Chapter 31. Here there be dragons






The Karolinthian Steppes which lie just to the North of the great mountains are beautiful country, home to herds of all sorts of animals and nomads who make their life amongst them.  It was several hundred miles to the coast, where Alcatian influence could be found, along with civilization, and the journey was a fascinating one for me. 


Passing through small villages along the way, I earned my meals and board by hunting, thanks to what Lucas had taught me, but also by selling my services with a sword, once I procured one from a very foolish group of bandits.


Strangely enough, the bards make much of my "exploits" slaying dragons and saving towns from bands of brigands.  There's something to it, I suppose, but not nearly as much as in the ballads. The truth of the matter is, though, that those days were important ones for me, since I was one my own, with no masters, either Kargellian or Alcatian directing me.  After being a prisoner in Kargel, and a soldier before that in Alcatia, living on my own amongst the simple honest people of Karolinthia was quite refreshing.



But back to the dragons.  They didn't breathe fire and certainly didn't fly, but the great lizards that plagued Barsil were a pretty nasty lot.  The fact is, near as I can tell, they'd lived more or less quietly in the caves nearby for centuries, hunting the plentiful wild herds but rarely causing much trouble for humans, until, by some quirk of fate, a Barsilian child somehow caught a baby lizard and took it home for a pet.  The boys parents were horrified when they discovered it, but that was after Mama came looking for baby, and in the process discovered humans were tasty, plentiful and relatively easy to digest.

By the time I got to Barsil, a half dozen villagers had already perished and the villagers had already tried  to hunt the beast with spears, scythes and pitchforks, which had brought the death count to over a score and made Mama a lot more wise to the ways of men.  By that time, thanks to the plentiful supply of human meat, most of the babies were now six or seven feet long, some of them close to breeding,  while Mama herself was closer to fifteen feet.

I guess maybe I did save the village, but it really wasn't all that heroic or anything, and I sure as heck didn't do it all myself.  Basically, instead of either just cowering inside the huts while the things roamed, or stupidly trying to charge the big nasty brutes with pitchforks, I found a couple of men who actually knew how to use a bow and we all stationed ourselves on the roofs and picked off the beasts whenever they came around.  We kept that up for a week, until none of them showed up.
We ended up with ten or so dead lizards on our hands, but none of them was Mama.

Then and only then did I go out with the villagers looking for her.  We tracked her back to her lair, and while most of the villagers dug a really big pit right out front of it, I took two lads with axes and cut ourselves a giant lizard sticker, basically a ten foot long lance made from an entire tree with a sharpened point.  Eventually, Mama came out looking for food, and I put the thing down her throat. No more dragons in Barsil.

The Barsilians were really grateful and generous with me after that.  We had an enormous lizard meat feast, and given all the lizard skin they now had on hand, a local tanner figured he could spare some leather he had on hand and made me a really nifty, if somewhat crude halter and skirt.

But aside from slaying dragons, there really wasn't all that much to tell of my time in Karolinthia, except perhaps for one other thing. As I was packing up to leave Barsil, one of the lads I'd gone dragon shooting with, a really nice little fellow, stopped me and begged me to travel with him to a nearby village where his uncle lived.  To make a fairly long story short, his uncle made me a Great Bow, about seven  feet long, which I immediately found I loved.  The draw was too hard for most men to manage, but I was fine with it.


I crossed the Vulgar river at Pinoste, and after only a few days, found myself on the Costian road, which led straight to Alcatia.  The rest of my journey was fairly unremarkable.

Chapter 29. Sowing the Seeds for Departure

Latarra and I had really gone at it the night before, and while I woke up first to wash my face and let the servants in with her breakfast, it was really tempting to crawl back into bed with her, but I didn't.

My neck was a bit sore and I stretched it out a bit and spent a few moments admiring Latarra's sleeping body sprawled out on the bed.  She really was beautiful at rest, especially her firm backside.  In the past, Tar had marveled about my own body. The contrast between my my muscles, especially my thighs and my huge breasts was something she took particular delight in, but up until the night before, I'd never really given her own body the attention it deserved. Latarra was not a big woman, even by human standards.  Her breasts, just about the only fat on her body, were modestly sized, as were her hips.  When she was awake, her tiny body was a bundle of dense and deceptively powerful muscle, but at rest like that, she could easily have passed for an athletically built teenager. 

After a few minutes, she stirred, and then sat up and stretched, like a cat, almost, and then, smiling at me, walked over to the table naked and started to eat.  I joined her, and for a few moments, we talked about what worked and didn't work the night before, laughing and giggling.

But when she'd finished eating, she kissed me and put on her riding leather, giving me the rundown on what she had to do.  When she left, I sat there, realizing I couldn't keep this up forever, brand or no brand. I couldn't just be a pet to be taken  out and played with, no matter how much fun the play was.

I put on a tunic, roused my guards and went to go see Kurt, or more precisely Pongo.  And when the servant said Kurt was out, I stopped for a moment to think and then turned to my guards.

"I'm going to go talk to my friend" I said, "and if you guys aren't good with that, I'll try not to hurt you."

Frick and Frack looked at each other for a moment, and then Frick replied.

"We can't let you" he said, his voice trembling as his hand went to his sword.

"I was afraid of that" I replied, grabbing both men's right wrists and then, transferring both to one hand while their feet dangled, removing their swords.  Then I set them down.

"Is that good enough? Or do I have to get rough?"

Frack tried to bolt and I grabbed him and gave him a punch to the stomach which left him on the floor moaning.

Frick looked at me and put his hands up.

"How about you take me with you, like as a hostage, please?"

I grinned and gently shoved him in the door to Kurt's apartment.

Pongo greeted me with a smile and offered me a glass of wine, which was sitting on a small table close to the bed he was shackled to.  It was a fairly long chain, and we talked about that, as well as Kurt for awhile.  Pongo was a changed man for certain.  As soon as he saw me free and listened to my story, he started to cry.

Kurt had been talking about branding him, offered him a life as his slave, and Pongo had refused, being unwilling to accept it, not for his own sake, but for mine.  It was all very sweet, but also quite bizarre to see Pongo, my old friend, reduced to this.  I'd always known Pongo had a soft spot or two underneath all that masculine muscle, but it seemed Kurt, or at least what Kurt had done to him had turned the massive warrior into an emotional little girl.  By this time, I was really glad I hadn't drunk any of the wine Kurt had provided him.

At about that time, Frack, along with a couple of other guards came in, but to his credit, Frick intervened and got them to wait until I told Pongo goodbye to "take me into custody."  As they walked me back to Latarra's rooms, there were now a total of six guards on me, two of which were carrying crossbows.

I know I should have been a good girl, but the men were so nervous, I just couldn't resist stopping abruptly, turning around, saying "boo"  and watching them jump.

That evening, Latarra came in late and stripped off her clothes, ordering the girls to fetch us dinner.  She looked at me long and hard once, and then didn't make eye contact until after she'd put on a house tunic and dictated some correspondence. Then, finally, she sighed, got up from her desk and came over to me.

"You saw Pongo" she said, "and I'm guessing you've got all sorts of ideas bouncing around in that big head of yours about what's happened to him.  Am I right?"

I nodded and was about to ask one, but she cut me off.

"Let me cut to the chase. Kurt's been giving him Polonaise for a long time and if you've got any notions of escaping with Pongo, you should think twice.  Without regular doses, he'll start having fits, fevers, and, well, even if he would live through the withdrawal, he'd never be up for traveling."

My face likely got pretty red and Latarra discretely took a step back.  I'd never really lost my temper with her, but she knew how strong I was.

"If you stay ... no, whether you stay or not, I'll do my best Fiona, to see that Pongo is taken off the Polonaise properly.  I can't guarantee anything and there's a good chance he'll never be like he was, but I owe you that much.  Its a nasty drug, but quite useful when given in small doses.  Long term use is something else."

"Thank you" I said softly, not quite sure what to make of the if I stay or not.  As usual, Latarra was way ahead of me in terms of thinking.

"If you go, Fiona" she said after a long pause, "I can help.  Not openly, of course, but I've thought about this as well.  We can pick a time and place,to give you a head start, and, uh, I was kind of hoping, to avoid either an actual fight between us, or too much of a loss of face for me."

"Tar" I said looking up as I took in what she'd said, "I haven't made up my mind yet.  And I wouldn't ..."

Latarra walked over and squeezed my arm.

"I'm still sort of hoping you won't take me up on it, Fiona, but after what happened to Pongo, I don't see staying here in Thundertarr being a workable thing for long.  You're a sweet girl, Fiona, sweet like a human, which I love about you, but eventually, the sex won't be enough, and I can't change what I am.  Nor can you.  What I'm saying is, if you do go, it doesn't have to cost either of us our necks."

