Chapter 28: benefit of the doubt
Lord Olf of Premer had been awoken very early in the morning after getting reports of a guard patrol getting attacked outside of the city walls. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if they didn’t mention the name of Afarin's daughter: Afardo, and that she got kidnapped. Not wanting to get in troubles for not saving the child of the admiral of the royal fleet, the man of power decided to hush the concerns aside, making sure that those who knew about the kidnapping wouldn’t come to the naval officer's ears. He would ask his captains of the guard to comb the area, but after thinking about it, he summoned his foreign consultant who were acting as his spymasters. The two people arrived almost instantly, as if they already knew that they were about to be summoned.
"Good morning, Lord Olf. We've got some information, but maybe you have something to tell us?" Karen declared with her usual assertiveness.
Thankfully for the woman who was always seen wearing chest armour, the governor was always amused to see a woman talking to him as if they were equals. As for the peasant looking man behind Karen, Olf liked his humble but educated attitude.
"Good morning to you too." He replied, holding a yawn. "I've got an impromptu assignment, it shouldn’t take too long for you and your network."
"That's good to hear, what is it, that you want us to do?" Markus asked with his soft voice.
"Turns out, the admiral's daughter got kidnapped. I shouldn’t explain how important it is that find her as quickly as possible without the woman to notice. Afarin may be hard to deal with, but she's still an important person." Olf explained, sighing every time he had to think with about the admiral.
Karen and Markus had a moment of realisation, as they remembered the admiral's full name: Afarin Hol. They shared a look of surprise, wondering what that daughter was up to.
Meanwhile, in the orphanage, the young woman was sitting on a chair in the middle of the dorm, surrounded by numerous female Ahas. In front of Afardo, stood Hony, the woman with a big scar on the mouth. They all wore a cloak with hood, the snake in the egg symbol painted on it, except the sitting girl who was a bit confused as to why they were silently gathered around her.
"Sister Afardo, would you please remove your clothes?" Hony ceremoniously asked with a bow.
The girl complied without asking question, not showing any embarrassment as she undressed herself in front of so many people. Once done, she made sure to sit straight on the chair. Hony's posture made it clear, she was pleased by what she was seeing, a smile could be seen under her hood. The Ahas reached for her, touching her cheek and running her finger down her neck and stopping in the middle of Afardo's chest, feeling the girl's heartbeat.
"You don’t feel scared or the least intimidated by being uncovered. I take it you are acquainted with being bare in front of someone other than family." Hony asked with subtle pressure of the finger, getting a better feel of the girl's heartbeat.
"I've already gotten naked in front of men, not much in front of women." Afardo replied without any hesitation or deceit.
Not feeling any difference, Hony smiled and continued running down her finger before stopping again on her belly, pressing against it, not feeling any irregularity. For the Ahas conducting the inspection, it made her let out a sigh of relief. The absence of questions made the other women share some whispers that were quickly hushed by Hohon, the tall half blind Ahas. Hony removed her cloak, revealing her naked body covered in scars. She took Afardo's hands, putting one on her left boob and the other on her slit. The sitting woman could feel the warm skin of the other before feeling some heat in her own chest.
"You will have to take care of both, as a woman and a future mother." Hony declared before letting go of Afardo. "Since you're used to having men, show me the state of your doors."
The request stunned the girl who, for the first time during the initiation, decided to look around to see if the others had heard the same thing as her. Getting no answer from the Ahas women, Afardo spread her legs, displaying her puffy slit. Hony pressed a finger against it, making the young woman moan out of surprise, earning herself a few more poking at difference places.
"You're indeed a mixed breed but you've taken more from us than from the other race. You're also grown to sexual maturity. Good." Hony nodded before kneeling in front of the chair. "How many times have you tainted your hold with human men?" She asked, holding Afardo's wrist.
"I don't know, I’ve never learn how to count. It was more than one time. I mostly did it in Picha's bedroom, sometimes he would invite someone to watch us have sex."
Her answer created loud whispers amongst the Ahas which were once against silenced by Hohon. Hony gently blew on the young woman's slit, making her shiver.
"Still sensitive. It's a good sign. Now, for the unpleasant part… " Hony declared with a hint of disgust in her voice before pulling out a long thin tongue. "Most initiates are sealed ones, making the whole process pretty short. But since you're a stranded one and a mixed breed at that, I'll have to make sure that there are no oddities with your hold. Don't worry, this disgusting process will be done quickly."
"What are you talking about?" A concerned Afardo asked before getting her lower lips kissed, then parted by a couple of fingers.
Holding a moan by covering her mouth, the young woman couldn’t help but get hard. As she was getting her pussy penetrated by a tongue that scraped her walls, twirling inside her, she almost forgot that she was surrounded by Ahas women who were humming a tune that she thought she recognised. Hony's nose brushed against her initiate's clit as she was pushing her tongue deep inside the tight snatch that began to quiver. The older woman's tongue was focused on feeling for any irregularities, either in texture or taste, making Afardo struggle to hold her moans. For what felt an eternity for the both of them, the Ahas pulled out of the girl who came in her mouth, noticing the sitting one panting while holding her chest in front of a humming crowd. The scarred lady wiped her lips with her backhand before getting up and turning to Hohon who held out a small box.
"She's prepared for her future duties, she has no flaws inside of her. Afardo is ready to become one of us."
"I don't mind getting another session like that." The young initiate managed to say.
Holding a needle and some ink, Hony looked at the girl with an intrigued expression before sitting in front of her, on a chair that one of the women placed a moment ago. An Ahas strongly held the initiate's left arm, wearing a sorry look on her face as they all knew what was going to happen, with the exception of Afardo.
"You're a stranded one with the name of someone important, there must have been a reason for that. As a favour and for your own sake, I will crave our symbol as subtly as possible, so that your sisters will be able to recognise it while outsider won’t be. The bare minimum should still allow you to communicate with another follower nearby. It will sting a bit, do you want something to bite on? Or do you want someone to knock you out? Or… " Hony proposed, noticing a white trickle coming out of the initiate's twat.
