Chapter 7:
The fight started the moment the delegation returned from the meeting with Finn and the peanut-crew. It had continued unabated ever since. The council had split itself into four factions–Gemma's hard-liners, Auda's money-grubbers, Elisa's fence-sitters, and Apolline's traditionalists. Gemma and her crew were simultaneously the loudest and the craziest, pushing for independence from the whole-flippin' world. As if the Grey Forest could survive without male breeding stock.
Auda and her fellow whores could only see how much money they stood to make off their neighbors under official government sanction. Apolline's crew cared only about the traditions of the Matriarch's office. And Elisa's fence-sitters bounced around to whoever looked like they might win. Tonight they looked like they might get whiplash from changing direction so often. Emeraude herself was bleary-eyed with exhaustion, twisted up with worry for her people's future, and distraught over what this would do to her family. And she wanted to punch Gemma in the mouth. "We must separate ourselves from that madman," howled her advisor! "It's for our people, Matriarch!"
It was the triumphal moment. She'd kept the floor for half an hour, haranguing them all over the threats Finn the Human had made and the demands he'd levied. She'd suggested he might carry things farther if they agreed to pay his usurious taxes. She was coy, refusing to be drawn on what she thought he would do, but the others were easily able to conjure terrors of their own. Emeraude knew visions of sex-slavery danced in several minds. And what weapon did she have against that. The truth? Did she dare?
On the far side of the forest, Finn the human snapped awake from an ugly dream where somebody he loved was tortured. Getting to sleep had been hard enough. Now, after a night spent tossing and turning as he worried at what 'Gemma' was saying to his wife behind his back, Finn the Human rose from his empty bed and sat there on the edge a moment, staring into space. He'd had a nice life before other people's needs and desires had torn his family apart, and though he'd long ago forgiven Betty, he still missed what he'd had. He would have been delighted to wake to Simone and Emeraude's faces for the rest of his days. Now he was alone again, when his wife was here in the same town. Rising, he headed out to drain the one-eyed monster so he could get back to sleep.
Returning from the toilet, he glanced into Marphisa's bedroom to find the bed rumpled but empty. The wood-nymph was having another bad night in the string of them. Likely she'd been tossing and turning in bed and just decided to get up. After what she'd gone through the day before, he hardly blamed her. Taking a detour, the big man headed for the kitchen instead. There he found the lady of the house standing in front of the fridge, making a small snack. The book on the counter told him how she was planning to spend the time up.
Walking up to the counter, he asked, "I'm sorry about what happened..." It was the best he could do, and it was clearly inadequate. "Why are you sorry," she muttered? She'd been in a little better mood earlier when she was teaching Fi about cooking, but that mood looked to have evaporated. "I don't have the words," he admitted. "This isn't something a guy knows... I'm... All I can give you is a shoulder to cry on." But he would have given her that in an eyeblink. She could see it there in his eyes. That was what made this so damned hard for her.
This was the man she had always deserved. She felt that way. She'd done her best not to hurt others. She'd sacrificed herself for nieces and sisters who'd forgotten her. She'd never deigned to abuse men who trusted her, and yet she'd come to this place and found herself alone. She was jealous of her favorite niece. She was jealous of Emeraude Baudin, who had a husband, and she was angry at her niece because she was throwing away the one thing Marphisa had always hungered for.
It was the same sort of jealousy that had driven her relationship with Marjolaine. Marj had a wonderful child. Somehow, in spite of all the awful that her younger sister had done over the years, Marj had managed to turn out a beautiful child–someone she should have been proud of. Instead of loving and cherishing her daughter, Marj tried to sell her to snuff-film merchants. Marphisa was in an ugly state of mind right now, feeling ugly emotions as she thought of the sweet child that lay sleeping in her home–his daughter–and how much better he and Emeraude seemed to be at raising a child than she was.
She'd given Madolen everything, thinking that would help her child grow into the sort of person one could be proud of. Instead, her adopted daughter had been vain and self-absorbed, thinking only of herself and her pleasures. This man had taken in her niece and loved her alongside the woman he'd already been married to. Together, the three had raised three wonderful children in spite of all the ugliness trying to destroy their home. She wanted that. She wanted a child of her own to love and to care for–someone who'd be there for her when she was too old to care for herself. She wanted to feel what it was like to have somebody love her.