After dinner, Latarra brought in Matu, I think knowing I wouldn't take her up on the offer, but she did it anyway.  She rode him until he was done, and then she and I both played around a bit with one of the girls, but I wasn't much into it.  Nor, I think, was she, really.  The more I think about it, I think she just didn't want to be alone with me that night.  

Chapter 28. The Elephant in the Room

That evening, while Latarra was still away, Kurt surprised me.  As always, I was in my little corner of Latarra's chambers, chatting with two of her servants about their brands and what mine might look like when Latarra finally made her ownership of me official.  I know, I know, and I promise you I had no intention of letting that happen, but that's the kind of thing the girls liked to talk about, and short of sex, it's really pretty much all that these particular girls were good for.  Beggars and humans in a Karga household can't be choosers.

In a true display of warped Karga chivalry, Kurt came into the room accompanied by a frazzled looking serving wench carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses and a nervous looking waiter type with some sort of roasted meat, cheese, and bread on a platter.

"I've changed my mind, Fiona" he said with a smile, "about you and I, I mean. It occurred to me that between Latarra monopolizing you, and your size, you probably have never had a Karga male inside you."

Filys and Feebee, my companions at the moment, actually giggled at that line, and I had a hard time not joining them.

But I didn't.  Kurt didn't scare me, mind you, but I needed his help with Pongo, and if that meant putting up with his posturing and bizarre behavior, I'd give it a shot.

"No, Kurt" i said.  "In fact, you're the only Karga male that's ever even mentioned it. I suppose I should be flattered, but... honestly, the food and wine seems like a better approach."

Kurt grinned.


"Would you take a walk with me?" he asked, looking at Feebee and Filys.

And that's how Kurt and I started our private romantic dinner, accompanied by my two guards and Kurt's two servants.  In all honesty, it wasn't that unpleasant.  Kurt, although still bizarre and at times unfathomable, was actually curious about me and the world outside Kargel, and I, despite not liking him, was still aroused just sitting across from him. 

I tried to be discrete, and eventually, it really was Kurt who brought up Pongo and not me.

"I just don't get it" Kurt said.  "I'm Karga, and I'm used to getting my way with humans, but you Ferals, you're, different.  Pongo does what I tell him, but only because he has to, not because he likes me.  How do I make him like me?"

"Maybe, " I said, taking a bite of meat, "you should start being nice.   Like by unchaining him, for a start."

Kurt looked like he'd never thought of that, and so, I went on, using the freedom and little gifts Latarra had given me as examples.   By the end of the meal, Kurt had a lot to chew on, and I hoped he might even follow through with some of it, like letting me see Pongo.

It wasn't all that easy though.  Kurt might or might not be "into" girls, notwithstanding the fact that he obviously had done plenty of experimenting, but he was curious about not just me, but his sister and I, and what we did.  It was like he just didn't get the idea of sex without a male sex organ being involved.  I went through it with him, but it wasn't easy.  Honestly, to this day, talking about sex isn't nearly as easy for me as doing it.

The strange thing was, the more I talked with Kurt, the more I understood him, the less I hated him.  He was a boy, not that much younger than I was, and he was really just trying to figure out how to relate to others and grow up, not liking his family or even the privileges his birth had given him.


The next day, Latarra came back and I spent the better part of a day on pins and needles, worrying that she'd find out about both about my inquiries about Pongo and my visits with Kurt.  Latarra was tricky that way in several respects.  First, while I really do think she was enamoured of me physically at least, and possibly even emotionally, there were some real limits to my lover's attachment to anything but herself.  Second, she didn't exactly trust me.  Although I think Latarra had come to recognize that I might be an exception to the general rule of physical inferiority to the Karga, she didn't, and likely never would see me as an equal.  She vacillated sometimes between treating me as a pet and a child, but she really never did treat me as a peer.

In fact, the elephant in the room (yes, there are Elephants in Kargel by the way, although mostly much further South) was what exactly my status was and what it would be.  Everyone but Latarra seemed to just assume she'd eventually brand me, and while I'd only made very discrete inquiries, no one had ever heard of a free Feral being granted Kargan rights like Latarra had hinted.  I hadn't pushed the issue for a number of reasons.  First, I wanted to make sure Alex and the boys were safely out of the country before I did anything that Latarra might see as reneging on our deal.  Then there was Pongo.  Until I could figure out a way to escape, I didn't want to rock the boat.  Finally, I'll admit it.  Making love with Latarra was so good that for awhile at least, the long term labels they put on our relationship and even my own freedom, didn't seem to matter all that much.

But something changed in Latarra when she came back.  She made a point of kissing me when she saw me in the early afternoon, but as soon as we were alone after dinner that night, when I was expecting an embrace and a more passionate kiss, she surprised me and slapped me hard across the face.   It was just a slap, but it hurt me far more than physically.

And then she started the abuse.  She screamed at me, called me names, and when I didn't cower, she tried to hit me again, only this time with a closed fist.  I probably should have just let her, but my instincts took over and I caught her fist, grabbed her other arm and held her there while she shook with rage.  I let her vent for awhile and  then, realizing that she wasn't really even trying to break free, let her go.

When she looked up at me, I could swear I saw a small tear in her eyes as she spoke.

"That was inexcusable" she said, and then shook her head, "on my part, I mean.   I can't expect you to know what I don't tell you, and beating you out of anger was weakness on my part."

For Latarra, that was sort of an apology, or at least that's how I took it.

"So tell me" I said, "and stop beating yourself  up over it already.  Believe it or not, I'm a big girl and can accept a little anger.  Its not like you really hurt me."

Latarra smiled as she ran her hand along my hip.

"There is that, at least.  Don't you dare tell anyone, but with you, I like being smaller and weaker sometimes."

"Sometimes" I said, "maybe, but it bothers you too.  I get that, Latarra."

"You get ME, Fiona, and I do love that about you, which is why I'm ... Concerned that Kurt seems to have taken an interest in you.  I'd hoped his infatuation with your friend would keep him away from you, but you sought him out.  He's my kin, Fiona, but he's not someone to trust."


I paused for a moment, and decided to level with Latarra.  There was so much unsaid between us, at least I could let one thing out in the open.

"I don't trust him, Tar, but he's got my friend."

Latarra sighed, pressing herself against me.

"And I gave him to Kurt, to keep you for myself" she said, "which I don't regret.  But you might."

I reached down then, picking up Latarra and kissing her, enjoying the way she writhed in my embrace.

After a few moments, she pulled back and I set her feet back on the floor.

"Kurt told our grandfather about Pongo and you" Latarra said, "which would be fine in and of itself, but there were others in the room.  There's going to be pressure for me to brand you."

I said nothing for a long moment and Latarra stepped up and took my hand.

"I was hoping to avoid this, Fi.   The Assembly has talked about giving Karga rights to worthy individuals before, but there's no law yet, and the current Premier is not going to do me any favors.  Its not such a terrible thing, really.  With my brand, Fiona, you'd be mine, and I could protect you as I would any other property."

"Its not about you, Tar" I said slowly, "I hope you know that."

Latarra nodded.

"Think on it, Fiona.  Please.  Legally, I have every right to force you, but ..."

I sighed before finishing her sentence.

"But having the right doesn't mean you would, or that you could?"

Latarra reached up and touched my cheek.

"I could try, Fi, but I'm not sure about would. Fiona, please just think about it.  You've stayed with me this long and its just a legal thing, really."

Latarra pressed herself up against me again, putting her arms around my waist as she continued.

"We don't need to decide tonight, dear."

I looked down at Latarra for a long moment, inhaling her scent, watching her eyes, and especially her lips, which were moist but tense.  This was the most vulnerable, the most human I'd ever seen her, and I knew it took a lot for her to show that side of herself to me.    I didn't know what I'd do if push came to shove, any more than she did, but what I did know was that I wanted her then, and, that she deserved a reward.

"Good then" I said smiling as I slid one arm around her and picked her up, carrying her to the bed.  "I've got a better way to spend tonight."

Chapter 27. Kurt

I'd like to think that I awoke on my own from Latarra's spell, but the truth is, there were a number of factors contributing to it, including the fact that the demands of managing all of Thundertarr's estate kept her from spending so much time  tending to my erogenous zones.

  Without constant orgasms to cloud my head, I was able to think more clearly, and one of the things I thought about was Pongo.  He'd all but disappeared and while I was still struggling with what Latarra had done to me, I was pretty sure that someone like Pongo could fare far worse than I under the attention of a Karga lover.   Pongo was larger than life and put on a good show, but I knew underneath it all, he was a fairly fragile person, scarred emotionally by his size and a lot less confident than he held himself out to be.  I'd actually long held suspicions, for example, that Pongo was secretly more interested in men than women, but it hadn't been my place to pry.  It didn't matter to me, but I'd learned enough about the Karga by now to know that, while most Karga might actually be bisexual, sex for them was in large part secondary to dominance.  And Pongo, for all his physical gifts, was just about the most vulnerable personality to that sort of thing I could imagine.

