sir. I’m ready to work now.”
It was another hour or so before Cerise and Beri showed up. By then I’d
put in a little stub of curtain wall, a mass of packed earth faced with stone
twenty feet thick and twice that high, and was working on finishing up the
tower roof. Being a bit of a military history buff I was tempted to get elaborate
there, but since we were mainly worried about giants an overhanging
battlement with murder holes would probably just be a liability. Instead I
settled for simple crenellations, the classic pattern you see on most pictures of
European castles, but about a foot thicker than normal. I was putting in the last
stretch when Cerise popped her head out of the stairwell.
“Daniel? Wow, this place is huge. Did you decide to stay in Lanrest after
all?”
I shook my head. “No, this is just what it takes to stand up to twenty-foot
giants. It’s actually a little on the small side still, but I think it’ll get the job
done. How did things go?”
She grimaced. “This place really is a shithole. The Baron lets his knights
do whatever they want to people, and there’s no town watch or anything.
Warning them off is working so far, but I swear if one more guy grabs my ass
I’m going to knife him.”
I could imagine. From what I’d seen the local women tended to be
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stooped and worn-looking, and covered themselves from head to toe in
shapeless dresses and shawls of rough cloth. Cerise was pretty enough to be a
model back home, and the way she carried herself screamed ‘hot babe on the
prowl’. She’d stand out like a beacon here.
“I couldn’t blame you,” I replied. “Maybe having an armed escort will
convince people to keep their distance?”
“I hope so. Anyway, recruiting here should be easy. They closed the
granary this morning, and there’s a group of knights shutting down food
vendors in the market and taking their stock right now. The smart people are all
worried about what they’re going to eat once their pantries run bare.”
“Typical,” I sighed. “At this rate they’ll be going house to house taking
people’s food and hanging ‘hoarders’ soon. Well, we’d be better off traveling
with a decent-size party anyway. You know anything about being a merchant?”
She gave me a puzzled look. “Not much. Mom used to send me to market
sometimes when I was a kid, so I’m not hopeless at bargaining. But I don’t
know anything about taxes or trade routes, and the one time someone tried to
explain investment loans to me I was totally lost. Compound interest is about
my limit when it comes to figures, and that’s pushing it.”
I chuckled. “I’m pretty sure just knowing that there is such a thing puts you
ahead of most people. Anyway, I just need you to figure out a way to sell some
magic to whoever has money around here. Warmth cloaks, magic stoves,
maybe some ever-burning torches. We need to raise money so we can buy
supplies before we have to leave again, not to mention paying all these people
we’re trying to hire.”
“Do retainers get money where you’re from? Weird. It doesn’t work that
way here.”
Oh, right. Medieval economies used a lot of barter, didn’t they? “Oh?”
“Yeah, usually servants just get upkeep. That means food, shelter, clothing
and whatever tools they need to do their work, plus a few pennies at the end of
the year if you feel generous. Soldiers get a little money, maybe a few pennies
a month, and a rich lord might pay his favorite servants a little, but mostly it’s
just upkeep.”
“I see. Ok, I can work with that. What about apprentices?”
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She grinned. “Same deal, but how you keep them reflects on you even
more than with personal retainers. Sexy sorceress apprentices should
definitely rate nice dresses and spending money, and a good boning a couple of
times a day.”
I laughed. “Oh, is that part of your daily essentials? Three meals, a warm
bed and an orgasm?”
“More like five or six with me,” she admitted cheerfully. “Because I’m
such a slut. Avilla would probably be happy with fresh ‘cream’ every morning,
but you know how obsessed with food she is.”
“Heh. I can live with that. Though honestly, you don’t strike me as a
‘fancy dresses’ kind of girl. More like tight leather and lots of bare skin, with a
bloody dagger in each hand.”
She twined her arms around my neck, and went up on tiptoes to kiss me.
“Aw, you say the sweetest things.”
“No doubt. Can you handle the bartering, then? Get with Avilla about
what we need, and get whatever use you can out of Beri’s contacts?”
She rubbed her nose against my chin like an affectionate cat. “Sure. I’m
not a professional, but I shouldn’t get robbed too badly. One cloak would
probably cover the essentials, so it shouldn’t be hard. Do I get some extra
‘upkeep’ out of it?”
“Hmm. Tempting.” I kissed her, letting my hands fall to her tight behind
and pull her close. She practically purred, rubbing her lithe body against me. I
could feel the heat blossom inside her, just like last night. But this time the
effect was less overwhelming, and I retained enough wits to wonder what
caused it. Some interaction of my flesh sorcery and her own magic? That was
an aspect of my new powers I hadn’t explored much yet.
Experimentally, I reached out with the magical senses I’d gained in my
journey to this world. Her body pulsed with life, a warm glowing weave of
magic in a dizzying array of flavors. Most of it was tightly contained within a
shroud of concealment, but other parts were reaching out to touch my own aura.
A warm mist of trust and affection, surrounding a dozen sharp-tipped tendrils
carrying stronger emotions….
Wait a minute. Was she casting a love spell on me?
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I reached out with my flesh magic, and lit up every pleasure sensor in her
body at once. She yelped, and collapsed against me as her legs gave out.
“Minx,” I teased her. “If you play like that, I’m going to play back. I bet I
can make it so you get wet every time you look at me.”
“Okay,” she panted. “Fuck, that was intense. Do me again?”
I chuckled. “Maybe later. But no using mind control spells on me, or I’m
going to get pissed off.”
She pouted. “I was only playing, Daniel. Like I told you this morning,
sometimes I can’t help it. Besides, you have magic like that too. Don’t you
want to play with me?”
“Mind control isn’t a game,” I frowned.
She rolled her eyes. “When did you turn into such a grouch? I thought we
were going to have fun together?”
I sighed. “I’m not rejecting you, Cerise. Just… look, I need to finish this
while there’s still enough light to see. Can we talk about it later?”
She frowned at me. “I’m not sure what talking has to do with anything, but
I guess I should let you work. After dinner?”
“After dinner,” I agreed.
She stepped back, gave me an oddly confused look, and then went back
inside.
I finished up the tower roof with a heavy door to block access to the
stairwell, and a large water tank with a warmth enchantment. It would be nice
to make that fill itself somehow, but for now I walked down to the river on a