Finn sensed the change in the older woman's mood before she pulled open her robe, exposing her gloriously mature body. "You said you wanted to help me," she whispered, as she came around the counter. Licking her lips, she said, "I've got money, King of Ooo. I've got money to last the rest of my very long life... I need something... less tangible..." Grasping his strong right hand, she pressed it against the curve of her belly. "Put something in here," she hissed. It took a moment. "Put a child in there," she whispered. "Fuck your bastard into me." He heard her now. Finn felt his face go warm. He was backpedaling within a couple of heartbeats. In spite of the massive hard-on tenting his pants, he backed away from her. "We can't do that," he muttered.
Marphisa kept coming, though. She kept coming as she told him about her failings with Madolen. She told him about how hard she'd tried and how much she'd needed a good man to help her. She kept trying to get her hands on him until she'd backed him up to the doorway of his room. Finn was forced to shut the door in her face.
Standing there, leaning against the door while she pleaded for him to come out, he found himself sweating as if he'd run a mile. That had been utterly terrifying because his dong had been doing a lot of thinking for him just then. He'd had no idea how blessed he'd been to get to an age where dipping his meat didn't matter that much to him. Now he was paying the price of still being alive instead of buried somewhere in a forgotten forest. A part of him was thinking that maybe it would be better for Nadia to get the nanobugs out of his body because there was a piece of him that seemed eternally hungry for pussy right now, and he was worried it would control him.
Marphisa was gone when Finn emerged from his room the following morning. She'd been there a while outside his door, crying mostly, but sometimes begging him to come out. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to E or Simone, but he didn't think he dared stay here again. That had been too much. It wasn't as if she was a hag after all. More to the point, he had a soft-spot for girls and their problems. All dudes did. It seemed so simple on the surface. She just wanted a baby to love. What girl didn't want that? With all the history between them, he would have been glad to help out. Problem was that he had too many entanglements as it was. He'd never get the world–and his life–back on track if he succumbed to thinking with his balls.
Finn was a little startled to find food waiting on he and Fionna. The pretty blonde yawned and stretched and then began putting food on their plates. A disturbed and worried Finn went outside and looked around in worry. It was too early for the bar to be opened. Even booze-hounds had to sleep and recover. Coming back inside, he sat down with his kid to have breakfast while he tried to figure out where their host had gone. They had to get out to the meet with the peanuts, and they had a couple of hours worth of driving to do to get there.
They ate quickly, saying little to each other. Really they both had the same thoughts in mind–worry for Marphisa and fears about what they were going to do today. This would make or break the trip. Taking out his phone, Finn flicked through his list of contacts before picking the most important of the day. "Piotr," he murmured. "Are we ready?" The cyborg was johnny on the spot with his answer. "Machine is in place, Your Majesty," Piotr announced. "We are ready when you are..." "Standby," said Finn. "And thanks, buddy." Rising, the big man pushed his plate aside and headed for his room to get dressed.
Heading downstairs, the pair came out to find their driver waiting. Shockingly, he was just finishing up his own breakfast, and he had a lunch basket in the back of the car for his passengers. At his masters' puzzlement, he said, "the plump woman gave me the basket. She had an appointment, but she said she'd have dinner when we got back." Finn sighed. He'd wanted a chance to talk to Marphisa about what had happened last night. He just hoped she was ok. "C'mon, daddy," said Fionna. "She'll talk when she's ready."
The drive was about what the big man had expected with Fionna mostly turned inward, gathering strength to use to accomplish what needed to get done today. This was it. He'd already mostly laid out where the southern barrier was going to lie. Now he needed to define the final boundaries of the northern barrier. Either the peanuts were in or out. Their choice. He had the same choice for Emeraude, but he hoped and prayed she would be a little more circumspect this time.
Arriving at the meeting place, they found both parties already on hand. E was there with her entire cabinet, suggesting that maybe things weren't going to go quite how he might have liked it. The peanuts were also on hand, though Baron Rolf had been wise enough not to bring his army this time. Striding up with Fionna at his side, the King's face was serene. He took careful note of the expressions of those he was meeting with. For Clarice, it was resignation. For Apolline it was vindication, which gave him hope. The clincher was Gemma's expression. He could see it, though she tried to guard it. She'd been outmaneuvered, and she wasn't happy about that.
"Ok," said Finn, "what's the answer?" His voice was calm, though he was seething inside. He would do what he had to do. Fionna was standing by and ready, and he knew that all parties now understood what she represented and why he would bring his pregnant daughter with him to the talks. Striding forward, Gemma opened with, "a point of clarification, Your Majesty..." Finn nodded. He could tell she was angry, but she was behaving so there was that.
Taking that for permission to speak, the older woman said, "we cannot denude the Grey Forest of all its trees for building materials... We have no place to quarry stone, and we already run the daily risk of fires from the uhm... dubious dwellings of some of our folk..." "There's quarries in the west we still have access to," Finn replied. "Matron Clarice can come to Court, and there will be help provided to negotiate favorable terms. It does me little good to have my citizens perish while I'm still paying the debt for their defenses."
