As the wagons rumbled up the trail, Raina joined us.

  “We’ll lager up for the night,” said Aelyn. “We need to set a stronger guard than usual.”

  “They won’t be back,” I said.

  “What makes you so sure?” asked Raina.

  “They failed in their mission,” I was ticking off points on my fingers. “Their friends must know now that the information they were given was erroneous. And their principal will have difficulty contacting them in a short time span.”

  “Principal?” asked Raina.

  I looked up the trail and nodded. Aelyn’s face was stony. He glanced at me. “Those are a lot of assumptions.”

  I held his gaze. “Someone wanted your sensal. The Skaford appear. Someone wants what they think I have. The Skaford come.

  “And?”

  “Some of us are seeing a connection.”

  “What do they think you have?”

  “A combat artifact. I’d bet I was to be questioned as to its location and provenance.”

  Both Aelyn and Raina looked to the head of the column, as if they could see into the lead wagons.

  “So, what do we do?” asked Raina.

  “Aelyn,” I said, “do you have a tracker who could mark the Skaford’s trail?”

  He snorted. “With the number of mounts they had, a blind man could follow them.”

  “Then that’s what we will do.”

  “For what purpose?” asked Raina. “Better to ignore them. There is no profit in a punitive raid.”

  “Profit’s the key word,” I said. “Where do you think your sensal is?” I pointed towards the west. “If my map is correct, the coast lies 50 stads that way. Want to bet that a ship is on its way now to pick it up?”

  Aelyn had collected three elves, all accoutred in leather armour, bows and bladed weapons. The tracker was Lyorn, a slightly built man of indeterminate age. He looked me up and down, clearly unimpressed.

  “I would reconsider her place in this, Lord Aelyn,” he said. “If we must have a Mage, she should be one experienced in battle.” He turned to me. “I mean no disrespect, Lady Circe. At least one of us—” he inclined his head towards a second elf, who looked vaguely familiar, “—owes you his life. But battle is not healing.”

  “I agree,” I said, “and given what happened to the Skaford, so would they.”

  He stared at me. “Was that you?”

  Aelyn grunted an assent.

  “Ah.” Lyorn considered me with a thoughtful stare. “How…unusual.” He shrugged and headed towards our mounts.

  Aelyn surveyed the encampment, which was beginning to take shape. “I’m still not happy about stripping our guards,” he said.

  “Well,” I said, “I might have a solution to that.” I gestured towards a group of spearmen who were making their way towards us. Jard was in the lead. He came to a halt and sketched a short bow.

  “Lady Circe,” he said, “You asked for us.”

  “Our lines will be thin tonight,” I said. “We need help.”

  He nodded. “You have it.”

  Aelyn looked him over coldly. “Will you guarantee the safety of my clan?”

  Jard spat in the dust. “Me and my boys,” he said, “we ain’t good people. But we pay our debts.”

  We slipped out of camp as the light began to dim. The yellow sun had set, and its companion was touching the horizon. We assembled in a hollow half a stad from the wagons and secured our packs to the grendaki. We headed back the trail and waited while Lyorn picked up the Skaford’s spoor.

  The ride was a nightmare. My mount was evil-tempered, stubborn, and determined to inflict a wound on me. Perhaps it knew that I had killed its master. It would trudge along in a winding, swaying, nauseating gait that drained my energy. Then, when I least expected it, it would swing its long neck around and try to take a bite of my leg.

  The third time was the final straw. As it opened its mouth to grasp my sandalled foot, I cast a spell strand around its jaws and clamped down. I yanked its head up, so its eyes were at my level and shook it from side to side.

  “Listen to me, you misbegotten offspring of a turd and a daktar,” I hissed, “try that once more, and I will string you up by your hind legs and let the theranaq play pattycake with your brainless head.”

  I could hear Aelyn choking back laughter behind me.

  The grendak and I glared at each other, and then it turned its head forward and waddled sullenly onward.