Latarra had given me leave to explore most of Thundertarr, as long as I let my two guards stay with me, so the first thing I did was go looking for Pongo.  As it turned out, a man matching his description was indeed within the fortress, although, according to the gossip among the servants, he was being held in one of those off-limits areas, Kurt's personal quarters.  That set off all sorts of warning bells in my head.  Pongo and Kurt's dislike for each other had been pretty overwhelming, and from what I gathered from Latarra, Kurt might well take that out sexually, which I wasn't sure might not be worse for Pongo than outright physical torture.  Pongo was a really tough guy, but if Kurt could twist his head around half as deftly as Latarra did mine, he could really be in for some serious mind-twisting.

Unfortunately, while the servant girls I found remembered Pongo clearly, they were less than clear about important details like whether he was conscious, in good health, or even still had a tongue in his mouth.  All they wanted to talk about was his size, which really was not all that interesting to me, although at least I suppose I could rest assured that that part of him was still attached when they'd last seen him.

Plan A had been to find Pongo directly.  Plan B was to get to him some other way, and since none of the girls was inclined to help me in that department, I decided to take the young bull by the horns or whatever and talk to Kurt.  We hadn't spoken at all since I'd come to Thundertarr, but I'd seen him often enough, usually scowling and turning the other way when I was walking with Latarra.  I got the feeling brother and sister weren't on the best of terms, and, having seen enough of Karga ways by now, I figured it was just possible that Kurt might be willing to overlook his previous humiliation at my hands if it might be something he could use against Latarra.  It was a half baked plan, but it was at least a plan.

So, one morning while Latarra was out for a couple of days on a meeting, I enlisted the help of one of the girls and did myself up as best I could, brushing out my hair and putting it in the long single braid favored by Karga women and Kargellian women who tried to imitate them and slipped on a short dress Latarra had given me, which was really way too short to be decent, even if it hadn't been cut up top to just above my nipples.  I then stationed myself near the veranda where Kurt ate his breakfast and waited.

Kurt's adolescent eyes were as big as saucers when he saw my much larger than saucer boobs coming his way, but the little monster caught himself and spoke directly to my guards.

"Put the Feral on her knees!" he barked.

The guards grabbed my arms, and I went along, half because Latarra had made me promise not to hurt them and half because playing along was what it was all about.

Kurt stepped over to me, put one hand on my cheek and leaned in close, his lips inches from mine.  This time I KNEW it was chemical, because  the wetness between my legs was exactly what happened to me when Latarra touched me.  And I could swear Kurt sniffed the air when it happened, right before he smiled.

"I was wondering when you'd come to me, Fiona.  What's the matter, did Latarra get you all hot and horny and leave you all alone?"

I remembered why I'd hated Kurt then, and the fact that I wanted him to touch me again made me hate him even more.

"Y.....yes," I said, swallowing and tightening my shoulders a bit until the guards lost their grip.  I wanted to try and play the docile little seductress thing, but Kurt's words had made me just too mad for that.

"I wanted to see you..." I began.

"Or feel me?" Kurt said grinning as he slipped his hand between my legs, feeling my juices.  That was too much.  I grabbed his arm, pulled it away, and was about to use my other hand to wipe that smirk off his face when he kissed me on the lips.

He caught me by surprise there, and I lost my grip on his arm as he kissed me and I totally kissed him back for a long few seconds, until we both realized what was happening. I was humiliated and panting like a bitch in heat, but, while still on my knees, I'd picked Kurt up off his feet and had been squeezing his behind.  I dropped him, he stepped back, but he gained the power of speech before I did.

"I don't usually do girls" he said, "but for you, I'll make an exception.  Guards, put her on her back."

"Like Hell you will" I said, even as the two poor idiots moved to try.  I stood up, grabbed both men under their arms and slammed them into each other, not hard to enough to kill them or even really break any ribs.  Then I let them drop to the floor, stepping over them as I looked down on Kurt.

Kurt's sneer vanished and I saw fear in his eyes for just a moment.  Unfortunately, that was not what I wanted.  I was sure I could kill Kurt and it might be a lot of fun, but Latarra would almost certainly have Pongo and I both killed for it.

"I'm sorry, " I said, biting my lip and puffing out my chest, which seemed like the most non-threatening part of me to put forward.  Then I turned my head to look back at the men on the ground for a moment and then back to Kurt.

"I didn't mean to hurt them" I said in as innocent a voice as I could manage.  "I just got scared."

Kurt stared at me for a moment, and then shook his head slightly.

"YOU're scared?" he said, shaking his head and stepping back a half a step.  Then he caught himself and picked up a glass of orange juice.  I think the kid was trying to act cool.  It was pretty neat to see, really.

"Yes, damn it" I said softly.  "I am scared, and the fact that I'm big and strong doesn't change that.  You, uh...."

Kurt shook his head and poured me an orange juice.

"Save it, Fiona.  I'm a Karga and you're big sex vibrates like you don't know what around me.  That probably scares you, and, since there's no one else around, I'll give you one back.  You make me hard as a rock, which is pretty confusing to me as well, since I tend to not like women all that much to begin with."

I couldn't help but smile at that.  It was the nicest think Kurt had ever said to me and I was sure I was making some sort of progress.

"So, be honest with me" he said, "and I'll be honest with you.  What do you really want from me?"

"Pongo" I said, after a long moment's pause.

Kurt stared at me and sat down, laughing softly.

"I should have known" he said.  "Your friend is fine, better than fine, really, now that he's behaving himself.  In fact, he seemed quite happy when I left him this morning."

"He is?" I said wide eyed, "I mean, he's really ok?  Like.... did you ...?"

"Yes, yes.  I raped him, not just once but again and again, and he cried and tried to break his chains and kill me, but we're over all that now.  He likes it when I'm inside him, and he REALLY likes it when I take that big cock of his in my mouth.  Of course, he wants to put it inside of me as well, but, well, look, all relationships have their problems, don't they?  You of all people should understand size issues, right?"

I did, sort of, and moreover, I pretended I really did and got the little psychopath thinking my head was as messed up as his, only in a different way.  He promised me he'd tell Pongo I asked about him and that, as soon as he could be sure Pongo would behave himself, I could come see him.

By the time breakfast was over, I felt like I'd at least started to accomplish what I'd set out to do.  Pongo was alive and I'd started working on getting to see him.  But the cost was not negligible.  Just talking with Kurt made me feel dirty and nasty, way worse than I felt after sleeping with Latarra, and I was beginning to think that this was just the beginning.  Latarra would not be happy with the way I'd treated her guards and probably wouldn't be happy that I'd spoken with Kurt.  She hadn't exactly forbidden it, true, but I was pretty sure she wouldn't like it.   Leaving wholly aside her own issues with Kurt, I think she thought of me as her property, and my seeking Kurt out, well, it couldn't possibly be a good thing.

Chapter 26. Latarra

Thundertarr itself was something of a wonder. Inside of its massive walls, the place resembled an Alcatian villa, with lots of open spaces, greenery and even sculptures.  As soon as we got inside, Latarra selected two of her largest men, big brutes with more muscles than Pongo to stay with me, stopped to give orders to other men and then led me into a parlor where she had a little brown skinned slave girl pour us both a cup of tea.  Then, she took a seat at a desk, put her feet up and gestured towards a chair.


"Sit.  There's no need to stand on ceremony here.  I'll have your captain brought up in a few moments, but you and I can talk now first.  I'm not going to lie to you.  Kurt wants to have you and that big Bushman drawn and quartered, but he's a boy, and not fond of being shown up.  You bested him and slew some of our better battle slaves.  I really am thinking you might have a place among us, as a breeder, at the very least.  Do you like men?"


"That's your offer?" I said, putting my tea down untasted.

Latarra laughed.


"No, I suppose not, but you would produce some amazing children with the right Karga seed in your womb."


"Like Kurt?" I responded.


Latarra shook her head.


"My brother would never last a night with you, I'm guessing.  In fact, I'm not sure many Karga men would. Which is why I find you so fascinating.  Drink the tea, dear. Poison is not my style.  You're a soldier.  We've use for them as well.  Its just things to consider."


Thus began my first real conversation with Latarra.  She was the most extraordinary woman I'd ever met, smart as a whip and prone to showing it, along with demonstrating her confidence, both of which I learned were typical Karga traits.