Several Matrons flushed to their hair at the pointed reminder of what he'd already done for them. Apolline and Auda both looked smug. "A-and the tax-abatement," burbled Emeraude? "Seven years, E," Finn replied. "That's all I can afford. You have that long to get things up and running. You have the land now to grow crops and raise stock. That's all I can give you. That's the deal." With a heavy sigh, she said, "alright, donk. Deal." Finn smiled at her.
Finn turned to his recalcitrant peanuts. Chin jutting, Rolf Kirchner growled, "you plan on levying no punishment..." Finn shrugged eloquently. They had been at war. Payment was owed. He could have done a lot worse than what he'd already taken from them. "We have long memories," growled the Baron. "Yeah," Finn replied. "Maudie's told me that a couple of times now–when she's not cussing me to hell and back." The mention of their jailed ruler stung. With a wordless growl, the lead peanut turned and stormed off. "Fi," Finn called. The peanuts stopped in their tracks. "Raising the barrier, father," replied Fionna.
It began as a low rumble. It grew in volume, as the young woman began to conjure the strange 'nodes' of crystalline stone that she'd learned to fashion. Talia's coaching and Nadia's work at teaching the young woman a little of the sciences she'd lacked had worked wonders over the intervening months. Now, as the wood-nymphs stared around them in shock and the peanuts in terror, pillars began to rise from the ground, growing even as they watched, until there was a line of them, a hundred feet tall, spanning the space where the peanuts had stood.
As the panicked peanuts stared back at him, Finn fished his phone out of his pocket. One of the peanut-folk tore out of there, headed for his car. Three more ran the other direction, hustling to be on the friendly side of the barricade as Finn gave the order to his uncle-in-law to raise the barrier. In short order, they found themselves staring at Baron Rolf through the shimmering energy of the Tesla Barrier. The Peanut Kingdom was walled out. There was but one opening in the barrier now, and the tide of starving people would have to fight their way through the Baron's lands to get to it. It was coldly ruthless, and Emeraude reflected on that as she stared at her husband. "We should talk," he said. His voice was the flat that told her he was troubled by what he'd just done. Nodding, she said, "come to my garden."
Arriving back at the Grey Forest, Finn and his daughter parted ways. Fi was headed back to Marphisa's place to crash. Finn was headed to the Matriarch's place to talk. There was one last thing to get done. Arriving at the Matriarch's home, Finn was immediately admitted by Marianne the secretary. The chunky woman led him straight back to the garden where he found his wayward wife sitting by a pool, feeding the fish there. "Hey," he greeted her. Emeraude told her secretary, "see that I'm not disturbed, Marianne..." The fat wood-nymph bowed deeply before withdrawing.
Taking a chance, Finn came and sat beside his wife. "I've missed you," he said. The little woman lay her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for the drama," she murmured. "Me too," Finn admitted. Turning to face her, he said, "I was trying to help. I know you haven't got money..." Emeraude gave him an exasperated sigh. He was in the process of wrecking what little they had.
"I don't understand prostitution, E," Finn reminded her. "I don't understand what motivates a girl to do that to herself. I see what the dudes get. They get cheap love for a few coins, and they don't have to worry about any babies that show up. I don't understand why girls do this, so I assumed you'd be happy."
Emeraude flushed. She could have made this easier on him if she'd been forthcoming. She could have talked through this with him instead of leaving it to others. She could imagine Cherry's views. The gangster was shockingly pragmatic about what she did. She was, somehow, blessed to see the evil in every action she took. The lord of the underworld was shedding an evil that made her very little return on investment for the human-misery she sowed. Legalizing the Trade wiped red-ink from her ledger.
For the Matriarch of the Grey Forest, it was disastrous. She allowed the madams to practice their business here. She even kept the chief whore on her cabinet as 'Minister for Industry'. She taxed it, just as Finn was proposing to tax it now. Only difference was that, if people could get it right where they lived, then she stood nothing to gain from the evil herself. She was cast in the position of fighting to maintain the ugliness in another place so she could eek out a few dirty coins at home. "You're neither of you thinking of this clearly," announced Auda.
