This is a day, like any other, that brings the esteemed reader from the picaresque, melting-pot slums of Sigil's infamous Hive Ward to the genteel atmosphere of the gilded Temple District. Scratch the surface, however, and you will find that what lies beneath is far more interesting than what meets the eye.

- The Archivist, your narrator

With daybreak, light filtered through dark red curtains so the room was once again awash with a crimson glow. It was a cold, damp, featureless Sigil morning, for no sun filled the sky of that great city, yet the celestial sphere glowed at regular intervals, simulating day. No one quite knew how many such fake dawns had illuminated the Great Wheel of Sigil since its existence began. For that matter, no one appeared to know whether or not there was a beginning at all - perhaps it had always been there, a wheel poised at the top of the cosmic spire, placed at the centre of the Planes of existence and creation. A great multitude of sentient beings called Sigil home and a great many of those seeking fame and fortune, found themselves dreaming in the squalid patchwork of the Hive Ward - the largest, most chaotic yet most lively quarter of the city.

Shesayne, the half-elf, was one of those beings. She stirred fitfully under her bedcovers, seeking warmth and comfort from Min, who lay beside her. The tiefling - for Min's unknowable ancestry had a demonic strain in it, making her less, or more, than human - was particularly resistant to the elements and always chose to sleep naked. Her body, lithely muscular, but feminine like a hunting cat's, had kept Shesayne warm through many a night and in more ways than one. Min's allure was only magnified by her fiendish blood. The tiefling girl was striking: long, straight silky hair, the deep red of dying embers, fell around her face like a curtain of flame; her features were exotic and sharply beautiful with high cheekbones and vivid orange, delicately slanted eyes and soft, sultry crimson lips whose kiss Shesayne knew to be mesmerising. Her skin was pale, but lightly tinged with red, like rose-agate marble while her nails were a natural, fiery red. In time, despite Min's quirks and occasionally abrasive personality, she had become Shesayne's best, some would say inseparable, friend and lover.

In that moment, at the very first break of light, Shesayne was awake. It was a reflex: time spent sleeping, as far as she was concerned, was time wasted. There was so much to do and to say. But the half-elf's approach to life had always had a certain dynamism: she was short, with a very slender built so that her petite frame and pretty, elfin face often caused observers to mistake her for a full-blooded elf. Her features were darker than Min's, with shoulder length coal-black hair, which by day she kept closely bound with a dragon-turtle comb, and lightly tanned skin, even if her eyes were a rich, turquoise blue. Always filled with a wiry energy that kept her body, and certainly her dextrous hands, in perpetual motion Shesayne was known throughout the Hive for her impish smile and rapid-fire, incessant chatter. Life may have been challenging, but Shesayne thought herself grateful for every new day.

If only Min had been of the same opinion. She slumbered on, reflexively clutching Shesayne close to her so that the slender half-elf could snuggle closer against the pleasant softness of her fine, firm breasts. Sleep to Min meant silence and much needed solace, far from the madding crowd of the Hive, which she relished in and loathed in equal measure, and close to her beloved Shesayne. Beloved, of course, was a term of convenience: Min was capable of great affection, but any romantic notion of love was completely lost on her, something which only added to her sensual charm. Shesayne certainly did not seem to mind.

"Min, it's daybreak," the half-elf whispered sharply, nudging her friend's taut flank with her elbow, "we'll get twenty Sigil marks if we clear out the Cranium Rat infestation under the Temple of Lliira and we could really, really use that jink for some more crossbow bolts and maybe something other than hard biscuits to eat, 'less of course you actually like that stuff..."

"Let me fucking sleep." Min replied curtly, turning around to face the wall. Just when she had gotten warm and comfortable, she had to hear Shesayne's girlish over-enthusiasm.

"D'you want my mother to chase us out again?" Shesayne warned, rising to a sitting position. She sympathised with Min, the morning was bracingly cold.

"Better her later than you now." Min growled. Even when she was surly, her voice had a honeyed, edge of sensuous danger in it.

In the nearby kitchen, Shesayne could hear her mother arranging plates and bowls, "C'mon, Min, you promised, my mother's pissed at us again 'cause as far as she's concerned we're wasting our lives and throwing them down into the Abyss, so she really isn't in a mood to give us anything...you won't let poor little Shesayne starve, would you?" The half-elf affected her most innocent, plaintive voice. She was an accomplished actress, but Min was not easily fooled.

"You won't starve...now let me sleep."