  We followed the trail all night by the light of the Arc. In the quiet time before sunrise, even I could see the passage of the Skaford: dusty prints and crushed bushes that led to a long ridge. We ascended the slope in single file, and Lyorn paused near the rim, slid off his mount and crawled up the last few paces on his belly. He raised his head between two jagged rocks, being careful to avoid exposing his form on the skyline. He watched for a time and then slithered back to where we waited.

  “Camp,” he said without preamble. “Six or seven wagons. Three of them are ours. Four Skaford on watch. Probably more in the wagons.” He took a long breath. “And a couple of rock trolls.”

  One of the other elves cursed softly.

  Lyorn looked directly at Aelyn. “We can’t take them, Lord. Not with those numbers. There is no way to take down the trolls.”

  Aelyn nodded. “What if we come back with our entire force?”

  “Mayhap.” Lyorn shrugged. “There are still the trolls. And worse,” he sighed, “looks like that the camp is moving out. A couple of them are saddling their mounts.”

  There was a grim silence.

  “Can someone tell me what a rock troll is?” I asked.

  Lyorn raised his eyebrows. Aelyn answered.

  “Three to four paces high. Powerful: they can kill with a single blow. Not fast, but relentless. And practically invulnerable to our arrows and blades.” He shook his head. “I’m afraid Lyorn is correct.”

  “Aelyn,” I said, “do you remember the boulder on the hillside?”

  He considered me. “That was a single blast. Once you have used up your artifact, what will do with the second troll, and the rest of the Skaford?”

  “Aelyn—” I paused and jerked my head to the side. He followed me.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “There is no artifact.”

  He gazed at me for a long moment. I stared into his eyes and felt an unexpected rush of desire. Goddess, what was happening to me?

  “Circe,” he said, “you must be sure that you can do this. Because you are asking me to risk the lives of my men.”

  I swallowed. “There will be a battle,” I said, “I cannot predict what may happen. I do know that I can take those trolls down. Beyond that…”

  He nodded slowly and walked back to the group.

  “We strike,” he said. “How far is it to the camp?”

  “Half a stad,” said Lyorn. There was no argument from him or the others.

  Aelyn turned to me. “We will have to gallop. We can give them no time to organize a defence. Can you hold your seat long enough?”

  I shook my head. “I doubt it. Let’s walk.” I looked around at uncomprehending expressions. “Consider: what are they expecting? Riders returning with a girl in a green dress.” I pointed at the sky. “The suns will be rising behind us as we ride in. And they will see what they expect to see.”

  For the first time, Aelyn grinned. It was an expression so predatory that for a moment I almost felt sorry for the Skaford.

  We approached the camp at an even pace. I rode slightly ahead and to the right of the group. I held my arms behind me, as if they were restrained. As we neared the wagons, I saw no signs of alarm; the Skaford working with the mounts glanced up, then returned to their tasks.

  The rock trolls were enormous. They paced in a slow rhythm around the perimeter, spaced equidistantly. Each carried a club that appeared to have been repurposed from a broken tree, the jagged ends unfinished and menacing. Their eyes were tiny compared to the breadth of their face and were deep-set under heavy brows. I began to construct my first HEAT round.

  We were a hundred paces from the Skaford before they reacted. I saw one focus on our group and stiffen as he realized that he was seeing elves and not his compatriots. As he opened his mouth to yell, I released my spell.

  My aim was spoiled by the motion of my grendak, and the round struck at the base of the neck rather than the centre of mass. There was a crash followed by a sickening snap, and the troll’s head flew straight up. Its body toppled onto the Skaford who was sounding the alarm; two legs jutted out from under the creature’s body, twitched, and were still.

  Despite its seeming lethargy, the second troll reacted without hesitation. It swivelled towards me and began to march forward, taking strides of three paces. It began to raise its club. I built up my second spell piecewise, not daring to rush. The troll was less than twenty paces distant when I fired the round.