Alex was brought up in due time, and, after  some discussion, he agreed with me that the best course likely was to go along with Latarra's plan, although he was as skeptical as I was that she'd actually deliver the men to Alcatia.  There just wasn't much of an alternative, other than refusing, which would get none of us anywhere.

That evening, Latarra summoned me to her chambers, where she proceeded to feed me, and fill me in a bit more about herself and her plans, not so much about me, but about Kargel and her perception of its place in the world.  I''ll spare you the blow by blow, so to speak, along with my questions, which were many.

Kargel, she informed me, was a vast empire, now occupying the majority of the Southern Continent, and, quite frankly dwarfing Alcatia in terms of both geography and resources, if not in population.  The Karga had conquered all but a few pockets of resistance, and aside from the vast jungles and deserts of the interior, had basically carved out estates, ruled by Karga families.  Unlike Alcatia, which had a King and a mostly ceremonial senate, Karga was ruled by an assembly, which in turn selected a Premier who served a ten year term.  She was quite certain that Kargel would eventually spread out over the entire world, but unlike some within the Assembly, Latarra was beginning to favor slow growth and, incredibly enough, a practical peace with Alcatia, while it focused on expansion to the Far East.

The vast majority of what she said went right over my head, but I wasn't so much stupid as ignorant, and I did soak up some of her ramblings about economics, and even the inherent flaws in Kargellian society.  She favored reforms to strengthen a Kargellian identity, and to encourage the development of a loyal and growing population of non-Karga.  Through careful breeding, the Karga had become a race apart, but the non-Karga population had grown so huge and important, that it was time to pay attention to it, not just to eliminate potential revolt, but to make a revolt unpalatable.

 As we drank and ate, Latarra loosened up quite a bit, and spoke dreamily about her vision for a new Kargel, where the brand on a Kargellian's neck was more than just an indication of who his master was, but a badge of honor and something to be proud of.

She seemed a little mad to me, and a lot of what she talked about I just plain didn't understand, but the more I listened, the more I realized just how brilliant she was.  I'd learned that the Karga were cruel, and that they enslaved humans, but listening to Latarra rant, I started to realize there was more to it than just that.  True, she often spoke of Ferals as animals and I got the feeling she saw even native Kargellians as livestock, but she wanted her livestock to thrive and even on occasion spoke negatively of some aspects of Karga society.  Feral Hunts, she opined, for example, had their place in terms of training young Karga, but she decried their effect on the morale of not just Ferals, but of domestic Kargellians as well.


Of course, as Latarra lectured me, I did wonder why she was doing it, and it did seem odd how little she expected me to say.  She did sort of want me to listen, but increasingly, I began to realize, she was speaking to me more as a child or a pet than a human.  As I watched and listened, it began to dawn on me, how really different she was than any human I'd ever met.  Physically, she looked mostly like an extraordinarily fit human, but there was something about the way that she moved that gave her away.  Even when she speared a piece of meat on her tray, she did it smoothly and efficiently.

And then, as she began to talk about her personal life, the differences between us came home to roost even more fully.  Latarra looked to be in her early thirties, but she spoke of events decades ago.  And her personal life, that just blew me away.  While she assured me Karga did marry amongst themselves, she'd never done so, having never found a Kargan male she could stomach both seeing as an equal and living with.

She liked being the aggressor, she said, too much for most Karga to handle, which made her not unique amongst female Karga.  Many of her peers resorted to keeping non-Karga companions, but human males were fragile, both physically and emotionally.

As dense as I was then, I did realize where she was going, and I'll confess I was intrigued as she talked about intimacy with women, even though I knew where she might be going.  Sexually, she found human women appealing at times, but she tired of them too quickly and yearned for something more substantial, yet without the intense competition that was the nature of Karga of her generation.

Of course, eventually, she rose and took my hand, leading me away from the table and out onto a little private terrace where she made her intentions clear, both by her words and her deeds.   I let her disrobe me and eagerly, if awkwardly, followed her lead in the use of fingers and mouths that night.  It was incredible, and even hours later, when I awoke with her sleeping hard little body on top of my own, I wanted more.


What I didn't know then was that my passive acceptance of her advances was in large part, chemical.  Karga, both male and female, often overwhelm humans that way, and this was my first real taste of  Karga lust.    

The next few weeks with Latarra were amazing.  Alex and the boys did indeed get sent home, and while Pongo remained, Latarra promised me he was recuperating nicely and would be given an opportunity in Thundertarr as well when he was up for it.  I knew somehow she was lying about that, but seeing as how she buried her face between my legs after saying it, I let it go and promised myself to revisit the matter later.

Latarra was smaller than I was, but she had  appetite, at least for me, that made her seem much larger.  In fact, as strange as it might seem, given how much she was the aggressor, it soon became clear that she tired faster than I did.

But she didn't seem to tire of me entirely.  After a couple of nights, she brought in several servants to cater to both our needs, and eventually even introduced me to one of her favorite males, a young brown skinned man built like Pongo on a smaller scale.  Matu was well trained, and Latarra showed me how she liked to ride him, which was an experience in and of itself.

Latarra had been gentle with me, but with Matu, things were very different.  She grabbed his manhood and straddled him, and then, shoving him inside her, rode him expertly until she had her own orgasm.  The man whimpered the whole time and then came when she did.

Later, after Latarra left Matu and I to go take care of estate business, we compared notes, so to speak, which is how I first really began to understand what Latarra really was.  Matu was a nice guy, and he told me how attractive he found me, and even that he sort of hoped Latarra might give him to me, but he apologized, without reason, it seemed to me, that he couldn't service me until then.  The word couldn't got my attention, and Matu proceeded to explain just how repeated sexual experiences with Karga had changed him.  In his head, he still felt things for other women, and with a tremendous effort, he could still get partially erect without a Karga present, but it wasn't the same and he couldn't really climax.  In fact, even with Latarra there to get him fully hard, copulating with a human woman was an empty experience.  Sex with Latarra was rough, painful, but fulfilling, as he felt her gripping and squeezing him.  He was smiling as he described it, but it was a sad smile as he described, how, in his words, she'd ruined him for other women.

It was, I learned later, not altogether different for human women. Sex, and to some extent, even prolonged non sexual contact with Karga changed something in their brains.  The effect was more noticeable with Ferals like myself and Matu, but it was an issue even for domesticated humans.  In fact, as Latarra eventually explained to me, the process of domestication was largely a matter of conditioning humans to Karga pheromones.  Over generations of breeding, human Kargellians had grown more receptive in many ways.  It was all but impossible for most Kargellians to disobey a Karga directly.  Unfortunately, truly domesticated humans, i.e., ones with Karga blood in their veins, tended to be non fertlie with Karga, although they seemed to breed normally  amongst themselves.

I find even talking about Karga sexuality and the way it influences humans disturbing and I'm sure some of my readers find my even staying with them to be a bit repulsive, but it bears repeating that while I was learning all of this, Latarra was exerting her influence over me both sexually and otherwise.

I've no doubt my infatuation with her had a great deal to do with the fact that she was a Karga, but there was also a great deal more to it.  Latarra truly was an amazing woman, wholly apart from her beauty or sexuality, and she was focusing a great deal of herself on me at the time.  Did she love me?  The word doesn't really fit, but there was something between us and it was strong and at times seemed to overwhelm both of us.

Chapter 25. Thundertarr

After landing, the company made its way swiftly inland, meeting no resistance from the Kargellian villagers, but getting no cooperation either.  In appearance, they might as well be Alcatians, save for the fact there were few adult men and everyone bore a brand on the back of their necks.

When questioned, it became clear they were terrified of their Karga masters, but when more terrified of "Ferals" the term they used for foreigners.  They did, however point us straight to Thundertarr proper, a fortress perched on the top of a mountain overlooking a small town and the valley, which was composed almost entirely of well kept farmland.

Captain Alex stayed in the town with the majority of our troops, sending several sets of scouts, including Pongo, Lu and I, along with another man, who were sent up the eastern side of the mountain to survey the fortress itself.  We made it to the fortress just before dusk and spent about an hour surveying the possible approaches before meeting and putting together a report to take back down to the Captain, while Pongo and I stationed ourselves on either side of the one passable road leading up to the fortress.

Around midnight, the sounds of shouting from the valley below echoed up to us.  Shortly after that, the gates to the fortress opened and a squad of about twenty Kargellian infantrymen, along with a single man on horseback started jogging down the mountainside.  As we watched them approach by the light of the moon, it was pretty impressive.

The men were enormous (by Alcatian standards if not my own), muscular, and they jogged down the hillside at a pretty impressive pace, despite their armor.  As soon as they got within range, Lu took out the rider with a single arrow, and Pongo and I dropped to the road, intending to have some fun with the infantrymen.  Even without Lu's help, twelve on two had always been pretty easy odds for Pongo and I in practice, and we expected to manage this small Kargellian force without too much trouble.

