Hellebore by Chris Cook

Summary: A headstrong sorceress and a young Amazon join forces to locate and destroy an ancient source of demonic power.

Willow and Tara followed a Palace attendant up a spiral staircase, heading for their room at the top of one of the Palace's many towers. It had been a long afternoon and evening – they had told their story to the other Amazons, who welcomed them both exuberantly, Willow just as warmly as Tara, then they had retired to Tryptin's suite. Tara had gone over the events of the past six days in exhaustive detail, while Willow sat nearby at a writing desk, composing her report to the Zann Esu, to go out on the night's mail boat to Kingsport, and then on a fast ship to Kurast. That done, she joined Tara and added her own observations to Tara's account, including her suspicions regarding the demon Shadai's current whereabouts and potential abilities. On the strength of the trust she saw Tara bestow in the young diplomat – and her own impressions of him – she told him in full of her prior encounter with the demon in Entsteig. He listened attentively, without question or interruption, and they paused only to summon a servant and have a dinner brought up when the afternoon darkened into evening.

And now, at last, Willow felt as if she could relax. She and Tara were safe, with the military might of the capital of Westmarch between them and the creatures that roamed the lands around the monastery. The Order would know everything they could about Shadai as soon as humanly possible, the city's mages would be informed of the danger, and set to work devising countermeasures. The Amazons and their other fellow travelers had come through safely, just as Tara had predicted – aside from the poor man they had seen killed by the Carvers' fire blast, only two other people had been wounded, a guard and one of the Duncraig ambassadors, and both were recovering well. Even their wagon had survived, waiting in the Palace's shelter for them to unload. She and Tara had agreed that that could wait until tomorrow, though.

They reached the landing at the top of the stairs, where the attendant, a young, unfailingly courteous woman, unlocked the solid oak door and gave the key to Tara. She bowed to both of them and disappeared back down the stairs after letting them know that she, or another attendant, would be available at any time, day or night, should they be needed. Willow turned from a quick glance out of the landing's small window, overlooking the off-shoot of the Marien river just north of the Palace, and shared a relieved, anticipatory smile with Tara. She pushed the door open, and Willow followed her through.

"Wow," Tara murmured. Willow took a couple of steps past her, and had to agree. The room occupied practically the whole floor space of the eight-sided tower, and was furnished tastefully, expensively, and above all beautifully. To one side was a large fireplace, clad in black marble with gold decoration, logs of wood stacked beside it in a brass-plated metal rack, and in front of the fireplace a pair of cushioned, comfortable- looking chairs waited. Further along, where the wall turned a corner, a mirror in a painted frame reflected the light of two candles in ornate wall brackets on either side of it. Beneath a wide shuttered window an old set of wooden drawers, varnished to a rich, dark tone, with little brass handles on each of the drawers. Beneath it a carpet, woven in the eastern style with colorful geometric patterns, covered the smooth stone floor tiles.

To the other side, beyond a bookcase, of which half the shelves were empty, and half filled with leather-bound books on all manner of subjects, was a sturdy round breakfast table and two chairs, the table covered by a dark cloth with gold patterns woven into the edges. Folded white tablecloths, plates and cutlery were stacked neatly in a cabinet against the far wall. There was a door to another room – 'private bathroom?' Willow wondered, 'not bad at all...' – and past the corner of the wall she saw the edge of a writing desk, which reminded her very much of her favorite desk, tucked away in the back of the Zann Esu library, where she had spent many evenings happily studying old books and making notes. A pair of double doors further along, on which the outer shutters had been left open, led out onto a balcony overlooking the expanse of the great city, and beside them, spaced around another eye- pleasing Aranoch carpet, was a set of cushioned chairs, two single and one long lounge, large enough for three people to sit side by side without touching.

The space was lit by a profusion of candles, glowing strong, clean and white, in free-standing candelabras, mounted on the walls, and in a great brass-plated chandelier hanging by a sturdy chain from the ceiling, where the wooden beams supporting the roof had been left open, varnished and painted with elegant patterns of vines and flowers. It was a room clearly designed to impress upon visitors not just the wealth of Duncraig, but also the culture, the civilization, the recognition of the finer things in life. Planned, no doubt, by people of impeccable taste, fashioned by master craftsmen and kept as clean and presentable as the day it was finished, Willow could not have imagined a more comfortable, inviting place to stay.

All this Willow gathered in a momentary glance around, but it was not what first caught her attention, nor what she returned to gazing at in pleasant surprise. The bed, situated across the room from where she and Tara stood, on top of a soft, luxurious-looking carpet, was dressed with spotless white sheets beneath warm burgundy-colored blankets, matching the gauzy curtains that were bunched around the carved wood posts supporting its canopy. A collection of pillows occupied the far end, all neatly arranged, and a pair of candles, one on either side, cast a soft, gentle glow, catching the tiny strands of gold thread woven into the cover of the eiderdown folded neatly at the foot of the bed. Its side was something else, though – Willow guessed she would be able to lie flat across it, with her arms stretched above her head, and barely reach both sides, and it was longer than it was wide.

"Yeah," Tara agreed, her voice low and deliberately sexy. Willow turned around as she heard Tara close the door, and saw her leaning against it, biting her lip and staring at Willow with half-closed, seductive eyes. Willow felt the corners of her lips turn up, and was powerless to prevent the wide smile that spread over her face.

"And I'm sensing," she said slowly, leaning her staff against the wall and dropping her satchel, "that it's going to get quite a work-out before long?"

"First things first," Tara grinned, standing upright and walking over to Willow, "let's have a look around." She put one arm around Willow's waist, and her other hand stroked her stomach leisurely. "We have all the time we need."

She leaned forward just far enough to brush their lips together, as her fingers moved down below Willow's waist onto the top of her skirt, then she leaned back and grinned devilishly.

"Mmm-hmm," Tara murmured, as they walked arm in arm across the room, "well, it's been such a long time since we had a proper moment to ourselves... and," she leaned close to Willow and whispered in her ear, "I've been thinking about this moment a lot, in between the running away from demons... I think it calls for something special. And if that means that this," her hand again snuck around Willow's waist, her fingers trailing a little lower, "this little desire becomes an unbearable, burning need..." she stepped back an shrugged casually.

"Just remember," Willow grinned, trying not to be too distracted by the way her skin tingled whenever Tara touched her in that leisurely, confident way, spoke to her in that seductive purr, or even looked at her with that calm, promising gaze, "I can give as good as I get."

"Come here you," Willow said, catching Tara around the waist and pulling her into an embrace, "you wouldn't deny me a kiss, though, would you?"

"Never," Tara sighed just before their lips met. At first they were both satisfied at just the contact, pressing their lips together, experiencing the softness and the warmth as their hands flattened on each other's backs, their two bodies held tightly together. Then Tara's mouth opened slightly, allowing the tip of her tongue to graze across Willow's lips. Willow moaned into the kiss as both their mouths opened devouringly wide, and in the space of a second the simple, gentle kiss became heated, desperate and utterly sexual. Their bodies writhed, the hard leathers covering them pressing firmly together, providing its own stimulation in addition to the feel of hands flat against backs, arms tight around each other, thighs pressing together. Their tongues dueled, tasting each other, both venturing forward and deep at the same time, locking their mouths together.

"Mmmaaahh... goddess," Tara breathed as their lips finally parted a fraction, their breathing brushing hot against each other's lips. "I missed kissing you whenever I wanted..."

"Me too," Willow whispered gleefully, "your lips are so... c'mere..." They kissed again, passionately, but some of the immediate, desperate craving had been satisfied, and Willow found herself quite able to relax and enjoy the way Tara's tongue caressed hers, drawing soft sighs and primal moans out of her with intoxicating ease.

"Mmm," Tara purred as their lips parted and they stood still, their foreheads resting lightly against each other. "You know what would be good?"

"Do you remember what it was like to have a slow, hot bath together?" Tara murmured, tilting her head to whisper in Willow's ear. "No cold streams, no hurrying... just you and me, heat all around us... steam making our skin glisten..."

"I'll start the fire," Willow said quickly, making Tara chuckle at her enthusiasm. They parted a fraction, then turned back to each other and kissed again, this time Willow thoroughly exploring Tara's mouth, as Tara sighed and pressed her hands against the leather wrapped around her body. Reluctantly, Willow leant back.

"Bath," she said, trying to keep her mind from emptying itself of everything besides Tara again.

"Right," Willow nodded, finally managing to extract herself from the inviting embrace. Tara reached out to stroke Willow's thigh as she turned around, smiling seductively as Willow grinned over her shoulder, then opened the door to the bathroom and vanished inside. Willow managed to get a fire going in record time, finding kindling and matches waiting in the metal rack with the larger logs, while listening to Tara's footsteps in the other room. She turned to find Tara back in the doorway, looking pleased but perplexed.

"What?" Willow asked. "No buckets for the water?" Tara shrugged and gestured for Willow to see for herself. The bathroom was pristine and elegant, with every amenity Willow could imagine, but dominated by a tub large enough to comfortably contain a small horse. It was no common bathtub intended to be dragged out in front of the fire and filled from buckets – it was fixed to the floor, for one thing – but Willow spotted a series of brass taps and knobs on the wall.

"Ah," she said, "running water." She crossed to the tub and twirled one of the handles, producing a rain of cold water from a showerhead at the far end of the bath.

"There's a water tank up above?" Tara wondered, looking at the roof, which was a more modest version of the decorated beams out in the main room.

"No, it's pressurized," Willow explained, "the tank's probably down at the base of the tower, fed from the river." She experimented with the knobs for a moment, and managed to transfer the flow of water from the shower to the tap lower down. "Probably a couple of standing purification spells as well," she noted. "Then they... actually I'm not sure how it's done. Something technical. And voila, running water whenever we want it. Neat, huh?"

"Southern peninsula," Willow said, "it means... 'there we go,' I guess. Now, do they have a boiler, or... ah! Yes!" she exclaimed, testing the water.

"Hot water," Willow grinned, "gods, I love civilization." She stood and smiled, as Tara came up behind her and slipped her arms around her waist.

"Wha? Oh! Oops," Willow grinned sheepishly, disengaging herself from Tara and putting the plug into the tub's drain, where the water was disappearing as quickly as it arrived.

"Well it's been a while since I was in Kurast," she complained with a smile, "I've got kind of used to the 'put a bucket over the fire and tip the tub out when you're done' school of plumbing." Tara laughed and took her hand, leading her over to a wooden bench up against the wall beside the bath.

"Let's get you ready for your bath, my lady," she said, sitting Willow down and crouching in front of her.

"A likely story," Willow said in a mock-accusing tone, "you just want to get me naked."

"Of course," Tara admitted, gently easing Willow's boots off, "but if that's all I wanted, I could do that with a single word."

"Oh really?" Willow asked, only partly teasing, and undeniably aroused by Tara's behavior.

"Uh-huh," Tara said simply, setting her boots aside. Her gaze slowly made its way up Willow, following her legs, pausing on her hips and her chest as a playful grin teased Tara's lips, finally reaching her face, where it hit Willow with an almost physical wave of sensuality. Willow's mind filled with fantasies of what that look promised.

"Yes ma'am," Willow whispered, her hands already going to the straps of her armor. She and Tara laughed at the same time, then Tara leaned forward and helped her, kissing her shoulder as the straps loosened and fell away.

"Yeah?" Willow asked, undoing the ties in the waist of her skirt as Tara's fingers went to work loosening the laces at the sides of her armor. "What, are you going to wait until we're in the middle of a crowded market and whisper that in my ear?" Tara laughed quietly, then leant forward, tickling Willow's earlobe with the tip of her tongue.

"And the chance that I might," she whispered, "be honest, that turns you on a little, doesn't it?"

"No," Willow breathed, "not a little..." She wriggled out of her skirt and let it fall to the floor. "I think," she said in a husky voice, "you can see how turned on I am..."

Tara let her fingers brush briefly against the silky fabric of Willow's underwear as she loosened the leather around her torso.

"It's no surprise," Willow said, doing her best to sound off-hand, and not really succeeding very much, "I mean, everything you do turns me on..."

"Everything?" Tara asked silkily. She slipped a finger into the thin strip of fabric around Willow's hips, pulled it tight, and let it snap back into place, making Willow jump a fraction.

"Oh yeah," Willow sighed, "everything..." Tara brushed her lips against Willow's cheek then kissed her, softly, on the lips. Steadily she loosened the laces on Willow's side, pulling them out of their eyelets so she could slip the armor off her without having to lift it over her head. Willow almost didn't notice it go, but when Tara's hands pressed against her bare sides, she moaned and arched her back, glad to finally be free of the barrier between her body and her lover's touch. One hand went behind Tara's head, holding her as she kissed firmer, sucking on Tara's bottom lip as her tongue teased her.

"Mmm, slowly," Tara murmured, breaking away from Willow's lips to press kisses across her cheek and down her neck. "No hurry..." She hooked her thumbs through the waist of Willow's underwear and, with deliberate slowness, started to pull them down her thighs. Willow lifted herself briefly to assist her.

"Tease," she said, as Tara's fingers pressed into the underside of her thighs on their way down.

"And you love it," Tara replied, getting the garment past Willow's knees and letting it fall the rest of the way on its own. She knelt down and leant forward, between Willow's legs, staring up at her with a sexy grin.

"Yeah, well," Willow murmured, "right now, you could bend me over your knee and spank me and I'd love it." Tara raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?" she said in a low voice that sent a shiver down Willow's spine, directly into her core.

"Only one way to find out," Willow replied in a whisper, surprised at her boldness. Tara paused deliberately, just long enough for Willow to experience another aroused shudder, then licked her lips.

"Maybe later," she said in a mysterious tone. "We've got a bath to enjoy." She gathered up Willow's clothes and boots, then quickly leant forward again and pressed her lips against Willow's waist, just above the curls of copper between her legs. Willow let out a moan, her head falling back, as she felt Tara's lips open against her skin and her tongue press against her.

"Hop in," Tara said, standing up with her clothes, "I'll put these away and join you in a moment." Willow watched her go, sitting naked on the bench and trying to gather her thoughts and get her breathing under control. Once she was sure her legs would carry her she got to her feet and shut off the flow of water into the bath, which looked full enough, though not so much it would overflow with two people in it.

'Oh that sexy minx,' she thought to herself with a wide grin, idly touching a finger to her sex, 'gods she makes me wet...' She parted her legs slightly, and felt the moist trails where droplets of arousal had run down the inside of her thighs. 'Oh my... dripping wet. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.' It was a minor struggle not to continue touching herself, but she managed, albeit by diverting her wandering hand to her chest, where she absently rubbed her moist fingertip over her nipples one after the other.

She tested the water by daintily dipping a toe in, then gingerly stepped into the tub and stood, with the hot water lapping at her shins just below her knees, letting the steam surround her body. 'Yummy hot,' she thought, 'oooh... did we get the heat just right?' She took in a breath through clenched teeth and let it hiss out again, as her legs absorbed the heat from the water. It was almost enough to make her want to run a little more cold water... but not quite. 'Just right,' she smiled, lowering herself slowly, 'just as much as I can take, spot on. Oh gods that's good...' She crouched and reached out to hold either side of the tub, supporting herself as she let her legs relax a little, easing herself back into the water. The contact when her bottom touched the water made her flinch just a little, then sigh out loud as she relaxed and lowered herself, and the water flowed around her hips and between her legs, warming her already heated sex.

'Feels good,' she thought lazily, as she finally reached the bottom of the tub and began to lean back against the side, 'like being touched... hands coming up my body... just underneath breasts...'

"Tara," she sighed without consciously meaning to, her eyes fluttering closed as the water covered her chest, the heat soaking through her skin and making her nipples feel delightfully hot. 'This is not calming me down at all,' she thought with a smile. Her hands floated between her legs, not touching with any purpose, just resting there comfortably with her thighs pressed on either side. 'I feel sexy all over,' she mused, 'almost like when she touches me... almost...'

She heard footsteps on the tiled floor, and the door close. 'I know that's you, baby,' she thought, 'who else could have sexy footsteps?' The footsteps approached the tub, and Willow sensed Tara crouching down close to her.

"Room for one more?" Tara purred in her ear. Willow remained where she was, and let her lips curve into a wide smile.

"If the one is you, always," she murmured. "Now 'fess up... how long were you standing in the doorway watching me?" She heard Tara's soft laugh.

"Long enough to entertain certain... un-chaste thoughts," she admitted slyly. "Then again, you seemed to be doing okay by yourself... to judge by all that sighing and moaning."

"This is, without a doubt," Willow declared, "the best bath I have ever been in... but you know nothing could ever feel as good as being touched by the woman I love." She opened her eyes and gazed at Tara, who was crouching by the side of the tub smiling at her.

"Well lucky you," she said, "that's exactly what I had in mind... lucky me, too," she finished with a grin, her eyes straying down over Willow's submerged body.

"As it happens, I'm in the market for a little touching – make that a lot," Willow quickly amended. "Prime quality Willow... get her while she's hot."

"I think I'll do that," Tara said, standing up. Willow noticed for the first time that she was wearing a white cotton shift which came down to the middle of her thighs.

"There's a bunch of them in the drawers," Tara said, "I thought seeing as I got to have all the undressing fun with you, I'd give you something to take off me in return. Think of it as unwrapping your present," she grinned cheekily. "So... wanna unwrap me?"

Willow stood up slowly, and Tara rose with her, her lips parting as she took in the sight of the dripping wet woman in front of her, her skin flushed pink from the hot water. Willow gently cupped her face in her hands and leant her forward until their lips met in a slow, languorous kiss. Tara leant further forward, her breasts touching Willow's through the cotton, and sighed as Willow's hands trailed down her neck and covered her shoulders, holding her close. When they finally parted, Tara glanced down, first allowing herself a long look at Willow, then at herself, noticing the patches where Willow's touch had soaked through her shift.

"Oh I've barely begun to get you wet," Willow promised, letting her fingers trace lines down Tara's arms before taking her hands. "Come on... let's get wet together." Tara smiled widely as she stepped over the edge of the tub and settled her feet into the water, gasping quietly at the heat.

"You knew that already," Willow replied. She knelt down by Tara's side and supported her as she lowered herself into the water. Tara stretched her legs out and lay back, her head resting on Willow's chest as she in turn leant against the side of the tub, brushing the fingers of one hand lovingly across Tara's cheek, and with the other teasing at the cotton which floated around her, billowing and swaying gently in the water.

"Perfect," Tara sighed. "Hmm... what does it take to build a bath like this, do you think?"

"Oh, not much," Willow said idly, her hands smoothing the soaked shift down against Tara's sides, "it's just a matter of water pressure and a boiler for the heat... or a bit of simple fire magic, nothing complicated... I could probably get the hang of it myself, with a bit of practice... you're enamored of it enough to have one built back home, are you?"

"There's only one thing I'm enamored of," Tara purred, reaching back lazily to stroke Willow's hips and thighs, "but I could definitely get very used to this."

"I'll see if I can find some books on the mechanisms to take back," Willow promised, reaching for a bar of soap from the several sitting in a dish at the edge of the tub, "now, I think it's high time I ran my hands all over you under the pretense of bathing you." Tara chuckled softly.

"I like that pretense," she murmured, "it's got all sorts of uses..." She stretched her limbs momentarily, then folded her legs underneath herself and sat up, turning to face Willow with her shift clinging to her as she rose out of the water, and quite transparent wherever it touched her skin.

"Hmm?" Tara smiled, arching her back. 'Okay, let's just concentrate on not drooling,' Willow thought to herself randomly, 'I know it's difficult, what with oh my gods she's hot, and look at her nipples, oh gods, they're poking towards me, I can practically hear them saying "play with us," Okay, this has definitely been a long time of just sitting here staring at her, so say something!'

"Um, the phrase 'so sexy you should be illegal' comes to mind?" Willow ventured. Tara's smile was as wide as it could possibly be.

"Then come here, my partner in crime," she said in a low murmur. Willow knelt in front of her, and Tara remained upright on her knees, bringing her chest just about level with Willow's mouth.

"How sexy?" she murmured, leaning her head down to whisper in Willow's ear as her hands caressed her face.

"Like nothing else in the world," Willow sighed. Tara sat back on her heels and leant down, brushing her lips down Willow's neck and further, between her glistening wet breasts.

"I need you," she whispered into Willow's skin, "I need you so much it should be frightening... but it's not... it's perfect. You're perfect... you're a work of art, and loving you is the most beautiful thing I've ever felt."

"And the things you make me feel," Tara went on, kissing her way slowly across Willow's breasts, her tongue sneaking out to tease each nipple as she neared, "the need, the desire... divine, spiritual elation, and," her voice dropped to a husky murmur, "complete sensual, sexual release..." She rose slowly, kissing Willow's collarbone, her neck, beneath her chin, almost reaching her lips before she paused.

"When I see that same need I feel, in your eyes," she whispered, "it's like a kiss to my soul."

Willow opened her lips in anticipation of Tara's kiss, and sighed when they made contact. Tara took her time, unhurriedly nibbling on Willow's lips, stretching her tongue between them, pressing their mouths together. Willow's hands, meanwhile, we not idle, clutching at Tara's back almost frantically, pulling her solidly down against herself, pressing their bodies together so that not the slightest space remained between them, from their joined lips above to below where Willow's legs wrapped around Tara's and her toes pressed against her calves.

"Ah," Willow gasped when Tara finally released her lips, "ah... oh, wow... heh... Okay, now it's time to unwrap my present."

Tara grinned slyly, then slowly and deliberately licked her lips as she sat back on Willow's legs wrapped around hers, arching her back, and stretched her arms out above her head.

"I am honored," Willow replied sincerely, as her fingers slipped beneath the hem of the shift, which was plastered to Tara's thighs, and gradually worked their way upwards. "Clingy," she murmured to herself, as the wet fabric stuck to Tara wherever it touched.

"Mmm-hmm," Tara replied, "all over... feels good... ah!" she gasped, as Willow's hands reached chest-level, and she reached inside the front of the shift to cup her breasts.

"Oh yeah," Tara sighed, "that feels better..." She gathered up the hem of the shift from Willow and pulled it over her head, tossing it aside to land with a quiet splat on the bathroom floor. Willow's hands continued to hold her breasts, squeezing gently, each fingertip constantly varying the pressure it applied. Tara smiled, as her sex warmed with each touch, gently extricated herself from Willow's legs, and turned around to lay back against Willow again, this time with nothing between her back and Willow's chest. Willow's hands returned at once to Tara's breasts, reaching around either side of her body to continue her massage.

"Lovely," Tara murmured, letting her head fall back onto Willow's shoulder, "you know... I think your... mmm... fascination with my bosom... oh yes, just like that... might stem from some... ahh... subconscious recognition that... you're truly gifted... at showing your appreciation in... such a stimulating fashion..."

"I like my explanation better," Tara purred, "it accounts... harder, baby... oh goddess yes... it accounts for the fact that you can bring me right to the edge... like that... of climax, just touching me like this."

"Absolutely," Tara sighed, "it's only... because I know it'll be worth it... that I can keep myself in check..."

