WOLVERINE'S WORLD - THE WIFE AND THE CONCUBINE
There was a priestess of the Lady of Blades stationed at the fort. Her job was to care for the spiritual needs of its samurai and other warriors - a group that the Deadly Lady has always particularly cherished.
The priestess and a pair of her acolytes appeared quickly, took charge of Olivia, and then escorted her back to the fort's chapel.
A senior samurai and I then proceeded to have a frustrating conversation. I needed to see the commander of the fort, but that wasn't possible.
"He isn't here, seeker," the senior samurai told me impatiently. "He's in the field, gathering our forces and trying to get an idea of what we're facing."
That sounded annoyingly correct. Of course the samurai captain was out with his troops. That was exactly where he should be.
"We think you're facing an entire dark-elf legion," I warned the samurai.
"So we've been told," the samurai said quietly. "I hope you're wrong."
"And there's an incredibly powerful Asgardian weapon," I continued. "It looks like a huge man in armor. It's also out there somewhere. I think it's the reason the dark-elves are here. They're looking for it."
"It's really bad," Rahne piped up. She was standing next to me.
The samurai looked about him, his eyes seeming to count the warriors that were his responsibility. I knew that look. He was wondering how many of them he would send to their deaths. I remembered how that felt.
"The rest of your party is here and waiting for you," the samurai finally replied. I had the distinct impression he was hoping that particular bit of news would make Rahne and I go away.
Frustrated, I ran my hands through my hair as I considered my next move. Olivia needed rest and a session with a healer before she would be able to travel. But perhaps Emma and I could begin to get matters organized.
"We need to see them," I told the samurai.
He nodded and bellowed an order.
Near the front gate, there was a decrepit stone structure that was the oldest building on the fort - in fact, once upon a time it had been the entire fort. As the fort grew, it was eventually converted into a barracks. The interior was dominated by a single large bay filled with neatly arrayed wooden bunks. The fort now used it to accommodate travelers... and sometimes prisoners.
Anna, Benjamin, and Faye were waiting there. Much to my irritation, there was no sign of Emma.
When Anna saw us, she leaped onto me - clearing much of the barrack's bay in one jump. I was almost knocked off my feet, but somehow managed to keep us both off the ground.
Faye and Rahne watched with startled eyes. Benjamin just looked amused.
Anna had both arms, both legs, and her tail wrapped around me. Her lips were pressed against mine and her tongue was deep in my mouth. I'd intended to grab her by the thighs to support her weight, but somehow my hands ended up cupping her buttocks instead.
Upon reflection, that was rather undignified, but at the time I didn't really care.
Anna broke off her kiss and put her mouth next to my ear.
"The nearest bed," she whispered. "Right now."
"I don't think..." I began.
Keeping her legs wrapped around me, but with her intent yellow eyes locked on mine, Anna let go of me with her arms and began stripping off her blouse. I knew she wouldn't stop until she was naked.
"Right. Fucking. Now." she demanded huskily.
Benjamin waved a hand to catch my attention and then pointed to a wooden door on the far wall.
"It's private," he said.
There were more productive things I should be doing, but I had the distinct impression what was about to happen wouldn't take very long for either Anna or I.
Anna still had some of her clothes on by the time I got her inside the door. It led to a small room with a single bunk - a patrol leader's quarters, I imagined. It smelled of Benjamin and Faye.
"Don't mind me!" Rahne yelled as she trailed behind us, dutifully and irritably picking up Anna's trail of discarded clothing. "I'll just go do something chaste, proper, and maidenly! Y'know maybe some sewing or washing!"
I kicked the door shut behind Anna and I. I could still hear Rahne's complaints, but the were muted and at the moment I was preoccupied.
After we were done, Anna and I lay intertwined on the bunk in a tangle of blue and white flesh. Our hot scent filled the room, intermingled with that of Benjamin and Faye.
"That was better than the grave-sex," Anna mused aloud. "I really can't seem to let myself go at funerals."
She was referring to the burial of the two dead ronin bodyguards who we'd found just before our encounters with the dark-elves and the Destroyer.
"It's too public and too close to death," I responded. "Many people find it uncomfortable."
