It was past sunset when Victoria returned to the tavern. Some of the ingredients had been challenging to harvest. She still needed one last ingredient, tears of a virgin, to turn a horny little prick like the satyr back into a horny prince. Fortunately for their mission, Victoria knew where a virgin was and had a long history of making girls cry.
She made her way upstairs to the small hall and stopped outside the door of the room she shared with Leo and Kelsie. She could not wait to return to Englred, where she would have her own space and her own bed.
There was laughter coming from within the room, a girlish peal of amusement, and a lower rumbling chuckle. Victoria opened the door a sliver and peeked in to see Kelsie and Leo sitting cross legged in front of one another, playing at cards.
“You're cheating!” Kelsie laughed, dashing her cards at Leo's armored chest.
The simple peasant girl had no idea who she was playing with. Hundreds had fallen to Leo's blade. He was quite possibly the most dangerous man in all seven kingdoms. But in that moment he was simply a man playing cards with a maiden. Victoria smiled to herself, seeing how even a man like Falkroy could be transformed by a woman's gaze. Kelsie was softening Leo. She hoped it was not a permanent effect.
“Now now,” he chuckled. “You must not be a sore loser. Your cards were not weak. It was how you played them.”
“I never played cards before,” Kelsie complained. “So how am I supposed to know how?”
“I thought I left you with the task of teaching her something useful,” Victoria purred as she entered the room. “Not wasting her time with cards.”
“I don't know your history nearly as well as I know the cards,” Leo smiled, gathering his pack. “And I'm no tutor, as you well know Lady Varys. I don’t seem to have taught you anything in the time I’ve known you.”
Victoria allowed herself a thin lipped smile. It did not escape her attention that upon her entrance, Kelsie's face had fallen, as if she were wondering if she were in trouble. She had withdrawn into herself and had lowered her head as if to avoid being seen.
Of course the girl preferred Leo. He asked little of her and certainly did not incessantly fill her head with boring history lessons. He played cards and acted as confidante. They were becoming best friends, he and Kelsie. It was all very tiresome. Kelsie should have been in Englred learning in a contained environment. She should be wearing appropriate gowns and picking up the finer points of femininity instead she was dressed like a young soldier boy and learning the tricks and games common to them as well.
Falkroy was proving to be quite a thorn in Victoria's side. As fond as she was of the assassin, he had managed to arrive at precisely the wrong time. As he always did.
“I am going to imbibe in the tavern,” he said, standing and stretching. “I will leave you to your mistress, Kelsie.”
“I see you have overcome your fear of Falkroy,” Victoria noted when he had departed, crossing the room to elegantly drape her frame into an armchair.
She nodded, her head still down, her dark locks a mysterious cascade between them. “I like him. He looks scary, but he has been nice to me.”
“Sometimes,” Victoria admitted. “He is nice sometimes. Sometimes he's very nice,” she smirked.
Kelsie looked up under her lashes. “Is he... is he your....”
“That is an impertinent question,” Victoria said swiftly. “And I'll thank you not to form it.”
“Sorry, m'lady,” Kelsie muttered.
“You, my girl, have talent that needs to be tended to. Worry less about roguish men and more about your own abilities.”
“Oh, Lady Varys!” Kelsie blushed. “I wasn't... I wasn't... worrying about him. I was worrying about... well... nothing m'lady.”
“See that you don't. The very last thing you should be doing is worrying about anyone besides yourself. Even then I wouldn't encourage it, as it tends to be more of a distraction than a help. Have you been paying attention to our conversations during our travels, Kelsie?”
“Of course, m'lady.”
“So you will be able to tell me what the difference is between elemental magic and witchcraft.”
“Elemental magic draws on the embodiment of elements,” Kelsie said dutifully. “Whereas witchcraft...”
“Will earn you a hot stake and a flaming pile of sticks,” Victoria interrupted. “Witches are burned, Kelsie. They have been burned in every place, every time, every world, every story. So you may be an enchantress, or a sorceress, you can be a soothsayeress or a shamaness, you could be a conjuress or a clairvoyant. But you must never, ever, be a witch.”
An expression of confusion crossed Kelsie's face. “So the real difference between those things is...”
“Ephemeral and irrelevant,” Victoria said. “Magic is magic. It is the manipulation of the intangible that affects the physical. All those labels I just gave, that is what they are, labels. When I am finished training you, you will be able to enchant, conjure, soothsay, and hex with the best of them. But you must never claim the label witch, because dull people believe words have power and will punish you for using the wrong ones.”
“Words don't have power?”
“They have power of a kind, but it is not the kind you should concern yourself with. Leave words to the bards and the politicians and those who sell news as if it were a bawdy whore to be taken any which way the listener pleases. You should aim to be above words, Kelsie, so that they become lost when they seek to find you.”
