phia.”

  She draped it over the cat girl and did up the buttons with all the care of a doting mother. Once she was finished, Phia had almost completely disappeared under the cloak’s folds. Only her lips and a few strands of hair were visible under the hood. Endellion sat beside her, raindrops trickling down her neck and collarbone.

  Brune puzzled over this. Was the dark elf actually displaying tender feelings? Could that even be possible? Or was she simply taking care of her charge because that was her job?

  He shrugged and pressed the horses on at the same hurried pace. Luckily, the journey from Farsh onwards took them down the well-maintained Emperor’s Highway, the major thoroughfare to Skrull.

  In the late afternoon, they rode into the city of Krugl, their last stop before Skrull. Dark clouds loomed over the weary city as the horses clip-clopped over cobblestones wet from recent rain. Phia threw off her hood and gazed at towering statues and stone archways. Gargoyles scowled at her from the weather-worn corners of crumbling buildings.

  Pedestrians crowded the streets, deftly zig-zagging between the traffic. Some of them wore fine clothes, with bejeweled swords hanging at their hips. Others were dressed in rags. But every one of them looked determined, even cunning, as if they were preparing hostile takeovers or plotting murders.

  The road split into two branches, encircling a large plaza with a gushing fountain in the middle. Throngs of people filled the plaza.

  Phia wiggled around in her seat, trying to get a good look. “Is it a market?”

  “A slave market,” Endellion said. “Krugl is famous for it.”

  “Oh! Of course,” Phia said. “I knew that. I learned about it. I’ve never seen a slave market before. The Sisters of Feron don’t own slaves. We—I mean, they do all the work at the temple themselves.”

  “Well, people find many uses for slaves,” Brune said grimly. “Hmm. Never seen it this busy.”

  “Neither have I,” Endellion said.

  As they got closer, they could see crowds of people around raised platforms where almost-naked slaves stood.

  Traffic nearly halted as drivers cursed each other. Rain began pattering on the carriage.

  “Let’s walk the rest of the way,” Endellion said. “It’ll be faster.”

  With so many travelers passing through Krugl, it was customary for liveried footmen from various inns to stand in the main street, offering their services.

  “Dragon’s Head!” one young man called out. “Hot meal and a bed at the Dragon’s Head!”

  “Dragon’s Head is decent,” Brune muttered, raising his hand and catching the lad’s eye.

  Phia took off Endellion’s cloak as Brune came around to lift her out of the carriage. Men were already leering when he set her down.

  “Shit, everyone’s going to think Phia’s for sale,” Brune said through his teeth.

  Phia, apparently very pleased with herself, sidled up to Brune and took his hand.

  “You should hold my hand then,” she said, looking up at him.

  Brune blinked.

  Why do I keep doing this? What do I care if people think she’s a slave? My job is to deliver her to Vladnoch with her chastity intact. That’s it.

  Brune wrested his hand away from Phia’s fingers and looked towards the market.

  “Lead the way, big boy,” Endellion said. “I don’t know where this place is.”

  “The Dragon’s Head? It’s on the other side of the square.”

  “Oh, nice,” Endellion said. “We can cut through the market and check it out.”

  Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance.

  Brune took Phia by the arm while she held her own leash in both hands. Somehow, he didn’t like the look of the market, although it was just the same as he’d seen it before.

  The cat girl’s head swiveled this way and that as they walked among the crowds. A lot of men carried walking sticks and wore rich doublets with feathers in their caps. But there were also strange peasant folk; they wore a rustic style of colorful clothing.

  “I’ve never seen people like this,” Phia said, raising her voice above the shouting and the rapid chanting of the auctioneers.

  “Buyers and sellers travel a long way to come here,” Endellion said, taking Phia’s other arm.

  The slaves on the auction blocks were even more exotic. On one platform stood three naked women. Each was over six feet tall, with broad hips, long legs, and big, pendulous breasts. Prospective buyers were poking and prodding them—squeezing their buttocks, pinching the fat around their waists, and forcing their mouths open to inspect their teeth.

  “See those women?” Endellion said to Phia. “They’ll be prized for breeding.” She slowed her pace. “They do look very noble, don’t they? I wonder where they come from?”

  Brune sighed. “Never mind that. Let’s just get to the inn.”

  Endellion approached two young soldiers. “Excuse me,” she said in a husky voice. “Can you tell me where those slave women come from?”

  “They’re Arullians,” one soldier said. “Most of the slaves here today are from the Arullian campaign.”

  Of course. The Imperial Army of Erwynd had just subjugated a new frontier across the sea—the land of Arullia. It was said to be populated with fantastic races and beasts.

  “They sold the princess this morning,” the soldier continued. “The place was packed. Some rich old merchant got her.”

  Brune led them on, past the magnificent fountain in the middle of the square, where vendors sold freshly baked bread, cinnamon buns, and cookies.

  Phia sniffed enthusiastically. “Smells so good!” She tugged Brune’s arm. “Do you think we can—”

  “No!”