Anna turned her head and looked at me. "You didn't seem to have a problem. As I recall, you gave me and Emma a proper workout. I'm sure the spirits of those two dead yojimbo were suitably pleased."
"I have more experience," I replied with a shrug.
"Emma certainly seemed to enjoy it," Anna suggested carelessly - as if it mattered nothing to her.
I sighed and gave in to the inevitable. "Yes, she did. By the way, where is Emma?"
Anna rolled over, slipping out from under the blanket and impudently exposing a bare blue backside in the process. She bent her leg at the knee and dangled one of her three-toed feet in the air. The golden anklet that she never removed slid down to the tapering bulge of her muscular calf.
"I'm glad you mentioned her," Anna said - ignoring the fact that she'd actually mentioned Emma first. "I'm worried that her mission is to keep an eye on you."
"It is," I conceded, "although she's now obviously distracted by other issues."
"Ditch her," Anna said bluntly.
I shook my head. "Up in Alban, a Storm priestess named Dare invoked the friendship between the Old One and Lady Storm. In its name, I agreed to allow Emma to accompany me."
"It was a trick," Anna pointed out.
"I knew that. And Dare knew that I knew. That changes nothing about the power of such a request."
With vast dignity, Anna changed positions until she was sitting up. Her legs were now crossed beneath her and her hands were on her knees. Then she gave me a solemn, steady, and serious look.
Uh-oh.
"I don't approve of Emma," she said flatly.
In the tangled world of Blood tradition and law, a wife has certain rights relative to her husband's concubines.
"I cannot release her as a companion," I replied. As a seeker, I also have certain rights - and duties. "However, if you prefer, then Emma and I will no longer be lovers."
Anna gave me a long and irritated look. "I want her gone because I think she has hostile intent, not because she opens her legs for you. That elderly doxy of a chubby priestess is no competition to me."
*Really?* came an icy mental message from Emma. *Are you basing that on your vast experience in abandoning your husband? Or in selling your body to anybody with spare change?*
Both Anna and I heard it.
Anna was indeed stark naked as she teleported out of the room we'd just shared. And she was carrying a throwing knife.
I got the door open just in time to see what was happening, but I didn't have enough time to intervene.
Emma was sitting on the far end of the bay. It looked like she had been talking to Benjamin, Faye, and Rahne. Looking righteously angry, Emma got to her feet. And that was when Anna pitched her knife at Emma.
Emma is a powerful and dangerous mentalist. That made her justifiably confident, but in a more physical kind of confrontation that could easily become overconfidence. Emma was about to take a knife to the midsection.
Fortunately, with the effortless grace of his kind, Benjamin reached over and caught the knife in mid-air.
Emma retaliated by sending a wave of psychic torment in Anna's direction. But Anna was already teleporting away. She'd had plenty of experience over the years fighting telepaths and mages. One of the primary rules was to keep on the move and never present a clear target.
I, on the other hand, caught Emma's blast head-on. I fell back into the room as my brain malfunctioned and my limbs began twitching uncontrollably.
As I struggled to get my body to cooperate, I could hear the battle raging between Anna and Emma.
The bay was a wreck, many of the bunks had been tossed about and knocked over. Some were broken to pieces.
Benjamin handed me a glass of whiskey. I downed it without hesitation.
Then he poured me another one. It didn't last any longer than the first. I was still woozy from Emma's accidental attack. Whiskey didn't really help, but it was as good a response as any.
"This isn't how I planned on spending the evening," I told Benjamin disgustedly. "I'm supposed to be saving our people from disaster."
"At some point or another, you're going to have to settle this mess," Benjamin replied with a helpless shrug. "The faster you get it out of the way, the faster you can get back to other issues."
"I can't believe you two!" Faye raged. She was in her full Green Bastard form and she was standing between Anna and Emma. Faye was currently enforcing a fragile truce.
The two combatants were sitting on opposite bunks, angrily facing each other with their arms crossed in front of their bodies. Anna was still naked and was having problems with her balance - Emma had finally tagged her with a psychic attack. Blood was flowing from a cut in her ear where Emma had landed a ferocious kick to the side of her head. Emma, on the other hand, had a split lip, a savage bite wound on her forearm that was oozing blood, and the beginnings of a black eye. Her clothes were torn and disheveled.
