And so we told Arthur and Francis our story, not in every gruesome detail though. They were empathetic listeners, their faces displaying sympathy and shock at the sad parts and joy at the nice parts. Although the former outweighed the latter by far. Our story was far from being a happy one, but I was still glad that I was allowed to meet so many amazing people. The pain had all been worth it in the end.
"You really have been through a lot." Francis exhaled with a sigh. "We still have a long way to go though." I said and leaned back into the plushy couch. Mathias had done most of the talking, but reliving the events was still kind of tough. "I don't think you are in danger, but there is still the possibility that Orusha will declare war, and then this city will become a target." Mathias warned with unusual seriousness. But he was right, this city might not have been the most important dot on the map, but it was still a threat to any Orushian advance. Should they come to terms with Lactan, we would have to face more than just a few bandits.
"Still, I should bring this to the attention of the city's Lord." Arthur mused, "He has to do something against those 'Bandits'." "And he should be warned that an attack could be imminent." Francis added. "The guards are already on edge because of the Bandits attacks in the area." I said, remembering the bastard at the gate. "Yes, but their only concern is to keep any destitute refugees out. Our dear Lord doesn't want any extra mouths in his city that can't feed themselves." Francis said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "But I'm sure he will try to defend his precious city, once he hears that it might be in danger." Arthur almost sounded annoyed.
"You don't really like your Lord, do you?" Mathias asked, edging a little closer to put his arm around me. Arthur frowned in distaste. "No, not really. But I guess he gets things done, when necessary, at least he does most of the time." Francis, upon noticing Mathias' move on me decided to mirror his actions by putting his arm around Arthur, only to get shoved roughly away. Acting as if nothing had happened, Francis merely rubbed his arm and continued: "But thanks for the heads up, I would hate it to come home one day only to find our lovely home burned down to ashes." I wasn't quite sure what to make of that odd statement, but Mathias, oblivious as ever only grinned and replied: "No biggie, you sheltered us from the rain, after all."
"Speaking of which, I think the rain has almost stopped." I said, glancing out the window. Indeed, the cloud was still grey with clouds, but the heavy downfall of water had ceased to a mere dribble, leaving behind a washed out world.
An uneasy silence followed. The downpour had stopped and without it we had no longer a reason to stay, but Arthur and Francis were too polite to just kick us out, and I didn't want to create the impression that we hadn't liked our stay by leaving as soon as possible. I wondered how I could breach the subject without giving the wrong impression, but I should have known that I could have just left it to Mathias. "Thanks a lot for letting us out sit the rain here, you guys are really awesome, but we have to go now, or else our friends might get worried." Mathias grinned his cocky, face splitting grin and slapped Arthur, who sat nearest to him, on the back.
"Let me check if your clothes are dry yet." Francis smiled at Arthur's sour face as he rubbed his back, and walked out of the room. I sighed inwardly, I should really try and pound some sense into Mathias, but then again, I doubted that it would have any effect. Moments later, Francis returned with our clothes in his arms, so apparently they were dry enough to wear. After another trip to the bathroom, this time completely innocent, we had changed back in our somewhat still damp clothes and went back to the living room to say our goodbyes.
"You must bring your friend and visit us, before you leave." Francis said as he took my hand in his and placed a ghostly kiss on my knuckles. Arthur seemed used to such displays, so I chose to ignore it, although Mathias pouted a bit and kissed me plain on the lips in order to prove his claim over me. Francis only chuckled. "How about dinner, tomorrow?" asked Arthur, who thankfully only shook my hand, very carefully. "Francis, even though I hate to admit it, is a marvelous cook."
"Is that really okay?" I asked, we were five people after all. "But of course," exclaimed Francis, "I would love to meet your brother, and Tino and Berwald just sound like lovely people." With that settled, we left, the horse hair safely tugged into a pocket of my jacket, stepping out onto the wet cobble stones of the streets. Ignoring the occasional drop of water that landed on us, we made our way back to the inn.
The sky had cleared up a bit, but there were new rainclouds forming in the East, and it wouldn't be long until they would close in on us and fill the world once more with rain. We stepped through the front door into the inn; the smell of damp clothes hanging above the fireplace, mingled with heavy smoke greeted us. The room was filled with people, sitting at the tables eating and drinking, the rain had chased them inside, and the closed chimney prevented the smoke to leave the room. My eyes stung after seconds, how could anyone stand this atmosphere?