The King and his Queen spun to face the intruder. "Let myself in," said the madam, as she held up a set of picks. Striding up to the pair, she said, "look at the two of you. Two rotten little do-gooders, trying to set all the sinners free." Both husband and wife flushed. "The thing that you don't understand, my King, is that you can't stop the man or woman who seeks their own destruction." Finn gobbled at her. "That's right," she said. "Men and women both chase darkness with an unmatched fervor sometimes, and they themselves don't even know why. The only certainty is that you can't stop them from that headlong pursuit. Sometimes, they have to take darkness in their hands to know what they've been chasing."
Frowning, Emeraude demanded, "and your idea is to just let them have it?" With a shrug, the madam replied, "in a word? Yes. I'll control it. I'll channel it. I'll let those women wallow in the filth to their hearts content until the day they decide to walk away. I'll let the men indulge their little head at the expense of the big head. I'll take my cut from the top, and I'll keep those women from ending up in the gutter. If I'm successful, they'll walk away with enough coin to start over..." Glancing at her putative 'master', the madam said, "this is our domain, Matriarch Emeraude. A woman can't be turned away from a fresh-start here. She can walk away and start over if she likes with no stigma from what she's done."
"Alright," said Finn. "Then I will change my decree..." Both women gave him identical wary looks. "What happens in the Grey Forest, can stay in the Grey Forest," Finn declared. "Any woman can work here. Under your rules, Matron Auda. Upon her decision to leave, she must leave the Trade, change her name, and assume a new identity. Let that world stay here. Fair?" "Brilliant, my King," said Auda. "I would go one step farther. Women who come here will leave their old names behind and be reborn. They may even be masked or veiled if they like." "And the cost," demanded Emeraude? "Same as before," said Finn. "A tithe of the earnings for the madams. A tithe for the Matriarch's protection, and a tithe for the Crown of Ooo's forbearance." "Done," declared Auda. Her eyes burned into Emeraude's, suggesting that this was a far better deal than they had a right to expect. "Done," sighed the wizard.
"Thank-you, Matron Auda," Finn declared. "You've helped me keep my promise. Several of them." She bowed to him, though her eyes had a twinkle of mischief to them. Of course, the business was done, and it was clear that her presence wasn't wanted. She turned to go, and Finn watched her leave. "Staring at her ass, donk," demanded Emeraude. "Yeah," Finn replied. "Hormones of a teenager and all that. Haven't been able to stare at my wife's ass." She was blushing to her hair when he turned to face her.
His face had gone serious again. Reaching out, he cupped her face with his hand, and she flinched as if slapped. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. Finn gathered her into his arms and held her. She had a lot to feel sorry for, and she would have gone on in that vein until he stopped her. "Your only failing, E, is that you keep forgetting the fundamental lesson Simon tried to teach us," he whispered. "I'm your shield and support. Let me help you. Let us help you." He meant the others. "I'm not good with writing," he said. "I let Beeps do that for me. I'm not good with math... I spent too many years being a goo-brain, and I don't have the time right now to spend having Bonnie spin me up, so I let her, Sarah, and Nadia do the brain biz. Let us help you with your problems, babe." Sniffing back tears, she promised she would do better about that.
Leaning in, the big man did his best to kiss those tears away. Maybe it was all the practice he'd gotten, but the wizard-woman found that he'd gotten much better in the time she'd been gone. Slipping her arms around her husband's neck, the Matriarch lost herself in the beautiful ordinary feel of her husband's kisses. On his side, Finn inhaled her scent, filling his nose with the sensation of pine-needles against his nose. The dress did things for her that the old tight pants and low-cut tops never did. She was beautiful instead of slutty.
Kissing his way across her cheek, the big man nibbled at her dainty little ear as his hands stroked her plump knobs. He always touched them like they'd break, and he could drive her straight up the wall that way. His massive right hand glided along her left flank, working its way down her curves to that amazing butt of hers. All thought of what her cabinet might think of this fled Emeraude's mind. It was just the two of them, and nothing else mattered.
Deftly his fingers popped the buttons down her back, opening the silky blue-grey dress she wore. As it slid down off her shoulders, the big man returned to necking with her, nibbling at her tender flesh as his hands got to grips with her bare boobies. He was always giving her hickeys in the old days–marking her. Now he did just that, marking her skin as a reminder to Gemma and whichever other idiots wanted to try taking her away from him. The Matriarch moaned softly at the feel of that, and her fingers tangled themselves in his hair. At the same time, she went for the buttons on his jacket. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to feel the hardness of his body.
They had been apart so long, it didn't take much to get him wound up. Knowing the guards weren't far away at all was just making it worse. He halfway feared somebody would try to stop them. He wanted her badly. He missed the feel of her fingers clawing at him. He missed the sound of her voice practically breaking when she got off. They'd been apart much too long.