We were wrong.  The Kargellians were almost as big as Pongo, and while they moved slowly in their armor compared to Pongo and I, they were very good, certainly better than any of the Alcatian regulars.  The first few went down easily enough, but as soon as they realized they had their hands full, Pongo and I found ourselves fully engaged and making extremely slow progress.

Then, we both heard Lu's scream, and the Karga, who turned out to be a boy of maybe 15, tossed her head out into the field and started giving orders to his men. It might have been Lu's head, or maybe Pongo just figured it made sense to take out the boy first, but for some reason, Pongo, who'd been fighting back to back with me, charged forward, suddenly leaving me surrounded.  I kicked it up a gear, but by the time I cleared enough men to get a look at Pongo and the Karga, I could tell it was not going well.  Pongo had been cut several times, and the Karga lad was toying with him, moving in and out and wearing the larger wounded man down.

By the time I got over to the Karga, Pongo was in bad shape, but he rallied when I joined him, and the little man's dancing moves weren't nearly as effective against two of us.  Finally, the kid made the mistake of trying to parry one of my blows and lost his sword.  Panicked, the boy stretched out to reach for it and a kick to the head, enough to kill a man twice his size, knocked him unconscious.

Breathing heavily, Pongo and I put one slowly dying man down quickly, and grabbed the kid before making our way of the road.  By the time we made it down the mountain, the main battle was over and it was clear who'd won.  Based on the number of Kargellian infantry milling about the town, it was probably about even numbers wise, but having fought the Kargelluans, it was easy to guess those odds had been hopeless.  I didn't know then what went into breeding, feeding and training a Kargellian battle slave, but the result was pretty incredible.  Pongo and I had struggled to defeat a mere dozen of them.

When the kid started to wake, Pongo gagged him, and we retreated into the woods, buying time for Pongo to get his strength back while we looked for the remainder of our company.

Kurt, our Karga captive, turned out to insufferable.  We got almost nothing out of him but his name and family, and even that came with the price of condescension and contempt.  Picture if you will, the worst sort of spoiled noble adolescent, and then mix in a lifetime of racism, training and conditioning which gave the kid even more of an attitude.  

The knowledge that he was incredibly valuable alive was all that kept us from killing him after a couple of days while we made our way back towards the coast and looked for the company, all the while hiding from Kargellian patrols, which were increasingly nume  

Finally, one evening, Pongo made me face facts.

"We've had a good run, Fi, but we can't keep this up forever.  If our company's alive, they've either been captured or left without us.  And it's only a matter of time before we ..."

"I know, Pongo" I said softly, thinking how much I agreed, but how I'd avoided talking about it because I had no solution.  

"What do you know about boats, Fi?  I know nothing really."

I bit my lip.  I hated boats and had rarely been on the water, but I'd lived my life amongst men who made their living on the sea, including my elder brother. I didn't like them, and probably would live to regret saying it, but I could probably manage a small boat if I had to.

"Enough, I suppose, to be dangerous.  I guess it's our only hope, huh?"

The next day, I left Pongo with Kurt and scouted a tiny fishing village, casing it basically, and figuring out which boats looked to be both suitable and stealable.  I found two that would work, and went back to the cave where I'd left them, only to find it empty.

As I stepped back outside, a dozen or so crossbowmen stared me down, along with a blonde haired woman in dark brown leather.

"Fiona, right?" she said, stepping forward.  "You are something special alright."

As she stepped closer, my heart leaped for several reasons.  First, I'd need a shield or hostage if I didn't want to get turned into a pincushion.  And second, the woman was gorgeous.  Gorgeous and captvating.  I was dazzled by her  smile.

"I'm Latarra, by the way, and he and your bushman  friend are just fine.  Nice piece of equipment there, by the way.  I can't wait to see him in action."

Latarra stopped about ten paces from me and smiled.

"Do be a dear and give me your sword, won't you? "

  Eying the crossbowmen, for a second, I reached back and unfastened my sword and scabbard, holding it out hilt first to Latarra.  Unfortunately, one of her men took it, but as soon as he did, Latarra finally stepped close enough for me to get my hands on her.

Only I couldn't.  Latarra smiled as she reached up and ran her hands over my body, tracing my thighs, abs and even brushing lightly over my breasts before caressing my arms.

"You're spectacular," Latarra said, "I didn't think muscles like that existed on any women but Karga, but here they are.  I bet you,..." she looked into my eyes "you're thinking you want to hurt me, only you want something else, don't you?"

I finally managed to move my limbs then, and reached out to grab the little blonde woman, but she was faster and stepped into me, landing a punch in my midsection which actually hurt. 

I was dazed, totally unprepared for the force behind her fist, and as she stepped back, holding her hand, she looked equally astonished that I was still standing.

"Hold your fire!" she called out, "I want this wench alive."

"If you're smart," Latarra said, "you'll be a good girl.  Your Bushman is still alive as are some of your Alcatian friends.  I'll take you to them, and maybe we can work something out.  They'd never last in the mines, anyway, but you and the Bushman are different.  I'm thinking a trade, you and the Bushman for your friends."

"Not a chance" I said, stepping forward, even as I tried to guess if I could get to the Karga before I became a pin cushion for all those crossbows.

Latarra smiled.

"Don't be stupid, Fiona.  Kriven sent you to me, girl.  And I'm thinking I might accept the gift and send Alex back alive.  This is tedious.  I'm sure your Alcatian masters don't tell you this, but there are quite a few outsiders living amongst us with most the rights and privileges accorded to Karga.  You don't fit in in Alcatia.  You might, though, with us.  Just be a good girl, and let me show you.  Give me your word you won't run until you've met with your captain at least. "

Glancing up at the crossbowmen and noticing the increasing number of heavy infantrymen filing in behind them, I sighed.  The best I could hope for was to kill the Karga before I died if I didn't play along.  But what Latarra said, in a way made sense.  I didn't believe her wholly, but what she said about Kriven made sense and at least if I went along, I might be able to figure something out later.

I shrugged. "Fine" I said.

Chapter 24. Tulis

Even with Snowflake doing most of the heavy lifting, the overland trip from Moscar to Alcatia was a long one and the Borga Pass was, to say the least, an awe inspiring experience.  For days, breathing air so thin it clouded my head, I was surrounded by the tallest mountains the world.  It was beautiful, to be sure, but the scale made even me feel tiny.

But I found I liked traveling alone on horseback, at least compared to walking along a carriage anyway.  I like to think I'm fairly social for a giant freak, but after all that time with the girls, a little peace and quiet wasn't such a bad thing. 

Of course a woman my size traveling alone is bound to attract a little attention.  But not necessarily in a bad way all the time.  Just outside of LangLo, the village on the south side of the pass, I caught a kid sneaking around my campsite.  I wasnt really rough with him, but his buddies must have thought I was going to eat him or something, so they came out of hiding, begging me to let him go.  I couldn't resist the opprtunity and did exclaim something about eating all of them, but I couldn't keep a straight face.  I like children sometimes.

Upon returning to Alcatia, I was paid, not just my wages, but a hefty reward as well for delivering Effie safely, and between that and what I got selling Snowflake, I found myself suddenly with a very heavy purse and with few responsibilities for the next month.

It was a good time to see friends, Alfredo, Pongo and of course Jona.  I'll get back to him in a moment.  Pongo had completed a mission as well, and with his earnings, was having a custom made breastplate.  After going with him for a fitting, I decided to try something similar, a although I couldn't get used to all that metal he favored and most of the designs they had just didn't suit my body.  I'd never get used to heavy armor, nor did I really have need of it, but I did try, and had a leather halter made, with a few plates sewn in, along with a skirt, and even a custom made tunic.

Jona was back in the city as well, fresh from patrolling in Tulis, near the Kargellian border and we settled back into things quite well, for the most part, each recanting our experiences and enjoying each others company.  There were even a few times when I thought he might kiss me again, but he didn't, and that was fine, if not all that I could have hoped for.  Things might have cooled off, but they were certainly not frigid.

  After about a month of training and doing guard work around the city, Lord Kriven himself called me in and told me I was being dispatched to Tulis, along with Pongo, the Eastern woman whose name was Wu, and an entire company of regular soldiers.

Tulis is an ancient city, older even then Alcatia, situated at the Eastern edge of the Middle Sea.  Several hundred years ago, the king of Tulis had sworn fealty to Alcatia, and by this time, although technically still a sovereign state, it was for the most part, a part of Alcatia. 

Tulis was the second biggest city in the Alcatian empire, with a large seaport, and was the trading center for the while of the Eastern Middle Sea.  It was also situated on the Western entrance to the Cassian sea, less than a mile from the Kargellian fortress on the other side.