  Phia pouted as Brune picked up their pace. Looking past the throngs to the street beyond the market, Brune traced his eye along the storefronts and inns to see if he could spot the Dragon’s Head.

  But they came upon a sight so unusual that even Brune had to stop and gape. A tiny woman, no bigger than a child, stood on an auction block. It was obvious from the jostling crowd she was no ordinary slave.

  The auctioneer sang, “Four thousand five hundred gold, Do we have four thousand five hundred gold!”

  As they got closer to the little woman, they realized she had wings. They were transparent, like a dragonfly’s wings, but tinged with green.

  “A fairy!” Endellion said. “I can’t believe it. The campaign must have gone deep into the forests.”

  The fairy was clothed only in cotton panties. Although her small size made it easy to mistake her for a child from a distance, upon seeing her up close, she clearly had the proportions of a woman.

  Drops of rainwater meandered around perky breasts that were topped with tender areolas and long nipples. Her svelte waist led to comely thighs and smooth milky legs.

  Chestnut brown hair fell about her shoulders and framed her heart-shaped face. Her small, almost puffy lips pouted and tears welled in her emerald green eyes.

  Her wings were crushed under a rope tied around her middle. Ankle chains secured her to the concrete platform.

  Phia stared with her mouth opened, speechless. She looked up at Brune and then Endellion, and then back to the fairy. “She’s...so beautiful.”

  The bidding was down to two people. One was a kind-faced lady with white gloves and a flowery hat. The other was a dapper man with cruel eyes, a pointy beard, and long black curls.

  Tears streamed over the fairy’s flawless cheeks as she looked back and forth between the two. She clearly favored the lady, and she kept giving her imploring looks.

  “Five thousand gold pieces. Do we have five thousand gold pieces for the fairy?”

  “Five thousand,” Endellion whispered. “That’s half the price of a villa in the countryside!”

  The cruel-eyed man raised his hand.

  “We have five thousand gold for the beautiful fairy…”

  The white-gloved lady wrung her hands. She looked at the fairy compassionately and slowly shook her head.

  “Sold! Sold for five thousand gold!”

  The man eagerly stepped forward as the fairy was unchained. Raising his big hairy hands, he roughly grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. He patted her on the bum and gloated as she kicked her little legs.

  “Oh my gods, that poor creature!” Phia said.

  Brune noticed men in the audience's front looking Phia up and down, making remarks to each other. Apparently, they thought she was next up on the auction block.

  “Come on,” Brune said, putting his arm around Phia protectively.

  The crowds were thinning out, and many of the auction blocks were empty. It seemed the day’s business was coming to a close.

  “Wait a second, Hargish.” Endellion put herself in front of him.

  His brow tightened into a frown. “What?”

  “I’ve got an idea. Look at this.” She pulled out a change purse and rattled the coins inside it. “Hear that? All gold.”

  Brune tried to walk around her, but she put her hand on his chest. “I took it from the old buzzard in coattails. Don’t know if you saw him; he was standing beside me.”

  Phia’s eyes bulged. “You stole it?”

  Endellion smirked. “Of course, dear. Picked his pocket. If it makes you feel any better, I’m certain he wanted to turn that fairy into his personal cum depository.”

  Phia blinked. “His what?”

  “Never mind,” Brune grunted, conducting both Endellion and Phia towards the street.

  “Wait!” Endellion said, escaping Brune’s arm and blocking his path again. “Hear me out. Guys are mesmerized by a hot monster girl”—she put her arms around Phia—“especially one so rare and so perfect as our virgin cat girl here.”

  Phia watched with her mouth ajar, ears half-down.

  Endellion continued: “Merely seeing her puts them in a trance. But add to that the prospect of owning this cat girl as their slave. Of being her lord and master—”

  “I get the point,” Brune said.

  Smiling conspiratorially, Endellion pulled Phia and Brune closer. “Put Phia on one of the auction blocks and let men gather around. They’ll be so distracted you could flick their noses and they wouldn’t notice.”

  Phia’s ears perked up. “You mean Brune and I will be a distraction while you steal their gold?”

  “Yes,” Endellion said.

  Phia tilted her head and looked to the side with a funny little smile. “We’d work as a team.”

  But the thought of lecherous men staring at Phia made Brune want to vomit.

  “We can’t,” he blurted out. “There’s a storm coming in.”

  Endellion shrugged. “So? If it starts pouring, we’ll leave.”

  “No, it won’t work. What are you going to tell them when the auction ends? Sorry, just kidding?”

  “It won’t be an auction, obviously!” Endellion said. “It’ll just be a presale showing. Put her up on that stand over there for 15 minutes. Just see how many pockets I can pick.”

  Phia’s eyes brightened. “I want to do it! I want to help!” She said, making a little jump that caused her boobs to bounce under her dress. “It’ll be teamwork!”

  Brune’s mouth drew into a tight line as he looked down at Phia.

  “What’s wrong, Hargish?” Endellion taunted. “Don’t want other men to look at your girl—friend?”

  Brune snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous...I just...don’t think the guild would appreciate us putting their client’s wife on an auction block.”