"Sod it, Min, you promised," Shesayne protested, roughly jerking the covers off the tiefling, "and didn't you have a thing for that high-up sounding priestess at the Temple, today could be your lucky day, never know when you could get her to give you a blessing." Shesayne hoped that if the prospect of money did not get Min out of bed, at least an appeal to the tiefling's wild, passionate side would. Not that Min's constant, and enviably effortless, seduction of any girl or woman who caught her fancy in any way irritated Shesayne. The bond that the half-elf had established was deeper even than that of lovers and thus virtually immune to petty jealousy.

"I've had her already," Min replied dismissively, finally resolving to get up - there was no dissuading Shesayne, "she was great...you wouldn't believe the things that girl can do with her mouth, but then she came up with all this 'I truly love you' screed. Told her she was nice and everything, but that we'd leave it at that..."

"Had her? Where? When? How?" Shesayne inquired with energetic curiosity, leaping onto Min to straddle her.

"Temple treasury while you were out selling loot from the Magpie Lane hit." Min said with a shrug as she clambered out of bed. Since Shesayne was the more apparently respectable member of their petty thieving operations, she was normally charged with selling stolen merchandise.

"Was she mad at you?" Shesayne asked, concerned that their informal contract would be terminated at any moment as a result of one of Min's - all too numerous to count - sensual escapades.

"Nah, just a little tearful and she said she'd understand. Why can't some cutters understand that a fuck's a fuck, not a sodding wedding proposal." Min stretched languidly, her lithe muscles taut in the cool morning air. The red light that flooded the tiny room she shared with Shesayne seemed to give the red tint of tiefling's skin an even more entrancing glow.

Shesayne cocked her head to one side, a little pensive, "Y'know, I can sort of understand her. Sometimes I kind of get the feeling that I'm lucky 'cause you always come back to me, no questions asked, every single night...you're always there to hold me and that's great, but I guess I'm not the only girl who'd like that."

"Yeah, well, that's the way it is." Min was a fatalist - Lady Luck could be the cruellest of harpies or the finest of lovers, so she had long since accepted that, as long as she kept winning, she would keep playing the game. So far Min was still alive, had the best friend she could have asked for, and had enough to eat, she was happy - that, in the Hive, was more than most.

"Right you are, my sweet, beautiful Min!" Shesayne beamed as she leapt to her feet and took her friend by the hand, leading her out of the cramped room.

"Give me a break." The tiefling said wearily. She had little time for empty terms of endearment.

They slipped out of the apartment into the well-worn landing outside. Creaky, spiralling stairs led up and down. It was a miracle that the building still stood, for the smell of mildew and rotted wood was in the air. It had originally driven Shesayne's mother, with all her elven sensibilities, almost mad, but it was nothing a little burned citrus peel and sandalwood oil could not remedy. The neighbours, too, were not especially welcoming and, despite Min's repeated threats at dagger-point, a lecherous old gnome with a salt-and-pepper beard appeared to spend most of his time leering at Shesayne. Nevertheless, most left them well alone - a tiefling and her blades were a dangerous combination indeed, so that now Min had won sufficient respect to ensure that she could walk to the shared bathing facilities naked and Shesayne clad only in her rose-pink night-gown without being disturbed.

What was called a bathing-chamber was, in reality, an abandoned, converted apartment where cold water was pumped illegally from a well, through rusty tubes, onto cracked tiling, and into filthy tubs. Just the thought of using one of them made Shesayne shudder in disgust: it was preferable to stand directly under the jet of cold, but clean water to wash. Min did not seem to mind the freezing water, indeed she almost relished it, while Shesayne shivered throughout, comforted only by her friend's soothing hands helping her rinse the suds of sweet-smelling detergent fluid out of her hair. Elven cosmetics were essentially the only thing Shesayne's mother kept purchasing for her daughter, hoping that their delicate aromas would somehow render the rebellious half-elf more presentable. Shesayne, after all, diverged considerably from the accepted standard of elven behaviour, something that frustrated her mother to no end.

After being suitably refreshed, the couple made their way back into the apartment where they proceeded to dress. That was one of Shesayne's favourite parts of the day: it gave her the opportunity to ponder the delicious question: "what will offend my mother the most?". Whereas Min, as always, opted for a plain, grey, skin-tight top that left her deliciously flat and firm midriff bare, with similarly tight-fitting, low-cut red leather breeches and leather boots, Shesayne was decidedly more malicious and creative. Whereas, in childhood, she had been sweet-tempered and obedient, endorsing the polite fiction that she was a true Moon Elf, rather than a despised half-breed, Shesayne's adolescence had quickly weaned her from all such illusion. Once she had viewed Red Dragons, who had been responsible for the destruction of her mother's homeworld, thus causing her to escape to Sigil, as the epitome of evil. Now she self-consciously donned a succinct crimson scale-pattern bandeau that barely covered her petite, but nicely firm and rounded breasts, and a truly scandalous matching fabric bottom which was more of an outrageously tight - and revealing - undergarment than anything else. Finally, to add insult to injury, Shesayne gathered up her raven-black hair with the precious dragon-turtle comb which Min had given her as a first present, thus ensuring that her pointed ears were revealed in a most wanton and un-ladylike manner.