Given the proximity, you might expect trade and even cultural exchanges might take place, but Kargel is no ordinary neighbor. 

As the Alcatians told us as soon as we landed, Kargel was a world apart.  While there were expatriate Kalgellians to be found, they were few and far between and all were of lower status. In fact, the few that had managed to escape the "yolk" were mostly peasant stock, field workers who knew little of their masters.   

Katrina was the exception, an old woman who'l her life serving Karga, had born their children and raised their young.  She was selected to brief us, and it was quite a briefing.

Taken as young girl from a small farm near Tulis, Katrina had been a breeder, and she'd born seven children, two of which were prized Karga males, and had been a wet nurse and caretaker to another 3 Karga children.  Over the course of about an hour, Katrina told us the story of her life and offered her own accounts of what it was like to be a human servant to the Karga.

When Katrina was finished, they brought in a what we first thought was another older man, holding one arm oddly and limping.  It was only as he began to speak that we realized this shell of a man, a former officer in the Alcatian guard, was only in his late thirties.  He too had been taken prisoner by the Kargellians, and eventually put to work on the mines.  His tale was sobering, but I think what frightened the men the most was what the female Karga did to him before she got tired of him. 

That hit home with the men in a way that Katrina, who told a horrifying story of a lifetime of servitude didn't.  Katrina didn't focus on rape but Eli did, and while some of the men snickered at first as he told how helpless he was at the hands of a woman, by the end of the tale I think they got it.  The Karga, male and female, were natural predators, only smarter, and the human Kargellians were little more than sheep, unable to help themselves. 

After that, both Ely and Katrina showed us the brands on their neck, and briefly told us how and why they'd escaped their masters.  Ely had been left for dead after a mine collapse, and retrieved by an Alcatian scouting party.  Katrina, on the other hand, now valueless due to age, but oddly loved by her sons, had been left on the Alcatian coast. 

Next, a soldier spoke, a man named Alex, who filled us in on why we were there.  The Kargellians evidently had defiled a temple of Aspardia and taken several of the accolytes, among them several young women of noble lineage.  While  their families had all but disowned them for pledging their bodies to the sex cult, such things are complicated, and the insult to Alcatian sovereignty at least, demanded some response.

Our mission would be symbolic, a brief invasion of Kargellian territory, specifically Thundertarr,  an estate near the coast from which rumors said a large number of raids on Alcatian territories originated. 

The idea was to show Alcatia could mass a small fighting force on Kargellian soil, something which had not been attempted in decades.  Based on what limited intelligence we had, we'd face little resistance.  While Kargel had sizable legions, it was believed they were all engaged in a war in the south with native tribes. 

Liberation of the girls was not a goal.  Our odds of finding them were slim to none, and even if we did, once a human woman was taken by a Karga, she was most often changed.    Katrina, old as she was, still got teary eyed talking about her master, despite the fact that she assured us it had been years since he'd touched her. 

After the main briefing was over, Lu, Pongo and I were kept for a separate meeting, where Alex told us a slightly different story from what he'd told the rest of the men. Heinrich, the Karga Lord of Thundertarr, a man who'd ruled for more than a century, was said to be old and senile.  One of his grandsons, Karlo, was believed to have been responsible for the latest series of raids, as well as a number of less known "feral hunts," basically murders of Alcatian peasants.  Old Heinrich had been a crafty old bastard who knew, despite Kargellian policy, that a full out war with Alcatia would spell disaster for his own estate.  It was Heinrich who'd taken Katrina, and arranged for her to return to her people in her own age. 

A few months ago, shortly after Katrina's escape, Heinrich's secret messages had stopped.  Our mission was to find out what was really happening, and, if possible, to eliminate Karlo, in the hopes that a more reasonable Lord of Thundertarr might step forward.

The most likely successor was Latarra, one of Heinrich's granddaughters, who'd openly fought with Karlo.  While far from a friend to Alcatia, she was at least a rational enemy, and rumors were that the Kargan assembly had been grooming her, if not to take over Thundertarr, for perhaps some even greater role based on her successes in battles in the far south.

Twice previously, Alcatian spies had tried to contact Latarra to no avail.  If we could accomplish nothing else, intelligence on this rising Karga leader would make the entire affair worthwhile.

The briefing was a very strange one.  Pongo, Lu and I were not trained spies, or political operatives, and we were all outsiders in Alcatia.  When we said as much, the only response we got was a smile.

Chapter 23. Rousia- My first Encounter with a Karga

We spent two weeks in Alsabi, first waiting for the snow to clear and fit the rest of the caravan to arrive, and then waiting for new horses and equipment to replace that lost in the bandits' attack. 

When we finally set out, we were down to one wagon and the carriage, with a mere dozen mounted men.  The next leg of the trip was less eventful.  We'd lost our chance to cross the Borga pass, which was too risky in the weather, and instead headed northeast, taking the longer road to the Britok Pass, and then commenced the long march across the Rousian plateau to Moscar.

Compared to the first leg of the journey, the last part was much less eventful.  I spent the days walking alongside the carriage and the nights standing guard and chatting with Effie and the girls.  Effie evidently satisfied her curiosity about my body, and the conversation was mostly about her impending marriage to the heir to the throne of Rousia.  I say mostly, because while Effie had lots to say about all sorts of things, neither girls nor I offered much in the way of intelligent conversation about world politics or even Rousian customs compared to Alcatian ones.  

Moscar, while small in comparison to Alcatia, was still an  impressive city, which stretched out far past the central royal castle.  I accompanied Effie and the girls into the castle,but the guards took one look at me and my sword and told me to wait in the courtyard with the captain and the rest of the soldiers. I started to protest, but the Captain told me to stand down.  Our job was done.

We spent a couple of days enjoying Rousian hospitality, which I found for a common soldier to be fairly unappealing.  While Moscar itself was relatively warm compared to the countryside, it was still fairly cold and damp, and the nightlife left a great deal to be desired as far as I was concerned.  All hands in the Castle were preparing virtually non-stop for the wedding, so we headed into the city and unwinded with a little feast of our own at a local tavern.  The food was strange and unappealing, and the only liquor to be had was some clear spirit which I found completely tasteless.  At least the tavern girls reminded me a little of home, though, with their fair skin and light colored hair.

I'd gotten to know both the captain and his men some on the journey, and while they were still a little put off by me, they were good lads and I was actually looking forward to the trip  back home with them when Panda and a Rousian soldier came to our barracks.  She was dressed in Rousian fashion, with a long dress and shawl, and she smiled at the soldiers before coming to me.

"Effie wants you to stay for the wedding. Isn't that wonderful?"

I ran it by the captain, who, in turn, checked with the Alcatian Ambassador, and in the end, I had the privilege of seeing Effie wed the Prince of Rousia.  I won't bore you with all the details, but it was exciting, with a great deal of pageantry, and I was even treated as sorry of a minor Alcatian dignitary and got to meet the future King.   It was a spectacular affair in all sorts of ways, yet, in retrospect, the most significant thing about it was just meeting one of the other guest.

When they introduced the Kargellian ambassador, there was a hush in the room as a solitary man wearing a dark cloak stepped forward.  He pulled back his cloak as he approached the Royal family, and  bowed his head politely to the King, but when he turned away and looked out at the crowd, there was a barely audible gasp.  The man appeared to be in his fifties, with greying black hair, brilliant blue eyes and a hawk faced shape to his face.  He didn't say or do anything, but one of the women he looked at nearly fainted and men's hands went to their belts for their swords, whether they were wearing them or not.

Even I felt it when the man stopped and took a step towards me, his lips curling back into something in between a sneer and a smile.  As he stepped up to me, my palms got sweaty, my heart started pumping more quickly, and, most oddly, I felt a flush spread over my whole body.  It only took a few moments, but it seemed like much longer.

Some of the ballads says I'm immune to the spell of the Karga, and certainly, over time I learned not to quiver in my boots or spread my legs on the sight of them, but I can assure you, my body still reacts to them even now.  Its true that I've stood toe to toe with Karga, and as I'll tell you later, I've bested some of them in combat.  But I can promise you, its never been easy. Then, it being the first time I'd been in their presence, I assure you, I definitely felt the impact of the man's presence.

Thank the gods, most of my readers have never experienced being in the presence of a pure bred Karga, so I suppose now is as good a time as any to give you my thoughts on what its like.  Kargellians claim their nobles are divine, just as some Alcatian sources believe they're the spawn of demons, and there's likely something to both of those theories, but overall, the feeling I get from them is not so much that they're supernatural as superhuman.