If Ho's symbol was made during a ritual, it could be imbued with magic channelled through chants. Despite having very few magic potential on their own, Ahas managed to still use spells through either ritual or divine magic, though those ones required a lot of time, so unusable in battle. Usually, followers of Ho could communicate with each other through the symbol, but being valuable assets in the reproduction chain, they were often put far away from battle. Lord Falmer hated it when he gambled to have almost the entirety of the followers infiltrate the city of Premer.
Trying to hide her excitement, the master of the ceremony rubbed her legs together while looking at her peers and glancing at the wet cunt of the girl that was still panting, her pussy lips opening and closing as she was breathing hard, making quiet wet noises at the same time.
"Is it necessary to have that symbol?" Afardo managed to ask.
"Of course, it's so that we can recognise each other, only bearing the name of Ho means very few. Our symbol will guarantee you the best of our services, be it food, shelter or a good mate. Anything that can ensure a strong healthy lineage, because that's the true purpose of our sisterhood."
The mention of their services piked Afardo's interest, enjoying eating well and having a good partner were pretty convenient, she missed a man's attention in bed. The only males she frequented were crewmen of her adoptive mother, who didn’t give her much attention outside of bringing her back to the Laufer when she tried to escape and they never tried to do anything to her, following the admiral's order.
Back in the throne room, Markus had finished explaining that one of their slaves had found the missing girl and brought her back to them, making sure to omit the fact that they were the ones who attacked the guard patrol.
"So let me get this straight." Lord Olf began, rubbing his temples. "A group of slaves, coming back late from work, found her lying unconsciously while being half naked and thinking she was one of them, they decided to bring her back to safety to your base?"
"Exactly. Well, thankfully, she gave us her name. We can easily bring her back to her mother without much trouble." Karen confidently proposed. "We'll bring her to your city guards as soon as you give us the word."
Olf shook his head, remembering the words that Afarin yelled at Picha's men when they tried to bring Afardo back to the castle. From the messenger, she was ready to attack him, baring her venomous fangs at him and even threatening him by enticing her own men to lynch the Premer men who tried to approach the boat.
"That won't do. The admiral's men are very hostile towards Premer men, it would be preferable if outsiders like you would bring her back. Maybe you could even try to gain her trust. That way it'll be easier to gather more information." The governor of the city proposed, seeing that his informants were pretty receptive to his idea.
"Of course! We'll be sure to do it ourselves then. It'll be over soon." Karen approved.
"Excellent. I have nothing else to say, I trust your discretion in that matter." Lord Olf rejoiced, getting up to shake their hand as a thank.
His two information gatherers shared a look before accepting the handshake, quickly departing afterward. With contempt, Olf watched them leave as he was thinking of what he should order for breakfast, being in the mood for some seafood. His choice was probably influenced by the salty smell coming from outside as the storm had passed by.
The young Afardo was experiencing quite a new feeling as both pain and pleasure were washing through her body, because she was being punctured by a needle in her forearm at the same time as being eaten out. The master of the ceremony, while still being as naked as the initiated girl, was meticulously injecting ink under Afardo's skin while another Ahas woman had her tongue deep in a dripping pussy. Enjoying being taken care like no man ever had, Afarin's daughter could almost forget the pain of getting stabbed. Hony glanced from time to time, her focused expression slightly changing each time she looked at the woman who had her tongue dancing in the girl's wet slit, feeling envious. The humming of the surrounding Ahas easily drowned the moans and whines, the tall Hohon leading them by singing in an ancient tongue, older than Shashari. In the crowd, some young ones were discreetly rubbing themselves as they were intensely watching someone like them getting eaten. They could clearly see the pleasure deforming her pretty face as she was biting her lower lip, her eyes rolled up in overwhelming ecstasy. As the climax was getting closer, their voice were getting louder and louder, the symbol was getting completed and Afardo's legs were shaking, the unknown Ahas girl took is as a cue to pick up her pace.
"Almost done, hold on tight." Hony reassured.
"I'm... " Afardo moaned as her legs were violently shaking.
Understanding that the girl's body would lash out thanks to the skilful tongue of the Ahas girl that was way too eager to taste her cum, Hony quickly finished inserting the ink before stepping back to admire one of her best work so far. It was just in time as Afardo's scream temporarily deafened the crowd, her drenched pussy was contracting around the invading tongue, gripping it tightly and forcing the one who was eating her out to stay still while wearing a surprised expression. Hohon finished singing was a deep voice that could be barely heard.
"Ho's blessing will permeate us with her strength and fertility." She finished singing before getting doused in Afardo's sexual fluids.
Barely able to control herself anymore, Hony pounced of the orgasming girl and embarrassed her with vigour, kissing her furiously on her lips as if to muffle her moans, while the unknown Ahas girl finally managed to get back her tongue before deciding to turn her attention to the new slit presented to her. The situation quickly degenerated as the surrounding young women who, until then, were discreetly rubbing themselves, decided to overtly seek release by imitating what they saw with the first one that looked into such devious act by licking, fingering or even embracing each other. If Afardo wasn’t too busy embracing Hony, she could notice that everyone was actually naked under their cloak. The older Ahas looked at it with concern before turning to their leader, Hohon who seemed to be amused by such chaotic display of sexuality while wringing her cum soaked cloak. She snickered before shouting, her voice booming in the room that was filled with moans until that.
"While I appreciate the preparation for sexual endeavours, I would prefer if you showed restraints. Lust is a powerful thing but you shouldn’t get swayed by it so easily. I won’t lecture you about only engaging with someone of the opposite sex because I was once like you. But do remember that such attachment will hinder your capacity as future child bearer. Ho loves you no matter what, wether you're into females or males, but remember why we're here. Don’t lose sight of our goal." She declared with a somewhat serious expression on her face, looking like a mother who's trying to educate her children.
The young Ahas halfheartedly stopped their shenanigans not before sharing a last regretful look to the person they were rubbing against. Afardo felt disappointed that her embrace with Hony came to an end as she actually enjoyed the warmth of her body pressed against hers. The followers of Ho were beginning to exit the dorm room one by one, sharing whispers and playful looks for those who became intimate with others. In the end, only Afardo, Hony, Hohon and the unknown Ahas girl remained in the room, the tall woman was about to say something to them when Karen barged in the room with Marcus in tow.