Their preparations complete, Min and Shesayne made their way down the narrow hallway into the simple kitchen which where a fire had been lit in the rudimentary iron stove that heated the chamber. Shesayne's mother, who would have been still young and pretty by elven standards had the weariness of urban life not darkened her features with such sadness, stood by the cooking surface on the stove, carefully watching fresh honey-cakes sizzle in a pan of fragrant oil. Even if the kitchen was, like everything else in Sigil, strapped for space, it had a certain warmth to it, courtesy of Shesayne's mother. She had decorated it with elven fabrics she produced herself - for she was a textile artist by trade - and stocked it with dried fruits, biscuits and flowers that reminded her of her destroyed homeland.

"Good morning, Shesayina." The elven woman said softly, never once turning from her cooking. Although she had long since given up speaking to her daughter in Elven, a language Shesayne now claimed not to understand, she still clung on to using the affectionate diminutive for her name.

"Morning, morning, morning." Shesayne chirped as she curled up into a rickety wooden chair by the kitchen table, "What's for breakfast, Alaia?" 'Mother' was too formal for the half-elf, so she preferred the childish elven equivalent, which she used with nonchalant irony.

"Are you going to school?" Shesayne's mother inquired. Every word was weighed carefully: there was no reasoning with her daughter anymore, especially since the dangerously anarchist influence of Min had come onto the scene. She knew that the tiefling was sitting at her kitchen table right behind her; that same tiefling with the dangerous, sensual smile and the burning almond eyes who made love to her daughter, spreading more malicious rumours throughout the Moon Elf community that Shesayne was not only a half-breed, but a loose girl as well. All things considered, however, Shesayne's mother privately appreciated Min's fiercely protective nature and genuine affection for her daughter.

"Fuck no." Shesayne replied amiably, "What would we ever do in a stupid, pointless, boring place like that? Right Min?"

The tiefling nodded with an inarticulate, "Yeah..." as she slumped forward in her seat. She was not a morning person, much less so when she was forced into a confrontation between Shesayne and her mother. Min did not resent never having seen her parents and certainly did not need an elf to act, as she was sometimes inclined to, as a surrogate mother.

"Then no breakfast." Shesayne's mother replied gravely. Though she had quickly grown used to her daughter's deliberately vulgar vocabulary, one thing she could not tolerate was refusal to pursue any activity more productive than petty theft.

"Oh, c'mon, we're going to work today, y'know, they're expecting us at the Temple of Lliira...they call it vermin control and it's pretty decent, easy jink." Shesayne protested. It offended her deeply when her mother said she was shiftless and lazy, but that was not the worst that had been said.

"Yes, Shesayina, you are right," her mother said wearily, "I am most pleased to have a daughter who hunts rats for a living, dresses and behaves like a strumpet and speaks like a street urchin."

Shesayne swallowed a knot of emotion that instinctively built in her throat. It was brutally unfair for her mother to demand that she behave like a prim and proper elven maiden when those same elves despised and shunned her. It was then doubly unfair that Shesayne's mother, whose intemperance with a human had led to the tragic situation in the first place, subsequently complained about her daughter failing to live up to elven standards of propriety. Sensing her friend's unease, Min intervened,

"'Least it's not stealing."

"No, it is not," Shesayne's mother's voice still bore the melodious traces of her Moon Elf accent, though her voice always carried a sad edge, "but you should study, both of you. You're a clever girl, Min, you should make something of yourself."

"Yeah, like embroider tapestries." Shesayne interjected darkly, trying very hard not to cry, "Need lots of sums, reading and writing for that."

Never once turning around, Shesayne's mother drew a deep sigh and looked down blankly at the frying honey-cakes, "A mother does everything she can for her daughter." It was more of a mantra than a well-reasoned belief. Shesayne had not declared herself grateful or thankful for anything in years.

"So why don't you send a nice, hot, sweet breakfast our way?" Shesayne said, her enthusiasm restored now that she had managed to hurt her mother. Min continued to be as passive as possible in the situation, her vivid, orange eyes were focused on the empty plate in front of her. She was hungry and the daily, endless power struggle between mother and daughter was holding up her meal.