  At that distance I could not miss. The impact was directly in the centre of its chest, and I saw a plume of material fan out of the troll’s back. It gave a short huff, as if surprised, and paused, fell to its knees, and collapsed in front of me. Its head slammed into the ground a few paces from the grendak, which jerked back in fear. I kept my seat by the barest of margins and sawed back on the reins.

  The Skaford were boiling out of tents and wagons, some dressed in little more than breeches, others in partial armour. Aelyn and the others were shooting without pause, picking off one warrior after the other. Three Skaford managed to form a miniature shield wall, and began to advance, swords and axes in hand. One slumped to the ground with an arrow jutting from his lower leg; a second shot took him in the eye. I lobbed a fireball at the other two, and as they batted away the flames, Aelyn shot them down, one after the other.

  Suddenly it was silent apart from the moaning of a crippled grendak. I began to shudder and leaned forward to grasp the front of my saddle. I felt Aelyn’s arms around me as he plucked me from my mount and stood me on the ground. I leaned into him.

  “Don’t get too close,” I said. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  One arm held me up, and the other caressed the back of my neck.

  “Aelyn,” I said, “I don’t think I will get used to this.”

  “That’s for the best,” he said.

  We found all three wagons with the stolen sensal. In one, a couple of the bundles had been torn open and fabric removed. We found the cloth within one of the tents; it had been torn into strips that were decorating the poles. Aelyn scowled. One of the other elves ran his fingers over the material and shrugged.

  “Not a total loss,” he said. “We can easily salvage it for scarves and undergarments.”

  “Right,” Aelyn said. “See to it, Thallan.”

  I began to help, untying and untangling the sensal carefully. Thallan watched me for a tock, grunted in approval, and reached up for another piece.

  When we emerged, the others had hitched the stolen wagons to the kamchari, who were chewing on their fodder phlegmatically. I scrambled up onto one of the benches and grabbed the reins.

  “Don’t you want to ride your grendak?” asked Aelyn.

  I fixed him with a basilisk stare and snapped the reins. The kamcha stepped forward obediently, and the wagon headed up the slope. I sat back and luxuriated in the feeling of an honest platform.

  While the wagons were slower than the grendaki, the light was with us, and we had no difficulty picking out our way. Aelyn took us at an angle to the caravan trail, giving us a direct route to the next bivouac. In the late afternoon we pulled up next to the elven campsite. Mast arrived shortly thereafter with Katrina in tow. She stared at the salvaged wagons with an avaricious eye.

  “Found them, did you?” said Mast.

  “Aye,” said Aelyn.

  “Those belong to the crown,” said Katrina.

  The elves bristled. Aelyn placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

  "How do you figure that?" said Mast.

  She pointed at me. "You say you're a Mage," she said.

  “Yes.”

  "Mages are under the aegis of the Crown," she said. "When you pursue Crown business, you act as their agent.”

  "Leaving aside the fact that I'm not a citizen of the Empire,” I said, "it would then be my decision how to dispose of these goods, would it not?"

  She gave me a grin. "I'm so glad we understand each other," she said. "Please tell me how you'd like to distribute the sensal.”

  I felt the elves stiffen around me. Aelyn was imperturbable, but I heard Thallan take a deep breath.

  "How do you know what’s in the wagons? " I asked.

  Her smile disappeared.

  "As to the disposition," I said, “The goods belong to my people." I gestured to the elves.

  She stared at me in hatred. I saw blue strands begin to creep around her right hand.

  "I'd be careful with that spell," I said. "It will not turn out well for you."

  She whirled to face Mast. “Tell them,” she hissed, “that these wagons should come to me. For the Crown.”

  Mast shrugged. "I think we've sorted out ownership," he said. He turned away, glanced over his shoulder, and said, "We leave at first light."

  She turned her stare on me. “You little idiot,” she said. “You have no idea what you could have had.”

  “I have something that you never will, Katrina,” I said.

  “And what is that, pray tell.”

  “Enough,” I said.