"We have to get Afardo back to her mother before she notices her disappearance." The human woman declared, slightly out of breath.
"What? Why?" Protested Hony and Afardo, like spoiled children.
Marcus stepped forward, his imposing stature being contrasted by his gentle manners quickly brought the attention towards him.
"Lord Olf requires that we bring back the admiral's daughter before it starts any more troubles." Marcus softly explained before turning his attention to Afardo who was now wearing a cloak of Ho. "I'm sure your mother is worried sick that you've disappeared."
Karen shot him an annoyed look, she grunted at his comment before signalling to Afardo to follow them. The young girl mindlessly obeyed before Hohon grabbed her by the arm.
"Well, if you can't stay with us, it'd be preferable if you get back in more casual clothes. We were so excited to educate you in the Ahas way, but your duty is to be a good daughter for now." The tall Ahas said, low-key disappointed that the new girl couldn’t stay longer. "Remember that you have a sisterhood that'll be more than happy to welcome you back."
Afardo had a hard time to smile as she came to realisation that she had to leave those women who accepted her and introduced her to pleasures she never experienced in her short life. The unknown girl that gave her oral was silently crying for some reason, hiding her tears behind her hands. Hony tried her best to not show her sadness. She decided to give a big hug to the departing girl, leaning in her ear to whisper something.
"To contact us, focus your mind on our symbol. Remember this word, it'll be important. Jatama." Hony discreetly whispered before overtly kissing Afardo on the cheek and stepping back, "Take care, sister. May Ho give you the strength and fertility you deserve." She declared with a genuine smile.
"Right, let's hurry up, our sister is on an important mission. You want to say something too, Hokisr?" Hohon asked, turning to the crying Ahas.
"You tasted so good! Please come back quickly!" Hokisr bawled.
Unaware of what just happened, the two humans were obviously confused by the last girl's statement but preferred to leave some mysteries to be unsolved. After a quick change of clothes, Afardo was then escorted by Markus and Karen through back alleys to avoid unwanted attention until they reached the harbour which was still recovering from the storm a few hours ago.
"Ah shit. How are we going to find your mother's boat now?" Karen complained as she looked at the different boats docked.
Marcus shook his head and pointed at a group of boats in the high sea.
"She's a naval admiral, she'd probably be in a boat out in the sea, ready to face the Order's navy. Or maybe not? After all, her daughter disappeared during the storm?"
Karen looked pretty annoyed about Markus who represented the admiral as a caring mother, when her first impression of the woman of a drunk looking officer who bossed people around, who was even going as far as slighting people without provocation. It reminded her of her own husband.
"If she was so caring, wouldn’t she be out here, leaving no stone unturned? What kind of mother would constantly be drinking to the point of being drunk in front of the lord of a city?!"
Afardo, who remained silent during their walk and the humans' argument, could faintly hear a familiar voice from afar. That's when she noticed a big hulking man's back surrounded by naval officers who were receiving orders from the giant. The missing daughter's eyes widened as she recognised the pile of muscle that was senior captain Artin. Unable to control herself, she let out a happy scream while extending her arms out of joy. Her voice attracted the attention, Karen noticed the girl's gaze and followed it to find what looked like the physical manifestation of the Greek god Apollo wearing a nice uniform, whose muscles and height made Markus look like a scrawny teenager next to him. Out of complacency, she waved at him with both hands.
What Artin saw surprised him a bit as he was focused on forming search parties to find Afarin's adopted daughter who somehow managed to escape after the storm, though they both found it odd that she didn’t take anything with her, not even some clothes. After the feminine squeal, Artin noticed an odd trio composed of a lightly armoured person, a sizeable peasant and an Ahas wearing some rags that had what looked like some blood stains on it. The mercenary-looking guy was waving at him and the female Ahas had her arms extended as if she was trying to be as wide as the senior captain. His instinct pushed him to go meet the weirdos, the surrounding officers followed him with as much interest as him.
"Hey, keep it down, it's too early in the morning for such ruckus." Artin sternly said before recognising the person the person he was looking for.
"Artin! Hello guys! I'm so happy to see your faces!" Afardo exclaimed, unable to control herself.
"I suppose that you're with the admiral, right? We found this young girl unconscious on the shore and decided to shelter her until she'd recover." Karen declared, cautious about the naval officers who were bunching up behind the big man who just talked.
"Indeed and we're glad that you brought her back safe and sound. But I feel like it's too good to be true. What are you demanding in exchange for the girl's safety?"
"Knowing that she's the child of someone very important, it would be foolish to attempt anything. We're just doing what's right." Marcus humbly replied with a slight bow.
"Like I said, too good to be true. Now you, mercenary, what's your demand for young Afardo's return?" Artin asked to Karen.
The human woman grunted, crossing her arms in some sort of protest.
"Well, I'd demand that her mother take better care of her daughter. We found her during the night and it's only at dawn that she sends men to search for her? Very irresponsible."
Artin stopped a captain who was about to draw his sword by a simple wave of the hand. The senior officer was used of having his superior getting a bad reputation in the eyes of the people of stature, he then supposed that the person in armour belonged to some kind of noble household and decided to take the insult personally since he was supposed to look after Afardo.
"You're quite a mouthful, mercenary. I don’t like you, but maybe the admiral will excuse your insolence. Follow us." Artin demanded before turning to a person dressed in a blue robe. "Send the signal to end the search."
"I thought it was impossible to cast spells in the city?" Marcus pointed out but got ignored.
That's when he remembered that Lord stones could allow its user to use magic and that¡s what he saw the mage pointed his staff towards the sky. The two humans from earth first witnessed real magic. They could faintly see some kind of sparks coming out of the crystal before they concentrated at the top of the stone, becoming more visible and gaining an orangey tint which became warmer until it finally got launched high in the sky with a fizzling sound. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but the spectacle of seeing actual magic amazed the earthlings. Karen, who was a huge fan of fantasy stories, couldn’t help but have her jaw drop on the floor.