Rahne was sitting in a corner, watching with a combination of fascination and amusement.
Faye pointed an accusing finger in my direction. "What is it with him? Does he have a foot-long cock or something? Or is it that you two just can't deal with the possibility of losing to each other? Wives and concubines have been finding common ground since the beginning of time! Why are you two such a pair of special princesses!?"
Anna snarled at Faye silently. Meanwhile, something tightened in Emma's face.
"James and I have never declared ourselves to be Blood and concubine," Emma said coldly. "And this blue tart is hardly worthy of being called a wife."
The fight erupted again.
Now the bay was truly wrecked. Almost nothing was intact.
Anna and Emma were breathing hard and standing against opposite walls. In addition to her previous injuries, Anna now had long rows of fingernail marks clawed into her face and a series of small bite marks on her stomach and breasts. Emma was sporting a full broken nose and was cradling one of her hands in a manner that suggested she'd broken some bones after landing an ill-advised punch. Her jacket and blouse had been torn away and she was bare-breasted.
Faye was limping and had a dark-green bruise over one eyebrow. However, she looked even more determined that before to keep the peace.
Rahne had her mouth open and was gingerly pushing a tooth back into its socket - that way it would heal back without having to regrow entirely. She'd pitched in to help when things got too wild for even Faye to control by herself.
A half-dozen heavily-armored provost samurai were clustered just inside the barracks door. About half of them were trying to take their responsibility seriously. The other half just seemed to be enjoying the show.
I handed Benjamin the bottle of whiskey - the glass was broken. He drank and then handed the bottle back to me. It takes a lot to get a Blood and a Wallcrawler drunk, but we were well on our way.
Still holding the bottle, I got to my feet.
"Everyone except Anna and Emma get out," I announced.
Everyone either looked at me or each other, but nobody moved.
"I must talk with these two," I said as I made a gesture with the bottle that included both Anna and Emma. "There are things we should settle."
I almost finished the bottle in one long gulp. Then I capped the bottle and tossed it over my shoulder to Benjamin. I didn't hear it hit the floor, so he must have caught it.
There was long and awkward silence. The Blood in charge of the provost warriors made a silent gesture to his samurai and they left. He was the last of them out the door. He gave me a sympathetic look.
Benjamin, Faye, and Rahne followed them out. Benjamin was leaning on Faye and whispering something in her ear. Faye looked rather amused.
Anna and Emma didn't move, of course. But now their attention was on me.
Their eyes seemed to glitter with endless fury.
"Let's talk," I said.
A half-hour later, the three of us walked out onto the porch steps of the barracks. Benjamin, Faye, and Rahne were waiting. Also the provost samurai, and two dozen or so interested civilian bystanders and dependents. A few troops, who surely must have had something better to do considering that a war had begun, were also watching curiously.
The fort priestess - a Blood female dressed in black and gray robes - was also present. She was the true witness to what we were about to say. Speaking before her meant that we were speaking before the goddesses. Emma had called her telepathically and asked her to attend.
Anna was wearing my jacket, but nothing else. Her long and graceful legs were a lovely sight. Emma had a blanket wrapped like a shawl around her bare upper body. It was a simple thing that gave her an aura of tremendous dignity. It was a shame they both otherwise looked like a pair of Jerse pit-fighters after a long set of particularly ugly matches.
Words had to be spoken, but custom dictated that there was an order to such things. So after taking a deep breath, and then glancing at Emma and I, Anna stepped forward and spoke first.
"My name is Anna. I am of the lineage of the Shifting Lady and her son, and I am a free bard," she announced.
Then she paused a moment before speaking again. The crowd waited expectantly.
"I am the wife of James the seeker," she finally continued. "However, our respective lives keep us distant from each other. As such, my husband took a woman named Emma as his concubine. He did so without my specific permission, but I was not present, so that was justified. I acknowledge James' and Emma's right to this relationship. I regret anything I have said or done that suggests otherwise. I also regret any angry words I have spoken about my husband's chosen companion - such as when I called her a pretentious whore who predated on lonely older men. Or when I said she was a fat tub of lard only capable of satisfying a man in the least sophisticated manner imaginable. Or when I said she was a ugly cow with unseemingly obese udders that..."