"Go to school." Shesayne's mother ordered, more firmly this time, turning around to face a surly tiefling and a scandalously dressed daughter.

"And do what?" Shesayne retorted, "Nobody ever sodding listens or gives a fuck for all that addled-up chant."

"I always wished to see you go to the Academy..." Shesayne's mother began wistfully. Her own ambitions had been cut short by the disaster that had overtaken her homeworld - so far she had been relatively fortunate, money was a little tight but quite sufficient and she truly wanted nothing but the best for her daughter, perhaps to compensate for the weakness that had given Shesayne birth in the first place.

"Hmm...sure," Shesayne commented with savage sarcasm, "d'you know what your people call me in the street, Alaia? I'd fit right in with all the good little elf boys and girls, 'cause I'm such a fucking picture-perfect silks-and-satin lady myself."

"Go to school and I'll give you ten Sigil marks and breakfast, how does that sound?" Shesayne's mother was utterly exasperated. While she knew many elves could be unkind, if Shesayne at least made the effort to speak and behave a little more like them, then she was certain that her daughter's problems would be solved in short order.

"Fine, fine, fine." Shesayne said, privately satisfied that she had made ten marks for nothing. Naturally, the half-elf had no intention of keeping her side of the bargain.

"Good," her mother said, an almost conciliatory smile on her face as she deftly plated up the honey-cakes for her daughter and Min - their rich, flowery fragrance filled the kitchen "but I will ask Essinea whether you attended or not, so be aware."

"Fuck..." Shesayne whispered conspiratorially in Min's direction, "that bitch is back-stabbing, shadow-fiend of a snitch."

Min smiled knowingly as she toyed with her breakfast. She had no tolerance for sweet things, so she casually shifted her plate in Shesayne's direction.

"Oh, and Min," Shesayne's mother began, her tone as civil as politeness towards guests - even when those guests were, effectively, permanent - dictated, "please do not try to bribe Essinea again. Her parents were very upset last time." That was an understatement. The rumour, later confirmed true, that Min had seduced Essinea had spread like wildfire in the Moon Elf community, causing concerned families - who had previously merely looked upon Min as an exotic, Sigil-born curiosity - to scrupulously lock up their daughters when the tiefling was in sight.

"Hmm..." Min's knowing smile and evasive answer were testament to the fact that a few locked doors and stern warnings were far from sufficient to deter a tiefling for whom scaling walls and weaving webs of torrid passion was second nature.

"Very well, so now that we have all agreed, I hope to see you girls for supper." Shesayne's mother said with a certain satisfaction. Despite herself, outmanoeuvring her impudent, rebellious daughter was always a guilty pleasure.

"Of course, Alaia," Shesayne said with affected, child-like sweetness, "so we can all eat together like the perfect, smiling happy family we are." She angrily consumed the rest of her honey-cakes and rose to leave.

"Please tell me you are not going to school dressed like that..." Shesayne's mother said, though her objection was more force of habit than any real admonishment.

"What?" Shesayne replied, feigning innocence, "Oh, well, this...don't you like it?" The half-elf ran the tips of her fingers with casual sensuality down her bared curve of her bottom and thigh, "Min just loves and adores it."

"Then, I suppose, there is nothing more to add." Came the weary reply, "What happened to that dress I made for you?"

"Sold it," Shesayne said, a cruelly sweet smile on her lips, "needed a new bowstring for my hand-crossbow and some good, top-notch bolts."

"Go to school." Was all her mother, veering dangerously close to her limit of tolerance, could muster in response.

**************

It was always a relief for Shesayne to leave the Moon Elf district of the Hive and penetrate deeper into the anonymity of that vast, decaying but endlessly fascinating slum. Once beyond the community she had learned to reject, Shesayne immediately felt at home surrounded by a current of life that was more like her own: mixed, cosmopolitan and decidedly rooted in Sigil, rather than dreaming of a home-world that had long since perished under ashes and fire. As she walked with Min down winding, cracked alleyways into the seething cauldron of life that brought together things both demonic and angelic, Shesayne always thought that she had once and for all transcended her mother's expectations. A life as a Moon Elf would have been impossible, so she would become something else entirely by rejecting the old culture - which, in any case, clearly had done little to impress Red Dragons - and embracing the new.