"Yo! You saw that, Marcus?! That was so cool! We have to learn more about their magic stuff! I'm so gonna become a witch! Or a sorceress! Or a mage!" She exclaimed in English to a stunned Marcus.
"First time? Well, let's meet the admiral." Captain Artin sniggered.
Afardo was slightly less impressed by such simple spell but happily followed the Herikfer officers, holding Artin's arm like a child. The couple of humans regained their composure and embarked on a rowboat that took them to the admiral's laufer. They could observe the impressive flame launchers as well as three faces carved on the side of the ship, with the name of the person under. A young officer noticed the puzzled look of the two strangers and gladly explained who those three people were: previous admirals who fell in glorious battles for the fate of the Herik. Karen and Marcus once again met Afarin who looked a bit pale, leaning over the railing facing the harbour.
"I saw the signal. Where is Afardo?" Afarin asked as soon as she was within hearing range.
"Hello!" The missing girl cheerfully shouted.
"Mother of the seas! You're alive! You better have an excuse as to why you tried to escape after the storm!" Afarin shouted back before removing her leather hat and pointing her hair. "Thanks to you, I got more white hairs than before! I was worried sick!"
Marcus turned to Karen with an amused look on his face.
"They seem normal like that, you wouldn’t think that she's an admiral of a royal fleet." He said in English.
"Yeah, maybe she's not that bad after all?"
Once they were finally onboard the vessel, Afarin pulled over a mage to have a medical inspection of Afardo's health and quickly discovered that she had small injuries that weren’t life threatening. The revelation made the adoptive mother let out a breath of relief before turning to the two people who had brought her back, removing her hat and holding it under her arm.
"You have my thanks. You may not know, but you've secured the fate of the kingdom by bringing back my adopted daughter. What can I do to show you my gratitude?" Afarin asked, pulling Afardo to her for a hug. "She hasn’t caused you any problems, right? Right?"
Marcus was the first one to react, shaking his head as a 'no'. His response pleased the admiral who relaxed around him, after all he was some kind of peasant who had some manners, on the other hand, the mercenary-looking person was still wearing his helmet. Afarin frowned at the passive rudeness and nodded at her senior captain who grunted and made his presence more imposing that it already was.
"I know that you've probably never attended Valiamer naval academy, but it's common courtesy to remove one's head gear." The admiral explained, slightly irritated while showing her own hat under her arm.
Karen sighed at the insisting look of Marcus who was trying his best to have the encounter go smoothly, silently reminding her of the reason why they accepted to bring back Afardo to her mother. Of course, the imposing hulking man behind her was one more reason to comply. The woman decided to remove her plate helmet, revealing her blonde hair in a circular movement of the head, somehow flaunting her well kept hair. Afarin felt slightly envious of the woman who didn’t have any white strands.
"Better? My name is Smith, my friend here is Gogh. We aren’t asking for anything in return for finding your lost daughter. Except for one thing. Take better care of your daughter. We found her butt naked on the shore." Karen said with an extremely serious tone in her voice to hide her irritation.
Finally releasing her adopted daughter, Afarin looked down before remembering that she was still in front of her men, not wanting to look weak, she raised her head with a confident look.
"You may not ave noticed, but there was a storm recently. I took the proper measure to ensure her safety, but the Mother of the seas thought otherwise. Don’t make assumptions when you know nothing about it. Anyway, I'll give you compensations for the troubles you went through to bring Afardo back to me."
The word compensation rang a bell in Karen's head, while Marcus, who was too busy to be distracted by the whole picturesque atmosphere of the ship, that he didn’t notice the smile drawing on the face of the bossy woman who began talking quickly.
"Well, if you insist so much on compensating us, we'd like to have your support on our enterprise. While Lord Olf is a generous man, we still struggle to make ends meet in Premer. Our workers need food to survive and we barely have any income to feed them all. If you could… I don’t know… help us get a status that would allow our enterprise to function properly?"
The look of her officers made the admiral soften up, knowing that some had families who struggled to survive even when they sent their salary to them. A discreet nod of Artin pushed Afarin to lend some help and with a sorry sigh, she gave in.
"You did take care of my daughter, that's the least I could do." She conceded. "But you have to know that Lord Olf and I are in a disagreement. I won’t be able to make him grant you citizenship or a plot of land, but I can give you a merchant token of the admiral fleet. It'll lower significantly trading taxes with the city and give you access to materials deemed necessary for the royal fleet, that includes provisions. Usually it's given to the logistic team when we need to stock up on provisions or need repairs, but I guess I'll make an exception." Afarin explained, showing a silver medal the size of her palm. "I'd prefer to keep it on myself at all time, so I'll lend it to you today so that you can get what you need and then give it back once you're done. I don’t know how long we'll stay here, but I can assure you that, as long as we're here, you'll get access to it."
"That's very generous and we gladly accept it as a show of good faith. You won’t regret putting your trust on us."
Captain Artin showed his discomfort of having such important object given to total stranger, though he understood the gesture. Thankfully for him, his superior noticed his subtle frown and nodded at him with a focused look on her face as she retracted the token before Karen could reach it.
"I do have one condition. You'll have to have at least one of my men with you as long as you'll be in possession of this very valuable item. Is that clear?"
"Wouldn’t have it any other way. We're willing to show that we're trustworthy, admiral." Marcus eagerly thanked, earning a content smile and the token from the high ranking officer.
"Gogh, are you related to our dear senior captain Artin? You're the juvenile version of him." One of the captain jokingly asked. "Didn’t know you shagged a lady. Haha!"
The officers giggled aside from the imposing man and the admiral who hid her amusement behind her hat. Barely understanding the banter, the two earthling watched in silence while Afardo stared at nothing with a stupid smile on her face, probably thinking of her ritual. After that the laughs faded, a young captain was assigned to escort Marcus and Karen for their shopping spree, the man was barely over eighteen, which made the whole expedition awkward for everyone involved since Karen was in her thirties and Markus was in his mid twenties, making them way older than the young person in a shiny uniform.