"I promise it'll be worth it," Willow smiled, lightly kissing Tara's ear, "right now, I've only just begun making love to you..."

"Part of me can't believe it gets better," Tara chuckled, "the way this feels... oh goddess!" she gasped as Willow's fingers closed around her nipples and squeezed firmly. "Oh goddess baby, do that again... mmm! Oh, that's it... you are a goddess... that explains it all... you're a goddess of love, that's how you can do this to me just by touching me... my own goddess..."

"Heh," Willow chuckled, one hand vanishing under the water to locate the errant soap, "in that case, I think this temple should be prepared to receive a prolonged... intimate... visit from its devoted goddess."

She began soaping Tara's chest and abdomen, reaching out her free hand blindly to find the soap dish and take another bar. Soon both hands were at work on Tara's body, caressing her and leaving a foamy lather in their wake, as Tara writhed gently against her, sighing and cooing in her ear.

"You like that baby?" she asked, getting an affirmative moan in reply. "Good... you can look forward to this every day, you know. I want to take good care of you, my beautiful goddess... can we both be each other's goddesses?"

"Yay," Willow murmured, "well then, stand up, my goddess, so I can bless you all over. Consider it a ritual... a ceremony of adoration..."

"I adore you," Tara smiled, lithely getting to her knees and rising out of the water. Once she stood upright, she leaned back a fraction, stretching her arms out above her and grasping both hands around the shower head. "All yours," she purred.

Willow stayed low, prowling through the water to Tara's legs, beginning the task of lathering them with soap, in the wake of her lips which pressed kisses constantly to her glowing skin. Slowly she worked her way up Tara, conscientiously bestowing her affections and attention to every inch of her body. When she reached Tara's thighs an excited shudder passed through the body stretched out before her, and then, as her lips and hands touched her mound, her fingers dipping lower to touch between her legs, a sound rose from Tara's through that became a song, slow and rhythmic, the husky, sultry way Tara sang the words sending images of ecstatic coupling through Willow's mind.

As she continued in her worship of Tara's body, Willow caught words and phrases here and there in the song her lover sang for her: 'bless this day,' 'my simple world becomes paradise,' 'in your arms, my goddess, I am whole,' 'all joy fate gives me, I give to you, for I am yours...' She couldn't decipher every word, for the song was in High Amazonian, with many complicated words and phrases Willow had not yet mastered, and Tara sang in a soft, purring voice that often merged the syllables into one long, melodic sigh of pleasure, yet enough reached her ears to discern the song's meaning – and even if it hadn't, she could feel it as surely as if it had been spelled out, in the motions of Tara's body beneath her hands. A song of worship, of praise, of devotion... and ultimately, of fulfillment, of a soul which had found its place in the world.

Soon, as Willow neared the completion of her ministrations, Tara's voice fell to a whisper, and finally was swallowed as Willow's mouth closed over hers. Willow's kiss was gentle and suppliant, as if opening a channel by which Tara's song of praise could pass into herself and be accepted within her. Both women sighed as the kiss ended, and for a moment they stood silent and motionless, embracing, cheek to cheek, their chests pressing together as they breathed.

"Your turn?" Willow finally whispered, finding Tara's hands and letting the bars of soap slip into them.

"Actually," Tara smiled, "I've got a better idea." She took the soap from Willow, but then tightened her hug, pressing her body up against Willow as close as she could, then slowly bending her knees to lower herself, while Willow remained standing.

"Oh... goddess... that's so... ah..." Willow sighed incoherently as Tara's body slid against hers, supple and slippery. Tara pressed her face to Willow's chest as she descended, her cheek sliding down between Willow's breasts and over her stomach, finally resting against her mound as her knees reached the bottom of the tub, her body pressed against Willow's legs, her arms wrapped tightly around her thighs, and her hands firmly gripping the flesh of her bottom.

"See?" she murmured, her breath tickling the hair crowning Willow's sex, "all soapy now... Now, turn around – no, wait! I can't resist..." Before Willow could move she dipped her head down, and reached out her tongue to its full length, pressing it against the soaking folds of Willow's sex.

"Oh! Oh baby, ah, aaah! Mmmm... oh..." Willow breathed as Tara's tongue slid between her lips, gathering moisture, before Tara pulled back and licked her lips hungrily. Willow let her head fall forward to see her lover staring back up at her, grinning unashamedly.

"Oh goddess baby," Willow sighed, "it's been so long since I felt your tongue in me like that... much more and there won't be a 'later,' I'll come right here..."

"Oh, there'll be a 'later' all right," Tara grinned as she slid elegantly around Willow's legs to embrace them from behind. "It's going to be a long, long time before you come, baby... I'm going to tease you so high..." She slowly started rising up, pressing herself against Willow's back as she went, gyrating slightly to work the soap between them into a lather.

"I'm going to taste you," she purred, her lips against Willow's spine, "lick you... squeeze your nipples between my teeth... nibble on your lips... your clit... I'm going to reach inside you, so deep, my love... touch all your secret places..." Her hands wandered up Willow's front, flattening against her stomach, "gentle caresses... and hard, deep thrusts," she punctuated herself by gripping Willow's breasts firmly, squeezing. Willow moaned and shuddered in her arms, Tara holding her upright, pressing in behind her.

"I'm going to keep you on the edge so long," she whispered in her ear, "so long... you'll forget everything else... you won't remember any sound besides your own moaning... any warmth but my body against you... you'll forget what it's like to touch anything but me... forget what it's like to not have my tongue in your mouth... you'll forget it's even possible to not have me inside you..."

"And then," Tara whispered, "then... then I'll take you higher... until you see the clouds below you... and when you can't even remember what you're begging me for," she licked Willow's ear, "then I'll take you over the edge... and we'll fly together."

"Oh gods," Willow babbled, "oh gods, you're so amazing baby, you are a goddess... no human could make me feel this good, it's just not possible..." Tara smiled and kissed her neck, gently lowering them both down into the water, her hands gently stroking all over Willow's body, brushing the soap away. Once they were both lying down, propped up against the edge of the bath, Willow rolled over in Tara's embrace and kissed her, fiercely parting her lips and thrusting her tongue inside, making Tara's mind swirl with delight, her hands joining Tara's, roaming over both their bodies.

"Okay then," she finally gasped, her lips still hot against Tara's, "shall we declare this bath a success and move on?"

"Most definitely," Tara agreed. She quickly brushed a last kiss against Willow's lips, then ducked her head down beneath the water for a moment, rising back up with her wet hair clinging to her neck and shoulders.

"I'm getting some pretty good ideas already about what's going to happen," Willow smiled, before ducking her own head to soak her hair. Tara trailed her fingers over her cheeks as she resurfaced, whispering against her lips: "Keep those ideas in mind... we've got plenty of time... for anything you might dream up."

With a sly smile she rose out of the tub and held out a hand to Willow, helping her to her feet, and both of them crossed to the wooden bench, taking towels from their hooks on the wall. They dried each other thoroughly, enjoying the friction of the towels rubbing over their bodies. Tara leaned back and lifted her legs up onto the end of the bench, over the top of Willow's thighs, and regarded Willow with sultry eyes as she pressed her towel around her legs and rubbed them vigorously.

Willow dried Tara's hair gently, massaging her scalp through the towel, as Tara leaned against her and sighed with pleasure. When her hair was as dry as it could be made, Tara returned the favor, laying a towel over her lap and guiding Willow down to rest her cheek against her thighs as she dried her.

"I'll just be a moment," she whispered, "will you see to the bath and the towels?"

"Love you," Willow replied as Tara stood and walked slowly to the door, swaying her hips deliberately in the certain knowledge that Willow's full attention was on her legs and bottom.

Tara knew Willow wouldn't be long, so she quickened her pace once she had left the bathroom. First she saw to the fireplace, stacking a few extra logs on the fire Willow had started to ensure it would burn slowly for a good portion of the night. She moved around the room extinguishing about half of the candles, leaving a warm glow that lent rich shadows and soft highlights, and then busied herself arranging the bedclothes for what she mad in mind. Finally, hearing the door open behind her, she reached into the drawer and found the small bottle she had discovered earlier, holding it behind her back as she turned to see Willow posing sexily against the doorframe.

"Ready for me?" Willow murmured. She straightened and swayed into the room, glancing around. "Sexy candlelight," she went on, "warm fire... big, inviting bed... my Tara. Exactly as promised on all those cold nights out in the wilderness... only so much better in reality." She stopped in front of Tara and tilted her head up to kiss her softly on the lips.

"What've you got there?" she asked impishly, nudging the arm Tara was holding behind her back. Tara dutifully produced the bottle, holding it up for Willow to read the label.

"'Honeydew essence'," she read, "that's from Lut Gholein, it's a kind of... massage oil," she finished, a wide grin spreading over her face.

"I found it in the drawers while I was putting our armor away," Tara said, leading Willow to the bed, "there's a whole load of oils and scents... but this one is special." She sat down with Willow next to her, their thighs pressed together.

"We get shipments of honeydew at home," she explained, "and it's used in a very special ritual... well, more of a tradition... When a couple decide it's time, they use this to prepare themselves to make love to each other."

"Each partner takes the oil," Tara said softly, "and rubs it into their lover's body... all over. The oil itself doesn't really do anything, except feel good of course, but the act of touching lets the new lovers feel at ease with each other, so they have no hesitation in touching each other anywhere they want. I didn't have any with me," she added with a sheepish smile, "I didn't know I'd meet the love of my life on this trip... and I know we don't exactly have a problem touching each other," Willow chuckled, her lips pressed against the side of Tara's breast, "but I'd like to do this anyway... because it's traditional... and because the idea of your hands all over me, making me glisten before you take me..."

"Lie down," Tara said gently, pulling the tiny stopper out of the bottle, "relax completely..." Willow obediently lay back, lifting her legs onto the expansive bed, as Tara adjusted her position, kneeling beside her. "Roll over," Tara murmured, which she quickly did. Tara smiled down at her, pouring a small amount of oil into her palm before setting the bottle within easy reach on a bedside table.

"I want you to know what a pleasure this is," she said, rubbing her hands together before placing them gently on the soles of Willow's feet, beginning slow circular motions with her palms that left the skin gleaming in their wake. "An absolute joy... to touch you like this. To feel my hands relaxing you. To know that you, Willow, my goddess, give me this complete freedom, to touch you anywhere... love you any way. Just by lying there, accepting my touch, you give me such pleasure..."

Her hands continued up the back of Willow's legs, working the oil into her skin and muscles, kneading her flesh. Her progress along her thighs was slow, luxurious, caressing her with such ease, such gentle intensity, that Willow relaxed beyond the need to writhe from the pleasure, instead simply accepting it into herself. Tara could practically feel the heat radiating off her center as her fingers strayed between her thighs.

She paused for a moment for more oil, then applied her hands to Willow's bottom, spending a long time massaging the soft flesh there, smiling as she heard small, gentle sounds of pleasure from Willow's throat. She let a finger slip between her cheeks, and her smile widened at Willow's slight intake of breath as her fingertip touched in passing the small entrance there. Instead of flinching away, Willow seemed to relax even more, arching her back slightly, leaving herself even more vulnerable to Tara's caresses. Tara gathered a quantity of oil on her fingertip and ran it firmly along the path between her cheeks, thoroughly enjoying Willow's delighted shiver, before she moved further upwards.

"I could do this all my life," she murmured, working oil into Willow's back, "just touch you, press my fingers into you, give you pleasure... this, and nothing more, and I would be the luckiest woman in the world. To do so much more than this... I'm in heaven." She straddled Willow's back, staying upright so as not to get any oil on her thighs – that was for Willow to see to – and firmly massaged her shoulders and neck, working her way down her arms and finally surrounding each finger individually, gently stroking each one in her palms.

"Turn over now," she said quietly. Willow stretched slightly and rolled in place, with Tara still kneeling over her, staring down with the utmost adoration. She reached again for Willow's hands and began tracing her path backwards, up her arms, over her shoulders, up her neck and around her face, and down onto her chest. She took her time holding Willow's breasts in her palms, gently moving her fingers to cover her with oil, making sure she missed nothing as Willow closed her eyes and let the most utterly blissful sighs well up in her throat and escape through wet, parted lips. She moved further down, leaving Willow's bosom glistening in the firelight, her nipples standing to attention. She made sure to cover Willow's sides, wanting to leave nothing, not even the tiniest part of her, untouched, then ran her hands over her stomach and came to her hips. Shifting herself down to kneel on either side of her legs, Tara pressed her palms firmly into Willow, caressing her in long, slow sweeps that covered her from waist to knees.

Without a word Willow parted her thighs and presented her center to her lover. Her folds already gleamed with moisture, but Tara nonetheless reached a hand between her legs and covered her, pressing her palm into her exquisite softness. Willow tilted her head back and gave a primal moan as Tara's palm and fingers slowly moved from the lowest point of her sex upwards, through the soft, moist lips, grazing across her clit, rubbing oil into her silky curls last of all. With Willow's heady sighs echoing in her ears, Tara quickly finished covering her legs, finishing again at her feet.

Her work completed she sat back on the edge of the bed, and for a moment simply looked at Willow, feeling her body stir at the sight. Laid out before her, crimson firelight glinting off the curves of her small, firm muscles, glowing, gleaming all over the length of her naked form, Willow seemed transformed. No longer Willow the sorceress, the occasional adventurer, the scholar, she was now, from the top of her scarlet- crowned head to the tips of her toes, Willow the lover. Erotic, sexual, her gaze when she looked at Tara promising delights beyond the fevered imaginings of mortals, her body a paradise of secrets to be discovered, and pleasures to be shared.

"Uh-huh," Tara sighed, fighting to control the lustful urges that sprang up in her as she watched Willow move, that glorious body lithe, sensual in motion, as she sat up and leaned forward, reaching for the oil for herself. She waved an arm along the length of the bed, and Tara quickly lay down, feeling the heat from Willow's body still in the sheets beneath her, and the traces of moisture where the oil had soaked in. She closed her eyes, and after a moment felt Willow's hands on her feet, copying her own motions.

"This is a good tradition," Willow murmured, working her way over Tara's ankles and up her shins, "just lying here, feeling you touch me everywhere... with no hesitation, no nervousness... oh baby," she whispered, massaging up Tara's calves to her thighs, "oh baby, the things I imagined while you touched me... and then, when you were done... when I was all oiled up, and you looked at me, oh goddess, I swear I almost came... just from the hunger... the way you stared, like you were devouring me with your eyes..." Tara felt her weight shift on the bed, straddling her legs, as her palms moved up over her bottom and hips.

"Do you feel the way I do?" Willow asked quietly. "Are you having the same fantasies... feeling my hands all over you, just like yours were all over me? I felt myself turn to liquid... your hands sunk into me... your whole body pressing against me, through me... sinking into me... filling me, making love to me from inside... becoming one body... one sex... coming, again and again... endlessly..."

"Yessss," Tara hissed, her mind full of Willow's fantasies, feeling herself become a part of Willow, Willow become part of her. Part of her wanted to beg Willow, to plead from the depths of her soul to be taken right now, this very instant... but she held herself in check, willing her hungry sex to lay still, with silent promises of the climax to come, soon. As if sensing her mood Willow's caresses had become faster, more urgent, working the oil into her body, firmly pressing into her muscles, gripping her flesh as her hands moved down Tara's arms.

"Turn over," Willow purred, "let me finish getting that sexy body of yours ready to come..." Tara's breathing was loud and heavy, intakes of breath hissing through clenched teeth, released in deep sighs, as she rolled over beneath Willow and lay there, naked and exposed to her lustful gaze. Willow leant down and began kissing all over her body, gracing every inch of skin with her lips before massaging oil into it. Tara's occasional moans became constant as Willow kissed her way beneath her jaw, down onto her chest, sucking each nipple to attention before enveloping her breasts in her hands, squeezing hard with strong fingers, pressing into her flesh.

Tara groaned and writhed like a wild animal when Willow finally reached her sex, pressing her hands against it one after the other, covering her with oil and heat, and her breath came in gasps as Willow worked down her legs, erasing the last areas of skin that had not yet been touched, laying claim to her body completely. She opened her eyes and looked up as Willow's hands left her feet, and gazed at her lover, kneeling by her side.

"I love you," Willow echoed, leaning down, bringing her lips almost close enough to kiss, brushing against Tara's lips as she breathed.

"And now," Tara said, her voice low and deliberate, coming to her as if from a dream, "I am going to make love to you, Willow. I am going to take you, and give myself to you, and we will make love until the night is spent, until our bodies are completely exhausted, and until we have tasted every pleasure we can imagine." She gently reached up, pulled Willow down, and kissed her deeply, swallowing her moan as their tongues met and caressed. The kiss slowly shed its languor, becoming more and more urgent, until Willow finally pulled her lips from Tara's.

"Now take me, you beautiful goddess," she gasped, "take me and make me scream your name." Without a pause Tara's hands were on her arms holding her, and together they rolled over until Willow was pinned beneath her. Her mouth found Willow's again, and this time parted her lips with barely an effort, plunged her tongue inside, demanding and taking everything Willow had to offer. Their bodies thrust against each other, fighting to press as much skin against skin as possible, burning with need. Tara lifted her hips off Willow and planted her knees on either side of her, spreading her thighs wide, as she reached down to cup her sex in one hand, the other twined in her hair, holding her as she kissed her. A guttural moan welled up from Willow and vanished into Tara's mouth as her fingers parted her folds, two fingertips sliding through the slick petals to rest against her entrance.

"Say please," Tara teased, moving her lips to Willow's ear, so nothing would obstruct her as she gave voice to the climax about to tear through her.

"Uhhnn," Willow moaned as Tara nibbled on her earlobe, "please... oh goddess, pleeease!"

Willow's head turned, she met Tara's eyes, and for a moment both were still, their gazes locked in shared acknowledgement of what was about to occur. Both sensed it, both knew: complete submission, complete acceptance, as deep and profound as if Willow were putting her life in Tara's hands.

Tara stared deeply into her eyes, and her hand thrust, burying two fingers within Willow, delving into her sex, hammering against her sweet spot, in one motion sending her hurtling over the edge into a mind- blowing climax.

"Tara!" Willow shrieked as her body arched off the bed, lifting Tara with her, as her hands clamped around Tara's biceps with crushing strength, as her sex clenched at her fingers, capturing Tara within her, denying her any possibility of escape as a river of hot, liquid arousal coursed through her and out of her, covering Tara's hand. Tara clung to her, her thighs tight around Willow's, riding her, staying astride her as she bucked and thrashed, and just when it seemed she would begin to calm, to return to awareness of anything but the crushing, crashing waves of pleasure, she began to thrust her fingers inside her.

"Oh, oh, uh, uh, uh," Willow grunted as a second climax built within her, giving her barely the moment she needed to flutter open her eyes and meet Tara's intense, lustful stare, before once more all the energy in her body flowed to her core to burst free again. This time Tara couldn't deny herself – her muscles tightened as her own sex pulsed and released its bounty of honey, trickling in trails down the insides of her thighs and onto Willow's.

"Tara," Willow moaned, her eyes opening again as her pleasure achieved a plateau, allowing her a moment to gather her thoughts even as she continued to tense and shudder at the motions of Tara's fingers inside her. "Oh baby, oh wonderful... feel that baby, feel me tighten around you, feel me come for you... it's all for you baby... oh goddess... all yours, all that sweetness flowing out of me, it's yours, every drop... feel that softness clenching around your fingers, that's all yours... deep inside, all yours... I'm yours... I'm yours... I'm... I... I... ah... ah, ah, Tara, yes, yes!"

With the wetness of a third orgasm coating her hand, Tara withdrew from Willow and lay her body down on top of her, covering her. She met her gaze once more and brought her hand up to her lips, very slowly and deliberately sucking the juice from her index finger before offering the other to Willow. Willow's hand closed around her wrist and she sucked in each finger in turn, before licking all over her palm, the back of her hand, right down to her wrist, gathering every drop of her own arousal with every appearance or orgasmic joy.

"Oh there is," Willow promised, "but right now, it's your turn to come like a wild beast." With that, Willow firmly gripped her hips and urged her up, one hand delving between Tara's legs as soon as she came to kneel over her, thighs resting around her waist.

"Yes," Tara moaned as, in one motion, Willow's fingers parted her lips and thrust into her dripping channel, "oh yes, oh yes, yes, yes..." She alternately arched her back, crushing her sex down onto Willow's hand as she moaned to the bed's canopy above her, and leaned forward, exulting in the sensation of Willow's fingers rising inside her.

"Willow, Willow, Willow!" she howled as she came, the strength failing in her legs, leaving her to thrust down onto Willow, supported by her, trapping her hand as her sex redoubled the flow of moisture emanating from her core. As soon as she had the strength she leaned forward, reaching down to kiss Willow firmly, hoping to somehow pour all her love into her through their joined lips. She lifted herself off Willow's fingers and spread her knees wide, pressing her soaked mound against Willow's thigh and grinding her hips, feeling Willow do the same as her own thigh slipped between her legs.

"I love you," she whispered into the kiss, "I love you, I love you, oh, goddess, oh baby you're so hot, so wet, so soft..." She deepened the kiss for a moment, opening her jaw wide to cover Willow's mouth, then leaned back, an aroused glint in her eyes.

"Stay there," she breathed, leaning back. In one fluid motion she rolled back off her knees to sit between Willow's legs, stretching her own legs up on either side of Willow. One leg she bent back and then slid beneath Willow's left thigh, the other she left resting over the top of Willow's right side.

"This is called 'leas-ti'," she purred, "the body's kiss." She settled back on her side, reached down to grasp Willow's thighs, one in front, one behind, and shifted her hips towards Willow, fitting against her perfectly, pressing her sex against Willow's.

"Oh! Goddess... soft..." Willow breathed in wonder, as she felt the moist warmth cover her, and her own folds pulse in reply. She reached down to hold Tara's thighs, as Tara was doing for her, and began to gyrate her hips as Tara was doing, doubling the sensation washing through her.

"Come, baby," Tara called to her, raising her voice, leaning on her arms to look down the length of her body, to where she and Willow were joined, "come for me, come all over me, let me taste you in my core, oh baby, oh, oh goddess, get ready baby, it's coming, oh goddess, oh, oh, coming, oh, oh, ah!" As her center once more flowed and burst with warmth, this time accompanied by the delicious sensation of Willow's arousal coursing across her folds, Tara lost all control of her body and sank back onto the sheets, writhing slowly with indescribable pleasure, her eyes closed, her lips searching for her lover's kiss. She was vaguely aware of Willow moving, then her lips were there, kissing her, loving her.

"Taste our climax," Willow whispered in her ear, then Tara felt her kneel on either side of her head, Willow's scent, flavored with her own, filled her lungs, and the gentle softness of her sex descended on her lips. Tara wrapped her arms around Willow's thighs and lapped greedily at her, opening her eyes to stare up, meeting Willow's gaze as she thrust her tongue deeper...