Min had been Shesayne's bridge into Sigil's root backsides. As they walked past ranks of insectoid xixchil, four-armed reaves, and well muscled minotaurs - whose gang wars between the Sons of Apis and the Sons of Minos were infamous -, Min was welcomed with a hail of informal greetings. Her infamy and magnetic charm had garnered many allies and admirers in spite of her youth. In that sense, the tiefling found being compelled to attend a Civic Foundation school, an institution she held in the greatest contempt, a little humiliating. Nevertheless, she knew she could not leave Shesayne alone. Even if the slender half-elf carried her hand-crossbow with her, she would always be a target, especially since neither humans nor elves felt especially inclined to protect her.

"We're actually going, then." Min noted drily as they approached the chaotic, beaten-dirt schoolyard that lay sprawled beneath an old wood and brick construction which showed its age in the thickness of moss and razorvine that had grown around it. Belching, pitch-black smoke filled the sky in the distance, covering Sigil's tightly-cluttered spires in an acrid mantle.

"Right you are Min," Shesayne said, her tone airily playful, "but just so you can persuade and convince Essinea not to spill the chant on us, then it's straight down all the way to the Temple of Lliira. With twenty marks, we could have a real nice night out."

"Just leave it to me to handle." Min loathed small talk, but generally knew exactly how to coerce people to thinking things her way. That was a crucial survival skill.

The couple made their way through running throngs of scruffy children and onto the main building which seemed to peer down ominously, like an aged and wrinkled grey giant. The windows had been barred shut, for windows had been destroyed on a regular basis by vandals and truants throwing stones. There, deep in the dank, humid, mildew-smelling hallways where shattered wood occasionally jutted through the walls and 'inspirational' insignia with such Hall of Speakers approved rhetoric as "Strength through Knowledge" and "Diversity is our Greatest Strength" had long since been defaced with the most amusingly obscene commentary. The class which Min and Shesayne hypothetically attended was intended, in the propaganda literature of the Solidarist faction which had recently won much political leverage, to "give final-semester students from underprivileged municipalities the opportunity to compete for places in Further Education". In reality, only a few elves and purebred humans seemed to care very much for the haphazard teaching by under-qualified tutors.

Upon entering the classroom - which reeked of smoke, unwashed bodies and dead wood -, Min and Shesayne were greeted by the usual scenes of chaos. Chattering in a dozen different languages filled the air, while rows of benches, informally but very firmly segregated by race and culture, strained under the constant, distracted movement of their occupants. Naturally the tutor was, as always, late. With no official incentives to promote performance, the complete lack of interest in the educational exercise was shared by students and teachers alike.

Min's entry into the room immediately caused quite a stir, as it always did. Gone were the days when Min had to flash her dagger to discourage students from taking liberties either with her or with Shesayne. Her presence now elicited immediate, grudging respect, if not outright admiration.

"Hey Min, how 'bout you put those hips to good use?" A massive, heavily tattooed half-orc with two prominent, yellowed tusks and a jutting snout called out jovially.

"Not your day, berk." Min replied, an enigmatic smile on her sultry lips. She rarely took comments of that nature personally, provided they did not involve unsolicited physical contact. That normally meant her deploying the business end of her daggers.

"Aw, c'mon, when is it going to be my day?" Queried the snorting humanoid.

"Try again tomorrow, y'never know." Min said, tapping a naturally ruby-red nail on the desk for emphasis. Raucous, bawdy laughter filled the room.

"When will you learn, Bozegh?" A buxom, cat-eyed tiefling girl with white hair and dark brown skin interjected, "She's more than you boys can handle...hey, Min, how come you don't drop by any more? We had so much sodding fun last time, you can even bring Shesayne..."

"Any time, Marla, any time." Min responded with a sensual smile. She had the unique skill of making her countless informal lovers feel desired even when, perhaps, they would never see her again. Thus all envied Shesayne, both for her brashly attractive rendition of elfin beauty and for her magnetic hold on Min's attentions.

As Min sauntered down the over-crowded, deafeningly noisy classroom, she approached the bench where the Moon Elves, modestly but tastefully dressed, sat in calm defiance of the din that surrounded them. Spotting the pretty, but hopelessly gossipy, Essinea, Min leaped onto the desk in front of her with feline grace, causing the surrounding elves to quickly shift away to take their distances. Sitting casually on the desk, her deep-red hair falling like a veil of slow-burning, dying fire around her face, Min stared down inquisitively at the deeply embarrassed Moon Elf. Dark-haired, porcelain-skinned Essinea had immediately caught Min's attention when they first met, but that was certainly no excuse for the girl not knowing when to keep her mouth shut.