From later experience, I can tell you, the Karga are faster and stronger than normal humans, and in most ways, probably smarter as well.  They certainly think more quickly and  have more acute senses.  And those senses let them know the effect they have on humans.  A human in the presence of a Karga is, in many ways, like a puppy in the presence of a full grown wolf, or perhaps a sheep, depending on the circumstance.  Either way, its impossible to escape the feeling that the Karga is more than you are.  You just know it, and the worst part is that you know he or she knows you know it. When a Karga speaks, his words burn in your brain, telling you to obey, even as a part of you wants to run.  For me, as for many, its not impossible to resist what they call their "natural mastery," but its not something you can actually ignore.     

My first experience with the "supreme race" was truthfully not that impressive.  I was quite young and at the time surrounded by nobles, my elders and my "betters."  He only looked at me for a few moments , so I've no idea what I would have done if he'd given me a command or spoken to me.  Still, that old man stood apart from them all.

After the wedding,  I was on my own to travel back to Alcatia since the captain and his men departed earlier.  The Alcatian Ambassador gave me directions, this time over the Borga pass, and Effie even gave me a mare, courtesy of her new husband..  Although Snowflake and I had a rocky beginning,  after she got used to my weight and my behind got used to her saddle, we actually got along fairly well, both being females of few words with large haunches and healthy appetites.  We had our differences, to be sure, but for the most part, I feel like I made another friend, my first with hoofs and four legs.

Chapter 22. Over Hill, Over Dale

A message came from the captain came just after dawn.  We'd lost ten men, and while the bandits lost a lot more, he judged moving the entire caravan though this territory with such a depleted escort to be too risky.

So, Kemo, one of the scouts, was to take the girls and I over the mountain on foot to Alsabi, the next Alsatian outpost and wait there for the caravan to arrive using the longer road.

As Kemo pointed out, the plan seemed a little desperate, although he assured me hiking up the mountain was actually more difficult than dangerous.  The climb was relatively easy, but unsuitable for horses and large parties, so our biggest challenges would likely be predators and twisted ankles, rather than bands of bandits.  No one would expect a princess to make the trek, which was what made it a good plan.  If all went well, we'd be in Alsabi in two days, at least a day or two ahead of the caravan.

Effie was tough and managed Panda and Emmie's whining, leaving Kemo to guide us and watch for trouble while I carried a pack with bedrolls and a few supplies and kept an eye on the girls.  We stopped for the night at a small shelter about two thirds of the way up, ate a small meal, and Panda and Emmie fell asleep almost immediately. 

Effie, however, snuggled up next to me, claiming she felt safer that way.  Within an hour or so when Kemo feel asleep,  she was doing more than snuggling underneath the blanket. 

My body tensed at first at her touch, but she whispered to me to be quiet and before long, I was almost in tears trying to keep still and quiet.  If Kemo hadn't rolled over,  I think the entire affair would have ended quite differently, but Effie's fingers stopped and she kissed my breast and went to sleep.

We set out early the next morning, and while Effie smiled at me once, we didn't discuss what had happened.  By mid day, we reached the peak, where Kemo showed us Alsabi, a small castle a short ways up the next mountain which made the one we'd just climbed look like a mole hill. 

Getting back down proved much more difficult, thanks to the weather, which suddenly got colder and windier.  By the time we got down to the base, it was even snowing lightly, and Kemo and I hastened to build a fire for the night.

There were no shenanigans under the blankets that night.  The three  girls huddled together for warmth while Kemo and I took turns keeping watch.

Twice, I saw shapes moving in the darkness, and a short time later, Kemo told me they were wolves, adding more wood to the fire and telling me to ignore them unless they actually showed themselves.  They didn't.

The next day was pretty brutal.  Although the sun helped, the temperature was still dropping and Kemo predicted by nightfall traveling would be all but impossible.  Thankfully, in the early afternoon, a sentry from Alsabi spotted us, and we were sitting by a warm fire by the time the snow really started to come down.

  

Chapter 21. Going to the mattresses

The trip to Moscar from Alcatia would take weeks, and involved navigating across two major mountain chains, along with numerous river crossings.  The preparations had started long ago,  lodgings for the Princess had been arranged wherever possible, and I understood that even the majority of her belongings had been sent on ahead.  Nevertheless, transporting the Princess and her two attendants still required a caravan of some 5 wagons, the Princess' carriage and about twenty soldiers, in addition to wagon drivers, cooks, servants etc.  Needless to say, even in smooth terrain, we moved slowly, and I'm pleased to say that I didn't regret declining the offer of a mount.  I'd had very minimal instruction on horseback, and while I'd been told that my weight wouldn't be a problem for most horses, I was more than happy to walk alongside the Princess' carriage.

The first week or so was fairly uneventful as we passed through civilized Alcatian lands, and more often than not stayed with local nobles. Once we crossed the Lorn River, though, we often had to pitch tents, and I found myself chafing at sleeping on the ground inside with Effie and the girls.  The idea of including me in their slumber parties was well intended, but even then I had more in common with the other soldiers than the girls.  I also grew really tired of their gossiping about the soldiers.  They were good men, doing their jobs, and Effie's schemes to tease them with her attendants were only mildly amusing at best.

Bandits were a real threat in the Causian foothills.  Two of the men scouted ahead on horseback, and one afternoon one of them came galloping back, yelling for us to stop.  I wasn't privy to the details, since I immediately took my station beside the princess' carriage, but we stopped, and about a half an hour later, a band of men walked up and started negotiating with the Captain.

It looked like he did pay them off, but one of the men warned me that these sort of men had little honor and we'd do well to expect trouble.

That night, trouble came about midnight, when we heard shouting.  I stepped out of the tent, and sure enough, we were under attack.  One man had already taken an arrow, and the Captain was busily working at checking the defensive positioning of his relatively small force.  A few moments later, he gave me instructions on evacuating the girls if he gave the signal.

An hour later, he did, and a scout led the girls and I on foot out of camp, in hopes of finding shelter in a cave nearby before the bandits attacked.  We didn't make it, of course, since the bandits weren't stupid enough to leave us a clear escape route.

But even as the shouting behind us revealed the main attack, three bandits tried to hold us up.  Three swords against two might seem like decent odds, but I was one of the two, and it took me only seconds to dispatch them.  After that, we moved as quickly as we could, with the scout in front and myself in the rear.  I  killed two more   before we started up the cliff.

We stayed in the cave until dawn. I had to give it to Effie and the girls.  They'd more or less allowed us to protect them and move them about without a fuss, and for the most part had been pretty quiet, especially after witnessing the elimination of three would be attackers at close quarters.  In fact, Emmie and Panda even seemed a little scared of me, while Effie seemed to be quietly observing it all.

Until, that is, she stepped over to the mouth of the cave where I was sitting.  She stared at me with those big blue eyes for a moment, with sort of a half smile before she spoke.

"I've never seen anything like that" she said, "the way you moved.  The way you killed.  They were grown, armed men and you cut them down like they were nothing."

I wasn't quite sure what to say to that.  It wasn't like I was a veteran killer, but the fact was, fighting and killing came terribly easy to me physically and, I suppose emotionally, at least when the men I slew would have done the same to me if I'd given them a chance.  Afterwards, was another story, and at that moment, Effie had just tugged at those strings.  Should I have let any of them live?  I was just beginning to realize how good I was, and back then, I'd really never tried to hold back in a real fight, but I sort of knew I could, at least not have finished off some of them.

"I like that" Effie said as she sat down next to me and put her hand on my knee.  I blinked and she quickly added.

"I mean to say, I like that you  did do it for me, not that, uh, well, I'm not being terribly honest with you now, am I.  I also like that you can, that you're, like a ... a demon or a goddess with a blade.  Its, um, sexy."

As she said it, Effie leaned forward, and just to confuse me a bit more, reached out and touched my left breast. For a moment, I thought she was going to kiss me, but she smiled and then stroked my cheek.

It sounds foolish to me now, the way I sat there dumbstruck while Effie slid her hand inside my tunic, but I really was confused and a bit addled.  For one thing, I'd just killed, and human approval of any sort was welcome, although a hug would have been better than being fingered in that department.  I was feeling quite monstrous and any kind of touching was a good thing.

Beyond that, I was confused.  It wasnt that I didn't find Effie attractive.  She was exquisite, and she was also smart and charming.  I was only beginning to understand my sexuality then, and really had yet to figure out how I felt about women, but even that wasnt what perplexed me most.  Effie was a princess, a girl so far above me in status and sophistication, it was just shocking to me that she found me appealing. 

" Your Hi... Effie" I said finally, "I'm not sure where you're going with this, but..."

Effie put a finger to my lips and shook her head.

"Don't worry, sweet Fiona, I'm just playing is all.  I know you're doing your job, but that doesn't mean it can't have perks."

Resting her head on my chest, Effie sighed.