Much, much later... Tara and Willow lay in each other's arms, exhausted in the wake of countless delightful pleasures. Unable to summon the strength even to stir, they lay together, each with a thigh pressed against the other's mound, slick with the evidence of a night's ceaseless passion, and the fresh juice of their most recent climax. They faced each other on the pillows, foreheads resting against each other, each breathing heat across the other's cheeks. In the fireplace the fire had long since gone out, and only a few of the candles around the room still burned at the bottom of their length, the rest having gone out.

"Aaaaahhhh," Willow sighed weakly, "aahh... oh baby... I... oh," she yawned, "I can't move..."

"Darn right," Willow muttered, managing to summon just enough strength to tighten her arms around Tara. "I love you..." She opened her eyes to stare into Tara's, then her gaze was caught by something behind her and the glanced up.

"Oh, hey," she said weakly, "look..." Tara managed to turn her head over on the pillow to see the window facing east, where the slits in the shutters were glowing faintly with dawn's light.

"You did indeed," Willow replied, "you did... indeed... c'mere lover..." Tilting her head slightly she brought her lips to Tara's and kissed her, and where it seemed neither of them had the energy to move, after a moment their embrace tightened, their legs stirred and shifted against each other, and their hips slowly shuddered, pressing forward. Willow's lips became more lively, more insistent, and Tara somehow found the will to press herself into Willow's kiss, no longer merely accepting it, but actively offering herself.

"Mmmm," Willow murmured, "mmm, oh... oh goddess you're a miracle..." In defiance of her exhaustion she gripped Tara tightly, wrapping her body around her, and whispered in her ear: "Make me scream one more time..."

Willow awoke to a kiss from Tara, which was enough to keep her from wishing she were back asleep. But only just.

"It's getting close to midday," Tara replied. She smiled, though Willow could see she was feeling their lack of sleep as well.

"Believe me, I wouldn't be awake otherwise," Tara grinned, shaking her head from side to side as she sat up, sending her hair flying around her. Willow spent a moment admiring her as she made her way to the edge of the bed and got to her feet, then reluctantly stretched and propped herself upright on her elbows.

"Feeling okay?" Tara asked, rounding the bed and leaning over to her for another kiss.

"Lovely," Willow said, licking her lips, "absolutely lovely... admittedly, tired, and I'm not entirely sure I'll ever be able to close my legs again..." Tara laughed, and gave her a kiss on her shoulder as she leant back.

"We'll wake up soon enough," she said, stretching up on her toes, the tips of her fingers reaching towards the roof beams, "a quick shower, something to eat... besides, we're old hands at this 'no sleep' thing. Remember walking all night after fighting a gigantic goat-man champion?"

"Ugh," Willow groaned, swinging her legs around to the floor, "I'm trying not to... you're right, though. If we're going to be thoroughly exhausted, this is a much better way of going about it. You mentioned a shower?"

"I thought we could share," Tara said innocently, "it'd save time. And of course, it's probably not easy to get water all the way up here to the top of a tower, and that boiler you mentioned probably takes a lot of effort to keep hot. I think we should do our best not to needlessly waste water."

"Right," Willow grinned, taking her hand and accompanying her to the bathroom, "in fact, if you think about it that way, it's practically our duty, as responsible guests, to shower together, and help bathe each other, and cuddle and kiss..."

"I don't think that last part could technically be considered necessary for being a good guest," Tara smiled.

"Shush, you," Willow insisted, putting on a comically formal voice, "it's our duty, I say."

"Well, if you say so," Tara purred, playing with the taps until the shower spluttered into life. She experimented until the water was just right – hot, but not painfully hot – and then gave Willow a sly glance and stepped into the tub, walking right through the streaming water and turning beneath it, extending a hand to Willow as droplets cascaded down her body.

"This kissing," she murmured as Willow took her hand and joined her under the shower, resting her head against Tara's shoulder as they embraced, "is it kissing anywhere in particular, or...?"

"I was thinking general kissage," Willow replied, tickling Tara's skin with her lips, "you know... all over. Apart from lunch, what do you have to do today?" She started washing Tara, her caresses and passes with the soap liberally interspersed with kisses on her shoulders and arms, down her back and across her stomach.

"Oh... well, Tryptin will have a schedule," Tara said, trying to keep her mind on talking, which became difficult whenever Willow's lips touched her, "I suppose... seeing as they didn't know when we'd be here... he'd have arranged meetings with just the emissaries and negotiators... so... ahhh," she sighed as Willow began soaping her breasts beneath the flow of water, "so... probably... nothing much... for a day or two. After that, it'll... be a lot like it was at the Baron's castle... meeting dignitaries, and... ooh... just being an Amazon, really."

"No trouble there," Willow commented, "you do that so well... that armor... oh, baby," she smiled, as her mouth closed around Tara's nipple. Tara leaned against the wall behind her, taking the soap from Willow with trembling hands and rubbing it all over her shoulders and back, as Willow held her nipple gently in her teeth and alternately licked and sucked.

"Oh goddess," Tara moaned, "that feels so good baby... so good... come up here and kiss me."

Willow worked her way up Tara's neck, trailing her bottom lip against her skin all the way, finally reaching her mouth where Tara captured her and kissed her deeply and thoroughly. Willow's moans took on an added note of urgency when Tara's hands slid down her back and cupped her bottom, squeezing firmly. Tara leant back a fraction, and for a breathless moment they stayed still, staring into each other's eyes.

"So, then," Tara whispered, "what do you have planned for today? Let's see how well you can think with a ravenous pair of lips all over you," she added in an undertone, gripping her hips firmly and lowering herself down to Willow's chest level.

"Huh? Oh... heh... um, probably nothing mu – oooh," she moaned as Tara extended her tongue to lick her nipples, keeping her eyes locked with Willow's all the while.

"Um," Willow desperately continued, smiling as her head spun, "there's letters of introduction from... oh gods... from the Order, I had them in my bags, so they'll... they... goddess," Tara licked a path down her stomach, as her hands rose up to cup her breasts and continue to stimulate her jutting nipples.

"They'll still be... in our wagon... in... oh... goddess," Willow gasped. Tara was rubbing her cheek against the soft hair between her legs, making an aroused growling sound in the back of her throat.

"Yes, please," Willow moaned without thinking. "Oh, you mean me... heh... um, the letters are just to... to... oh baby... um, to let everyone know who I... I am... goddess you're a tease," she gasped as Tara's tongue licked across her mound, up her inner thighs, everywhere but where Willow desperately wanted it. "Um, various mages the Order has dealing with, to let them know I'm here... ask for some of their time, to... oh please... to instruct me in the theory of their work..."

"And they'll tutor you?" Tara asked, resting her cheek against Willow's thigh and breathing in the scent of her arousal.

"Well, it... gods... depends, on how much time they have to spare, and... a-and whether they want to... I'm going to go utterly insane, you know that? Uh, the Zann Esu are pretty influential, so probably... they'll give me some time to work with them... to please the Order... Ember said she... ah... she's had some correspondence with the court mage... here... Tara, please... he'll probably... let me study with him... oh goddess, kiss me..."

"The court mage is going to kiss you?" Tara asked impishly, breathing warm air onto the moist folds of Willow's sex. Willow laughed and stared down at her.

"You know darn well what I mean," she accused, as Tara grinned up at her devilishly.

"You need my tongue inside you," Tara went on, holding Willow's attention completely, "tasting from your core."

"You want to wind your fingers in my hair," she whispered, "hold my lips against you... press yourself onto my mouth... cover me with your juices... don't you?"

"Oh goddess," Willow moaned, "yes!" Some tiny, sane part of her wondered if there was any limit to Tara's ability to arouse her, with the way she moved, talked, touched her. 'I mean, gods,' she thought to herself giddily, 'we've barely had any rest after a whole, entire night of non-stop pleasure, and here we are, at it again. And I need it! When did I turn into Miss Libido?'

Tara kissed her firmly on the lips, working her mouth open briefly before leaving her gasping as she ducked back down between her legs.

'Oh yeah, that's right,' Willow chuckled inwardly, 'whenever she kisses me like that. Wheeee...' Her internal monologue fell silent as the feel of Tara's mouth on her sex reduced her thoughts to a swirling, wordless mass of desire and pleasure.

Coming down the spiral staircase from their room, Willow and Tara found the attendant who had escorted them up the day before with another member of the Palace's staff, chatting idly in the servants' quarters on the floor below. Both stood and bowed, and the attendant abandoned the card game she had been playing out on the table and came to the doorway, while her companion turned his attention to his newspaper.

"Miss Tara, Miss Willow, good day," she said with a polite smile, "do you need lunch?"

"Lissa, Miss," the young woman said, "just Lissa, the 'Miss' is for guests and nobility, you see."

"If you need directions around the Palace, Miss, I know it all," Lissa went on helpfully. "Don't hesitant to ask, as long as you're a guest I'm here to serve you. Or Jesye, she's not here at the moment, but she'll be here from midnight to midday, should you want anything."

"Oh," Willow brightened up, turning to Tara, "how about you go see Tryptin, and I'll pick us up a little snack, and meet you at the wagon?"

"Okay," Tara agreed, "I could use a bite. It's alright," she said to Lissa, who had moved to her side, "I remember the way from yesterday."

"I love you," Willow replied, reaching up for a brief moment to touch Tara's cheek before she turned and continued down the stairway. Willow turned to Lissa, who was blushing somewhat.

"Thanks," Willow replied, following her. They went down two more floors and took a different corridor to the one they had arrived from yesterday, Lissa leading the way confidently through a stately maze of passages, halls and the occasional courtyard, nodding greetings to guards and other servants as they passed on errands of their own.

"It's okay, isn't it?" Willow asked. "I mean, just popping in and grabbing something from the kitchens... they won't mind?"

"Oh, no Miss," Lissa said, "no, there's meals at usual times, of course, but guests can have any meal they want sent to their rooms or served in one of the dining rooms whenever they want. And besides," she added, with a slightly conspiratorial air, "the servants and the kitchen staff mingle pretty often, so they don't mind us taking a snack now and then. It's a huge place, who's going to miss an apple or a sandwich?"

"Good," Willow smiled, as they made their way down a very wide stairway into a long hall, "'cause I don't want to get you into trouble, you know?"

"Thank you Miss," Lissa said, evidently touched by her concern. "Pardon me Miss, but are you a sorceress like the papers say?"

"The newspapers, Miss," Lissa explained, "it's in today's paper that an Amazon and a sorceress arrived yesterday after coming through all the troubled lands down around the old monastery. I mean, obviously they means you and Miss Tara, but you're both dressed like Amazons, only last night you had a staff, like a mage would."

"Oh, yeah," Willow said, looking down at her armor, "she's the Amazon, I'm the sorceress. All our other clothes are still in our wagon. Heh," she chuckled, remembering, "I was just trying this on for fun when we were first attacked, and we got separated from the caravan. Lucky, eh? Whoa, wait, we're in the newspapers? Already?"

"Heh," Willow grinned, "that's the first time I've been news-worthy. That's fast though, how often do they print the papers?"

"Wow," Willow shook her head, "when I was in Kurast the newsmen took a week to put together a circular. Things happen fast in this city, don't they?"

"Oh, not a lot Miss," Lissa told her, "only that you'd been on a caravan that was attacked, and you'd fought demons and rescued a child who was being held hostage by them, and used your magic to hurl fireballs at all the demons who tried to stop you. And Miss Tara, they said, shot dozens of them with arrows like shooting stars. Is that right? Only, every time they report a mage does anything, they always say it's fireballs. Is it really like that?"

"Well, they were exaggerating a little," Willow said, "and I don't do fire. Ice bolts, I can do, fireballs, no. Tara does fire magic though, so yeah, I guess 'shooting stars' is close enough. And the girl wasn't being held hostage, she'd hidden in a tunnel, and we found her."

"Ah," Lissa nodded, "well, I won't fault the newsmen you know, they do a good job and make sure everyone knows the important news... but just between you and me, it wouldn't be the first time they've come up a bit short on details and used their imagination."

"Oh well," Willow shared a smile with the woman, "poetic license isn't just for bards, I guess."

"So it seems, Miss. The Duke's people make sure they don't report the news wrong, mind. Not actually wrong... I suppose they don't think there's any harm in a bit of 'poetic license' in a tale like yours, Miss. But they stick to the rules more or less, so the Duke lets them ask questions and report as they like."

"What rules do they have?" Willow asked, as they came to a corridor full of the inviting scent of baking bread and various other sorts of food cooking.

"Oh, all sorts of things," Lissa said, exchanging a nod with a servant bearing a platter of fruit scurrying past, "I don't know most of it myself. It's only these past couple of years the papers have really started to do business. They do a lot of reporting on the shipping, which is a bit beyond me, I've never been much for business, but they say it's very cut-throat business, and the Duke has people to make sure the papers don't get paid off by merchants to report prices wrong on purpose, if you see what I mean."

"Sounds sensible," Willow commented. Lissa led her into the kitchens, which were cavernous and full of activity, and together they liberated a handful of fruit and a loaf of nutbread, with Lissa giving a wink to a friendly-looking kitchen-hand while the head chef was busy elsewhere.

"Are you here to study with Master Myrreon, Miss?" Lissa asked as they left the kitchens, bound for the stables and wagon shelters. "Forgive me asking, only I've never met a sorceress before, you see."

"It's alright," Willow smiled, "it's nice to have someone to talk to while Tara's busy. And hey, can't have too many friends, right?"

"Myrreon's the Duke's mage?" Willow went on. "Yes, I'll probably be studying with him for a while, a month or two at least."

"That's longer than the papers said the Amazons would stay here," Lissa said, "will Miss Tara...?"

"She's staying with me," Willow said, "eventually we'll go back to the Amazon Islands together."

"That's good, Miss," Lissa said, seeming genuinely pleased. "You'll have an interesting time working with Master Myrreon, Miss. Last year, when I started working here, I got put on the detail that attends to his workshop and quarters. It's like another world in there Miss, huge contraptions you wouldn't dream of, and him working in it like he knew every piece of it by heart."

"He's interested in mechanisms?" Willow asked, curious about the kind of mage she'd be studying with.

"Tell the truth, Miss, I think he's interested in everything. From what I heard, and what the other servants say, he's always working on a dozen different things at once, and perhaps his mind's already thinking about something else besides."

"Well, it should be an interesting time," Willow said, her hopes of learning something new lifting.

Tara was nowhere in sight when Lissa brought Willow to the wagon shelter, which despite its humble-sounding name was in fact a vast enclosed space to one side of the Palace stables, with a smithy and carpentry shop at one end, and enough room for dozens of wagons, carts and coaches, all standing in their own individual stalls awaiting use. Lissa excused herself and headed back towards the Palace's accommodation wing once Willow found the wagon she and Tara had lived in. She walked around it, smiling faintly at the familiar sight of its wooden wheels and canvas roof, the lifted the flap at the back and climbed inside.

"Aw, hello wagon," she said quietly, finding her lovingly-created 'love nest' just as she had left it, with all her books, her and Tara's bags, sitting neatly to either side, untouched. She smiled and threw herself down onto the blankets, enjoying the feeling of them cradling her, remembering all the joys she had shared with Tara among them. For the moment, her immediate goal – to retrieve some suitable clothes for the day from among their bags – was forgotten.

"Heh," she chuckled to herself, rolling over onto her back and gently stroking a hand over her leather-clad breasts. One of her satchels, stuffed in the gap behind a trunk, caught her eye as she lazily looked around, and she got up on her knees and leant over the trunk to reach it.

"Don't move an inch," Tara's voice purred from behind her. Willow jumped slightly – she'd thought she was alone – then smiled and held herself still as she heard Tara climb into the wagon behind her.

"Oh my," Willow grinned to herself, "it's barely any time at all since we, um, shared a shower, and before that a whole night which, let me tell you, I'm still not sure I believe some of the things we did... don't you ever get tired?" she asked, looking back over her shoulder with an alluring smile at the same time as she arched her back slightly, tilting her hips upwards.

"Tired of you?" Tara said, resting her cheek against Willow's hips as her hand trailed slowly up the inside of her thigh, "never."

"Never?" Willow murmured sexily, wiggling her bottom as Tara's fingers reached higher.

"Absolutely never," Tara whispered. "Every time I look at you... no matter where we are, what we're doing... I just want to make love to you... take you, right there... make you feel so good..."

"Hmm," Willow smiled, "well... it just so happens I'm in a very takeable position, aren't I...?"

"You are indeed," Tara agreed, "you know there's people outside... guards and servants, in the stables and wandering around..."

"I know," Willow said, resting her chest against the trunk beneath her, "I just don't care... do you?" Tara's hand had reached the top of her thigh, and was tantalizingly close to her center.

"It wouldn't be the first time we've hidden away in here, with people outside," Tara said, gently moving up to lay on top of Willow, reaching her free hand around her waist to hold her tight. She leaned forward to whisper in Willow's ear, her fingers pushing firmly into the flesh of her thigh as she caressed her.

"Remember that first time you tasted my sex," she whispered, her warm breath tickling Willow's ear, "right here... and just beyond this canvas, the driver was sitting there, with no idea what was happening right behind him..."

"Yeah... until you yelled 'goddess' at the top of your voice..." Willow breathed, amused by the memory, but with Tara's caresses rapidly robbing her of the ability to speak coherently.

"Mmm," Tara purred, "I couldn't help it... you're just too good... even now, just thinking about that first kiss... oh, baby... and it wasn't the last, was it? Oh goddess no, my darling Willow, I've enjoyed your beautiful lips so many times... remember, baby? I do... all the times you've pressed your mouth against me, covered me... reached out inside me..."

"Oh Tara," Willow gasped. Tara grinned, Willow could feel the corners of her mouth turn up against the skin of her neck as she nuzzled against her. Tara's hand snuck up higher, avoiding Willow's core but brushing teasingly across her mound.

"Hmm," Tara murmured, "I was right... I thought I didn't see anything underneath this skirt when you were putting it on."

"I knew," Willow admitted, "I love it when... oh goddess," Tara's fingertips had brushed, ever so lightly, over her clit, "I... I love it... when you... watch me... want me..."

"I want you," Tara whispered in her ear, "I want you right now." Her fingers settled at Willow's entrance, teasing. Tara touched her earlobe with her tongue, and guided it between her lips, sucking gently.

"Oooh goddesssss," Willow hissed through clenched teeth, as her body responded to Tara's touch. Her fingers clutched at the edge of the trunk, fingernails pressing into its leather covering. She felt Tara's free hand leave her waist for a moment, deftly undoing the ties on her skirt, and with a needful groan she spread her legs as the garment fell off her.

"Ready, baby?" Tara whispered into Willow's ear. Her hand flattened across Willow's bottom, two fingertips still just inside her folds. Willow arched her back as far as she could, almost thrusting herself onto Tara's fingers in the process, and tilted her head enough that she could just see Tara grinning at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Take me, you goddess," she breathed. She felt Tara's hand tense on her rear, inhaled sharply in anticipation, and let the breath out as a long, heartfelt sigh as Tara slowly, firmly slid the full length of her fingers into her sex. Even as Willow's sigh became a hushed moan, reveling in the deep sensation, Tara drew back and thrust again, settling into a rhythm that, to Willow, seemed to control her breathing, her heartbeat, and the thrumming muscles deep inside her which clutched at Tara's fingers with every inward stroke.

"Oh... uh... god-dess... uh... Ta-ra..." Willow gasped, her voice coming in bursts with the waves building inside her, "Ta-ra... Ta-ra... yes... yes... yes yes yes-"

"Don't come yet," Tara breathed in her ear. Willow set her jaw and groaned as her core ached for release, to respond to the pleasure Tara was giving her, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that until Tara's whispered permission graced her ear, she would only become more and more heated, more desperate, as her pleasure mounted without release. Tara's hands guided her, held her, mastered her – the one pressed flat against her stomach, slid between her skin and the leather, seemed to control her, keeping her sex from surging to climax, while her other hand relentlessly piled more and more stimulation, more soaking pleasure, into her.

"Aaaaaaah..." Willow had just enough wit to keep her voice quiet as her throat let loose a sigh of unrepentant submission, obeisance to the chains snaking out of Tara's fingertips, inside her, pressed against her, reaching deep within her to wrap inexorably around her soul. In that moment, Willow knew what it was to belong, to utterly belong, to Tara, to have been taken and made hers, enslaved by Tara's passion, by her heat, by the need in her heart. Only Tara, her perfect Tara, could own her, and in so doing set her freer than she had ever been in her life.

"Now," Tara whispered. Willow hear a roaring in her ears, like the surf of a storm-tossed ocean pounding inside her, then, arching herself back to meet Tara's final, deep thrust, the waves broke on her shore, all around her. Everything around her was swept away – the wagon, the Palace outside, the whole world, all vanished beneath a sea of sensation, save for Tara, pressed against her, whispering pleasure into her ear, holding her as the waves crashed over her again and again. Without that firm hold, the loving, lusty words kissed into her ear and her neck, Willow felt she would have been swept away too.

She came back to reality cradled in Tara's arms, both of them curled around each other among the blankets. Willow felt incredibly content, as if she had just finished a full meal and was relaxing in front of a warm fire, and to her eyes, Tara was glowing with loveliness as she smiled down at her.

"Hey beautiful yourself," Tara replied fondly. "Feel good?" A knowing smile quirked the corners of her lips.

"Hmm," Willow grinned, "you know, maybe – just maybe – if we suddenly both decide to take vows of chastity and, gods forbid, never make love again... I think, when we're old and gray, maybe my body might finally stop tingling with complete pleasure..."

"I don't intend to give you the chance to find out," Tara purred, lightly kissing Willow's neck. "No vow of chastity for me... in fact, I'm taking a vow of Willow-ity. Is that a word?"

"It is now," Willow laughed, as they both sat up. "Hmm... did you happen to notice where my skirt ended up?"

"Are you sure," Tara whispered in her ear, instantly fanning the flames within her back from content flickering to burning need, "I didn't mean for you to walk with me back to our room without it?" Willow gasped at the thought, turning incredulous eyes on Tara.

"I'm practically naked," she whispered. Tara only smiled at her, and Willow realized, with a thrill and a rush of wanton excitement, that if Tara truly wanted her to walk half-naked through the whole Palace, she would. Only then, with that realization shivering down her spine and settling incandescently in her loins, did she notice that Tara's face was just a fraction too expressionless.

"You're teasing me," she accused, even as she was unable to keep the grin from her lips.

"Of course," Tara admitted, ducking her head in admission, and taking the opportunity to flutter a series of kisses across Willow's shoulder. "But just for a second," she went on in a husky whisper, "you were excited..." Her hand, resting on Willow's thigh, shifted slightly, allowing her fingers to trace a path up her thigh and into the moistness of Willow's sex.

"Oh my," she gasped quietly, feeling just how moist Willow was, "very excited."

"I'm never anything else with you around," Willow murmured happily, as Tara reached out and handed her her skirt, "which is convenient, seeing as you have a sex drive that would make a succubus blush."

"Who, me?" Tara feigned innocence, quite convincingly for someone who had, mere moments ago, been gleefully driving her lover to an ecstatic climax. She held her posture for a moment, then leaned up against Willow and kissed her gently on the lips.