Kelsie gave her an awed look and Victoria knew she had made an impression. Unfortunately, that was not the same as having taught her anything.
“That is enough for the evening,” Victoria said. “Time to take to your bed. We will no doubt start early in the morning. I will place a sealing spell on this room so none will come or go. Rest now.”
She left Kelsie preparing herself for bed, cast the spell as she had promised and went to find Leo in the tavern. She spied him immediately, sitting between two serving wenches who were neglecting their duties in favor of the dark haired assassin.
“It seems every young lady in the land seeks you out this evening,” Victoria said when she had chased the girls away with a glare.
“Jealous, Victoria?” He smiled at her in that irritating way he had.
“I know I have nothing to be jealous of,” she replied evenly.
“Your lessons did not take long.”
“There is no point filling her brain to the brim. A little at a time is the best way to educate a girl like Kelsie. Besides, she needs her rest after an exciting evening of education of a different kind.”
“You object to my teaching her a little game? She has hardly had any time for recreation in her life, Victoria. A few hours respite will not harm her. It may even help her.”
“Do I object?” Victoria mused. “I suppose I don't.”
“Then I can only assume you are ornery as a result of not having rutted in quite some time.”
She cast a searing look at him. “Impertinence, Falkroy!”
“Truth,” he chuckled. “You need to be bound, thrashed and thoroughly ravaged to restore your temper. But I shall only do it if you ask me very nicely.”
“Curse you, Falkroy,” Victoria replied.
At times like this, his masculine presence was a distraction. Their hearts beat in tandem, but she could not risk coupling with Leo again. It never ended well. Their mutual antagonism always won out in the end.
“You're tempted, aren't you, Lady Varys.” His smile was broad and confident.
“I am tempted to turn your tongue into a toad for your impudence.”
Leo's arm slid around her waist. She allowed the imposition. For a moment, she was not a sorceress. She was just a woman nestled against the large, firm body of a strong, dangerous man.
“This is nice,” he murmured against her ear. “I have longed for you, Victoria. No woman warms my bed as you do.”
She glanced across at him. “But they do warm your bed, don't they, Leo. Quite a number of them in quick succession.”
“As men grace yours,” he said. “We neither of us are virgins. I do not hold your dalliances against you. I know what lies betwixt your thighs is uniquely mine in a way it could never be any other man's.”
“You are arrogant, Leo.”
What she did not add was that he was also right. He inflamed her passion in a particular way, having no fear of her as other men did. It was hard to find a cock that did not wilt in fear when the bearer discovered her true nature.
Leo’s beard was rough against her skin as he pressed his lips to her temple with a gentle kiss.
She allowed it, closing her eyes as his hand found her thigh under the table and slid up, feeling at her sex as if she were little more than a common wench. The immense familiarity and boldness struck her. They had not seen one another in months and yet he intended to fuck her that very night, she was sure of it.
As his fingers stroked the golden down of her sex, his lips found her neck and he kissed along the line of it with no regard for who saw. All around them, village life went on. Gossip and carousing were the two most popular past times. Victoria was certain she was not the only woman being groped and fondled with only the barest veneer of subtlety.
“We will have to find a hay loft or some other corner,” she murmured. “We cannot do this in our room with Kelsie sleeping.”
“I could do as the soldiers do with the local wenches and take you into a bush,” Falkroy said, his finger running along the seam of her desire with a touch that inflamed her all the more. “Take you as a common maid, remind you of what you are beneath all that bluster and fire.”
His lips found her throat just as his finger parted her lips and found the welling chalice of her...
“Is that Kelsie?”
Leo's hand stilled.
It was Kelsie. She was wandering through the bar, drawing curious looks from all corners, most of whom were trying to work out if she were male or female thanks to her strange garb, Victoria reckoned. Though truly, there could be nothing less feminine than her whimsical little face surrounded by that cascade of dark hair.
Leo's hand left Victoria's sex and Victoria felt her irritation grow. She had been about to allow him to take advantage of her, but now the moment had passed.
She locked eyes with Kelsie and beckoned the girl over. Kelsie made her way through the crowd and hovered awkwardly next to their table, getting in everyone's way.
“How did you get out, girl? I secured our room.”
“I don't know, ma'am. I opened the door and uhm... it opened.”
“I told you to go to bed. You should not have been opening doors at all.”
“I grew lonesome, m'lady,” Kelsie said, lowering her head in shame. “I am sorry.”
“She is old enough to have one drink in the tavern,” Leo said. “Let her be a woman, Victoria.”
“Ah yes, because being a woman means carousing with commoners and assassins,” Victoria replied icily. “Kelsie, return to the chamber this instant!”
“Stay if you like,” Leo interrupted. “She likes to tongue lash, but her bite isn't nearly as bad as her bark.”
“Now you are outright lying to the girl. Listen to me, Kelsie,” Victoria purred angrily. “You answer to me, not to Leo. He does not tell you what you may or may not do. I do.”