Finn shoved the Matriarch on her back. Reaching up under her skirts, he got a handful of the silky panties she wore and practically snatched them off. "B-baby," she whined. She knew they really shouldn't keep going, but she couldn't get herself to stop either. She needed this too. Finn stuffed the panties in her mouth. Jerking her slim thighs wide, the big man dove down on her, causing her back to arch as she screamed into her own panties. He was so very good at that. Back arching, hands clawing at his scalp, she went over again, and then again moments later. He'd always liked the taste of wood-nymph snatch, though Bonnie, Cherry, and Lollipop kind of gave her a run for her money.
The little woman was panting like she'd run a few miles when he got done sampling the wares. Now, as he eased her legs up on his shoulders, she practically tore his shirt open, sending buttons flying. Head thrashing, she squealed a high-pitch cry as her man eased that fat dong into her snatch. Her fingertips could easily feel the rough scratches and scars on him. Simone's work. Or maybe Betty's. It was a little twisted and kinky to think about that. He was banging Simone and her mom both. The idea made the wood-nymph hot as hell. Did he do them both at once? She wondered. At the same time, he was screwing the shit out of her, and she was loving every moment.
Bending down, Finn got to grips with her plump knobs, nipping and slurping at them, making her shriek. They were one big nasty as they got closer and closer to the end. Harder and faster he went, and they both knew the guards could hear. Neither gave two fucks though. When she felt him shoot off, she lost it too, as she clawed his chest hard enough to leave scratches of her own. Finn practically collapsed on top of her, crushing her body into the hard stone of the bench. Not that she cared much. Finally the big man realized what he was doing and sat up in a rush. Emeraude grabbed his collar and pulled his face back to hers, and it was an effort not to go again. He missed her. "Then you'll come back," she sighed. "The Matriarch still kind of owes you..." Finn blushed. He didn't mind her method of paying him back at all.
Unfortunately, he did have to go. After helping his lady pull herself back together, the King of Ooo took his leave of the Matriarch of the Grey Forest, returning to his borrowed quarters. He'd sort of been dreading going back to Marphisa's place, but he found the plump wood-nymph up at the stove, teaching Fionna how to cook when he walked in. She was in a pleasant enough mood, and he pitched in out of a desire not to spoil things. Their host kept things firmly in the realm of pleasant familial bonds, even when Finn would have asked where she'd been. In the end, he was happy with the peace they had, and, professing he was tired, he took himself off to bed early.
Keyed up as he was, the big man found sleep came slowly and in fits and starts. At the same time, he didn't dare get out of bed and risk going out to find Marphisa in the kitchen. When sleep finally claimed him in the wee hours of the morning, he was grateful. His host didn't trouble him by knocking on the door, and Finn finally woke to the smell of food cooking on the stove once more.
Rising, he washed before heading out to see his wife's aunt one last time. Fionna was already there, dressed in her traveling gear of skort, tee-shirt, and knee-socks over hiking-boots. For the briefest of moments, she was his little girl again. At least until she turned to face him, and his eyes caught sight of the jewel. Patrick's boon and curse. It had helped them win the last war, and it had forever taken away the Fionna that Finn remembered. Striding forward, he shooed Marphisa to the table and finished up breakfast himself.
They talked a little. Nobody wanted to disturb the mood, and it hardly felt like he'd won here. He was leaving his wife's favorite aunt in kind of a spot, and he was leaving Emeraude herself here when he was sick of having her gone. But I can still come back, he thought. He'd have to just talk to E about what her aunt was going through. He didn't want her to suffer. She'd done so much for them as it was. Finally the driver came upstairs to let them know the car was ready to go.
Standing on the balcony outside her door, Marphisa hugged Fionna goodbye. The pretty blonde said not a word about how hard her grand-aunt was squeezing her. She'd gotten an earful listening to what the older woman had said about her cousin Madolen, and she felt pity more than anything, even though she'd never known Maddie. Nor did the Bad Bunny say a word when her daddy lingered to say goodbye in private. Instead, Fionna went down the stairs to catch up to the driver. When she was gone, Finn slipped his arms around his wife's favorite aunt. "I'm sorry," she murmured. There were tears in her voice. "For what," Finn replied? He'd forgiven her the moment it happened.
Kissing her cheek, the big man put his lips to her ear and said, "if I ever find myself in a position to help a woman that way, I wouldn't hesitate to give you that. I can't, but you mean the world to me and my family. You're the fountain of Emeraude's courage and the example she's tried to live up to all her life. Thank-you." And then he turned and headed down the stairs, leaving the plump woman staring after him in shock.
The Nymphs are back in check, and the Peanuts go it alone.