"I love... loving you," she said quietly, "you deserve someone who can make you feel this good, always."

"That someone is certainly you," Willow replied, hugging Tara warmly, "and... I do the same for you?"

"You know," Tara whispered, "if we hurry, I think we could spare five minutes in our room before we go out. Maybe I could see to that 'excitement' of yours...?"

As it happened, five minutes became fifteen, and Willow and Tara ended up hurrying out of the Palace so as not to be late. From the luggage they had hastily carried up from the wagon, Willow had selected her emerald Zann Esu outfit, much to Tara's approval, and Tara chose a white tunic and a long, sky blue skirt that Willow proclaimed 'lovely', even if it did cover up her legs.

"How'd your meeting with Tryptin go?" Willow asked as they made their way along the wide boulevard towards Market street, reassured by the various clocks on the storefronts that they had at least enough time to walk.

"Good," Tara said, "like I thought, nothing to do until tomorrow evening. The Duke and his party are attending a performance at the opera house, and all the diplomatic guests are invited. And, if they so choose, allowed to bring along a partner," she added, looking meaningfully at Willow.

"Really? Thank you," Willow gushed, practically bouncing as she hugged Tara in the middle of the street. If there was one advantage to being in such a lively, bustling city, it was that no-one seemed to pay much attention to an exotically-attired sorceress leaping into the arms of her blonde companion. At least, not to the display of affection – Tara, with private amusement, had noticed as they walked along that Willow was drawing more than a couple of appreciative looks from various young men, and the occasional woman. One handsome boy, barely sixteen she guessed, very nearly walked into a gaslight post, his attention was so fixated on the sorceress across the road from him.

"I've never been to an opera," Willow went on. She remained oblivious to the looks she was drawing, attributing the handful she noticed to Tara's presence, which gave her a gleeful pride to be walking hand-in-hand with such a beautiful woman.

"It's not a full opera," Tara explained, "apparently it's a series of shows, sort of a spectacle. Singing, dancing, acrobatics, from what Tryptin's heard at the Palace it's something they do regularly, showing off performers and acts from foreign lands. It's supposed to draw quite a crowd.

"I wonder what they'll have," Willow said. "If there's any singing to rival yours, I'll be impressed."

"I don't know," Tara said, blushing at the compliment, "we'll just have to wait and see. In this city, it could be anything." As if to prove her point, a pair of ginger-haired cat people emerged from the crowd and crossed the street almost directly in front of them. The male wore a loincloth, while the female at his side, who walked with the stately elegance of a queen, wore mere strips of fabric tight across her hips and chest. Tara did a double-take, then managed to control her impulse to stare.

"Um," Willow said quietly, "just out of curiosity... how many breasts did you say Marela had, again?"

"She had a loose robe on," Tara said, unable to keep a little amazement out of her voice, "I guess, could have been..." She glanced around, and was mildly relieved to see she and Willow weren't the only ones who couldn't help but notice the cat-woman's twin pairs of firm breasts, one pair beneath the other.

"Nah," Willow shook her head vehemently, "quality over quantity... two Tara-breasts are worth any number of other breasts. No question about it."

"That's so sweet," Tara grinned. "Why four? Don't cats have six? I mean, cat cats, not cat people cats..."

"Averages out, I guess?" Willow ventured. "I mean, they're human-like, pretty much half-way between a cat and a human...so, two breasts and six breasts average out to four."

"Guess not," Willow admitted, as Tara laughed softly and kissed her on the cheek.

Amalee was overjoyed to see them, and stood amazed at Willow in her sorceress attire. Brydan himself couldn't help but stare for a moment, until Joma nudged him in the ribs with an indulgent smile and the two busied themselves setting the table, while Tara helped and Willow presented a beaming Amalee with a small bag of cinnamon-dusted almonds she had seen at a market stall she and Tara had passed. The girl promised not to eat them all at once, but managed to sneak half a dozen into her mouth during the course of lunch.

"I'm going to go to the science school," she announced proudly, when Tara asked her how she was finding her new home.

"The school of the sciences," Brydan explained, "they set up about ten years ago, young men only for the first couple of years when they were more an apprenticeship school, then some new people came in charge of it and they started taking younger boys, and girls as well. I think my brother meant to send her to someplace like it soon," he added with a regretful note coloring his voice. "She'll certainly learn fast," he went on, brightening, "she reads better than I did at her age."

"We've bought a few storybooks for when the baby's old enough," Joma added, one arm resting proudly around her belly, "and she went through most of them last night."

"Well, you work hard at your school," Willow told her with a fond look, "and hey, you'd be surprised how often science and magic are the same thing."

"Oh yeah," Willow said, "it's all the same, really. Science and magic," she shrugged, "it's all really about what you've got up here." She tapped her forehead, grinning at Amalee. "I bet you'll do really well."

Amalee was all for hearing every detail of Willow and Tara's stay at the Palace, and continued to listen intently as they told her about it in minute detail – excepting their own escapades, of course – until, with regrets and a promise to visit again soon, they took their leave.

"Oh, one thing," Brydan said as they stood in the doorway, while Joma led Amalee back inside after an extended series of hugs, "our baby, that my wife's carrying... the healer seers say it'll be a boy, and..." he looked hesitant, then went on: "we talked last night, and if it's alright with you both... we thought 'William Taran'...? Considering what you've done for our family, you see..."

"I'm honored," Willow said, giving Tara a moment to recover as her eyes welled up with happy tears.

"Good," Brydan said, relief obvious in his expression, "good... well, we'll look forward to seeing you in a couple of days, then. Be well. Enjoy your studies, Miss Willow."

"How about that, huh?" Willow said cheerfully as they headed back towards the markets, hand in hand.

"It's going to take a while to settle in," Tara admitted, "for an Amazon, having a child named for you... it's like an affirmation of everything that you are."

"Or you," Tara replied, "my lovely Willow." They paused in the street for a moment, sharing a brief, sweet kiss, before continuing on their way.

"And we've got the whole afternoon to ourselves," Tara agreed, "and somehow, considering I spent the whole night making love with a beautiful, insatiable nymph, I'm not tired." She gave Willow a grin. "Let's shop."

Note: Includes a well-deserved nod to Washi's 'The Sex Journals', but overall this chapter is dedicated to Debra (author of 'Please'), Mistress Tara and her Kitten – there aren't any specific references to that fic, but I'm darned sure this chapter would've turned out a whole lot different if I hadn't read it.

Willow and Tara browsed aimlessly through the Market Hall, pausing whenever something caught their eye. All manner of wares were on display, from all kinds of vendors – fast-talking salesmen did a brisk trade in cheap jewelry, herbs and clothing from rickety little tables covered in gaudy cloths and boxes of miscellany; professional market vendors stood behind canvas stalls, with colorful banners overhead proclaiming their specialties, and most of their stock neatly stored behind them with a few samples on display; affluent craftsmen sat idly behind their counters, reading newspapers or canvas- bound books while shoppers drifted by and admired their handiwork on show; painters, potters and sculptors worked on their latest pieces while assistants pointed out their skills to passers-by and promised their work would be an asset to any home or place of business; a few grand stalls, like whole buildings made from canvas and wooden frames, housed entire stores, groceries teeming with shoppers selecting the ingredients for the evening's meal, clothiers taking measurements from expensively-dressed men with assistants standing by, notebooks in hand, boutiques full of all manner of ladies' fashions, with changing rooms set up behind screens, and even in one particularly high-end establishment a pair of women modeling the store's dressed on a raised platform. There were apothecaries, herb and potion merchants, hairdressers, florists, book sellers, tinkers and carpenters; cooks selling hot food from portable stoves, scribes offering their time to write legal documents or important letters, actors, jugglers, acrobats and contortionists drawing a steady flow of applause, and small coins into the baskets set out in front of them. Stores sold parchment, house plants, wine, carpets, leathergoods, baskets, oils, fruit and vegetables, exotic perfumes and dyes, spices, even adorable puppies and kittens, along with all manner of toys to keep them entertained. Vendors extolled the virtues of their wares alongside preachers speaking to small congregations of interested bystanders, steam hissed from stoves and hotplates, pigeons cooed among the massive beams holding the cavernous hall's roof up, and blanketing it all was the steady humming of hundreds of voices speaking at once.

"I think I could comfortably stay here for a few weeks," Willow said, leading Tara over to a stand selling paper, parchment, scrolls and books of blank pages bound in leather. Tara smiled fondly and popped a roasted chestnut into her mouth from the bag they had bought from a trolley somewhere behind them. She paused for a moment to run her eyes across a table of silk scarves, and by the time she caught up Willow was already engaged in intense negotiation over a thick volume in her hands.

"Five crowns," the vendor was insisting, "the leather in the cover alone is worth three!"

"If that's so, whoever sold it to you went away laughing," Willow countered, "two and a half, and that's more than I'd pay in Gotunberg markets."

"We're a long way from Gotunberg," the vendor fired back, "and shipping ain't cheap. Four."

"Don't try to tell me it costs more to ship a book to Entsteig than it does to Westmarch," Willow scowled, "come on, this was probably made within a day's ride of here. Two and six silvers."

"For the both?" the vendor asked, apparently appalled at the suggestion. "Three five, and that's my final offer. If that won't do, you're welcome to buy elsewhere."

"Done," said the vendor, surprising Tara who hadn't encountered this definition of 'final offer' before. Willow and the vendor, who had both been glaring fiercely a moment ago, were now all smiled, and shook hands amiably.

"Am I missing something?" Tara asked as Willow fished the agreed price out of her coin purse and stuffed her new acquisitions into her satchel.

"A bit," Tara said, "not like that... I was wondering if I'd have to separate you two," she added with a cheeky smile.

"Oh, that's nothing," Willow said airily, "you should see the Suk in Lut Gholein. There's a place where they know how to haggle. Of course, they practically invented it. Heh, I remember the first time I went there, I was with Ember and she took me when she went to get some potions. She and the alchemist were arguing like mortal enemies, I swear I was worried he'd pull a sword and she'd blast his stall into the harbor, and then they hit a price, and in no time they're laughing and swapping stories."

"Yeah, pretty much," Willow agreed. "In Lut Gholein it's almost part of their culture. If you're not willing to call on about fifteen different gods and invoke half a dozen colorful plagues on your opponent, you're not haggling hard enough. This place is pretty tame, but it looks like they've got the hang of it – probably a lot of Aranoch merchants come here, and the locals picked up the basic idea from them."

"This is good workmanship, for three and a half crowns," Tara said, fishing the book out of Willow's bag and turning it over in her hands.

"It is, isn't it?" Willow grinned. "I probably could've got him down to three and two silvers, but I don't mind being a little generous when the merchandise is good. Besides, he was being a good sport."

"Yeah, but this one will be different," Willow said with a twinkle in her eye. "I was thinking, if you like, we could keep another journal, besides the one we've got. I mean, places we've been and things we've seen are all good and fine to record, but... well, I'd kind of like to keep a journal of the other things we've done." She grinned suggestively at Tara.

"Other things," Tara said, confused, "what do – oh," her eyes widened, "oh... well, it's certainly worth recording. Sort of a, a sex journal?"

"Not that I'm going to forget any of it, ever," Willow said earnestly, "but, wouldn't it be fun now and then, say if we're on a trip, not really in private... well, we could snuggle up somewhere and read together?"

"Hmm, I like the sound of that," Tara murmured, leaning in close to Willow to be heard over the noise of the crowd. "I'd love to read how you record our... adventures." Willow smiled, and blushed faintly. "Tell you what," Tara went on, "leave every other page blank, and I'll see if I can't come up with some suitable illustrations."

"Oh yeah," Tara promised. "Oh! I see our next purchase beckoning." She led Willow over to a stall of exotic vials and pots, and making sure Willow was watching, bought several bottles of scented massage oil.

"They'll get more at the Palace, you know," Willow said as Tara picked a few coins from a pouch on her belt – the oil came from one of the stalls that did straight-forward business, without haggling on either side.

"Maybe," Tara smiled sidelong, as the vendor took her money and wrapped the small bottles in a padded cloth. "But look at all these different scents... or should that be 'flavors'?"

"This new journal's going to fill up fast, isn't it?" Willow joked, holding her satchel open for Tara to slide her purchase in.

"It is if I have anything to do with it," Tara smirked. "Fast... achingly slow, and everything in between."

"Minx," Willow said, leaning in close to Tara and patting her bottom. Tara wiggled her hips and grinned.

For the next hour they continued to stroll and shop, and tease each other at every opportunity. When Tara leant over a table to inspect a selection of wooden sculptures, tiny birds and cats and horses carved in exquisite detail, Willow made sure to stand very close behind her, with her thigh nudging suggestively between Tara's legs. While Willow compared various tunics, decorated with woven flowers at their hems, Tara made a point of analyzing how each one would fit to her body, giving her light touches on her shoulders, her back and her waist to demonstrate each fit. Willow retaliated by quickly licking her ear at the next stall they visited, in the split second the vendor was distracted by another customer, and Tara evened the score by crouching down, ostensibly to look over some woven baskets stacked on the ground, and breathing hot air across Willow's exposed belly as she was peering at a bag hung higher up.

When they came to a long set of tables, lined up in a row twenty meters long and dressed with an enormous canvas cover, Willow knew Tara was planning her next move. Dozens of small merchants had their wares arrayed on the long table, selling hobby crafts that didn't need a permanent stall to themselves, and each time Tara moved from one assortment of carvings, jewelry and framed drawings to the next she would give Willow a speculative look, her eyes drifting to a different part of her with every glance.

'Trying to get me guessing,' Willow thought, giving Tara an innocent smile, 'well then, my lady, I'll just have to make the first move myself.' She knew Tara couldn't endure much more stimulation without doing something about it – just the flush in her cheeks and the depth of her breathing would have told her that, even if the succession of idle touches and seductive glances hadn't rendered Willow herself equally aroused. The next time Tara glanced at her, then returned her attention to the wide table in front of her, Willow crept up behind her and leaned forward over her, half-straddling her thigh and slowly circling her hips. Willow heard Tara gasp quietly, and couldn't contain her glee at the intensely aroused look on her lover's face when she looked over her shoulder.

Tara stared at Willow for a long moment, in which the business of the market seemed to fade away into the background. Then her eyes flickered up, looking behind Willow. Willow turned, puzzled, to see a large, nondescript man with his back to them, his wide shoulders more or less blocking the view of the aisle between the stalls and tables, then she had only enough time to open her mouth in surprise as she felt Tara's hands on her shoulders, pulling her down and back.

Tara held Willow securely, keeping her from falling as they rolled to the ground and beneath the table. Once there, Tara relaxed her grip, though not completely, and licked her lips slowly as she stared at Willow. Willow let out the breath that had caught in her throat during her sudden transition from idle shopper to lurker beneath a table, wondering what Tara was up to, even as she couldn't help responding with a smile to Tara's scrutiny of her. She opened her mouth to voice a question, then realized what that look in Tara's eyes meant. Her mouth hung open wider, her eyes equally wide, and she quickly glanced around their surroundings. The canvas covering the table hung to the ground on all sides – far away above and below, along the length of the table, and with a width just over a meter from side to side. All there was were bare floorboards, and the occasional box of spare merchandise on the sellers' side of the table. If anyone had noticed their sudden descent beneath the table, they were not bothering to investigate.

"Why not?" Tara purred, rolling over with Willow in her arms and slowly crawling up her body.

"There must be hundreds of people out there," Willow protested, though half- heartedly. It had taken exactly one touch from Tara to warm Willow to the idea of letting her do exactly as she wanted. Tara's hands closed on her bare waist as she lifted herself up, ducking a little to avoid hitting her head on the underside of the table.

"It's pretty noisy out there," she said in a carefree voice, just louder than a whisper, "I bet no-one will even hear you if you just can't help but moan a little. Or a lot..." She lay down again, her body pressing against Willow from the top of her chest right down to her feet. "Do you want to?"

"Do I...?" Willow asked. "Oh, goddess, come here..." Tara obligingly lowered her lips to Willow, who lifted her head to meet her half-way in a lustful, frenzied kiss that only became more passionate the longer it lasted. Tara moaned delightedly into Willow's mouth as her hands found Tara's belt and pulled the hem of her tunic free, allowing her to slide her arms up beneath it and press her hands against Tara's back, holding her tightly against herself.

"There's only one person I'm thinking about," Tara whispered, as Willow deftly undid the clasp of her bra and slid her hands around to her front, covering Tara's breasts and firmly, lovingly massaging her. "As for... everyone else... mmm... only you... there's only you..." She closed her eyes, a smile of utter contentment on her face as she arched her back, pushing her breasts into Willow's hands. In one quick motion she reached up and pulled her tunic off, taking the loose bra with it, sliding it beneath Willow's head as a makeshift pillow as Willow continued to squeeze and caress her.

"You adventurous minx you," Willow smiled, as Tara moaned quietly and kissed down the side of her neck.

"Mmm, not done yet," Tara murmured. She looked up to see the surprise, and arousal, in Willow's eyes as her hands loosened the ties at the waist of her skirt, and she wriggled the fabric over her hips and down her legs. Sometime when Willow had been absorbed in her activities higher up, Tara had kicked off her boots, so when she trailed her skirt up the side of Willow's body, dragging the gauzy material over her hips and shoulders before bunching it up and setting it aside, only the thin scrap of fabric around her hips, the crotch soaked with desire, stood between her and complete nakedness.

"You, baby," Tara whispered in her ear, "I want you to do it..." She gently guided Willow's hands from her breasts to the straps arching over her hips, and lifted herself up slightly. In a daze, as if in a dreaming fantasy, Willow tugged down, lowering the underwear as far as she could before Tara took over, shedding the tiny garment which came to lie beside her discarded boots.

"Exciting, isn't it?" Tara went on, licking her ear and neck mercilessly. "Any moment, someone might look... a vendor reaching for something out of one of those boxes... someone might drop a coin, and it'll roll underneath the table, and they'll crouch down, lift up the cover... could be any moment... could be right now..." She caught Willow's earlobe between her teeth and sucked on it for a moment, before lifting herself up, on hands and knees, staring down at Willow.

"You know they'd see everything," she whispered, "see me, poised over you... naked... wanton... the way my thighs are trembling, just from the anticipation... just because I know, I know, that before long, your hand's going to be buried between them, and your fingers inside me... and my breasts hanging down for you, for you to taste, to lick my nipples, to suck into your mouth and feast on..." She leaned forward, bringing her full, pendulous breasts close to Willow's face as her lips again came close to her ear.

"And the way my legs are spread open," she breathed, "anyone could see how much I want you... my lips pouting, shining with wetness... desperate to be touched... parted... opened..." She smiled as Willow drew a shuddering breath.

"All yours, baby," she went on, "all yours... every inch... every fold... every drop... the silkiness... inside, the heat, the tightness... even the little drop I can feel right now... trickling down my thigh... leaving a little path of wetness behind it... feel the air brushing against it... cooling it... I'm so hot..."

"Goddess," Willow said again, "oh goddess, there's no words for how hot you are..."

"Every second," Tara purred, "someone might find us... might see us... you know what the sensible thing to do is, don't you?" She fixed her eyes on Willow's and grinned devilishly.

"Yeah," Tara whispered, kissing her cheek softly, "take your naughty girl... make her come... right here..." She moved down to Willow's ear, letting a hot breath play over it before whispering: "Make her come so damn hard..."

Willow sucked down gasps of air as her hands moved down Tara's body. Tara rested herself on top of her, moaning quietly in the back of her throat, being rocked gently by the rise and fall of Willow's chest. One hand went around Tara's hips, gripping her, fingers kneading her flesh, the other between her legs, Willow's fingertips playfully teasing through her hair before coming to rest by her clit, without quite touching yet.

"Yeeeeaaahh," Tara sighed, swaying her hips back and forth as Willow began rolling her clit in her fingers.

"Hard?" Willow asked with an impish grin. Tara met her gaze, and her jaw fell open at the burning desire she saw there.

"Yuh," she grunted, pressing herself into Willow's hand. Willow released Tara's hips, bringing her free hand instead up her back, up her neck, into her hair, gripping firmly and bringing Tara's lips to hers for a searing kiss. The moment they touched, she squeezed Tara's clit hard between her fingers. Tara moaned out loud, fortunately muffled by Willow's mouth, and her body jerked and writhed in uncontrolled passion. Willow kept her fingers firmly clamped around the tiny nub of flesh, rhythmically squeezing, leaving Tara's thrusting, gyrating hips to provide the rest of the stimulation she was craving.

"Uh," Tara gasped quietly, her lips moving against Willow's, "uh, oh goddess, yes baby, yes that's so good, hold me tight baby, hold me hard, oh, oh yes, yes yes yes yes yes..." her mouth stopped forming words and simply breathed quick, sharp gasps of hot air over Willow's face.

Willow drove her towards climax relentlessly. Now and then she would ease her grip slightly, not wanting to send Tara over the edge too soon, before she had reached the pinnacle she was aiming for, but always her fingers returned, gripping, twirling, caressing, twisting and pinching with merciless precision. Tara's unrestrained show of passion excited her beyond belief, and the way she let herself go, naked and vulnerable, perhaps only seconds from discovery, yet thinking of nothing but stoking the heat within her lover, of making love no matter what, touched something deep within Willow that surprised her. Earlier, when Tara had taken her, when she had given herself over to Tara's wild, passionate care, Willow had found such a joy in being hers, in belonging, that she couldn't help but wish to share it with Tara, to take her as she had been taken herself. But, though she had flirted with the idea, Willow found the prospect of taking such a dominant role daunting – to trust Tara was easy, more than easy, but to trust herself that much, to allow herself free rein with such a precious goddess in her arms, to trust herself that she would not disappoint or, inconceivably worse, hurt her lover in some way... To give herself to Tara, to allow Tara to make love to her without restraint, could not be easier, and when making love with Tara, together, neither taking nor taken but sharing, Tara was her guide, and her part in their lovemaking gave Willow the confidence she needed to let herself go free, to enjoy and love and nothing else. But to hold Tara as hers, to take her, to love her with no guide but her own passion and need to please... earlier, Willow had thought, not without regret, that it was beyond her to take such a leap of faith.

Yet now Tara lay against her, giving freely, and although she was still taking an active role in things as they made love hidden beneath a table in the bustling marketplace, she was clearly giving a great deal to Willow, placing herself in her care and trust. She had never held herself back, but it was one thing for her to give, and another for Willow to take, and now Willow found she was not only accepting, but taking, what Tara offered... just enough to give her a taste of what it might be like to take the role Tara had been in earlier. Such a trust still frightened her, but less even than it would have moments ago, and given a taste, Willow found the idea of wanting more was no longer such an inconceivable fantasy.

"You like that, baby?" she whispered to Tara, her fingertips working Tara's clit ceaselessly. "You like it when I hold you hard? When I twist?" She demonstrated with a quick, firm tug, and Tara's entire body shuddered on top of her.

"Ah!" she gasped, "yes! Yes... oh goddess Willow, yes, do it, make me come baby... so close... goddess, so close..."