  As I headed to our wagon, Raina caught my elbow.

  “Where is Aelyn?” she asked.

  “He’s organizing the watch for tonight,” I said, “He’s going to double the guard.” I grimaced. “I asked him to add me to the rotation, but he said that he didn’t want a sleep-addled Mage tossing around fireballs.”

  She grinned. “Practical, that one. Come with me. I have a gift for you.”

  “Raina. Tell me this is not because—”

  “You worry too much. I had this picked out before you found our wagons.” She smiled. “But the fact that you recovered our sensal makes it all the sweeter.”

  I followed her to her wagon. She pulled the door closed and opened a drawer. She fished out a heavy book with an embossed leather cover and placed it on a table.

  “See what you think,” she said.

  Curious, I opened the tome at a random page a little past the middle. On the left page was Lyonan script, and on the right was…

  “Goddess!” I stared at the image, my cheeks scarlet. “What are they doing?” I leaned forward to take in the details. “People can’t bend like that, can they?” I turned the book 90 degrees. “No. This isn’t possible either.” I turned it back and read the text.

  “‘Students’”, I quoted, “‘are cautioned not to engage in this pose prior to accomplishing the goals outlined in the exercises in Chapter Three and’—wait.”

  I flipped back in the book. “Chapter Six…Five…no…Four…oh, Goddess. Here it is.” I stared at the section. “Are these Elves, or acrobats?”

  I flipped back further.

  “This looks doable. And, um, rather appealing.” I ran my tongue around my lips and pressed my thighs together. “Oh, yes. That will do nicely.” I looked up at Raina, who had a deeply satisfied smile on her face. “What on earth is this? I mean, I know what it is. But—”

  “It’s a pillow book, of course.” She glanced at the page I had opened. “Oh, yes. I do enjoy that position. In fact, I think my husband and I were engaged in it the night we conceived Ryanth.”

  “The lucky boy. Do all couples have one of these?”

  “Only the women. The men are usually trained before they join in a permanent relationship.”

  “Trained?” I gaped at her.

  “Oh yes. They are introduced to sex through the Temple of Hecate, generally. You do know her, do you not?”

  “We’ve met.”

  “What?” She stared at me.

  “I mean, yes, I know of her.” I flipped through another chapter. “Wait. I recognize this position.”

  She leaned over. “Yes. Very satisfying, if the man is somewhat ambidextrous. Both hands are important.”

  “And the teeth.”

  She giggled. “Do you like it?”

  “Raina. I love it. The book, I mean. But I can’t possibly take it from you—”

  “Nonsense. You are the best possible recipient. And Aelyn will undoubtedly end up in my debt.”

  I clutched the book to my chest, and grinned.

  “Count on it,” I said.

  Aelyn entered our wagon as I placing the pillow book in my pack.

  “What have you there?” he asked.

  “I have a grimoire,” I said. “Shall we bathe?”

  When we returned to the wagon, Aelyn pulled the bed down and laid out the pillows.

  “Are you very tired?” he asked cautiously.

  “Yes,” I said. “But only two things will let me sleep now. And one of them doesn’t count.” I tossed the towel onto the table and climbed onto the bed. I turned so my elbows rested on the mattress and positioned my knees to raise my butt. I spread my thighs and turned my head to stare at him.

  “Please,” I said.

  Aelyn knelt behind me and entered me with a single motion. I gave a rasping moan and pushed back towards him. He began to ride me in a series of steady thrusts, his cock penetrating deeply each time. One of his hands slipped around my waist, dropped between my legs, and teased my clit. I began to call out each time he plunged into me. Another hand pinched my left nipple, and I exploded as Aelyn groaned and came inside me.

  I shook with a series of shuddering pulsations that seemed to last forever. Finally, I stilled, and Aelyn scooped me up and laid me on my side. He was still inside, spooned against my back, with his hand curled around a breast. He tugged the covers up and over us and kissed the nape of my neck.

  “Now,” he said, “You can sleep.”