Lord Olf of Premer had been awoken very early in the morning after getting reports of a guard patrol getting attacked outside of the city walls. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if they didn’t mention the name of Afarin's daughter: Afardo, and that she got kidnapped. Not wanting to get in troubles for not saving the child of the admiral of the royal fleet, the man of power decided to hush the concerns aside, making sure that those who knew about the kidnapping wouldn’t come to the naval officer's ears. He would ask his captains of the guard to comb the area, but after thinking about it, he summoned his foreign consultant who were acting as his spymasters. The two people arrived almost instantly, as if they already knew that they were about to be summoned.
"Good morning, Lord Olf. We've got some information, but maybe you have something to tell us?" Karen declared with her usual assertiveness.
Thankfully for the woman who was always seen wearing chest armour, the governor was always amused to see a woman talking to him as if they were equals. As for the peasant looking man behind Karen, Olf liked his humble but educated attitude.
"Good morning to you too." He replied, holding a yawn. "I've got an impromptu assignment, it shouldn’t take too long for you and your network."
"That's good to hear, what is it, that you want us to do?" Markus asked with his soft voice.
"Turns out, the admiral's daughter got kidnapped. I shouldn’t explain how important it is that find her as quickly as possible without the woman to notice. Afarin may be hard to deal with, but she's still an important person." Olf explained, sighing every time he had to think with about the admiral.
Karen and Markus had a moment of realisation, as they remembered the admiral's full name: Afarin Hol. They shared a look of surprise, wondering what that daughter was up to.
Meanwhile, in the orphanage, the young woman was sitting on a chair in the middle of the dorm, surrounded by numerous female Ahas. In front of Afardo, stood Hony, the woman with a big scar on the mouth. They all wore a cloak with hood, the snake in the egg symbol painted on it, except the sitting girl who was a bit confused as to why they were silently gathered around her.
"Sister Afardo, would you please remove your clothes?" Hony ceremoniously asked with a bow.
The girl complied without asking question, not showing any embarrassment as she undressed herself in front of so many people. Once done, she made sure to sit straight on the chair. Hony's posture made it clear, she was pleased by what she was seeing, a smile could be seen under her hood. The Ahas reached for her, touching her cheek and running her finger down her neck and stopping in the middle of Afardo's chest, feeling the girl's heartbeat.
"You don’t feel scared or the least intimidated by being uncovered. I take it you are acquainted with being bare in front of someone other than family." Hony asked with subtle pressure of the finger, getting a better feel of the girl's heartbeat.
"I've already gotten naked in front of men, not much in front of women." Afardo replied without any hesitation or deceit.
Not feeling any difference, Hony smiled and continued running down her finger before stopping again on her belly, pressing against it, not feeling any irregularity. For the Ahas conducting the inspection, it made her let out a sigh of relief. The absence of questions made the other women share some whispers that were quickly hushed by Hohon, the tall half blind Ahas. Hony removed her cloak, revealing her naked body covered in scars. She took Afardo's hands, putting one on her left boob and the other on her slit. The sitting woman could feel the warm skin of the other before feeling some heat in her own chest.
"You will have to take care of both, as a woman and a future mother." Hony declared before letting go of Afardo. "Since you're used to having men, show me the state of your doors."
The request stunned the girl who, for the first time during the initiation, decided to look around to see if the others had heard the same thing as her. Getting no answer from the Ahas women, Afardo spread her legs, displaying her puffy slit. Hony pressed a finger against it, making the young woman moan out of surprise, earning herself a few more poking at difference places.
"You're indeed a mixed breed but you've taken more from us than from the other race. You're also grown to sexual maturity. Good." Hony nodded before kneeling in front of the chair. "How many times have you tainted your hold with human men?" She asked, holding Afardo's wrist.
"I don't know, I’ve never learn how to count. It was more than one time. I mostly did it in Picha's bedroom, sometimes he would invite someone to watch us have sex."
Her answer created loud whispers amongst the Ahas which were once against silenced by Hohon. Hony gently blew on the young woman's slit, making her shiver.
"Still sensitive. It's a good sign. Now, for the unpleasant part… " Hony declared with a hint of disgust in her voice before pulling out a long thin tongue. "Most initiates are sealed ones, making the whole process pretty short. But since you're a stranded one and a mixed breed at that, I'll have to make sure that there are no oddities with your hold. Don't worry, this disgusting process will be done quickly."
"What are you talking about?" A concerned Afardo asked before getting her lower lips kissed, then parted by a couple of fingers.
Holding a moan by covering her mouth, the young woman couldn’t help but get hard. As she was getting her pussy penetrated by a tongue that scraped her walls, twirling inside her, she almost forgot that she was surrounded by Ahas women who were humming a tune that she thought she recognised. Hony's nose brushed against her initiate's clit as she was pushing her tongue deep inside the tight snatch that began to quiver. The older woman's tongue was focused on feeling for any irregularities, either in texture or taste, making Afardo struggle to hold her moans. For what felt an eternity for the both of them, the Ahas pulled out of the girl who came in her mouth, noticing the sitting one panting while holding her chest in front of a humming crowd. The scarred lady wiped her lips with her backhand before getting up and turning to Hohon who held out a small box.
"She's prepared for her future duties, she has no flaws inside of her. Afardo is ready to become one of us."
"I don't mind getting another session like that." The young initiate managed to say.
Holding a needle and some ink, Hony looked at the girl with an intrigued expression before sitting in front of her, on a chair that one of the women placed a moment ago. An Ahas strongly held the initiate's left arm, wearing a sorry look on her face as they all knew what was going to happen, with the exception of Afardo.
"You're a stranded one with the name of someone important, there must have been a reason for that. As a favour and for your own sake, I will crave our symbol as subtly as possible, so that your sisters will be able to recognise it while outsider won’t be. The bare minimum should still allow you to communicate with another follower nearby. It will sting a bit, do you want something to bite on? Or do you want someone to knock you out? Or… " Hony proposed, noticing a white trickle coming out of the initiate's twat.