"Ask nicely," Willow teased, stroking rapidly, thumb and forefinger clamped hard on Tara's clit, her other fingers caressing her soaked folds. Tara's climax was inevitable, but still she played their game.

"Please," Tara whispered without hesitation, "oh goddess please, please baby, please make me come, make... me... oh goddess... commpph!" Her last word was muffled as she clamped her mouth to Willow's neck, just where it met her shoulder, half biting, half sucking, moaning against her skin as her sex pulsed and released a wave of scintillating pleasure.

"Oh baby," she whispered when at last the tremors within her calmed, and her moist lips came away from Willow's skin, "oh, baby... mmm, goddess, I love you... I love who you make me when you make love to me..."

"I love you too," Willow murmured, keeping her hand lightly cupping Tara's sex, mindful of how sensitive she was in the aftermath of her climax, but unable to bring herself to withdraw her hand just yet.

"Mmm," Tara purred contentedly, "oh Willow... oh," she licked the reddening patch on Willow's neck, "heh... that'll leave a mark. Sorry," she grinned sheepishly.

"Don't be sorry," Willow smiled, "I loved every second... and hey, it's not like you haven't already left a much deeper mark on me... right inside here," she unwound her other hand from Tara's hair and brushed her fingertips over her own chest, over her heart. "You put it there that first time you kissed me, back in the garden in the Baron's castle... 'I am Tara's', it says... or maybe you were just filling in the outline you started drawing the moment I first saw you..." She raised her hand to her neck, feeling the flushed hot skin, as Tara gently licked it.

"Yep, same mark," she whispered, "all yours. Your lover... soulmate... your anything you want... anything to please you..."

"Well then," Tara smiled, "there's only one possible thing we can do now, isn't there?" Seeing the question in Willow's eyes she lifted a hand and gathered the hair hanging down beside her face, lifting it up and away. The question turned to arousal in Willow's stare as her eyes fixed on Tara's smooth skin, with no mistaking what Tara wanted.

She eagerly lifted her lips to Tara's neck and took hold, tenderly sucking on her skin through the kiss while her tongue traced playful, seductive patterns. Tara let out a heartfelt sigh of pleasure, and her hand came up behind Willow's head, supporting her, holding her lips against her. Her hips began to move again on their own, pushing herself against Willow's palm, her folds spreading invitingly around her fingers. For Willow, enthralled in tasting Tara's skin, tasting the depth of her love, the invitation was irresistible, and on the next downward stroke of Tara's hips she plunged two fingers deep inside her.

A gasp exploded out of Tara's mouth, louder than the whispers and hushed moans they had managed so far to restrain themselves to, but neither cared. The heat inside Tara astounded Willow, heat and wetness and softness that spoke of a desire truly matching her own. Tara held her head firmly to herself, while her other hand went between her legs and covered Willow's, trapping her most willingly within herself. With her fingertips stroking Tara's sweet spot, the heel of her hand still pressed against her clit, and her mouth voraciously kissing her neck, Tara's climax rose swiftly and broke powerfully over her, leaving her gasping for air, her muscles clenching desperately at Willow within her.

"Oh yeah," Willow replied in a heated whisper, licking the skin where her lips had feasted, "we'll have lovely matching love-bites."

"Good," Tara murmured, "there'll be no doubt who we both belong to." She kissed her way across Willow's cheek to her lips, and was surprised and delighted at the vehemence with which Willow claimed her mouth and kissed her, lips working over hers, tongue exploring, teasing, promising.

"Goddess," Tara breathed when at last Willow's tongue withdrew from her mouth. A smile spread across her features. "Someone's feeling very, very lusty."

"Is it any surprise?" Willow countered, kissing Tara again, briefly this time but scarcely less passionately.

"Well," Tara smiled, glancing around, "our hiding place seems to have remained undiscovered this far... why don't we push our luck a little longer?" She released Willow hand, biting her lip in pleasure as her fingers slid free of her. "It would be most unfair of me," she whispered, sliding slowly down Willow's body, "if I didn't make sure my Willow was thoroughly satisfied."

"Mmm," Willow murmured, as Tara gently slid the folds of her skirt up and over her hips, "I'm never anything less... ooh!" She moaned, a little louder than she'd meant to, as Tara deftly tugged aside the crotch of her underwear and slid a finger into her. Willow hadn't consciously realized how incredibly wet Tara had made her, and the delicious sensation of Tara's finger moving into her, through a veritable flood of moistness, was more than she was prepared for. Her muscles contracted of their own volition, and she couldn't help but giggle to herself when she heard a soft, moist sound issue from her soaked channel as Tara entered her.

"Heh," she chuckled, as she met Tara's amused grin and returned it, "guess you got me juicier than usual."

"That's okay," Tara whispered, "I'm thirstier than usual." She gave Willow a long, slow lick, starting down low, delving her tongue into her flowing sex, then reaching up to caress her tongue over her clit.

"Oh wow," Willow whispered, her head falling back, cushioned by Tara's rolled-up tunic, "goddess... how long can we stay down here?"

"If anyone finds us," Tara whispered, breathing over her sex, "I'll just say I'm sampling your wares." She gave Willow a gentle, luxurious kiss just above her clit. "This is a market, after all..." another kiss, just below, "...and there's nothing better than a taste test."

Some time later Willow drew back the canvas at the far end of the long table and peeked out. The table sided onto a row of stalls, and no-one in view seemed to be looking towards its end just at the moment. With a guilty smile she quickly scurried out and stood up right, stretching her legs, then stood around trying to look carefree and not attract attention as Tara emerged behind her, straightening her skirt.

"We're naughty, incorrigible girls," Willow grinned as they sauntered back among the teeming crowds.

"Lucky us," Tara quipped. "Oh, I saved these for you... a souvenir?" She idly held her hand in front of Willow and opened it to reveal her underwear, bunched up and still moist.

"You shameless creature," Willow laughed, snatching them and quickly stuffing them into her satchel.

"Shameless?" Tara replied, with an arch expression belied by the twinkle in her eyes. "This from the woman who nearly kicked the underside of the table the second time I..." she glanced down Willow's body and licked her lips.

"Uh-huh," Willow shot back, stroking the back of her hand lovingly, "totally shameless. Honestly, if I'd accidentally made a noise and everyone had looked under the table, I swear you would've just smiled and kept on licking."

"Some things are too sweet to interrupt," Tara said with a demure smile. She glanced at Willow, and her expression shifted from playful to caring. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked gently. "If you'd rather we didn't... you know, do things like this...?"

"Don't even think it," Willow said firmly, "I love every minute of being with you. Even the imminent-danger-of-discovery ones... maybe sometimes, especially those ones," she admitted with a blush.

"Huh," Willow snorted, smiling at the kiss, "me, wild? Uh-uh. Compared to you, I'm little miss conservative..."

"Oh?" Tara smiled, leaning in close to murmur in Willow's ear: "Since when does little miss conservative hold her lover's head to her gorgeous sex and come right into her mouth the way you did?"

"You know what I mean," Willow said, blushing furiously. "Goddess you're something else, you're getting me hot again, you know that? It's just as well you're not wearing panties, at this rate we'll barely make it half-way back to the Palace before we're making out in a doorway somewhere!"

"I have excellent self-restraint," Tara said, adopting an unconvincingly innocent expression. "Mostly," she added in an undertone.

They continued to wander through the huge Market Hall, discussing anything interesting that caught their eye, and often diverting into playful banter, for the next couple of hours. By the time they and their purchases – which now included a gauzy silk head-scarf Willow had noticed, and a new shoulder-bag that Tara bought to help carry everything – made their way to the massive door nearest the street leading up to the Palace the afternoon's gathering clouds had become a steady drizzle, but luckily – naturally, considering the brisk trade they were doing – a handful of vendors were selling collapsible umbrellas just inside the doorway.

"You've got it in you, you know," Tara commented as they made their way back towards the Palace, huddled together under the shelter of a single large umbrella – cheaper than buying two smaller ones, and with the added benefit that it practically required them to walk arm-in-arm, close together.

"What've I got in me," Willow asked, "aside from about half a gallon of sweet Tara- juice?" She was gratified to see Tara blush – Willow had been the one caught off-guard and blushing more often than not during their banter between bouts of shopping, and had become quite fond of those occasions when she managed to be the one to surprise her lover.

"Vixen," Tara murmured with a smirk. "I meant the... the wild girl thing. You're not always 'little miss conservative'."

"You mean, when I go all 'grrr' and you beg for me?" Tara asked, keeping her face in a placid smile. 'Drat, she got me,' Willow thought as she felt her face redden, nodding.

"That's what I mean," Tara went on, "it's in you too. I've felt it now and then... it feels good," she confessed with a wide grin.

"I know," Willow admitted, "I'd... earlier, in the wagon, what I felt when you made love to me, it was... you know I love being with you, making love to you, together... but when you took me it was so intense..." She gave Tara a sheepish grin. "I felt... like you owned me... in a good way," she hastened to add, "like, I'm your love, emphasis on 'your'... it was so, so incredibly sexy."

"And... I'd like to give that to you," Willow continued, "that experience, that pleasure... and I've had little tastes of what it might be like, you know? From the in-charge end, a-and I'd like to feel that as well..."

"But, I... I don't know if I can do that," Willow said with a frown, "it's such a huge thing, to, to be... to have you be mine, not just the way I know you're mine already, like I'm yours, that's just... I can't imagine it any other way... but different to that..."

"Yeah," Willow nodded, "yeah... I know it sounds simple, like it's just a, a thing to do, something to do to feel sexy, and I guess it could be just that... I mean, we do, we have already, all that teasing and whispering and playing around... but, I-I want to give you the whole experience, you know? Like you did for me, the real, spiritual, ecstatic your-chains-around-my-heart feeling. And that's such a, an enormous thing to do, because... because you're you, you're my Tara... there's nothing in the world more important than you, and if I did this, and I disappointed you-"

"You could never disappoint me, baby," Tara said soothingly, "never. I know how you feel, it's not just a simple thing for me either. Trusting you is so easy, but... entrusting myself with you... wow," she smiled, "that's a huge step to take. And you're absolutely right, when it's like this it's not just playing around, it's... it's really taking your heart in my hands, and trusting myself to keep it safe. But the reward..." she sighed happily and looked at Willow. "Oh baby, to feel you in my arms, mine, and when you look at me and I see that complete pleasure... I'd love to give that to you too."

"I just have to, I don't know, get into it," Willow shrugged, "get over being nervous... I guess it's like, you remember at that lake, the day before we got to Kotram? In here I know I can trust myself," she tapped her temple, "but down here," her finger moved down to her heart, "I still worry I'll do something wrong."

"It's alright," Tara said with a smile, "you don't have to regret being my utterly sweet, caring Willow... it just makes me love you more." She laughed quietly. "Every day I think that's not possible, and every day it turns out I can."

Willow leant over to her and gently kissed her, slowly, carefully, lovingly. For a moment they simply stood there, in the middle of the rain-swept street, sheltered by their umbrella as other pedestrians bustled around them, enjoying being together without a care in the world.

"See what I mean?" Tara grinned when they finally parted and resumed their walk, arms around each other's waists. "Now I love you even more than I did a moment ago. You're amazing... and you know what?"

"What?" Willow asked eagerly, recognizing the tone of Tara with an idea, which would doubtless turn out to be exquisite.

"I think I know just how to reach the 'grrr' in you, my lovely Willow," Tara said with a radiant smile. "Trust me?"

"Then tonight," Tara beamed, "I promise you, before the night is done you'll grrr like you've never grrred before."

Tara maintained a mysterious smile all the way back to the Palace, and refused to be drawn on what exactly she had in mind. To Willow's incessant questions she offered only vague hints, and always her smile, which had Willow turning her curiosity into a game, trying to discern some glimmer of a reaction from beneath Tara's amusement as she came up with suggestion after suggestion.

Once back they called on help from a couple of porters and had the rest of their bags from the wagon brought up to their room. Tara turned a chair around so she could look out of the open balcony doors at the clouds, with the gentle sound of the rain thrumming on the balcony's roof, as she unpacked and polished her ceremonial armor. Willow sat on the couch nearby and went through her collection of letters, picking out those she needed to send and adding her signature to them. A tug on the bell-cord by the door summoned Lissa, who promised that the letter to the Duke's mage would go immediately to his quarters or his workshop, wherever he happened to be at the moment, and the others would go to the Palace's post office, and on to their destinations around the city early next morning.

"You look lovely," Tara said, as she and Willow sat down to a modest dinner, brought to their room hot from the kitchens. Willow had kept her Zann Esu gear on, but added her new scarf, carefully arranging it in the bathroom so that Tara wouldn't see it until she had it perfectly positioned, with its folds just so, and her hair sneaking out on either side to frame her face. She smiled and made short work of her meal, sure that Tara's mysterious plan was drawing near. Tara kept her conversation on everyday matters, discussing the markets, the parts of the city they had seen and so on, avoiding any mention of her promise that afternoon. The amused, expectant glint in her eyes told Willow that she had not forgotten, and she found it actually aroused her to play Tara's game, as if they were about to turn in for a good night's sleep and nothing else. She knew better than to believe that, even for a second.

Later, when their empty plates were taken away, Tara ran a warm bath and washed Willow, gently and lovingly, but positively chastely, especially by her recent standards. Her hands roamed freely over Willow's body, but never with any intent other that to bathe her. She never lingered on Willow's breasts or between her legs, or at the sides of her waist, the backs of her thighs, her neck, or any of the multitude of erogenous zones she had already demonstrated ample knowledge of – nor did she avoid them, either, she simply washed as though she had no idea her touch had the power to excite. Willow, eager not to impede Tara's plans, did likewise, restraining her urge to enjoy the delights of Tara's body as she bathed her, and both conducted themselves similarly as they drained the bath and toweled each other off.

The result of Tara's modest behavior was that, by the time Willow returned to the main room, turned down the blankets and sat on the edge of the bed, she was in such a state of anticipation as she had never known before. No matter how Tara behaved, how demure her touch or innocent her gaze, Willow never once felt anything less than the full extent of her love, and all the passion that entailed. She knew that Tara knew this, too, that Tara had calculated her behavior and demeanor all through the evening to achieve just this result – that Willow's ardor for her become inflamed to such a degree that she could barely think without her mind becoming overwhelmed with fantasies.

Tara finished hanging their towels back on their rails and padded back into the main room, naked but showing no sign of intending to arouse, though the mere sight of her brought a flush to Willow's cheeks, and a rush of wetness within her core. Tara sat beside her, and gently took Willow's hand in both of hers.

"I love you," she said softly, "I always have, from the moment I set eyes on you, before I knew what my soul was telling me, and I always will. I would never ask anything of you that you wouldn't give me of your own free will."

"I know," Willow said, the honest emotion in Tara's words reaching her clearly, even through the strength of her desires.

"Do you want this?" Tara asked. Her tone was gentle, supportive, but left no doubt that she needed a true answer, without hesitation or qualification.

"Lie back," Tara whispered, her hands on Willow's shoulders, gently laying her down on the expansive bed, shifting her to lie comfortably, her head supported by the pillows. She drew the blankets back, to let Willow slide her legs beneath them, but instead of pulling them back up she continued to drag them down, leaving them at the foot of the bed, around Willow's heels. She kissed her palm and held it out towards Willow, then turned and busied herself putting out most of the room's candles, leaving only a few to cast their glow, as the occasional, distant sheet of lightning cast its glare through the windows.

The moment she replaced the delicate brass candle snuffer on the mantelpiece and turned back to Willow, the whole language of her body changed. She sauntered towards the bed, hips swaying invitingly, her fingertips brushing the tops of her thighs as she swung her arms lazily. No-one could have watched her approach Willow without knowing precisely what was in her mind, least of all Willow herself, whose chest shuddered up and down as her breathing increased to a rapid pace.

Tara sat on the other side of the bed, elegantly swung her legs up behind her, and prowled on all fours over to Willow, with the grace of the lioness in her every motion. She swung her leg over Willow's waist and straddled her, taking her wrists and guiding her hands up above her head. Her breasts swung desperately close to Willow's lips as she leaned forward, lifting Willow's hands until they touched the carved wood at the head of the bed. Tara gently closed Willow's hands around two of the slim spiral-carved columns in the wood, then let go and swayed back, until her face was a mere inch from Willow's, and their breath mingled in the air between them.

"Don't let go," she whispered, staring into Willow's eyes. Willow could only nod, caught in Tara's gaze, and a slow, sensuous smile spread across Tara's face.

"I know how much you want me," she whispered, swaying her head from side to side, her gaze moving all over Willow's face, "I want you too... I want the Willow I tasted today. The Willow who wants to take me... whose whispers are my commandments... whose fingers leash me stronger than steel... whose lips brand me... I want to be yours..." She lowered herself to Willow's lips and kissed her, fiercely at first, but by degrees more gentle as Willow responded more and more, her tongue venturing forward as Tara's retreated, claiming her in reply.

"Ahhh," she sighed, as Willow released her from the kiss to take a gasp of air, "that's her... my Willow goddess... and you want me so much now, don't you? Oh yeah, I know... I want you to want me... I want you to have me... and you will," she promised, "oh, baby, you will..."

With a serene, sexy smile she straightened up, sitting back on her heels over Willow's thighs. With deliberate slowness she reached down and dragged her fingertips through Willow's soaking sex, the corners of her smile quirking upward as she noticed the jolt that ran through Willow's body at the touch, and the shudder when she brushed over her clit. She held her hand up for Willow to see, fingertips glistening with juice, then slowly brought it to her mouth.

"Yours," she said, as she painted her lips with Willow's arousal. "Yours," she repeated, dragging her fingers down through her cleavage, leaving a trail of moisture. "Yours," she said once more, as her hand cupped her sex, mingling Willow's wetness with her own. Watching Willow all the while, making sure her attention was firmly on the hand between her legs, she held two fingers together and slowly, tortuously slowly, slid them into herself, until her palm lay flay against her folds and she was as deep within herself as she could be.

"Yours," she whispered, leaning down to whisper with her lips pressed against Willow's, "oh goddess baby it's yours... you want it... you want to be right where I am now... inside me... deep in my soul... and I want you there." She raised herself just enough to look into Willow's eyes, to see the fire there. "What am I?" she breathed.

"Mine," Willow said from between clenched teeth. Tara's eyes closed, her mouth opened, releasing a sigh almost like a gentle climax. She touched Willow's arms lightly, and sighed again as she felt her move, her hands releasing their grip on the carved wood, drawing closer.

"Yeeessss," she hissed, "yes... love me, baby... take me..." She leant down, her tongue hot against Willow's neck, working up to lick her ear, and in a whisper laden with desire, she breathed: "fuck me."

Willow's breath caught in her throat for a second, then she rose like an angel, carrying Tara in her arms and bearing her over. Tara gasped in pleasure as she came down on her back among the soft blankets, with Willow on top of her, feverishly kissing her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, devouring her nipples as her hands closed on Tara's thighs, lifting them on either side of her, pressing her stomach against Tara's thrusting mound.

"Oh yes," Tara moaned, "oh yes, yes, take me goddess, take what's yours!" Willow held a nipple between her teeth, tugging at it to cries of pleasure from Tara, as one hand gripped Tara's bottom and her other slid between their bodies, covering Tara's sex, pressing firmly against it.

"Is this what you want baby?" she murmured, releasing Tara's nipple to brush her lips against it as she spoke. "This?" she demanded, as she slid a finger into Tara, thrusting quickly in and out.

"Goddess you're wet," Willow went on, "you're so close... you're close, aren't you baby? Aren't you? Feel that orgasm inside you, straining to break over you?"

"I could make you come right now," Willow purred, "right now, all over my hand... but I won't. I want you to writhe, moan, grind your hips, feel me in you... you want to come so much, so bad, but until I say," she paused, her finger thrust deep, tickling Tara's sweet spot, "until I say..." She left the words hanging, as her caress inside Tara kept her hips jerking and writhing of their own accord.

"I-I c-can't... c-c-come..." Tara panted, "not uh... u-until... y-y-you let... m-me..."

"That's so right baby," Willow murmured delightedly, "we've played this game before, haven't we? But this is for real... I can take you again and again, all night if I want... lick you, kiss you, nibble your folds, suck your clit... even when you feel my tongue dancing inside you, you'll want to come so badly... be a good girl," she grinned devilishly, as she lowered herself down Tara's body. Tara gasped for breath, still tormented by Willow's finger within her driving her wild, and knowing in her soul that blessed release was far, far away.

Willow wasted no time bringing her lips to Tara's sex, licking up the copious juices covering the immediate object of her desire. She swirled her tongue all through Tara's folds, all around her finger still buried in her, still working inside her, before fixing her lips around her clit, sucking voraciously. Tara bucked in her grip, trying to force her mound against Willow's mouth, and Willow eagerly obliged, pressing herself firmly into Tara's warmth, holding her nub securely between her teeth, grazing her tongue back and forth over it.

She recognized the signs of Tara's impending climax, but at the same time she could feel that she was in control, that the thrusts of Tara's hips, the rippling of her inner muscles, all were incomplete, rendered unable to bring her complete satisfaction without the acquiescence, the command, of her lover. Tara responded with all her passion to Willow's love, her body driving frantically towards a climax she could never reach on her own, spurred on only by the sure knowledge that her Willow would never leave her unsatisfied, that the torment of her arousal, so strong as to be almost painful, would be rewarded.

Willow thrust her tongue over Tara's clit again and again, each touch more than enough to have brought her satisfaction had Tara's own will had any say in the matter. But she was Willow's, and Willow knew it – felt it within herself, within Tara. As her mouth filled with the taste of Tara's sex, Willow tasted too the hot, heady pleasure of having her perfect Tara totally in her power – and, even more satisfying, the pure shining knowledge that she was worthy.

She gave Tara's clit one last, lingering kiss, then moved back up her body, licking at the sweat beading on her skin as her hand continued its rhythm between her legs. Tara's head was back on the blankets, and it was only as Willow lightly nipped at her breasts and licked over her collarbone that her eyes focused and she looked back down from the bed's canopy above them.

"You're ready," she whispered into her neck, "feel it grow inside you... growing, swelling... so huge it scares you... I'll hold you, baby. I'll keep you safe." She made her way up to Tara's ear, and whispered into it: "Come."

"Willow!" Tara shrieked, her arms flying up to grasp at Willow's back, her nails scratching white trails across her skin. She convulsed violently beneath Willow, thrusting herself onto her plunging finger again and again as waves of pleasure rocked her to her very core. Willow never faltered, thrusting into Tara's flowing sex as her lover rode her monumental orgasm. When it seemed Tara's pleasure might begin to subside, Willow gripped her backside harder, and added a second finger, opening her sopping channel wider.

"Again," she demanded as Tara clung to her. She felt Tara begin to rise to a peak, and added the stimulation of her thumb on Tara's clit, rubbing the sensitive nerves hard, sending shockwaves of intense pleasure all through her body. Before Tara had even recovered from her first climax the second was upon her – her legs whirled up, around Willow's waist, her ankles crossing in the small of Willow's back and holding her hips up off the bed as she gushed again, drawing Willow into her as deep as humanly possible.