I fled upstairs while Mathias stayed behind to order us something to eat and hopefully inform the innkeeper that the rain had stopped and he could open his chimney again. Our room was thankfully smoke-free, there was no fire in the fireplace to produce smoke, but unfortunately it was cold. I quickly changed out of my clothes into fresh ones, hanging the still slightly clammy items into the bathroom, before I walked to Berwalds and Tinos room.
I was absorbed into my own thoughts or else I would have probably noticed the sounds that were coming from the room. Instead I walked in on a particular embarrassing scene. Tino was lying on the bed, his clothes were mostly pulled off and his skin was covered with sweat. But the reason for this was not his fever, but the man who knelt between his legs and was apparently using his mouth in a stimulating manner, making the smaller framed man under him quiver and moan with pleasure. At least Berwald had his clothes still on, albeit a bit disheveled.
The good thing was that neither of them seemed to notice me. There were certain things I didn't want to know about my friends. I hastily closed the door and took a step backwards. "What's wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost." Mathias had come up the stairs and watched me curiously. "Aren't you going in?" He motioned towards the door I was still leaning on.
I couldn't help but blush at the thought about what was going on behind that door. "They're busy." I said bluntly, with that I pushed myself from the door and walked to Emil's room, hesitatingly opening the door in fear to walk into another embarrassing scene. I should probably just knock from now on.
But fortunately Emil was just reading his book, silently mouthing the words while attempting to memorize them. According to the amount of pages he had already finished, he was making quite some progress. Mathias followed me into my brother's room, but not without casting some curious glances at the other door.
Emil and I were used to share a tight space with each other, so he didn't mind our intrusion; he actually seemed a bit happy that we were keeping him company. Mr. Puffin sat on the windowsill, gazing outside and occasionally picking up one of the small fishes that lied on a plate beside him and swallowing it. So Emil finally managed to get his puffin the diet he needed.
While we were waiting for our food to be delivered, I told Emil everything that had happened, including the invitation for dinner tomorrow evening. With that said I took out the horsehair and carefully laid it out, examining the strands and then choosing some that seemed suitable. The first one would only be for training, my fingers were still stiff and it was hard to braid the strands the way I wanted to.
I had to grit my teeth; the constant moving of my fingers put a strain on the wounds and shot painful stings through my hands. Mathias was watching with interest what I was doing, and after a while I began to explain to him the tradition of wheat braiding and what the different forms could mean. Emil was once more absorbed in his book, and so we just sat a while and busied ourselves with sweet and harmless things, until we were disturbed by a knock and a servant entering with our food.
The servant placed a tray with five plates of delicious looking casserole on the table. She kept her eyes on the floor and I noticed a slight blush on her features. I realized that since we usually ate in Tinos and Berwalds room, she must have brought the food there first, where she stumbled onto a similar scene than I had earlier. Poor girl. She hurriedly left, closing the door behind her almost too forceful and I could hear her steps retracting on the corridor.
A little while later, the door was opened again and Tino entered, followed by Berwald. Tino seemed almost sheepishly as he went for the tray and grabbed a plate, immediately stuffing his face. Berwald on the other hand didn't seem disturbed at all at the fact that they had been walked in on by a servant girl, or me, which they thankfully weren't aware of. But Tino looked a lot better, he was still a little pale but his appetite hinted that he was on the way of recovery.
In short words we related Francis' invitation to the two and all that went with it. They were of course a bit surprised but not at all unwilling to participate in a well cooked meal. It would also be probably a good thing for Tino to get to leave the inn for once; being cooped up in here all day had to be boring, even though Berwald apparently provided some sort of entertainment.
After I had finished my meal I went back to braiding the horse hair, and was joined by Tino a little while later, who asked eager questions and who happily confessed to have similar traditions in his family. We spent the rest of the evening like this, Tino and I were braiding horse hair, Emil was reading his book and asking from time to time how certain things were pronounced, Berwald watching in adoring silence and Mathias heavily chatting and not caring about the few replies he got.
It was truly peaceful.
But as life always went, our peace was short lived, and only too soon would we once again face despair. But for now we could indulge into the safety of a sheltering roof above our heads, while the world outside was drenched in newly falling rain. A quickly setting sun entrusted the city to the darkness of the night and the scheming of people who weren't at all content with the serene state of our world.
Oblivious to the danger that was lurking outside and ready to jump at us at every moment, we went to bed after the gentle light of the stars had thrown a glowing cover over the night sky. The rain constantly pattered against our windows, singing a sweet lullaby of long forgotten times.