"M-Min..." Essinea stuttered, even more alarmed to see Shesayne standing by the side of her bench, arms crossed and a mischievous smile on her lips.

"Nice to see you too, Essie..." Min said, her tone low and seductive, playfully flicking back a few strands of vermillion hair so she could look deep into the elf's sky-blue eyes.

"Anything I can do for you...?" The elf began weakly, very conscious of the fact that the eyes of her friends were fearfully, but quite curiously fixed on her confrontation with that menacing, but undeniably fascinating tiefling.

"Been telling tales and spilling the dark of things, haven't you?" Min queried, her tone was disinterested, as if she were a leopard playing with her prey.

"No, please, Min..." Essinea implored, only to be silenced by a slender, red-nailed finger on her rosy lips.

"Shhh..." Min pounced off the desk, landing almost soundlessly at Essinea's side, where she crouched, her face dangerously close to the elf's, "Now y'know Shesayne and me like to keep our business to ourselves, right?"

"Y-yes." Essinea feared Min as much as she was admittedly aroused by the tiefling's languid, dangerously elegant movements.

"So, let's say that a certain elven lady asks you where Shesayne and yours truly have been passing the day, what would you tell her?" Min breathed, very close to Essinea's pointed ear.

"Sitting...right here in class, like good, obedient students?" Essinea ventured.

"Hmm...yes, that sounds good. Wouldn't want to give the old lady the idea that we're skiving, would we?" The tiefling's voice had fallen to a low, menacing purr, "'Cause I know what you've been saying, 'bout you and me..."

"Min," Essinea protested desperately, "I just told a few friends and then the word spread..."

"Yeah, guessed as much," Min continued, "but what I also guess is that you, being a proper elven maiden and all, didn't tell them the whole story."

"Oh..." Essinea was blushing furiously, her fingers gripping the bench as if they were claws.

"So, imagine if I told them the whole dark of it..."

"Min, I was curious...to, uhm," Essinea's voice dropped to the lowest whisper she could manage, "try new things, it does not mean that I...uh, liked that stuff..."

"No, 'course not," Min whispered, her breath hot on Essinea's ear, "and just to make sure you're never going to have to give that excuse to all your friends, let's say that my lips are sealed as far as yours."

"Min, I swear by the Moonbow I will not breathe a word." Essinea's fingernails were deathly white as she gripped the bench. The very thought of Min divulging the agonisingly embarrassing details of their encounters was enough to send icy blood flowing through her veins.

"Good girl." Min said with a satisfied, predatory smile, before casually drawing her tongue up the length of Essinea's sensitive ear. The elf gasped and whimpered with guilty pleasure, eliciting amused shouts of approval from the few students who had taken the time to observe the scene. Min 'sorting out' differences was not a new sight.

"Min, back to your seat!" A feeble voice called in the distance, only to be drowned out by further chattering. The tutor had arrived - an ineffectual, elderly man with thick spectacles and a long, grey beard.

"Funny you should say that, berk, 'cause I was just leaving." Min replied nonchalantly as she rose to her feet and turned to leave the classroom.

Shesayne leaned forward to mockingly pat Essinea on the shoulder, before whispering into her ear, "I heard you really, really liked it and were begging Min for more...like, oh Min, yeah, just like that...I can just see your face all moaning and happy against the pillow..."

"Shesayne, c'mon." Min ordered. Essinea had been sufficiently humiliated for a day and would certainly hold her tongue. A vital tactic in carrying out such blackmail, however, was to make sure the victim never thought she had nothing to lose. One always had to propose an even worse scenario than the current one in case of non-compliance.

Reluctantly the half-elf turned to follow Min out of the classroom while the tutor called, in vain, for silence and Essinea stood bolt upright, the colour now drained from her face.

"Oh, Min, you should really have let me have a little fun and amusement with her." Shesayne grumbled as she followed Min out into the dark hallway of the schoolhouse and down the decaying stairs.

"Another time. She's still useful." Min replied.

"Useful, since when and how?" The half-elf inquired, somewhat perplexed as she rushed passed Min to skip down the stairs and into the daylight below.

"She'll be our alibi. That and I try to be giving: she's a good time in bed and it's not sharp to treat your lovers badly."

"Oh? Well that's fresh-off-the-grapevine news: a giving tiefling!" Shesayne joked. They had left the schoolyard and begun to make their way to the more upmarket Temple Ward where their commission awaited them.