Her climax seemed to intensify with each wave and each thrust, rather than easing off, and at its height Willow physically lifted her off the bed, sitting up with Tara wrapped around her, arms and legs, supporting her entire weight on her thighs, and with the hand around her waist, letting her plunge down on the fingers buried inside her. Tara's head swam with pleasure, moans echoed around the room from her throat, and she clutched at Willow as if trying to draw her completely into her, to somehow become one with her. Again Willow waited until her lover's climax showed the first tiny sign of abating, and then-

"Again," she growled. Tara's eyes slammed open, staring at her in disbelief, even as her body responded. She gulped down a gasp of air, then her mouth opened in a silent moan, and for a moment the only sound in the room was their joined breathing, and the hot, wet sounds of Willow's hand, now covered to the wrist in Tara's arousal, continuing to drive into Tara's core.

"You can do it baby," Willow whispered. She held Tara tightly, protectively, as she made love to her, as Tara let herself fall into Willow's arms, into her soul, and Willow took the gift she was given and used it in full measure to bring Tara higher, higher than clouds or stars.

"One..." she whispered, her fingertips pressing into Tara's sweet spot with every thrust.

"...more..." her thumb pleasuring her clit as hard as she could bear, circling, rubbing, pressing into the sensitive bud remorselessly.

"...time." Drawing her fingers back for the last thrust, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that it would be the last, as surely as if Tara's sex were her own, the feelings within it hers, Willow added a third finger and plunged all three deep into Tara, hitting her sweet spot and clit at once, relentless, burying Tara in stimulation.

A sound formed in Tara's throat, at first a tiny, ethereal whisper of a moan, matching the tentative, almost shy tremors that began within her sex, wrapped tightly around Willow's fingers. The sound grew, louder, stronger, surer, a melodious voice of pleasure as Tara's climax began to gather pace, ever-stronger waves of pleasure cascading down over her. Tara stared her utter devotion into Willow's eyes all the while, until at last she threw her head back, release was upon her, and she let out a pure, high note, an angelic scream of pleasure, blissful, perfect and abandoned, and at the very top of her voice, such that, had it not happened to coincide with an impressive roll of thunder from the night sky, she would likely have woken half the Palace.

The sheer strength, the fullness, of Tara's climax seemed to drain the strength from Willow as completely as it did from Tara herself, and both of them slowly sank back, until they lay, Willow beneath and Tara atop her, along the length of their bed. Willow, with a supreme effort, managed the effort of hooking the corner of the blankets and drawing them over herself and her lover, then her arm returned to Tara's waist, holding her safe as the tremors within her finally began to subside.

"Goddess..." Tara gasped when Willow finally, gently withdrew her fingers from her.

"You can say that again," Willow whispered, wonder evident in her voice. "A-are you okay? That was..."

"Perfect," Tara finished, "it was utterly, utterly perfect... did you feel it, baby? Did you feel me give everything to you?"

"I felt it," Willow replied, "I... it was so beautiful... if, if there are words for how beautiful, they're words only angels can sing... I felt like... like you made me more than human." She grinned at the sound of what she said, but there was no mistaking the honesty in her words, that she believed every one."

"You are more than human," Tara said, kissing Willow's neck from where she lay beside her on the pillow, breathing the scent of her hair. "You're my whole world."

"And you were absolutely right," Willow smiled, "I've got the 'grrr' in me... I never realized how... how spiritual it could be." She paused as a thought struck her. "This... um, this doesn't mean that you won't, you know... still 'grrr' yourself...?" Tara's soft laughter soothed her at once.

"You bet I will," she chuckled, "what I felt in the wagon today... there's no way I'm not taking you like that again. And again, and again..." She kissed Willow once more. "I love you far too much to keep anything from you..."

"I love you too baby," Willow whispered, "I love you so much I've forgotten what it felt like before I loved you." She tilted her head over to kiss Tara properly, tasting her lips. "I love loving you... making you mine... being yours... heh," she chuckled, "I'm starting to think there's nothing we can't do."

"Hmm, maybe you're right," Tara purred, "I certainly intend to find out... but for now, tonight," she lifted herself up, staring down into Willow's eyes, "tonight, I am yours... and your wish is my most pleasurable command." She kissed Willow again, smiling at the passion she saw reignited in her eyes.

Willow woke up feeling as good as she ever had in her life, and also with a slight weight on her chest. Opening her eyes she saw the reason for both – Tara, curled up against her side, one arm draped across her waist, and her head pillowed on Willow's bosom. 'Glad she doesn't mind modest-sized pillows,' Willow thought to herself as she gently lifted a hand to stroke Tara's hair. After a short while Tara shifted, and snuggled up a little closer to her.

"Mmm," Tara murmured, pressing her cheek firmly against Willow's breast, "morning... 's it just me, or is the bedding more luxurious than normal?" Her head bobbed up and down as Willow laughed beneath her.

"So I'm a pillow now?" she grinned, ignoring the fact that she had been thinking the same thing a moment earlier.

"Among many other things," Tara quipped, raising her head and shifting upwards to lie against Willow's side, Tara's head resting beside hers on the pillows. "I didn't hear you complaining, did I?"

"Heh, no, I guess you didn't," Willow admitted. "Lovely way to wake up... I seem to be accumulating those recently, and they all involve you being in very close proximity to me."

"Me too," Tara smiled, lightly kissing her lips, "a mutually agreeable arrangement... in the best possible way." She fell silent, staring at Willow.

"Aw, you're such a sweetie," Willow chuckled, rolling over to wrap her arms around Tara. She giggled when Tara snuck her tongue out and poked the tip of Willow's nose.

"Are you trying for super-cute this morning?" she asked. "'Cause you're doing pretty darned well... actually," she added, with a cheeky grin teasing her lips, "I'm surprised you can even move your tongue, considering the workout it got last night."

"Amazon stamina," Tara said seriously, with just a sparkle of humor in her eyes giving her away, "we're trained to extend the bounds of the physically possible."

"You certainly did that," Willow smiled, "gods, there were times I couldn't believe what was happening to me."

"Yeah," Willow replied, "you do that a lot, you know? Heh, one time you had me coming so hard I was sure I'd turn inside-out." She paused and considered that. "Only not literally, 'cause ick, and you know, I like my insides to stay inside of me... they're called 'internal organs' for a reason... just metaphorically inside-out," she finished.

Their laughter was interrupted by the soft ringing of a small bell. Tara blinked in surprise, while Willow lifted her head to look at the door to the stairs.

"I'll see," Willow said, throwing back the covers and crawling to the edge of the bed. She swung her legs to the floor, then leaned back and kissed Tara firmly on the lips.

"Now I'll see," she said, "first things first..." She got up, pulled on a robe and tied it around her waist, and padded over to the door. There was no-one outside, but there were a handful of envelopes on the small table by the door.

"Mail," she explained, holding the letters up for Tara to see as she closed the door behind her. Tara rolled over and crawled slinkily on all fours to the foot of the bed, where Willow sat down, smiling appreciatively at her.

"One for you," she said as Tara stealthily undid the sash around her waist, "that's from Tryptin... another for you, with the Duke's seal... I know what you're doing, you know?" she added as Tara undid her robe and opened it, circling her waist with her arms and laying her head down in her lap.

"You sexy little... oh! One for me," she exclaimed, quickly opening the envelope. Tara snuggled up closer to her, staring up from her position on Willow's thighs.

"It's from Myrreon," Willow said, "he's the Duke's mage... he says I'm welcome to visit his workshop today to discuss studying with him!"

"That was quick," Tara said, slowly edging one hand down from Willow's waist towards her bottom.

"He must've got my letter last night," Willow mused, quickly reading the rest of the page. "Yeah, yeah, formal stuff, blah blah blah... oh, he says he's been doing some work on elemental magic theory he'd like to consult with me about, yay!"

"Well, it means he's not just going to send me off with a bunch of books I've probably read anyway, I'm actually going to learn something, and... and... what're you up to?" she grinned down at Tara.

"Uh-huh," Willow nodded, "well... mmm," she purred as Tara squeezed her more firmly, "well, how about you and me freshen ourselves up with a nice hot shower? I'm sure there'll be all sorts of ways for you to amuse yourself." She leaned down and gave Tara a squeeze in return, then inched her fingers inwards between her legs. "In fact, I'd quite like to amuse you senseless."

"Only if I get to return the favor," Tara said, sliding her arms up Willow's body as she sat up.

"Well then, let's shower," Tara smiled. Willow shrugged off her robe and stood up, as Tara lithely slid off the bed to her feet.

"Yeah," Willow said without really thinking, still stealing sidelong glances. "Huh? Oh, the mage... yeah, could be. I mean I'll have to see what he's like when we meet, but the tone of the letter is encouraging. Besides, we've been here two days and he hasn't tried to kill either of us, so he's already better than the last one."

After a lengthy and thorough shower – both Willow and Tara went to great lengths not to miss a spot on each other, often re-washing whole areas just to make sure – the women sat down to a light breakfast. Jesye, the elfin young woman who took over from Lissa from midnight to midday, brought up a newspaper with their meal, which Willow glanced over while Tara opened and read the other letters that had arrived earlier.

"I'll be busy this afternoon," she said to Willow, reading the letter from Tryptin, "one of the Duke's generals has come back from the north for a couple of days and they think it'd be a good idea for me to discuss what it's like around the monastery."

"I talked with Tryptin about that yesterday, he said at the moment the expeditionary part of the Duke's army is up north dealing with some bandit chieftain from the unclaimed lands beyond the border. Their best guess was that it'd take a couple of weeks to wrap up, and then they'll go about wiping out the demons around Kotram." Tara shrugged and set the letter aside. "I think Tryptin probably set up this meeting, to introduce me to someone of high rank in the Duke's army. It could be useful later on."

"Well, I'm going to have to earn my keep," Tara said, "the usual way for a warrior to do that is by lending their services to the local army as an instructor, if they've got skills better than the average soldier."

"It's either that," Tara went on, smiling at the compliment, "or be a mercenary or a bounty hunter. Not a line of work that I'd like to get into."

"Good," Willow said, "I like you safe and sound here with me, not off in some remote wilderness chasing down troublesome packs of demons."

"Yeah, but that wasn't on purpose," Willow pointed out. "Besides, I was there to watch your back, not off somewhere else worrying about you all the time." She frowned. "Well, admittedly, I was right there with you worrying about you all the time... but we were together, that's the main thing. Where did this line of thought start?"

"Good," Tara echoed with a grin. "So, that really just leaves instructing, so far as warrior-type jobs go. Archery, probably. Tryptin probably thought of that, it'll be useful to have met one of the generals beforehand. Not that it won't be useful for him to have some foreknowledge of what things are like down where we were, and I've got a fair idea of the kinds of things a general would want to know. Tryptin probably thought of that too," she grinned, "that'd be like him, planning for everything."

"Tryptin knows you're staying here?" Willow asked, between bites of toast with jam. Tara looked thoughtful.

"It's funny, we haven't actually spoken about it since we were at the castle," she said. "I remember thinking I'd tell him once we got to Duncraig, then we got separated, and I never got around to it when we got back, it was all about what had happened to us. I'll have to tell him next time I see him. He knew I was seriously thinking about staying with you," she added, looking across the table at Willow, "not that I've ever actually considered anything else..." She thought for a moment, and smiled. "He's probably figured it out for himself. I'll make sure I tell him." She picked up the other letter, with the envelope bearing the Duke's seal, and opened it.

"Oh, it's the performance the Duke's going to," she said, "invitation, schedule... 'Lady Tara of the Amazon Nation, and her companion, are reserved a place in the Duke's party to attend the anniversary gala at the Duncraig opera house, the party being scheduled to meet on the steps of the Palace entrance hall at seven o'clock,'" she read. "Do you want to unpack that green dress you wore to the Baron's dinner?"

"Actually I've got another little something you haven't seen yet," Willow grinned, "I thought I might have to look formal now and then so I packed a couple of suitable outfits for dinners and dances and all that. I'll have to see if the laundry can have it pressed in time for tonight... promise not to peek when I unpack it?"

"What about you?" Willow asked. "Ceremonial outfit? Every man in the opera house will be jealous of me, you know. Probably a lot of the women as well."

"Maybe ceremonial dress," Tara said vaguely, "but yesterday Tryptin said it wasn't technically a diplomatic appearance... maybe I'll surprise you."

"Ooh, now I'm going to have trouble keeping my mind on my magic all day," Willow replied. "What time's your meeting with the general?"

"In that case, do you want to come with me this morning?" Willow asked hopefully.

"I think it'll be okay," Willow assured her, "I mean, you're a diplomatic guest and all, that's pretty prestigious. Plus you're a mage too, from what I've seen you're up there with the best in terms of spell shaping and channeling, I'm sure he'd like to meet you. From the letter he seems pretty relaxed about the whole thing – some mages get all secretive about their work, but you wouldn't expect that of someone who's agreed to tutor a sorceress who's not part of their order, so I don't think there's anything to worry about. And," she finished with a shy smile, "I'd like it if you would. Not that I want to be all demanding and monopolize all your time or anything but..."

"I get it," Tara interrupted, "things are better when I'm around you. For me too, and I'd love to come along."

"Yay!" Willow exclaimed, bouncing out of her chair, the few remains of her breakfast forgotten. Tara finished hers and followed Willow to the writing desk, where she had stored her study paraphernalia the previous evening after unpacking it all – notebooks, a handful of esoteric-looking instruments, and a set of colored inks which Willow had explained as her system for taking notes – green for spell theory, blue for energy theory, red for applications, black for casting instructions, and purple for 'everything else'.

"Anything I should know?" Tara asked. "I don't want to accidentally offend him, or anything-"

"Nah, you'll be fine," Willow said, "I mean, you're naturally polite and courteous and wonderful to be around, who could complain about that? Just, you know, be yourself. Don't worry if he seems a bit odd, court mages in places like this sometimes get a bit eccentric."

"It's just from working on their research for so long," Willow went on, oblivious to Tara's fond smile, "in a city this big all the mundane magic – minor enchantments, that sort of thing – would be done by younger mages, lower down in their orders. Unless there's a really serious war going – which there hasn't been here in ages – the Duke's personal mage is probably free to pursue whatever line of research he wants, and not worry too much about what the outside world is up to."

Willow's assurances notwithstanding, Tara found herself slightly nervous as they followed Jesye through the Palace towards the mage's tower, almost on the opposite side from the smaller tower containing their room. The young servant had been quiet initially, but by the time they had reached the base of the tower and begun their ascent, she and Willow were chattering amiably to each other, with Tara a step behind listening in. Willow had been curious when Jesye referred to their room as the 'Princess tower', and Jesye was in the process of explaining.

"After Princess Marindi, who's now the Duchess," she was saying, "back when the Duke was courting her – this was ten years ago, but one of the older servants told me – he had the tower added to the Palace for her to stay in when she visited. Her brother's the Prince of Kartand, off to the west, used to be a great realm, but they say there was a war a century ago, and they lost nearly all their land. It's said to be a nice place now though, my father took my mother there for their anniversary last year, said the mountains are beautiful. Anyway," she paused for breath, "the Duke called in every master craftsman in the city and they built the tower – he told them, make it perfect."

"No wonder the Princess married him," Willow grinned, glancing back at Tara, who gave her a smile and nodded.

"They say the Duke's private rooms are finer," Jesye went on, "and the Lion Star's royal cabin, of course. I haven't seen either, only attendant of five years' good service get assigned to the royal apartments, or go with the Duke and Duchess when they travel, but from what they say... oh, here we are," she said, as they finally reached the top of yet another flight of stairs, which led to a landing curving around the inner rooms of the tower, with the outer wall on the other side. There was one door, made of old, thick wood bound in iron, and a watery-looking blue-white crystal mounted in a small metal frame bolted to the wall next to it. Tara had the odd feeling it was watching them.

"Master Myrreon's workshop," she said, indicating the lone door. Willow thanked her and rapped the brass knocker on the door. She stood next to Tara, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Thanks," Tara whispered back. Willow's hand in hers made all the difference – she felt her spirits lift as they waited. Willow smiled at her, her other hand fidgeting with her staff. After a short pause, during which Tara became aware of a constant, steady clanking from beyond the door, just on the edge of hearing, footsteps grew nearer, and the door opened.

"Hello?" said the man who looked out into the corridor. He was young, twenty-five perhaps, with short black hair and dark eyes. His features were handsome, though markedly different to any Tara had seen before, and she could see Willow's attention fix on him in curiosity as well – his skin was a flawless pale tone, slightly more gold than pink, his nose didn't stand out very far, and his eyes were thin and spaced a little wider than was usual for the people of Westmarch, giving him a reserved, philosophical look.

"Um, I'm Willow," Willow said, stepping forward, bringing Tara with her, "I got your letter this morning?"

"Oh, of course," the man said, "the sorceress, yes. Thank you," he said to Jesye with a courteous nod. She bowed quickly and turned back towards the stairs.

"I'm Zan," the man said as Willow and Tara, "Master Myrreon is in here, somewhere, come in, please."

"This is Tara," Willow said, stepping up to the doorway as Zan stood aside, "my partner, we're traveling together."

"Hello..." Tara said, but trailed off as she and Willow went through the door into the chamber beyond. It was round, occupying the whole center of the tower, and rose three storeys to a wooden-beamed ceiling, with sturdy wooden stairs and landings winding their way around the outer wall to reach the floors above. The perimeter of the room was a crowded mess of bookshelves, desks laden with interesting glassware and metal objects, racks of scrolls and parchments, iron-bound trunks, crates, bits of timber and metal, and all manner of devices. Off to one side was something that looked like a free-standing candelabra, except that instead of candles it had a translucent sphere composed of shifting, wavering colors; on a desk a wooden contraption, a framework containing countless tiny cogs, gears and ratchets, had been partially disassembled; from one of the landings hung something which looked like a pair of falcon's wings, constructed from parchment stretched over a wooden frame.

What rendered Willow and Tara both speechless was the construction in the center of the workshop, which was a massive model of the heavens, fashioned in brass and steel, with a huge bronze sun in the center and around it, on graceful metal arms containing intricate, moving systems of levers and gears, all the planets, each with its proper moons, marked with silver detailing over metals of every hue imaginable. The whole structure was in motion, the planets moving through their orbits around the sun, all their various moons in turn orbiting their planets, and most of the huge arms, which spanned much of the considerable width of the workshop, slowly bending at joints along their lengths as sections extended and retracted, keeping their planets at their proper distance from the sun while avoiding any collisions with other arms as they swung past each other. The noise Tara had heard earlier was coming mainly from the huge base of the construct, where massive gears clanked around, powering it all.

"Master?" Zan called. There was a clunk from inside the huge orrery's base, and a middle-ages man in long robes crawled out from within it and got to his feet, dusting himself off as he looked around. To Tara he seemed to be the embodiment of the wizards she had imagined from hearing stories in her childhood – the white hair and beard framing a kindly-looking face, the robes decorated with arcane symbols, even the pair of half-moon glasses perched on his nose.

"Hello?" he said, noticing Willow, Tara and Zan standing at the edge of the workshop. He made his way across, bending to keep clear of the planets overhead, and once he reached them he drew himself up to his full height, smiling uncertainly.

"Hmm? Oh, the sorceress, of course." He beamed at Willow and Tara, looked confused for a moment, then settled his gaze on Willow.

"You're Miss Willow?" he asked, evidently judging by her attire – she was wearing one of her Zann Esu robes, while Tara was wearing a skirt and tunic.

"Yes," Willow replied, "this is Tara, she's an Amazon, she knows a lot about spell shaping..."

"An Amazon?" the mage said, surprised. "Oh yes, we've got Amazons here at the moment, haven't we... you do, what was it, fire? Battle spells using weapon as channels?"

"Lightning, I see," the mage nodded, "fascinating really, the focus of holy magic into a prime shell... oh, forgive me, I haven't introduced myself. Myrreon of the Vizjerei, at your service. This is Zan, my assistant, and this-" he turned to the empty room. "Oh," he said sounding disappointed, "where's she got to?"

"The university, Master," Zan said patiently, "you sent her to deliver your schematics to the professor of arithmancy?"

"Of course, of course," Myrreon said, "my apprentice, Ocean... she should be back soon. And I'm to teach you, am I?" he asked Willow. "Both of you?" he added, glancing at Tara.

"Oh well," Myrreon said, "I hope we can talk later, I'm curious about Amazon magic, I think there's some interesting subtleties involved in the theory, it might be quite useful to some of the work I'm doing... well, Miss Willow," he turned his attention back to her, "I understand you won't be staying quite long enough to be an apprentice, as such – of course I've got one already... well, two, though I think Zan is quite close to being a mage in his own right... how about I just show you what I'm doing, and if you're interested I'll see if I can convey the theory behind it. I often find it useful to explain what I'm doing, you know," he said, leading the way to one of the less cluttered desks, "seems to make it easier to line all my thoughts up and make sense of them, there's an old saying, you know, 'if you want to understand something, try explaining it to someone else', I think that's quite true. You'll want to duck."

"Wha?" Willow said, as Tara grabbed her waist and pulled her down into a crouch. A small planet whirred overhead on the end of a particularly complicated arm that seemed to be composed entirely of interlocking gears, with only a few struts to keep it from falling to pieces.

"Erratic orbit," Myrreon went on, ducking the planet without looking, "nothing to be done about it, I'm afraid. Caught me a nasty bump on the head the first time I set the whole system moving, but you get used to keeping out of its way. That was Lorelei, by the way. I mean, we could tilt the whole thing so it didn't come out so close to head level, but according to the measurements if we did that then Titanis's orbit would pass right through the first floor landing."

"Is it... it's going backwards, isn't it?" Willow asked, frowning in thought as she studied the orrery's motions.

"Yes!" Myrreon exclaimed happily. "Yes, it is – you'd be surprised how few people spot that. Yes, I'm running it backwards at about a year a minute, it's come up with some interesting alignments, Zan's taking note of them and we've been comparing them to historical records... you know of astrological parallel?"

"That's it," Myrreon said, reaching the desk and rummaging around for a scroll, "of course it's highly suspect, all that nonsense about Forma being in the north quarter so everyone born in the first week of the month will meet a tall dark stranger, or whatever... we've got some interesting evidence, though, that on a larger scale their might be some correlation between the movements of the heavens and the waxing and waning of earthly powers. Ah, here it is." He handed a scroll to Willow.

"Elemental power calculations," he said, "when I got your letter I thought you'd be the person to ask about this, I'm not much of an elemental mage myself – a few cantrips, really, nothing more – I've always been more drawn to the mechanics of the world, the laws governing it. Would you mind taking a look at those? They're to do with multi-planar elemental convergences, to try to explain some of the anomalies I'm trying to get to the bottom of. Zan will help you," he went on, turning to his assistant, "would you explain the work I've been doing on convergence and dissonance? Oh, I almost forgot," he turned back to Willow, "I understand you had a run-in with a rather nasty bit of magic down south, something about a renegade from the Ennead order trying to conduct a summoning in the old monastery? The Duke asked me to look into it, see what might be done, would you mind explaining it to me later? This afternoon?"