The rain was falling all night, and the forces that would shake up our world once again had already encircled the city by morning light. But of that we were not yet aware.
I was woken by a hand that wandered over my body, leaving trails of warm tingle behind. My mind was still hazy with sleep, but Mathias heat pressing against me told me that he was very wide awake and hungry for another sort of breakfast. A mouth captured my lips, the sweet taste of the sun poured into my sleepy senses as Mathias gave me a good morning kiss.
We had slept naked, eager to feel the other's body as close as possible, and now when my skin was exposed to the cool morning air, I was covered in goose bumps that only gave way to Mathias warm touch. My eyes were still closed as Mathias kissed his way over my body, sending shiver after shiver of pleasure through my system. He was slow this morning, slow and sensual, savoring inch of skin he conquered. The feel of his fingers and tongue lingered behind long after he had moved on to other parts.
His mouth enveloped my member in one single motion, causing my eyes to flicker open, gasping at the sudden sensation, my semi-erect shaft instantly swelling until it was hard. But as fast as he had taken it in, he let go again, blowing softly on the wet skin, sending shivers through my body. His tongue licked along the shaft, adding pressure on some spots while only ghosting over others. My hands clenched into the sheets, my hips arched into him, desperate for more, but Mathias wouldn't have it, forcing me down with his strength, holding me in place while he so deliciously tortured me.
Another careful lick of his tongue, a warm hand fondling my balls, the playful grazing of teeth and a teasing finger prodding against my hole was all it took to change me into panting and heaving mess. And then, finally and blissfully Mathias took my member into his mouth again, and this time he didn't let go. A finger slipped into me and I cried out, trying to lift my hips again and into his touch, but he still held me down. His tongue danced and swirled around my erected heat; his finger wriggled around in me, brushing against that certain spot in me and fills my body with surging pleasure.
His lips closed down on the head of my member, tongue pressing against the sensitive slit at the top and I moaned loud and shamelessly, urging him on to go faster and send me over the edge. And he complied, sucking me in almost to the base, only to release me again, pulling back almost to the head and then reclaiming the marked territory, repeating the cycle seemingly endlessly, until I could no longer hold back.
His finger pushed inside of me, finding that sweet spot and I came with a strangled cry, deep inside of Mathias throat, the wet cavern embracing me until the end. I lied there, heavily panting, my body quivering under the aftermath of my orgasm and it took me a while to come down from my high again. Mathias grinned at me, there was no trace of my seed on his face, he must have swallowed it all, and with a devilish smirk he moved the finger that was still in me, to prepare me for what was to come next.
I pulled him down on me to place a kiss on those naughty lips, tasting a faint trace of myself but it was overpowered my Mathias own sweet flavor.
The door slammed open and a cheerful voice sounded: "Good morning! So I was wondering what you two would like for break…" Tino's voice trailed off as he grew aware of the scene before him. Mathias actually had the guts to grin and wave a lazy hand at Tino, while his other hand was still busy around my backside.
"Nevermind…" With a heavy blush, Tino retreated, stomping down the corridor and slamming another door, hiding no doubt under Berwalds imposing shadow.
I smacked Mathias on the hand, and moved backwards so that his finger slid out of me. I didn't feel like doing it at all, after getting somewhat caught in the middle. Mathias naturally complained about the smack and about my refusal of further activities but I wouldn't budge, not after he so casually greeted Tino as if it were nothing. I knew I was acting like some kind of prude, but I couldn't help it. On top of barging in on Berwald and Tino doing it, which was embarrassing enough without them even knowing it, that same Tino happened to barge in on us, but this time every involved party knew.
How could I look anyone of them in the eye again? Maybe I should just stay here and not leave until I had forgotten all of this ever happened. But Mathias wouldn't let me do this.
After a lot of sweet talk and coaxing, Mathias managed to get me out of bed and into clothes, after some cleaning up of course. And after another heavy session of coaxing I was ready to leave the room and face the others. But I should have known, especially after Tinos and my talk about certain things the other day that he would act as if nothing happened around the others. But he would probably want to know everything that happened, as soon as we were alone. So all I had to do was preventing me and Tino from ever being alone again.
Or I could just suck it up and stop acting like a pussy. It was not as if the others had been completely unaware of what was going on between Mathias and me so walking in on us had been bound to happen to someone sooner or later. And it could have been worse than Tino.
From now on we would just have to lock the door.
With that reassuring thought I commenced the day, looking forward to dinner tonight.
And yet blissfully unaware about what was going to happen.