If Ho's symbol was made during a ritual, it could be imbued with magic channelled through chants. Despite having very few magic potential on their own, Ahas managed to still use spells through either ritual or divine magic, though those ones required a lot of time, so unusable in battle. Usually, followers of Ho could communicate with each other through the symbol, but being valuable assets in the reproduction chain, they were often put far away from battle. Lord Falmer hated it when he gambled to have almost the entirety of the followers infiltrate the city of Premer.
Trying to hide her excitement, the master of the ceremony rubbed her legs together while looking at her peers and glancing at the wet cunt of the girl that was still panting, her pussy lips opening and closing as she was breathing hard, making quiet wet noises at the same time.
"Is it necessary to have that symbol?" Afardo managed to ask.
"Of course, it's so that we can recognise each other, only bearing the name of Ho means very few. Our symbol will guarantee you the best of our services, be it food, shelter or a good mate. Anything that can ensure a strong healthy lineage, because that's the true purpose of our sisterhood."
The mention of their services piked Afardo's interest, enjoying eating well and having a good partner were pretty convenient, she missed a man's attention in bed. The only males she frequented were crewmen of her adoptive mother, who didn’t give her much attention outside of bringing her back to the Laufer when she tried to escape and they never tried to do anything to her, following the admiral's order.
Back in the throne room, Markus had finished explaining that one of their slaves had found the missing girl and brought her back to them, making sure to omit the fact that they were the ones who attacked the guard patrol.
"So let me get this straight." Lord Olf began, rubbing his temples. "A group of slaves, coming back late from work, found her lying unconsciously while being half naked and thinking she was one of them, they decided to bring her back to safety to your base?"
"Exactly. Well, thankfully, she gave us her name. We can easily bring her back to her mother without much trouble." Karen confidently proposed. "We'll bring her to your city guards as soon as you give us the word."
Olf shook his head, remembering the words that Afarin yelled at Picha's men when they tried to bring Afardo back to the castle. From the messenger, she was ready to attack him, baring her venomous fangs at him and even threatening him by enticing her own men to lynch the Premer men who tried to approach the boat.
"That won't do. The admiral's men are very hostile towards Premer men, it would be preferable if outsiders like you would bring her back. Maybe you could even try to gain her trust. That way it'll be easier to gather more information." The governor of the city proposed, seeing that his informants were pretty receptive to his idea.
"Of course! We'll be sure to do it ourselves then. It'll be over soon." Karen approved.
"Excellent. I have nothing else to say, I trust your discretion in that matter." Lord Olf rejoiced, getting up to shake their hand as a thank.
His two information gatherers shared a look before accepting the handshake, quickly departing afterward. With contempt, Olf watched them leave as he was thinking of what he should order for breakfast, being in the mood for some seafood. His choice was probably influenced by the salty smell coming from outside as the storm had passed by.
The young Afardo was experiencing quite a new feeling as both pain and pleasure were washing through her body, because she was being punctured by a needle in her forearm at the same time as being eaten out. The master of the ceremony, while still being as naked as the initiated girl, was meticulously injecting ink under Afardo's skin while another Ahas woman had her tongue deep in a dripping pussy. Enjoying being taken care like no man ever had, Afarin's daughter could almost forget the pain of getting stabbed. Hony glanced from time to time, her focused expression slightly changing each time she looked at the woman who had her tongue dancing in the girl's wet slit, feeling envious. The humming of the surrounding Ahas easily drowned the moans and whines, the tall Hohon leading them by singing in an ancient tongue, older than Shashari. In the crowd, some young ones were discreetly rubbing themselves as they were intensely watching someone like them getting eaten. They could clearly see the pleasure deforming her pretty face as she was biting her lower lip, her eyes rolled up in overwhelming ecstasy. As the climax was getting closer, their voice were getting louder and louder, the symbol was getting completed and Afardo's legs were shaking, the unknown Ahas girl took is as a cue to pick up her pace.
"Almost done, hold on tight." Hony reassured.
"I'm... " Afardo moaned as her legs were violently shaking.
Understanding that the girl's body would lash out thanks to the skilful tongue of the Ahas girl that was way too eager to taste her cum, Hony quickly finished inserting the ink before stepping back to admire one of her best work so far. It was just in time as Afardo's scream temporarily deafened the crowd, her drenched pussy was contracting around the invading tongue, gripping it tightly and forcing the one who was eating her out to stay still while wearing a surprised expression. Hohon finished singing was a deep voice that could be barely heard.
"Ho's blessing will permeate us with her strength and fertility." She finished singing before getting doused in Afardo's sexual fluids.
Barely able to control herself anymore, Hony pounced of the orgasming girl and embarrassed her with vigour, kissing her furiously on her lips as if to muffle her moans, while the unknown Ahas girl finally managed to get back her tongue before deciding to turn her attention to the new slit presented to her. The situation quickly degenerated as the surrounding young women who, until then, were discreetly rubbing themselves, decided to overtly seek release by imitating what they saw with the first one that looked into such devious act by licking, fingering or even embracing each other. If Afardo wasn’t too busy embracing Hony, she could notice that everyone was actually naked under their cloak. The older Ahas looked at it with concern before turning to their leader, Hohon who seemed to be amused by such chaotic display of sexuality while wringing her cum soaked cloak. She snickered before shouting, her voice booming in the room that was filled with moans until that.
"While I appreciate the preparation for sexual endeavours, I would prefer if you showed restraints. Lust is a powerful thing but you shouldn’t get swayed by it so easily. I won’t lecture you about only engaging with someone of the opposite sex because I was once like you. But do remember that such attachment will hinder your capacity as future child bearer. Ho loves you no matter what, wether you're into females or males, but remember why we're here. Don’t lose sight of our goal." She declared with a somewhat serious expression on her face, looking like a mother who's trying to educate her children.
The young Ahas halfheartedly stopped their shenanigans not before sharing a last regretful look to the person they were rubbing against. Afardo felt disappointed that her embrace with Hony came to an end as she actually enjoyed the warmth of her body pressed against hers. The followers of Ho were beginning to exit the dorm room one by one, sharing whispers and playful looks for those who became intimate with others. In the end, only Afardo, Hony, Hohon and the unknown Ahas girl remained in the room, the tall woman was about to say something to them when Karen barged in the room with Marcus in tow.