"Good, good," Myrreon said, nodding to himself as well, "well then, you and Zan can start on that scroll, and if I may," he looked to Tara, "I'd quite like to learn a bit more about Amazon magic, did I mention before I was curious about it? If it's no trouble, of course?"

"No, that's fine," Tara said happily. She gave Willow's hand a squeeze, and they shared a brief smile before Willow sat down next to Zan, who had unrolled the scroll over the desk. Myrreon wandered off to another of his work tables, this one piled high with books, and an assortment of arcane devices stacked in a precarious heap, and Tara followed him.

"Um, sorry if this seems impolite," Willow said hesitantly to Zan as they worked through the magical equations written in Myrreon's elegant, flowing handwriting, "but I'm curious – I'm always curious, pretty much, but specifically – I haven't ever seen anyone like you. I'm just... well, curious, like I said." Zan gave her a polite smile.

"Yeah, I can see why," Willow said, "I traveled pretty far up the Argentek river with my sponsor in the Zann Esu, and the people up there were similar, in some ways."

"Similar skin tones," Zan agreed, with an enigmatic little grin, "on my way west I passed as a native of those areas now and then. But I'm not from there."

"On your way west," Willow echoed, "from further east? I don't know anyone who's been further than the shores of the Sea of Light, past the mountain ranges... beyond that all anyone knows is rumors and old stories, just..."

"Wild stories," Zan nodded, "I know, I've heard them. Myrreon and Ocean know all about me, but to most people I just say I'm from Ureh, just this side of the mountains. Even with all the foreign traders who put into the docks here, that's still remote enough that no-one knows much about it, and no-one asks questions."

"How come?" Willow asked. "I mean, you don't have to explain, I was just wondering... sorry, I'll shut up now."

"That's alright," Zan said gently, "I don't mind. I'm not a fugitive or anything, I just... it was a long, difficult journey coming west, and I didn't make it without good reason. I don't really want to dwell on what I left behind. Some of the wild tales aren't so wild... I wish they were."

"It's alright," Zan assured her, "you've given no offence, I promise, and if you still feel you have, then consider it forgiven. After all," he chuckled, "if we weren't curious, we wouldn't be mages, would we?"

"I guess not," Willow returned his smile, then turned her attention back to the scroll. "This is a planar phase equation, isn't it? I studied some of the original Horadric scrolls on these when I was in Kurast once."

"Master Myrreon's been working on them for a while, on and off," Zan said, "between other pursuits. It's fortunate you're here, actually, the parts of the equations that deal with elemental magic have been giving us some trouble."

"It's a tricky branch of magic," Willow replied, "especially if you're used to other kinds. I mean, we start when we're seven, and it's the first and only magic a sorceress learns, and it still takes years to get the hang of it. And decades to really master it."

"I don't have the knack at all," Zan admitted, "I can do some secondary elemental spells, manipulation – earth, fire, wind, water, that kind – but primal elements, your fire and ice and lightning, they're completely beyond me. I think it might actually be a bit of a drawback, when I work on the theory behind primal fire magic I keep expecting it to behave like the fire magic I'm used to. But it's so much more powerful, and the rules seem completely different."

"Well, I'll see what I can figure out from this," Willow said, peering at the intricate equations. "I do cold magic rather than fire, but the theory is the same, and my sponsor in the Order was a fire sorceress... let's see..."

She and Zan worked on the scroll for a few minutes, him explaining the more esoteric theoretical aspects of the calculations, Willow making notes on the elemental magic aspects, until the workshop door creaked open and a tall figure in a dark green cloak and hood came in, carrying a pair of books. Zan turned and nodded for Willow to join him as he got up and moved to greet the new arrival – a woman, Willow guessed, from the way she moved, even concealed by her clothing the feminine sway of her hips and grace of her steps was obvious, almost exaggerated in fact.

"Willow," Zan said, "this is Ocean, Master Myrreon's apprentice. Ocean, this is Willow, she's the sorceress who'll be working with us for a while."

The woman handed her books to Zan, reached up with gloved hands and drew back her hood, giving Willow the second notable surprise of her day. In form she was entirely human, the dimensions and shape of her face no different to any other woman, though particularly elegant, beautiful in an aristocratic way, framed by long black hair that was drawn back into a tight braid. What was startling about her was that every inch of her skin was glistening viridian scales, shining like mother-of-pearl, and her eyes too were those of a serpent. She politely ignored Willow's surprise, nodding in greeting before making a brief sign- gesture with one hand.

"Um, thanks," Willow managed, "me too... hi." She smiled and extended a hand, which Ocean shook – her grip was gentle, yet with a suggestion of strength behind it, carefully controlled.

"What? Oh, good!" Myrreon got up from his desk, where he and Tara had been deep in discussion, and she had now and then been demonstrating motions, as if drawing a bow. She followed him across the workshop floor, ducking beneath the arm holding the innermost planet of the orrery, which extended down further than the others to accommodate extra gearing.

"My apprentice," Myrreon said to Tara, "Ocean, this is Tara, she's... I'm sorry," he said, turning to Tara, "I forgot to ask, is it Lady Tara, or...? I'm afraid I don't know the proper form of address for an Amazon."

"Just 'Tara'," Tara said with a smile, "hello." She shook Ocean's hand, having had the advantage of seeing her as she neared to take in her unusual appearance.

"She's Willow's partner," Myrreon went on, glancing at the books Zan was carrying, "what've you got there?" Ocean made a complex gesture. "Oh, the Horadric Astronomica... both volumes? Excellent, well, we'll see what we can see with the telescope tonight, and make some adjustments to the orrery tomorrow if we have the time. Of, excuse me," he said to Willow, "if I could borrow Zan for a moment, I've been jotting down a couple of notes while your lovely partner was explaining her magic, I think they may help with that scroll you've been looking at."

All four of them followed him back to his cluttered desk, where he made a couple of additional notes to a piece of paper and peered at it in thought. Willow had to pause for a moment, to duck around the orrery, and when she caught up and stood next to Tara, something among the piled devices on the desk began to emit a low chiming sound.

"Hmm, what's that," Myrreon said absently, "it's not midday yet, is the sunlight clock running early again?"

"No, it's over there Master," Zan said, pointing to another table, "I took it apart to fix the photoreactive pentagram, remember?"

"Oh, yes," Myrreon nodded, "in that case... help me with this, would you?" With Zan's help he lifted a large wire framework decorated with crystals off the desk and set it on the floor, then began digging through the pile of smaller artifacts and devices, handing them to Zan or Ocean, who put them on shelves or other tables.

"Ah, it's... oh my word," he said, audibly surprised, "that is unusual." He reached into the pile and drew out a small box, barely three inches from edge to edge, decorated with gold patterns over a lacquered black finish.

"It's a Horadric Cube, isn't it?" Willow asked Myrreon. "I've seen one, in the Zann Esu vaults, and drawings of them of course..."

"Yes," Myrreon said, "a transmutarium, commonly called a Horadric Cube. I acquired it from my old master a few years ago, when he retired."

"It's a relic from the Sin Wars," Willow whispered to Tara, "the old Horadrim mages fashioned them to perform very powerful magic, transmutation – turning one thing into another. Not just changing things, but literally remaking them, they could turn, oh, anything, soil into metal, rainwater into potions-"

"Provided one knew the correct alignments to fix into the cube," Myrreon nodded, "which, sadly, are largely lost to the mists of time. I've been working with this one on and off since I got it, but transmutation is a very complicated art – I mean, the magic alone, to do it as a spell, takes years to learn, just for simple spells. Working out how to configure the cube to access its full range of spells... well, the possible configurations are in the millions, and reverse-analyzing the magic is a very tedious, difficult procedure."

Willow took a step forward and leant over the desk, peering closely at the small device, which looked like nothing more powerful than a puzzle box. The chiming sound it was emitting increased, gaining additional harmonics.

"So why is it doing that?" Zan asked, as he, Ocean and Tara also drew closer to look at the cube.

"Objects that have been transmuted by a cube retain a, a signature of sorts. It's reacting to that," Myrreon said, picking it up. He held it close to Willow, and again its pitch increased – he drew it back, and the chiming calmed.

"Something you're carrying, most likely," Myrreon said, "your staff, perhaps? Was it made for you, or were you given it? Does it have any unusual properties?"

"This?" Willow said, glancing at her plain wooden staff. "Um, my sponsor in the Order gave it to me, it was one of hers I think... but it's not powerful, I mean it seems to have a knack for energy control, but pretty much any sorceress would have a staff with some kind of magical ability imbued into it. Besides, it wouldn't fit in that little thing."

"Oh, the cube's dimensions are variable, if you know how to work it," Myrreon said. Willow shrugged, stood back and handed her staff to Tara, then took a step closer to the desk again. The cube reacted just as it had before.

"Not the staff, then," she said. Over the next couple of minutes she patiently emptied the pouches on her belt, passing each tiny scroll, vial or charm to Tara, who put them into a bag Ocean handed her. She finished divesting herself of all her usual equipment, and glared at the cube, as if it were doing this on purpose.

"Well it's not my robes," she complained patting the other empty pouches on her belt, "and I don't have any other... oh, wait," she said, reaching into a pocket, "I thought I'd got everything... oh, this." She held up the medallion she and Tara had found in the monastery.

"That?" Tara wondered. Willow held it closer to the cube, which chimed more shrilly.

"Interesting," Myrreon said, "may I?" Willow handed him the gold disc and he peered at it intently. "Mmm, some religious significance, but no particular markings that would indicate magical properties, where did you get it?"

"The Kotram monastery," Willow said, "the renegade mage there had taken it from the chapel... what is it?"

"I don't know," the old mage said, "I would guess... camouflage? Something important that's been transmuted to keep it from being found, perhaps. That mage, he died, didn't he? The Duke said he was dead, is that right?"

"Yes," Willow said, "he took his own life just before we arrived. He... from what he wrote, it looks like the demon he was serving drove him insane."

"Ah," Myrreon nodded sadly, "yes, dreadful business... but I suppose, given that, there's no obvious danger in seeing what this might contain."

"You don't think it might be dangerous?" Tara asked, gently putting a protective hand around Willow's arm.

"I doubt it," Myrreon said, "the fact that the cube is resonating means that the object, whatever it used to be, was originally transmuted by another Horadric Cube, and the cubes were built with all kinds of safeguards to keep them from being used by demons, or humans under the sway of demons. I don't think this would pose us any threat... we might get an idea about what was going on down south, though, if we knew what that poor wretch was trying to find. Ocean, pay attention, this won't be something you see often. Zan, have a nullification spell ready, just to be on the safe side. Now then..."

With Willow, Tara and Zan watching from a few paces away, and Ocean watching attentively from the side of the desk, Myrreon began methodically dismantling the cube. Muttering under his breath he traced his fingers over its surface, sometimes following the gold patterns set into it, sometimes completely different. With every pattern he traced a piece of the cube would slide out, and the chiming melody coming from it would change. Finally there was only the edges of the cube, a hollow frame, with tiny puzzle-like pieces surrounding it on the desk.

"Well, that's the easy part done," Myrreon said. He delicately opened the frame, bending back the tiny hinges at each corner to lay it out flat, and placed the medallion in the center of it. Then he closed the frame back around it, lifting each edge into place and latching it back into the shape of a cube. The pieces of the cube sparkled dimly, and the chiming slowly faded to silence. The medallion never moved, exactly, but somehow by the time the cube's frame was back in place, it was suspended in the exact center, and seemed a good deal smaller, not as if it had shrunk, but more as if it were being seen from some distance away.

"Good, isn't it?" Myrreon chuckled to himself. "You see, the cube's edges have a certain inherent dimensional component to them, so as you close the cube, whatever is inside it becomes subverted from the mortal plane, and exists in a parallel plane created within the cube's phase space."

"Well," Willow shrugged, "five minutes ago I'd have said no. I've never actually seen one of these in action."

"Few people have," Myrreon said, "Ocean, would you get my notebook, the one with the cube formulae? Thank you." The snake woman crossed to a bookshelf and drew out a slim volume, opening it as she returned and placing it on the desk in front of Myrreon.

"Now, what we want to do is reverse the existing transmutation," he explained, "fortunately that's a fairly simple configuration... you see, changing one thing into another requires that the cube be configured, given instructions if you like, to define what it is that is being put into it, and what it must be turned into. An that's quite a bit more complicated than asking for a magic sword, you have to..." he paused, and flipped through the pages, "ah, here we are... you have to define virtually every particle and energy state, which is no easy thing. Fortunately, once a transmutation has occurred, it... Zan, could you fetch my magnifying glass? Yes, once a transmutation has occurred, the form or the original components remains suspended within the particulate composition of the final product, sort of like a, a blueprint in the core of it. All we have to do is set the cube to unwind that blueprint and apply it back to the subject, and the spell will, in effect, undo itself. At least," he glanced back with a smile, "that's the theory, I've only ever managed it with very simple objects that I've managed to transmute here in the first place, so this could be tricky..."

Frequently referring to his notes, Myrreon slowly rebuilt the sides of the cube from the pieces scattered over the desk. Willow took a step closer to peer at the patterns on the reassembled cube, finding as she had suspected they were different than they had been – the mage was putting the pieces into different positions.

"Yes, that's right," Myrreon nodded, still working, "and as you can see, there's a hundred and fifty pieces, each of them potentially taking any position on any of the six faces of the cube, so the permutations alone are incredibly extensive."

"That's..." Willow's brow furrowed in thought, "that's a lot... a big lot... five point seven to... drat... power of five hundred and fifty... something?" Ocean gestured briefly.

"She says you're pretty close," Zan translated. "She's got a mathematical mind like no-one I've ever known." He gave her a brief smile, which she returned, and Willow was struck by how human it made her seem, despite her serpentine appearance.

"And that's just the combinations," Myrreon went on, "it also depends on which order the pieces are put in, which orientation they have... according to the texts I've read, the remaining pieces of a partially completed cube have been known to alter their shape and surface detail, though I've never managed to achieve that effect. Luckily, as I said, reversing a transmutation is relatively simple."

He worked patiently for a while longer, then finally stood back, with the small box intact in the center of the desk.

"Hmm? Oh," the mage said, reaching out, "of course... we activate it, and... well, see what happened." He touched the center of the upper face of the cube, then stood back with a satisfied expression. There was a low chiming, then the top of the cube lifted up, parts of it sliding out of the base, rising in a star-shape. When the extruded segment reached the top of its travel it rotated around and sunk back into place, ninety degrees away from its original position, but once more in the form of a cube. For a moment, Willow had thought she glimpsed tiny crystals and geometric structures of light through the gaps in the faces.

"And there we have it," Myrreon said triumphantly, stepping forward. He opened the top of the cube as if it were just a box, and folded the sides down to reveal a gleaming gold ring, slightly larger across than the cube had been, despite having been contained within it a moment ago. It was flat like a disc, about an inch wide from its outer edge to the inner, five inches across in all, and completely featureless.

"What is it?" Tara and Willow both said at once. Myrreon picked it up and peered at it.

"Well, I was rather hoping you would be able to tell me," he said, "it doesn't correspond to anything you saw at the monastery?" At their blank looks, he looked to Zan, who shrugged, and Ocean, who took a quick look at it, gestured, and headed towards a nearby bookshelf.

"Well, my apprentice will see if she can find any mention of something like this in one of the Vizjerei catalogues of artifacts and relics, but I must say I don't think it'll be there – it doesn't seem magical at all, and I'm normally quite sensitive to magical auras, unless this has some kind of magic too subtle to detect. Well," he said, handing the flattened ring to Willow, "we'll do what analyses we can on it this afternoon, you might be interested in observing the spells for compositional determination, I don't have cause to use them very often. And of course you must tell me as much as you know about what happened at the monastery... but you know, I rather think this might be a red herring."

"Hmm? Oh, figure of speech," Myrreon explained, "something that seems important but is actually irrelevant to the matter at hand. The renegade was, as you say, insane, he may have felt something vital to whatever devilry he was up to was concealed in that medallion, when in fact it was... this." He peered again at the disc. "Quite plain, isn't it? Looks a bit like one of those weapons, what are they called? They use them on the eastern shore of the Sea of Light, twirl them around their fingers and let them loose, they fly quite a way..."

"Yes, that's it," Myrreon agreed, "it's not a weapon, I'm sure, at least not a magical one, there's certainly not the kind of power in it you'd need to generate a destructive force. Odd. Oh well," he clapped his hands together, "shall we order up lunch?"

Tara said her goodbyes after lunch, thanking Myrreon for his time and interest, saying a few words to Zan and Ocean, and giving Willow a kiss before she left the tower and headed back to their room. She found Lissa in her usual waiting room on the floor below, leafing idly through a newspaper.

"I could use some local knowledge," she explained when the attendant asked if she could be of service. "I've got an appointment later this afternoon, but there's enough time to go out before then. Willow and I will be in the Duke's party going to the opera house tonight..."

"I know Miss," Lissa said, "I'll be along with the other servants, if you need anything."

"Oh? Good, thank you," Tara smiled, "but what I need is... well, all I've got for formal occasions is my armor, the ceremonial set, and this isn't really that kind of occasion anyway, but the other dresses I brought are more, well, everyday clothes. I was wondering, would you know anywhere I could get a, well," she gave a shy smile, "something nice to wear? I-I'd like to look good for Willow tonight."

"That shouldn't be a problem for you, Miss," Lissa said, "if you don't mind me saying so... and I think I know just the place."

Tara stood in front of the mirror, staring critically at her reflection. She experimented a little with the bunching of the skirt at her hips, essayed a twirl, and smiled as the folds of fabric spun and fell perfectly into place. She pretended to bow to her mirror image, then got a mischievous smile, undid the topmost cross of laces over her chest, bowed again, and raised an eyebrow in anticipation.

Tara had seen the dress in the shop window of the boutique Lissa had taken her to, a small, modest store not far from the Parliament house, and had been so entranced that she had without thinking walked right out from underneath their umbrella to get a better look. Luckily the night's storm had waned into a light drizzle, so she only got slightly damp before Lissa caught up with her. She had been overjoyed, and even Lissa had seemed pleased, when the woman who ran the store said she had such a dress already cut very close to Tara's proportions. She had taken Tara's measurements, asked a fairly reasonable price for such a stylish garment, and promised that the minor alterations she needed to make would be done well in time for the evening.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the barracks of the Duke's army, a small fortified compound near the bridge across the Marien off-shoot that flowed behind the palace. Tara spoke at length to General Murine, a stocky man with close-cut white hair and a short white beard. Tryptin had included a couple of pages of notes with his letter, including some details of the campaign being waged in the north against the bandits, and the procedures and idiosyncrasies of the Duncraig military – Tara had been impressed with his ability to absorb information, considering he had never before set foot in the city, and Murine in turn seemed pleased that Tara understood his position and how best she could help him meet his needs. When she first arrived in his office overlooking the small parade ground he seemed very businesslike, speaking in short sentences, always to the point, but after the first few minutes, in which Tara had laid out the basics of the situation as she had seen it in the demon-infested lands to the south, he had evidently decided she was a serious warrior and perhaps a source of valuable information, and thus to be treated with more than common courtesy. They spent the next couple of hours retracing Tara and Willow's journey in detail, with the aid of one of the General's excellent maps which seemed to show every possible detail – even the stream at which they had paused to bathe after finding Amalee, and the little lake in the forest just over the ridge west of Kotram where Tara had lain on the sun-warmed stone and very physically reassured Willow of her well-being. Tara omitted the more personal details from her account, but left out nothing concerning demons – where they had been seen, what they had done, where they had found tracks or signs of them. The map even included a sketch of tunnels from the monastery to the villages, which Tara elaborated on. The General made careful note of everything she said in a small book, of which there were dozens lined up on a bookshelf. From the glimpses Tara had of his writing he used some sort of shorthand, with abbreviations and symbols, and wrote in a careful, small script such that all the information she gave him was compacted down into three pages.

With some time left before she intended to return to the Palace – she was sure Willow would be in the mage's tower all afternoon – the General gave her a brief tour of the compound, which as she had thought was quite new, built only seven years previously, to replace the old army quarters which had been within the Palace itself. Tara had mentioned some similarities between the compound's training grounds and her own, in Tran Athulua, and after a short discussion on training techniques for bows and javelins, Murine had invited Tara to demonstrate her talents. The compound's armory was modern and well-stocked, and Tara quickly found a bow she liked the feel of, with which she put several arrows in a cluster at the center of her target.

She wondered, thinking back on it, whether Tryptin might have already dropped a word in someone's ear about taking her on as an instructor, for the General had quite obviously been sizing her up as an archer, and on seeing her performance had offered her a contract on the spot. She looked forward to telling Willow the good news – ten crowns a day, four days a week, was enough to get by on in itself, but given that food and accommodation was provided for her as long as she stayed in the Palace, it meant that when she and Willow eventually headed towards Khanduras, she would have enough to see them comfortably through until the next large settlement when archery training might be in need.

'With enough for the occasional luxury as well,' she thought, taking another look at herself in the mirror. The dress was waiting, laid out on the bed, when she got back to the Palace, and Lissa gave her a thumbs-up as she passed the servants' quarters on the stairs. It was certainly worth every crown Tara had paid for it, and imagining Willow seeing her, she found herself growing quite excitedly impatient for her lover's return.

The dress was slate gray, with hints of blue as it caught the light, a luxurious hue that, quite aside from being stylish and elegant in itself, drew attention to the healthy glow of Tara's skin, and the gold of her hair which she wore loose around her circlet. The skirt was carefully pleated, gathered on either side her waist and flowing the floor, where it trailed just a fraction, enough to look stately without tripping anyone over. The bodice was simple yet eye-catching – slit down the front from waist to chest, held with double rows of crossed laces up to just below the middle of her chest, where it had just enough strength in it to hold itself up and open gently into a wide neckline, with lapels on either side of her exposed cleavage showing the pearl-white inner lining of the garment. Beneath it, a flat-topped black satin bustier was just high enough to be glimpsed as the bodice opened out, and was surprisingly comfortable – Tara had wondered whether it might be somewhat restraining, given the look of it, reminiscent of the tightly-corseted style of fashion, but in fact it was merely supportive. From the wide neck, which exposed almost the full width of her shoulders, the sleeves ran loosely down to cuffs held with tiny silver buttons, and Tara had found, as she had guessed in the shop, that her lightest pair of boots, dark gray, soft leather with pointed toes, matched the dress quite well, not that they were visible as anything but the occasional toe poking out from beneath the skirt as she walked. The whole effect was reminiscent of a very elaborate, baroque style, and might not have looked terribly out of place among bustles and hoop skirts, yet the dressmaker had taken the idea and applied to it a liberated style, creating a dress that was at the same time formal and downright sexy. Tara made a mental note to return to the shop and thank the proprietor for her work.