“Y... yes ma'am,” Kelsie trembled, sensing Victoria's anger quite obviously.
“As for you, Falkroy, you will hold your tongue.”
“I will not,” he replied. “You are overreacting.”
“Overreacting?” Victoria's voice reached a new pitch.
“I'm sorry,” Kelsie said, tears starting to form in her eyes. “I didn't mean to cause trouble, really, I didn't...”
“You disobeyed me,” Victoria snarled. “I told you to go to bed and you came out here. You willfully ignored my order, you spoiled little brat.”
Kelsie's tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Taking advantage of the moment, Victoria reached out with a soft cloth drawn from her bosom and wiped a few of them up. Now she had all she needed for the satyr. But it was not the satyr causing her the most trouble now.
“Stop it, Victoria,” Falkroy interrupted. “You are making a scene.”
“Making a scene! You encourage my apprentice to disobey me and accuse me of making a scene?! I will show you what a scene is!”
Victoria raised her hand and a bolt of lightening crashed through the tavern, striking directly at Leo's feet. Cries of surprise and fear rippled through the crowd, which formed a wide circle around Victoria and Leo.
“Dammit, Victoria! Behave yourself! You will not control me. I am not your puppet!”
“That is exactly what you are,” she said, her green eyes glittering. “You would have perished years ago had you not become my thrall. I allow you independence because it suits my fancy. But if I wished to have you crawl at my feet like a dog, I could have that just as easily.”
“You're so mean!” Kelsie exclaimed, suddenly no longer quite so tearful or apologetic now that Falkroy was in the line of fire.
“A sorceress is never mean, she is effective,” Victoria said, considering it a teaching moment.
“If this is what being a sorceress is like, then I don't want to be a sorceress! I 'd rather sleep with pigs than turn out like you.”
Stunned, Victoria stared at Kelsie for a full minute. So that was it. A few hours with Falkroy and the girl was already more loyal to him than to her. Victoria was quite furious at the turn of events, which left her quarreling with not one, but two people who owed her their lives. Their combined ingratitude astounded her. Falkroy was one thing. He at least was a man with some independence and power. But Kelsie? She had been so pitiful even the peasants looked down on her. And now she turned and bit the hand that fed her? Oh no.
“Finally you find your tongue, and it is to lambast me, you ungrateful girl. Pigs make more sense when they squeal than you do. Go to bed this instant, before I take a lash to your hide!”
Kelsie burst into fresh tears and ran away, heading blindly into the dense crowd.
“Kelsie!” Leo followed after her.
Victoria let them both go.
***
“How can you stand her,” Kelsie sobbed as Leo caught her in his arms, preventing her from running out into the night. “She is so cruel.”
“Easy,” Leo soothed. “Easy now.”
She twisted in his grasp, not so much to fight away from him as to vent her frustration. She was terribly upset, tears running down her face in great streaming rivulets. Victoria's scorn was difficult to bear when she was attempting to be mild. The full force of her anger could make a grown man wither and poor Kelsie was utterly undone by it. It was not the words themselves that could cut so deep, but the fury with which Victoria spoke. She could make a king feel like a cockroach with one lift of a brow, and she had turned that power on poor Kelsie without warning.
“She has a vicious tongue,” Leo agreed. “But hush now, we have made enough of a scene for one evening. Come and speak with me privately.”
Settled by that prospect, Kelsie followed him obediently back into the room. Victoria was not there, and he did not anticipate her imminent return. When her temper flared, it could be some time before she calmed down - and there could be no doubt that she had lost her temper that night.
“She called me ungrateful,” Kelsie sniffed. “Do you think I'm ungrateful?”
“No, but you were disobedient,” he said gently. “And Victoria does not tolerate being disobeyed. Indeed, that is the reason we are on this very errand. Best you learn that now and save yourself her true wrath.”
“What would that be? Turning me into a toad?”
“I would not put it past her,” Leo said, gesturing toward one of the two beds in the room. “Lie down. You need your rest.”
“Do you think she hates me now?” Kelsie asked the question in a small voice as she removed her boots and prepared to lay down as he had directed.
“No,” he reassured her. “I think she is very fond of you.”
“She has a strange way of showing it.”
“She has a sorceress' way of showing it.”
Kelsie lay down, one arm under the pillow, her head resting on it, gazing at him with big watery brown eyes as he sat on the other bed across the room.
“Will I have to be a horrible person if I am to become one?”
“I don't believe it is mandatory,” he chuckled. “Victoria is unique in the world. You will not become like her. You will become more like yourself, I think.”
Kelsie's gaze swept over his face. “You love her, don't you.”
“I do,” he nodded.
“It must be hard, loving someone like her.”
Leo chuckled and shook his head. That was the thing. It wasn't hard at all.