"We have to get Afardo back to her mother before she notices her disappearance." The human woman declared, slightly out of breath.
"What? Why?" Protested Hony and Afardo, like spoiled children.
Marcus stepped forward, his imposing stature being contrasted by his gentle manners quickly brought the attention towards him.
"Lord Olf requires that we bring back the admiral's daughter before it starts any more troubles." Marcus softly explained before turning his attention to Afardo who was now wearing a cloak of Ho. "I'm sure your mother is worried sick that you've disappeared."
Karen shot him an annoyed look, she grunted at his comment before signalling to Afardo to follow them. The young girl mindlessly obeyed before Hohon grabbed her by the arm.
"Well, if you can't stay with us, it'd be preferable if you get back in more casual clothes. We were so excited to educate you in the Ahas way, but your duty is to be a good daughter for now." The tall Ahas said, low-key disappointed that the new girl couldn’t stay longer. "Remember that you have a sisterhood that'll be more than happy to welcome you back."
Afardo had a hard time to smile as she came to realisation that she had to leave those women who accepted her and introduced her to pleasures she never experienced in her short life. The unknown girl that gave her oral was silently crying for some reason, hiding her tears behind her hands. Hony tried her best to not show her sadness. She decided to give a big hug to the departing girl, leaning in her ear to whisper something.
"To contact us, focus your mind on our symbol. Remember this word, it'll be important. Jatama." Hony discreetly whispered before overtly kissing Afardo on the cheek and stepping back, "Take care, sister. May Ho give you the strength and fertility you deserve." She declared with a genuine smile.
"Right, let's hurry up, our sister is on an important mission. You want to say something too, Hokisr?" Hohon asked, turning to the crying Ahas.
"You tasted so good! Please come back quickly!" Hokisr bawled.
Unaware of what just happened, the two humans were obviously confused by the last girl's statement but preferred to leave some mysteries to be unsolved. After a quick change of clothes, Afardo was then escorted by Markus and Karen through back alleys to avoid unwanted attention until they reached the harbour which was still recovering from the storm a few hours ago.
"Ah shit. How are we going to find your mother's boat now?" Karen complained as she looked at the different boats docked.
Marcus shook his head and pointed at a group of boats in the high sea.
"She's a naval admiral, she'd probably be in a boat out in the sea, ready to face the Order's navy. Or maybe not? After all, her daughter disappeared during the storm?"
Karen looked pretty annoyed about Markus who represented the admiral as a caring mother, when her first impression of the woman of a drunk looking officer who bossed people around, who was even going as far as slighting people without provocation. It reminded her of her own husband.
"If she was so caring, wouldn’t she be out here, leaving no stone unturned? What kind of mother would constantly be drinking to the point of being drunk in front of the lord of a city?!"
Afardo, who remained silent during their walk and the humans' argument, could faintly hear a familiar voice from afar. That's when she noticed a big hulking man's back surrounded by naval officers who were receiving orders from the giant. The missing daughter's eyes widened as she recognised the pile of muscle that was senior captain Artin. Unable to control herself, she let out a happy scream while extending her arms out of joy. Her voice attracted the attention, Karen noticed the girl's gaze and followed it to find what looked like the physical manifestation of the Greek god Apollo wearing a nice uniform, whose muscles and height made Markus look like a scrawny teenager next to him. Out of complacency, she waved at him with both hands.
What Artin saw surprised him a bit as he was focused on forming search parties to find Afarin's adopted daughter who somehow managed to escape after the storm, though they both found it odd that she didn’t take anything with her, not even some clothes. After the feminine squeal, Artin noticed an odd trio composed of a lightly armoured person, a sizeable peasant and an Ahas wearing some rags that had what looked like some blood stains on it. The mercenary-looking guy was waving at him and the female Ahas had her arms extended as if she was trying to be as wide as the senior captain. His instinct pushed him to go meet the weirdos, the surrounding officers followed him with as much interest as him.
"Hey, keep it down, it's too early in the morning for such ruckus." Artin sternly said before recognising the person the person he was looking for.
"Artin! Hello guys! I'm so happy to see your faces!" Afardo exclaimed, unable to control herself.
"I suppose that you're with the admiral, right? We found this young girl unconscious on the shore and decided to shelter her until she'd recover." Karen declared, cautious about the naval officers who were bunching up behind the big man who just talked.
"Indeed and we're glad that you brought her back safe and sound. But I feel like it's too good to be true. What are you demanding in exchange for the girl's safety?"
"Knowing that she's the child of someone very important, it would be foolish to attempt anything. We're just doing what's right." Marcus humbly replied with a slight bow.
"Like I said, too good to be true. Now you, mercenary, what's your demand for young Afardo's return?" Artin asked to Karen.
The human woman grunted, crossing her arms in some sort of protest.
"Well, I'd demand that her mother take better care of her daughter. We found her during the night and it's only at dawn that she sends men to search for her? Very irresponsible."
Artin stopped a captain who was about to draw his sword by a simple wave of the hand. The senior officer was used of having his superior getting a bad reputation in the eyes of the people of stature, he then supposed that the person in armour belonged to some kind of noble household and decided to take the insult personally since he was supposed to look after Afardo.
"You're quite a mouthful, mercenary. I don’t like you, but maybe the admiral will excuse your insolence. Follow us." Artin demanded before turning to a person dressed in a blue robe. "Send the signal to end the search."
"I thought it was impossible to cast spells in the city?" Marcus pointed out but got ignored.
That's when he remembered that Lord stones could allow its user to use magic and that¡s what he saw the mage pointed his staff towards the sky. The two humans from earth first witnessed real magic. They could faintly see some kind of sparks coming out of the crystal before they concentrated at the top of the stone, becoming more visible and gaining an orangey tint which became warmer until it finally got launched high in the sky with a fizzling sound. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but the spectacle of seeing actual magic amazed the earthlings. Karen, who was a huge fan of fantasy stories, couldn’t help but have her jaw drop on the floor.