"Only a predictable tiefling is more rare." Min commented while Shesayne strolled by her side. The half-elf's body was in perpetual motion, alternating between skipping, sidling and walking backwards with Min facing her. Most found her hyperactivity distracting, if not outright irritating, but to Min, it was all part of the liveliness she found so appealing. For her part, the tiefling appeared relaxed, but her sharp ears and sharper eyes were always alert. Not a passer-by, nor wandering, razorbacked vorr dog escaped Min's intense, but subtle scrutiny.

"So you know what they're saying, in my mother's part of town at least?" Shesayne said, almost imperceptibly snatching a spice biscuit from a confectionary stall with lightning-quick speed. They had entered a small bazaar, where the light from Sigil's leaden sky was almost blocked out entirely by shabby pavillions of fabric. The smell of spices, drying fish and fresh, exotic fruit was in the air. Stall vendors of all descriptions cried out rhythmically from all directions, expounding on the unique quality of their wares.

"What?"

"That your mother must've been a succubus or something, 'cause you're 'corrupting' all their daughters." Shesayne quickly consumed the biscuit in two bites and set about finding something else to snack on.

"Some of them." Min replied modestly. Elves were always amusing to seduce, especially because, like Essinea, they often liked to play the coy, innocent maiden when, in reality, they were anything but.

"But you've never asked yourself, I mean, never thought 'bout what your mother or father might have been?"

"We've had this conversation before," Min said patiently, easing past a giant, horned lizard that was being used as a beast of burden to carry fragrant branches of sandalwood, "I don't know and don't care."

"But d'you reckon she was a succubus?" Shesayne pressed, a freshly baked custard bun from an unwitting halfling baker in hand.

"Succubus don't carry children," Min corrected, "if they did, they wouldn't be very good at what they do, but maybe my father fucked one and then my mother, so the curse was passed on. I can just see them, the moment they saw their tainted child, it was out on the street for me." There was not a hint of bitterness in the tiefling's voice. She was, in truth, reasonably satisfied with her life.

"Sometimes," Shesayne said, a little pensively, "I think that family's overrated - all that pointless elven stuff and all of it from a world that's gone now. It means more to become something here, in Sigil, 'stead of pretending we're still back there."

"The best family," Min said with conviction, "is not the one you're born with, but the one you find."

By the time they had cleared the bazaar, they could see the massive sprawl of the Hive in the distance, just where the curvature of Sigil's Great Wheel was evident. Shifting from the quarters they had known since childhood into the more genteel and rarefied air of the Temple Ward was like slipping into another world or robed priestesses and priests, signing fountains and wide, well-maintained cobbled streets. Always sceptical of structured institutions, Min could not help but wonder whether religion was the biggest trick of all time pulled off by some cosmic thief to fill her coffers. That, the tiefling reflected, was a thief worthy of admiration.

"This way, this way." Shesayne invited as she led the way, her very distinctive dress sense inviting a reproving glance from a priestess of the stern war-god Tempus and a decidedly approving one from a priestess of the radiant Sune.

The Temple of Lliira stood in a well-tended garden, surrounded by low walls. A lone cleric in blue robes tended to an immaculately trimmed flowerbed in front of a tall entry gate with fluted, silvery columns that led into a wide courtyard where the shrine to the Goddess had been erected. There, under the shade of the colonnade, a lone priestess, dressed in elegantly tailored blue and yellow robes, stood waiting, her hands on her hips. She was a lush, strikingly attractive human woman with an air of almost pretentious nobility about her. Her strawberry blonde hair was kept at elbow length and free-flowing, complementing her creamy white complexion and haughty, noble features to perfection. Nevertheless, there was a sensual decadence about her, in the arrogant gaze of her sharp, green eyes and, most notably, in the richness of her soft, full curves which suggested the lifestyle of a bored noblewoman.

"I fear that you are late." The priestess called reprovingly as soon as Min and Shesayne began to ascend the stairs to the Temple's entry gate.

"Always a pleasure, Valentina." Min noted sardonically.

"You, my dear woman, are shameless!" Valentina snapped back, "Toying with my emotions like that."

"We had a good time, no?" Min replied with cool defiance. Valentina had been an unexpectedly sensuous encounter; besides her wanton expertise, so typical of self-indulgent nobles, touching her body was profoundly erotic, like stroking the taut, flawless skin of a slightly over-ripe, but nonetheless firm fruit.

The priestess blushed lightly and anxiously bit her lower lip, she had no intention of publicising her tryst with a tiefling, "Well, in any case, many thanks for coming." She concluded at last, deciding that any reckoning with Min was best left until the rat infestation had been dealt with.