"Just think about it, Fi" Effie said softly.  

Chapter 20. Princess Effie

Things were different when I returned from Alcatia.  They billeted me in the main barracks, for one thing, and they really had started to build out a women’s wing, although for the moment, that meant I had a small room with six cots all to myself.  Another woman had already been recruited, an Easterner with dark hair and slanted eyes, who supposedly could shoot a bow better on horseback than most men could on foot.  While I tried to be friendly when I met her, it wasn’t easy.  Her accent was harder to understand than my own, and to be honest, she just wasn’t the friendly sort.

Jona was happy to see me, and I really hoped we’d get a chance to spend more time together, but we only had one night before he shipped out, which left me alone in Alcatia for an entire week before my next orders came up and I was bound for Moscar, a city almost as far North as Fail, but inland and much farther to the East.  It was a very different sort of assignment.

In theory, I was one of a dozen soldiers escorting a caravan, but my particular assignment was to safeguard the caravan’s prized cargo, Princess Elizabeth, who was to be delivered into the hands of her bridegroom in Moscar, some barbarian prince, with both her virtue and her possessions intact.

Princess Elizabeth was truly beautiful, a delicate little dark haired girl with big blue  eyes, a nice little figure, a quick wit and a flair for manipulating and controlling everyone around her, including not just her guards and attendants, but her parents as well.  The girl was really sharp, difficult to deal with, and it wasn't hard to see why the King was anxious to get her off and married as soon as soon as I’d met her.

Since I lacked the physical means to deflower her, I was assigned to stay with the Princess and her two attendants at all times, which sounded alright to me.  After all, how bad could it be?  She was about my own age, as were her two attendants, and while I can’t say I was thrilled with the mission, it didn’t seem difficult.

Then, two days before we were due to depart, I was summoned to her chambers to meet her.  I knew immediately I was in for trouble from the look the guard outside the door gave me.  I stepped into the chamber and it took all my discipline to keep my mouth shut.

Standing in the center of the chamber was a young man, muscular but slim and entirely naked.  His rather impressive manhood was fully erect, thanks to the attention of two young women.  Elizabeth was on a couch in front of them, eating grapes and giving orders.

“No, stay away from the tip” Elizabeth commanded, “the idea is to draw things out.  You’re close, now Roscoe, aren’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am” Roscoe blurted out, obviously in some distress, despite what the two girls were doing to him.  

“Don’t blow it” Elizabeth said, “or you’ll be sorry.  Panda, lick his stomach.  Emmie, tug on those things and see how he likes it.  That’s a girl.”

I stepped forward silently and the minute Elizabeth spotted me, she lost interest in the show she was putting on.

“Oh my.  They weren’t kidding.  You're huge!”  

Elizabeth stood up and walked around me, looking and then finally physically reassuring herself that I was both real and female with her hands.  I stood there at attention, as she touched my arms,  breasts, and stomach,  but when her hand slipped under my skirt and started probing, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Your Highness” I said, “I wasn’t aware this was to be part of my duties.”

She smiled and withdrew her hand, smiling up at me.

“Its not of course,” Fiona, “strictly speaking, and neither is it part of Roscoe’s.  He just likes me and the girls, don’t you, hon?  Pandora, take him over to the bed and relieve him.”

Turning back to me, Elizabeth smiled and took my hand, leading me over to  a table and offering me a glass of wine.

"Go ahead.  It's quite good, and it'll help you loosen up. I want us to be friends and have fun.  I know you have a job to do, but if you're going to hang out with us. we should at least get to know each other."

I sipped at the wine, and after Elizabeth took a seat on the couch, even settled down on the floor next to her as she politely asked me all about myself.  As with the Duchess before her, I could immediately sense that Elizabeth, although young and spoiled, was socially sharp and sophisticated in a way that commoners really never could be.  She’d spent her life as a virtual prisoner of her station and had little in the way of real world experiences, but she’d been educated and was used to talking with people like myself, who’d actually done and seen things, and she soaked up the stories of my childhood, my training and my first mission, filing the information away for future use and asking questions at the same time.  After I’d gotten through what I was willing to tell her, she pushed a bit more, though.

“So, no man has had you?” she asked with an evil, but friendly grin.

I blushed a bit, but shook my head.

“No, your Highness” I said.

“Has anyone tried?” she asked.

I took a sip of wine before answering.

“Once, your Highness, but he was young, and, uh, too eager, i suppose is one way to put it.”

Elizabeth laughed and drained her glass.

“When we’re alone, I’m Effie to you, Fiona.  It may not seem we have all that much in common, but there’s one thing, at least, and I’m sure the’re’ll be more.  Panda’s had Roscoe, but Emmie, you and I are still in the Club. Of course, i won't be much longer, but that's why you're here, to make sure i leave the club the right way.”

Pandora, Emmie, and Effie and I finished that bottle of wine that night and it really wasn’t all that uncomfortable, thanks to Effie’s masterful efforts.  Panda and Emmie, like myself, were clearly there for Effie’s pleasure, but we were also her entertainment, and she liked the idea of us being “friends” as well as servants and guards, and she was really good at making the fiction seem real, at times. Of course I was on the outside of this little circle, and shared even less with Effie than the other two.  But  that gave them something new to talk about, which I was later to figure out was a constant problem for pampered noblewomen with any intelligence whatsoever.  Effie was bored with her life, and, as a result, made fun however she could, which included both making friends with her servants, and, living vicariously through them at times.

At the end of the night, although I had misgivings, I was fairly sure that a long journey with Effie would be interesting in one way or another.

Chapter 19. Carlos' revenge

Michael tracked Sonny in wolf shape, which meant I spent a lot of time chasing after him through the forest.  Then, when we came to a clearing at the base of a mountain chain, Michael changed back into human form.

"He's up there" Michael said, "and I think he's caught our scent already.  Be ready for him."

Sure enough, Sonny, who they made out to be a lunatic, was pretty crafty.  We found ourselves going through narrow little passages with seemingly limitless places for ambush.  Michael was frowning the whole time, muttering  about how Sonny could basically drop onto us at any moment.   It was only a few minutes later when it happened.

Michael said later he was pretty sure Sonny would "take the cow first" and attack me instead of him, and he was right.  The enormous wolf fell on me from above, and I think it was sheer luck that I managed to get ahold of it before it ripped my throat out.  Then I was stuck, lying on my back with a snarling over sized wolf trying to get to my throat while I tried just I keep ahold of him and eventually, to try find something vital in that neck.

Michael came to my rescue. as he later put it, knocking Sonny off me and giving me a chance to draw my weapon.  Only then, ready to slay the beast, I had to wait.  The two wolves rolled around in a huge ball, each trying to tear each others throats out, and keeping me other'seing a clear angle at the larger one I thought wait, Sonny.

 I ended up waiting until Sonny pinned Michael on his back, and then brought the blade across, knowing that the odds were against taking his head off, but having little choice since a sure kill shot was impossible unless I was willing to risk impaling both brothers.

It worked.  Although I didn't sever the spine, my blade struck an artery and the beast's windpipe, showering blood everywhere and leaving me to face a dying wolf, stumbling about.  The next blow ended it, leaving Michael and I gasping and catching our breath over Sonny's corpse.

A day later, I traipsed back into town in a tattered and shredded tunic.  I don't really think anyone believed I'd slain the beast, since I didn't bring back his body, but I wasnt about to take Sonny's human corpse from Connie, who was already talking about cleaning him up before his mother saw him. 

I spent nearly a month in Signar, and found it to be a really nice town.  Down on the coast, the sun was hot, but higher up on the cliffs surrounding it and in the mountains beyond, the weather was pleasant enough and the people were nice, especially after the killings stopped.

About a week after Sonny's death, Connie even came to visit me, which was strange but not totally unpleasant.  The wolf girl was strange and dark in nature, but she was fascinated by me, a human woman who fought like a man and didn't live under a mans authority.  She didn't quite get the whole military thing, but then again, neither did I really.  Following orders was something I could do, but it wasn't an easy thing, and eventually, I suppose became a problem, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

When Connie left, I found myself a little sad, thinking I'd never see her again, but she had her life and I had mine.  Although I was only a few years older than she was, I thought of her as a child and saw myself as an adult.  I knew she was bright, but I had no clue how smart she really was or how different things would be when our paths crossed again years later.

The rest of my time in Signar was pretty uneventful.  I patrolled, did odd jobs around the fort, and on several occasions went down to the tavern with some of the soldiers, but it was a tiny town, with no real entertainment, save for a weekly dart tournament. The only productive thing I did really was working on a bow, and while I ended up trashing the thing, I did learn a lot about what wouldn't work. 

When the Commander said I was to ship out the next morning, I was ready.  As pleasant as Signar was, I was young and bored.