"Yo! You saw that, Marcus?! That was so cool! We have to learn more about their magic stuff! I'm so gonna become a witch! Or a sorceress! Or a mage!" She exclaimed in English to a stunned Marcus.
"First time? Well, let's meet the admiral." Captain Artin sniggered.
Afardo was slightly less impressed by such simple spell but happily followed the Herikfer officers, holding Artin's arm like a child. The couple of humans regained their composure and embarked on a rowboat that took them to the admiral's laufer. They could observe the impressive flame launchers as well as three faces carved on the side of the ship, with the name of the person under. A young officer noticed the puzzled look of the two strangers and gladly explained who those three people were: previous admirals who fell in glorious battles for the fate of the Herik. Karen and Marcus once again met Afarin who looked a bit pale, leaning over the railing facing the harbour.
"I saw the signal. Where is Afardo?" Afarin asked as soon as she was within hearing range.
"Hello!" The missing girl cheerfully shouted.
"Mother of the seas! You're alive! You better have an excuse as to why you tried to escape after the storm!" Afarin shouted back before removing her leather hat and pointing her hair. "Thanks to you, I got more white hairs than before! I was worried sick!"
Marcus turned to Karen with an amused look on his face.
"They seem normal like that, you wouldn’t think that she's an admiral of a royal fleet." He said in English.
"Yeah, maybe she's not that bad after all?"
Once they were finally onboard the vessel, Afarin pulled over a mage to have a medical inspection of Afardo's health and quickly discovered that she had small injuries that weren’t life threatening. The revelation made the adoptive mother let out a breath of relief before turning to the two people who had brought her back, removing her hat and holding it under her arm.
"You have my thanks. You may not know, but you've secured the fate of the kingdom by bringing back my adopted daughter. What can I do to show you my gratitude?" Afarin asked, pulling Afardo to her for a hug. "She hasn’t caused you any problems, right? Right?"
Marcus was the first one to react, shaking his head as a 'no'. His response pleased the admiral who relaxed around him, after all he was some kind of peasant who had some manners, on the other hand, the mercenary-looking person was still wearing his helmet. Afarin frowned at the passive rudeness and nodded at her senior captain who grunted and made his presence more imposing that it already was.
"I know that you've probably never attended Valiamer naval academy, but it's common courtesy to remove one's head gear." The admiral explained, slightly irritated while showing her own hat under her arm.
Karen sighed at the insisting look of Marcus who was trying his best to have the encounter go smoothly, silently reminding her of the reason why they accepted to bring back Afardo to her mother. Of course, the imposing hulking man behind her was one more reason to comply. The woman decided to remove her plate helmet, revealing her blonde hair in a circular movement of the head, somehow flaunting her well kept hair. Afarin felt slightly envious of the woman who didn’t have any white strands.
"Better? My name is Smith, my friend here is Gogh. We aren’t asking for anything in return for finding your lost daughter. Except for one thing. Take better care of your daughter. We found her butt naked on the shore." Karen said with an extremely serious tone in her voice to hide her irritation.
Finally releasing her adopted daughter, Afarin looked down before remembering that she was still in front of her men, not wanting to look weak, she raised her head with a confident look.
"You may not ave noticed, but there was a storm recently. I took the proper measure to ensure her safety, but the Mother of the seas thought otherwise. Don’t make assumptions when you know nothing about it. Anyway, I'll give you compensations for the troubles you went through to bring Afardo back to me."
The word compensation rang a bell in Karen's head, while Marcus, who was too busy to be distracted by the whole picturesque atmosphere of the ship, that he didn’t notice the smile drawing on the face of the bossy woman who began talking quickly.
"Well, if you insist so much on compensating us, we'd like to have your support on our enterprise. While Lord Olf is a generous man, we still struggle to make ends meet in Premer. Our workers need food to survive and we barely have any income to feed them all. If you could… I don’t know… help us get a status that would allow our enterprise to function properly?"
The look of her officers made the admiral soften up, knowing that some had families who struggled to survive even when they sent their salary to them. A discreet nod of Artin pushed Afarin to lend some help and with a sorry sigh, she gave in.
"You did take care of my daughter, that's the least I could do." She conceded. "But you have to know that Lord Olf and I are in a disagreement. I won’t be able to make him grant you citizenship or a plot of land, but I can give you a merchant token of the admiral fleet. It'll lower significantly trading taxes with the city and give you access to materials deemed necessary for the royal fleet, that includes provisions. Usually it's given to the logistic team when we need to stock up on provisions or need repairs, but I guess I'll make an exception." Afarin explained, showing a silver medal the size of her palm. "I'd prefer to keep it on myself at all time, so I'll lend it to you today so that you can get what you need and then give it back once you're done. I don’t know how long we'll stay here, but I can assure you that, as long as we're here, you'll get access to it."
"That's very generous and we gladly accept it as a show of good faith. You won’t regret putting your trust on us."
Captain Artin showed his discomfort of having such important object given to total stranger, though he understood the gesture. Thankfully for him, his superior noticed his subtle frown and nodded at him with a focused look on her face as she retracted the token before Karen could reach it.
"I do have one condition. You'll have to have at least one of my men with you as long as you'll be in possession of this very valuable item. Is that clear?"
"Wouldn’t have it any other way. We're willing to show that we're trustworthy, admiral." Marcus eagerly thanked, earning a content smile and the token from the high ranking officer.
"Gogh, are you related to our dear senior captain Artin? You're the juvenile version of him." One of the captain jokingly asked. "Didn’t know you shagged a lady. Haha!"
The officers giggled aside from the imposing man and the admiral who hid her amusement behind her hat. Barely understanding the banter, the two earthling watched in silence while Afardo stared at nothing with a stupid smile on her face, probably thinking of her ritual. After that the laughs faded, a young captain was assigned to escort Marcus and Karen for their shopping spree, the man was barely over eighteen, which made the whole expedition awkward for everyone involved since Karen was in her thirties and Markus was in his mid twenties, making them way older than the young person in a shiny uniform.
Let's see the bright sight of this world!