She smiled and crossed the room to stand near the breakfast table as she heard Willow's footsteps – fast, eager, and with the occasional sound of the base of her staff on the stairs – approaching from beyond the main door. The doorknob turned a fraction, then all the way.

"Hey, you back already?" Willow began asking before she had even come through the door, "next time you're free there's something you've just got to see, Myrreon's built a-"

She stopped in her tracks as she turned and saw Tara, the excitement on her face flooded away by a look of amazement.

"Uh-huh," Willow said, as if dazed. "I-I mean yes... yes! Goddess, you're beautiful!" She dropped her staff in the corner, where it fell to lean against the mantelpiece, and took a few hesitant steps forward to stand in front of Tara, gazing into her eyes.

"More than beautiful," she whispered, leaning in to kiss her. Tara eagerly accepted her kiss, opening her mouth to give Willow free rein, to feel her as she pressed her lips against her, tentatively teased her with her tongue. Willow seemed entranced, slightly overwhelmed – Tara found it reminiscent of the lazy kisses they shared after climax, when they lay in each other's arms with all their strength gone.

"I love you," Willow grinned, looking her up and down, "oh goddess, where did you get this?"

"Lissa showed me a shop on my way out to the barracks," Tara said, "they had it in just my size."

"So, you own this now?" Willow asked, as if not believing her luck. "It's not borrowed, or... you can put it on whenever you want?" Tara nodded.

"Oh gods, don't tempt me," Willow said vehemently, "not that this afternoon was boring, no way, but I did kind of keep thinking about you, and this... this is just exquisite." She walked slowly around Tara, her hands trailing over her waist, absorbing every detail of the dress.

"Baby, you could make the whole world seem uninteresting," Willow said, still wide-eyed as she returned to stand in front of Tara. "It's this thing Myrreon's built, it's not working just yet but I've never seen anything like it. It's a sort of... kind of a clockwork engine for doing calculations. I spent an hour this afternoon looking over the plans for it and the parts he and Zan have put together already, after we went over the demon stuff, and I had a couple of ideas about it, so we're going to see if we can get a segment of the gearing working, to see how it goes with a few simple tests."

"Oh, who knows? There could be all sorts of applications, if it works, and if it turns out to be practical – at the moment only the motive elements are finished, and Zan says it throws a gear every five minutes or so. It's just a, an idea that got built. Myrreon does that a lot, just thinks of something, and off he goes and sees where the idea goes."

"This definitely makes up for those mages in Kingsport who just gave me a bunch of books and shuffled me out of their rooms as quick as they could," Willow went on, "there's no way I'm going to get bored here. Two months in the Palace, then some more time at the university, and maybe a couple of weeks each with a few independent mages in the magical quarter – this is going to be great!" She jumped lightly and clapped her hands, which was so adorable that Tara couldn't resist gathering her in her arms and kissing her again.

"Ah... of course," Willow murmured, resting contently in Tara's arms, "I know one area of my life where I'm never bored, or unsatisfied." She smiled alluringly into Tara's gaze. "Or anything less than great."

"Darn right," Tara said, doing a passable imitation of Willow's voice. Willow giggled, then hugged Tara and rested her head on her shoulder, brushing her cheek lightly against her.

"Is it always going to be like this?" she asked. "Are you always going to make the simplest things, like wearing a fancy dress, or talking, or just holding you... so special I almost want to cry because I'm so happy?" Tara leaned to kiss her forehead, then began stroking her hair.

"Yay," Willow murmured, tickling Tara's neck with her lips. She gave Tara a final squeeze, then loosened her hug enough to stand back a little way and look at her.

"So, would you like to come see the amazing breaking-down thinking engine?" she smiled.

"I'd like that," Tara replied, "it sounds fascinating. If Myrreon doesn't mind having me around his workshop?"

"Oh, of course not!" Willow grinned. "When we were talking about the demon I explained most of what happened to us, and all the stuff about you and your magic fascinated him. Not just the lightning-blast kind, the sensing as well. I think he'd like the chance to talk to you again."

"That's nice of him," Tara said, "I liked talking to him. He seemed very smart."

"He certainly is," Willow said, reluctantly disengaging herself from Tara's arms to snatch a bite to eat from the bowl of fruit on the table. "A bit forgetful sometimes, but wow he's smart. Some of the times he got going about the work he's done on astrology, or magical energy flow theory, I had trouble keeping up sometimes. Not for long," she added, smiling sidelong at Tara.

"I know," Tara said, pulling around the other chair to sit beside her, "I bet by the time you're finished studying with him you'll have absorbed every last bit of knowledge in that workshop." She picked an apple and took a bite. "How did things go about Shadai? Promising?"

"Definitely promising," Willow nodded, "Myrreon himself is more into natural mechanics, stuff on this plane, but he knows the theory behind the ethereal planes easily as well as I do, probably better in parts. He was a bit surprised at the idea of a demon existing within an ethereal plane – fair enough, it's not what you'd expect – but the more we went over what we know and what's been going on, the more he saw it was the most likely explanation. Mostly he took as many notes as I could give him, added in all the theory he knew, and that's going to go to the university for their mages to have a look at and see what they can come up with." She leaned back in her chair and took a thoughtful bite from the peach she had chosen.

"The danger aside, it's an interesting problem," she said, "the nature of the ethereal plane makes it more a matter of brainwork than power. I mean, normally with a demon the best thing to do – unless you're a very good banisher, and I'm not looking to make that mistake again – is to just hit it with as much power as you can muster. The only need for subtlety is to see that as much power as possible goes into attacking the demon's physical form itself, rather than blasting apart half the building it's in, or blowing a great big crater out of the ground. In this case it's all different. Myrreon thinks the solution will probably be some sort of dimensional warping spell, to sort of slide the demon, which in the ethereal plane is basically an energy form, out of the plane and into interplanar meta-space, where the natural bond between Shadai and her home in the deepest darkest pit of hell will take effect and zip her back there like releasing the catch on a crossbow." She paused and glanced at Tara. "You're following this, right?"

"I think so," Tara smiled, "after all, I've been around you for a while, and you're so overflowing with magical learning that I guess it's been rubbing off on me."

"Rubbing off on you, huh?" Willow smirked. Tara laughed, and Willow went on: "Anyway, instead of a matter of battle magic, it's all to do with some of the most rarefied theoretical magics that exist, real academia stuff. Sort of whoever has the biggest brains wins. Luckily demons aren't known for their smarts. Cunning, some of the powerful ones, but not that kind of intellect. Whereas we have a university on our side. Did you know," she added, grinning, "they've got a Professor of Applied Ethereality?" She shook her head. "This city has everything."

She paused in her enthusiasm, Tara watching fondly, as the bell outside the door rang.

"From the laundry, Miss Willow," Tara heard Lissa say when Willow opened the door.

"My dress," Willow said, "thanks Lissa. The one you haven't seen yet," she went on, closing the door, "it'd spoil the surprise if you saw me putting it on, and I definitely owe you a pleasant surprise considering how gorgeous you look tonight. Okay, you can look."

Tara turned around again, seeing Willow by the bed, where her dress was presumably laid out beneath the sheet she had pulled back.

"Um," Willow said, "this'll take a moment... we could kind of do with another room here..."

"You want me to wait in the bathroom?" Tara offered. Willow looked slightly pained at the idea.

"If there was a comfy chair in there, yeah, but – how about I change in the bathroom, and you wait out here?"

"There's no full-length mirror in there," Tara pointed out, "how about this, there's probably going to be food going around at the performance, but just snacks and stuff. If you want, I could go with Lissa and get a light dinner from the kitchen, and that'll give you time to change."

"Okay," Willow smiled, "good thinking. If they've got any, I'm in the mood for a pastry?"

"Sounds good," Tara agreed, walking towards Willow, "but before I go..." She reached out to trail her fingertips over Willow's hip.

"Well," Tara murmured, "I may not be able to see you get dressed, but that doesn't mean I can't help you undress, does it?"

"Oh," Willow said, a smile of comprehension dawning over her face, "yeah, you're quite right, it doesn't... well then," she grinned, "shall I place myself in your capable hands?"

"Sounds good," Tara said again, this time in a seductive purr. Standing behind Willow she undid the thin sash around her waist and slipped her Zann Esu robe from her shoulders, catching it as it fell and laying it on the bedside table. She hugged Willow from behind, looking over her shoulder at the mirror, lazily taking in Willow's reflection from head to toe in her loose buttoned tunic, silky skirt and soft boots.

"You know," she murmured in Willow's ear, reaching around her to start to undo her buttons, "I think you get sexier every time I look at you."

"I do?" Willow asked, slightly incredulous but not particularly inclined to argue while Tara's hands brushed against her nipples through the thin fabric of her top.

"You do," Tara confirmed, "I think because whenever I look at you every detail is locked into my memory, clear and brilliant as sunlight... then when I look again, every little sexy smile you've ever given me, every sway of your hips, every wiggle of that delightful bottom," she grinned and gave Willow a light swat with one hand, as the other finished undoing her top, "is all still with me. So every time I look at you, there's more sexiness just..." She paused and kissed the back of Willow's neck through her hair. "...just filling me up."

"Is that right...?" Willow breathed. Her shirt had fallen open, leaving a wide gap between the halves of its front all the way up from her waist, which Tara's hand idly followed. Tara grinned and stroked her finger up and down Willow's cleavage, playing with the catch on her bra.

"Uh-huh," she whispered, "and you know I can never get enough Willow." Willow nodded silently, a delighted shiver running up her spine.

"Mmm-mmm," Willow purred contentedly, as if savoring a pleasant taste. "You know what this reminds me of? Remember the first night we slept together – I mean, slept in the same bed – back at the Baron's castle? The morning after, after we'd teased each other a bit-"

"I remember," Tara said, one hand on the waist of Willow's skirt, the other sneaking in beneath her tunic to cup her right breast through the fabric of her bra, "you told me... you went back to your room, looked in the mirror..."

"...imagined you were there with me," Willow picked up as Tara pressed a kiss to her shoulder, slipping her tunic down her arm, "gods, remember me telling you?"

"It's not the kind of moment I could ever forget," Tara smiled, "but you know, you didn't go into much detail when you were whispering to me and feeling me get wetter and wetter against your thigh. How, exactly, was I holding you?"

"I'd taken off my skirt as well," Willow said as Tara slipped off her tunic and tossed it lightly on top of her robe. She put both arms around Willow and quickly undid the cord in her skirt, crouching as she slid it down her legs, resting her cheek against Willow's thigh as she stepped out of the pool of material on the ground.

"And you weren't wearing any panties that morning, were you?" Tara asked, staring up the length of Willow's body as Willow looked down at her.

"No," Willow grinned, "they were in your laundry basket, and all my other clothes were back in my room, so I couldn't. No-one knew, with the long skirt. Except you, of course." Tara kissed her thigh.

"Naughty girl," she murmured. With Willow eagerly watching, she reached up and took hold of the waist of her underwear, pulling the thin covering very slowly down her thighs, her calves, and carefully pulling the loops over her boots. She glanced up at Willow, then delicately held the fabric close and inhaled.

"Mmm," she purred, "Willow-scent." A grin spread across her face, and she bunched up the underwear and, holding the low neck of her dress out with her other hand, tucked it into her cleavage beneath the bustier.

"Who's the naughty girl now?" Willow challenged with a grin. Tara gave her a shameless smile in reply, then stood up slowly, circling around Willow as she did so, letting her eyes pass very deliberately over her body as she rose. Standing behind Willow, she again leant over her shoulder.

"Like this?" she whispered, gazing at their reflections in the mirror. "Breathing deep, watching your chest rise and fall... watching the moistness glisten between your legs..."

"All I wanted was for you to touch me," Willow answered, closing her eyes, "just to feel your hands on me... for you to enjoy me..."

"Touch you like this?" Tara asked, resting one arm around Willow's waist while the other returned to her breast. "Is this how it was?" She gently tugged down the cup of her bra, revealing her breast before covering it with her hand.

"That's it," Willow breathed, her hands covering Tara's, guiding them, "teasing my nipple... oh yes, like that... and this hand," she guided Tara's other hand to cup her mound, "oooh... holding me... ready to take me..."

"You weren't wasting much time, were you?" Tara chuckled, pressing lightly, rhythmically, with her palm, massaging Willow's mound.

"After the teasing you gave me that morning?" Willow asked gleefully. "Uh-uh, I was just lucky I made it to my room!" Tara laughed, and lightly stroked a single finger along the length of Willow's folds, drawing a sigh from her. She stepped around Willow, standing in front of her, and in full view of her lifted her finger and delicately licked every trace of moisture from it.

"There's more where that came from," Willow said with an innocent grin. Tara laughed again, then kissed her, slow and carefree.

"Later," she said, "we've got a show to see. We don't want to be late." She raised an eyebrow at Willow's wide-eyed stare.

"You are evil," Willow accused, breaking into a grin as she put her hands on her hips and, in spite of the grin, mustering her best glare.

"We've already established you're naughty; wouldn't you say we make a good pair? I promise I'll make it up to you," Tara smiled. Willow laughed and skipped around Tara to swat her bottom.

"Nope," Willow quipped, "just something I came up with myself." Tara gave her another quick kiss.

"Aw, even when you're evil you're so sweet," Willow replied, gazing fondly at Tara and cupping her face in her palms. "I'm not mad, I promise."

"Okay," Tara said, relieved, and smiling again. "You know I don't want to frustrate you..."

"I know," Willow said, kicking off her boots and undoing her bra, "you just love to tease me! Don't worry, I can wait, my sexy temptress. Now, dress time, off you go." She playfully shooed Tara towards the door.

"Love you too," Willow replied, miming catching it and placing it next to her heart.

Tara still felt slightly guilty for so mercilessly teasing Willow – though not enough to upset her, thanks to Willow's reassurances – but she found she too was in a state of anxious anticipation as she climbed the stairs, a jug in one hand and a tray in the other, with a pair of pastries hot from the oven than she and Lissa had liberated from the kitchen. She tried, and failed, to stop herself guessing what Willow might be wearing – aside from her Zann Esu battle gear, the only formal attire she had seen Willow in was the green dress she had worn at Kingsport castle. But the secrecy Willow had employed in preparing her dress for the night's outing told Tara that it was going to be something different.

'Probably something that'll knock me off my feet,' Tara thought with a grin. She reached the landing, set the tray and jug aside, and knocked on the door.

"Your dinner is here, Miss Willow," she called in a playful voice. She heard a stifled giggle from inside, then footsteps, and the doorknob turned.

The door swung open, and Willow stood before her, striking a casually sexy pose, one foot in front of the other, her hand resting high on the doorframe. Tara felt her jaw drop, and was glad their dinner was safely on the landing table, not in her hands where she probably would have dropped everything in delighted surprise. From her neck to the floor Willow was clad in a deep, rich scarlet, matching her hair, velvet and soft, practically demanding to be touched, stroked, worshipped. The neck of the dress was high, and it widened over her chest, covering everything quite modestly, though as Willow half-turned and grinned Tara caught a glimpse of the hem plunging low on her back, where she was bare almost to the waist. But aside from that, and her bare arms, she was completely covered – not that it made any difference, for the dress clung to her as tightly as Tara wanted to, cupping her breasts, curving in around her waist, clinging to her hips, outlining her shapely thighs, finally loosening beneath her knees to flow elegantly to the ground. She wore a slim sash, scarlet to match her dress, with thin strands of silver threaded through it, loose around her waist, looped at the front and trailing down to her ankles. She had foregone any other decoration, and Tara couldn't imagine how any amount of jewelry, trim or woven patterns could make her any more beautiful and downright desirable than she already was.

"So," Willow said in a soft murmur, "do I look good enough to escort you tonight?" Tara couldn't help but laugh at the question.

"You look good enough to escort me even if I was visiting the houses of the gods themselves," she smiled. "Better, in fact. You'd make the other goddesses jealous."

"Thank you," Willow said shyly, leaning forward to gently kiss her. Tara caught her around the waist, and for a long moment they stayed there in the doorway, sharing a long, promising kiss.

"It seems they're popular in the Palace kitchens," Tara said, picking up the tray and handing it to Willow, "Lissa said they've usually got some in the oven just in case someone wants a snack."

"Yum," Willow said taking a bite from hers, "ooh, nice and hot... remind me to thank her later. You know," she went on as Tara followed her into the room and moved to pour a glass of juice, "that look you had just now, when you saw me-"

"...seeing you light up like that, at seeing me – thank you," she interrupted herself, taking the glass Tara offered her, "that was so lovely. I felt – I feel, wonderful. Thank you my love."

"You're welcome," Tara smiled, giving her a lingering kiss before pouring herself a glass. "You really do look absolutely beautiful."

"So do you," Willow replied. She sidled up next to Tara and leant against her, allowing both of them to share the simple physical contact as they ate.

"It's funny to think back," Tara mused, "last time I was at home, I was apprehensive about making this journey."

"That's fair enough," Willow noted, "your first time away from home and all. I mean, I've had a nice head-start on traveling all over the place, but still, I'd never been to Westmarch before, and it's a long way from anywhere I've known."

"If I'd known I'd find you," Tara went on, "I wouldn't even have waited for the ship, I'd just have swum the whole way." Willow laughed out loud, and hugged her with one arm as she finished off her pastry.

"Huh? Oh," Willow grinned, "just imagining you swimming. Well, not swimming as such, more lazily floating around in crystal clear waters. Somewhere safe, but nicely remote... no-one else to see us."

"Ah," Tara nodded, "no need to wear anything, then. Are you standing on the bank watching me?"

"I think I could," Tara said lightly, "if I come over to the shore, wading through the shallows towards you, all glistening wet, sunlight shining off my naked body, water dripping from me, flowing down my legs..."

"Next time we're traveling, keep an eye out for safe, remote lakes," Tara murmured.

"I certainly will," Willow promised. "Eat up, we should head downstairs soon. It'll take a few minutes for us to even get to the entrance hall."

The rain had started up again, light but constant, so that the assembled guests of the Duke were in the hall, rather then out on the steps, when Willow and Tara reached them. They exchanged polite greetings and nods with a few noblemen and other influential guests, none of whom they knew and none of whom seemed to know who they were, not that that stopped them making their most courteous greetings to the two women. Lissa, who had accompanied them in an elegant, if subdued, dress, drifted over to where the various servants and attendant were assembled.

"Wow, you got his attention," Willow said quietly, after they exchanged a few words with a man in an extravagantly expensive jacket. His gaze was still fixed on Tara as they walked away.

"Well, that military man before him nearly hit the floor with his jaw when he saw you," Tara replied with a grin.

"You," Tara said, "he saw me first, but then his eyes never left you. I think the woman on his arm might have given me more than a casual glance, though," she admitted, bashfully but with just a hint of satisfaction.

"Just so long as it's just looks," Willow warned with a smile. "Hey, we could play a game, see who gets the most stares tonight. You'd win," she added.

"I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one," Willow admitted with a rueful shake of her head.

"Guess so," Tara agreed, "oh, hey, look! Come on." She steered Willow to one side of the hall and pointed out Tryptin, just arriving from the Palace's diplomatic wing. He smiled and waved when he spotted them nearing.

"Tara, Miss Willow," he greeted them, "you both look lovely. Where did you get that?" he asked Tara, "it's not from home, is it?"

"Let me know where?" Tryptin asked. "I'd like to take something back for Melora, she'd love a dress like that."

"Soon to be," Tryptin said with a fond smile, "not long after we get home, actually. That's the one drawback to being on this mission – it's exciting to travel, but I can't wait to get home." He smiled to himself. "Well, and I don't have her here to take to the performance. But rather than let the seat go to waste, Galt here is my guest," he nodded to another Amazon, a broad-shouldered man with a surprisingly gentle face for his solid frame, standing a few meters away, who noticed his nod and wandered over, "one of our up-and-coming traders, and quite a musician, so this should be an interesting experience. Have you met Willow?"

"Speaking of home," Tara said quietly, as Willow and Galt exchanged greetings, "you should know, I... I'm, ah, staying. I mean, not forever, of course," she went on, slightly flustered, "but, well, Willow's going to be staying here for some time, and then traveling more, and I want to stay with her... what?" Tara paused in the face of Tryptin's knowing smile. Willow, who had come back to Tara's side, took her hand and held it warmly.

"It's not really a surprise," Tryptin said, allowing Tara a sigh of relief. "I can't imagine you two parting. Actually I thought you'd stay together even when we were traveling, and since you got back from your adventure in the wild... well, the bond between you is obvious." He smiled at Willow, then at Tara. "You'll be missed, both of you. But I'd be a fool to suggest you should be anywhere but with each other."

"I'll let Eponin know when I write to her that you're in good hands," Tryptin said. He turned to glance at a group of new arrivals in the hall, missing Willow and Tara glancing at each other and blushing.

"I'll write to her as well, of course," Tara added when he turned back. "The letter I sent from Kingsport, I," she glanced at Willow, "I was pretty sure. I told her I wanted to stay."

"But we'll come home," Willow put in, "to Tara's home, I mean, once I've finished studying and we're done traveling. So long as you don't mind having a sorceress among the Amazons," she added with a grin.

"Look for me in the party greeting you when you step off the ship," Tryptin smiled. He looked at Tara, leaving Willow to grin gleefully and hold Tara's hand in both of hers, idly stroking her thumbs back and forth.

"Yes," Tara replied, "he offered me a contract as an instructor." She turned, smiling, to Willow, who had started at hearing her. "Sorry I didn't tell you," she said sheepishly, "I guess it kind of slipped my mind, what with the dress and... all that," she finished with a slight blush, glancing at Tryptin.

"It's okay," Willow said, waving a hand dismissively, "so you're an instructor? That's so cool! It is, isn't it? You'll enjoy it?"

"I expect I will," Tara said, "I had a quick tour of the barracks and training grounds today, it looked quite up to date, and the soldiers looked very professional, I think it'll go well."

"A contract is a good position to have," Tryptin offered, "rather than a temporary commission. It means you'll have a formal rank, a standing within the army, but you won't be required to do active service. A commissioned instructor might be required to accompany a unit into battle, in an emergency."

"The contract system is becoming fairly common," Tryptin went on, "a lot of mercenaries sign on as instructors between campaigns, but don't want to be tied to a regiment in case it's suddenly activated, and resigning a commission with good standing can be tricky sometimes."

"Well, nothing so obvious as telling the General you were looking for a job," he said, "but a word here and there, in the right ear, it's surprising what you can do. Don't worry, I didn't exaggerate anything," he added, "if the General gave you a contract, he did it based on what he saw, not what people told him about you. Amazon archers have a good reputation generally, of course, but I know you won't have any trouble upholding that."

A trumpet sounded from the courtyard outside, and the crowd of guests began to shuffle towards the main doors, with servants quickly catching up, ready to raise umbrellas as they reached the steps. Tryptin drifted off with Galt, leaving Willow and Tara to walk together towards the doors.

"My warrior," Willow smiled in reply, looping her arm through Tara's, and together they made their way towards their carriage.

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Hellebore

by Chris Cook

Copyright © 2003

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