There was a pained look on the face of the Blade priestess.
I put a hand on Anna's shoulder and squeezed firmly. Anna shut her mouth with an audible click of her teeth and stepped back.
Emma was next. Believe it or not, she actually looked nervous. Even worse, her broken nose and black eyes were beginning to give her a raccoon-like appearance. And the priestess was watching her very closely.
"My name is Emma of Alban and I serve in the Temple of the Three Goddesses," she began. What she was saying had the advantage of being both true and not too revealing. For the purposes of what we were doing, that was sufficient.
"I acknowledge that I am a concubine of James the seeker. I acknowledge that his wife is Anna the bard. I acknowledge the primacy of Anna's relationship with him. However, I reserve the right to at a later date become a junior wife to James. If that happens, I hope Anna and I can live in comity as sister-wives."
Anna and I gave each other a startled look. That was the first either of us had heard of that last part. And was it just my imagination, or did the priestess of Lady Blades smile slightly?
"I also regret many of my recent words," Emma continued more comfortably. "For example, when I said Anna was a drunken trollop who would give anyone a blowjob for a free drink. Or when I said that after taking a copper-piece for spreading her legs, she gives back change. Or when I said her favorite sexual activity involved an elvish position in which she simultaneously satisfies eight men with her hands, feet, tail, and three major orifices. Or..."
The priestess actually rolled her eyes.
"Emma!" I growled.
Emma ground to a halt. Then she carefully wiped the smile from her face, bowed her head, and stepped back.
It was my turn. I stepped forward.
An elderly Folk man in the crowd - a wagoneer by the look of him - shook his head and said quietly, "God help you, my friend."
Most of the men nodded sympathetically. So did some of the women. The priestess of Lady Blades had a professionally inscrutable look on her face, but something about her body language seemed to indicate some level of agreement.
I ignored that - it was a sincere sentiment and not meant as an insult.
"I am James the seeker," I started. "Anna is my wife and Emma is my concubine. Any who injures or insults them will answer to me. The customs pertaining to women of their respective stations are known to me and I will unyieldingly respect them."
The various men in the crowd nodded in solemn agreement and there was a scatter of approving applause. Then they began drifting away. For them, the show was over.
That left a number of unmoving and obviously expectant women. The included the Priestess. She was giving me a look that suggested I really wasn't done.
Faye cleared her throat loudly and made an urgent 'go on!' gesture with her hands.
I think I gave her a blank look.
Without making a sound, Rahne slowly and clearly mouthed the words, "I. Love. You."
Oh.
Yes.
"And I love them both dearly," I added.
Bright smiles appeared on the faces of the crowd. Faye and Rahne led another burst of applause. Anna and Emma crowded next to me - keeping to their respective sides - and kissed me on the cheeks.
The priestess nodded at us, turned on her heel, and stalked away.
Anna and Emma were off to see a healer. Rahne was with them.
"How did you do that?" Benjamin asked me. There was something like awe on his face.
"I appealed to Anna and Emma's sense of fair play and reason," I told him.
Benjamin considered that for a while. "No... really... how did you do that?"
I sighed. "I told them that we'd all probably be dead soon and I wanted their spirits beside me for all eternity. And the only way that would happen is if we respected the ways of the Blood, declared our relationships and intents, and settled our disagreements."
Benjamin nodded his head slowly, a slow smile steadily growing on his plain face. "Good. Very good - smooth and well considered. Neither of them was willing to let the other have you to themselves, even in the afterlife. So they compromised on that basis."
"I prefer to believe that they just came to their senses," I countered.
Benjamin just chuckled. The man was something of a cynic.
About that time, Faye walked up to us, picked up Benjamin, and slung him over her shoulder. Given that she was back in her Folk form, that was impressive. Some Green Bastards maintain part of their great strength when they're human. Faye was obviously one of those.
"We're borrowing the room again," Faye told me as she mounted the stairs.
"Romance makes Faye randy," Benjamin informed me as he awkwardly craned his head to continue speaking in my direction. He didn't seem too disturbed by what was happening.
"Damn right," Faye said as they vanished inside the barracks.