"So, does that mean we still have the job and that we're still settled for twenty marks?" Shesayne interjected enthusiastically. She may have grown to detest elven culture, but she did have at least a residual elven aesthetic and the sight of well-tended, but spontaneous garden arrangements in harmony with an airy temple architecture appealed to her.

"Well, I would hardly be a lady and a priestess if I went back on my word." Valentina said with affected magnanimity

"So, let's see these rats." Min would never admit it too openly, but there was something oddly intriguing about working as an exterminator.

*********

The foundations of Lliira's temple were humid and dark, perhaps a little uncharacteristically for a shrine to the goddess of joy and revelry. Shesayne and Min led the way, with Valentina walking very carefully a little behind, meticulously trying to avoid stepping into puddles of mossy water. Her golden silk sandals had been extremely expensive and the last thing she wanted was to have them stained.

"How come you're coming with us?" Shesayne queried, noting the priestess' unease at her surroundings. They were in a large, rectangular chamber seemingly carved into porous, humid stone. The only illumination was provided by Valentina's enchanted staff that emitted a soft, glowing light.

"Let us say that my superiors insisted." Valentina replied tersely. She had recently been appointed a full priestess and was, much to her chagrin, generally charged with the least pleasant tasks in the hope that it would help build leadership skills.

"Where did you say these rats were?" Min heard them, but could not see them. They were chittering away behind the walls, lying in wait. Cranium Rats were dangerous not so much for their size, but for their excellent psychic co-ordination that allowed to hunt in perfect harmony in large swarms. Behind each swarm was a Queen, whose exposed brain - the defining feature of Cranium Rats - was always particularly large.

"There, I suspect, by the old scrap storage." Valentina said, gritting her teeth. This was not the work of a priestess and certainly not work for her, the daughter of a most ancient and noble household that had settled in Sigil at least twenty generations ago.

Min's eyes were well accustomed to scrutinising the twilight, so she peered deeper into the darkness and saw a pile of scrap cloth, rope and metal, all cluttered up by a wall that had been penetrated by thick moss.

"I see them..." Min said softly, surreptitiously drawing her twin, curved daggers. Shesayne loaded her hand-crossbow and prepared to follow Min's lead.

"The light will draw them out," Valentina declared, "it is imperative that you slay the Queen. Without her superior intellect, the rats will disperse."

"Why should the Queen come out?" Shesayne said doubtfully, "She's their high-up commander, so why in the Nine Hells should she come out first to take our fire?"

"The Queen is young, still seeking to control the swarm, she must make good show of her strength." Valentina said, her voice tense. They would be out any minute now.

Then, like a scuttling brown wave, the first vanguard came - rats the size of small dogs with burning white eyes and yellow fangs sprung forth from the rubbish heap. Two were pinned to the wall where they stood by Shesayne's crossbow bolts, their thick purple viscera spurting forth, as if a bag full of worms had been burst open. The rats struggled awhile, before expiring, their agonising squeals filling the shadowy darkness. Min caught three more as they lunged for her, the tiefling's blades hummed through the air as they cut through skin, flesh and sinew. A dying rat in the last spasms of its ignoble life fell by Valentina's feet, live blood trickling from its maw. The priestess bit her lip to suffocate a gasp and withdrew further back.

"Hold the light next to us!" Min hissed, the last thing she wanted was to be kept in the dark, surrounded by Cranium Rats. In the meanwhile, Shesayne had loosed a few more bolts. The half-elf's aim was exceptional, for with each snap of her crossbow's string, a dying squeak could be heard, followed by futile thrashing against the stone floor.

"If you could be so kind as to keep them off me." Valentina replied with palpable irritation. Despite herself, she gingerly drew closer to illuminate Min and Shesayne's field of vision. It was then that they spotted the Queen, a Cranium Rat as large as a sheep that had finally reared its ugly head - its pink brain pulsating in all its repulsive glory.

"Can you throw a fire seed?" Min inquired nervously, hoping that Valentina's mastery of priestly magic would be sufficient to prevent the situation from becoming particularly ugly.

"Just tell me where." Valentina replied, her nerves betrayed by the tension in her voice.

"Right," Min ordered as she made short work of yet another rat, this time catching it in mid-air as it leapt for Shesayne, her blade slitting it from throat to tail, "Shesayne, run round the Queen and throw an oil pellet, try to be quick...I don't want to be picking bits of you up after she makes you pay the music. I'll draw her out and give Valentina a clear shot."

Shesayne complied, knowing full well that her natural dexterity would catch the screeching Cranium Rat Queen unprepared. The vile beast, in fact, had prepared its first lunge, its eyes glowing with wicked intelligence. The half-elf lunged to the Queen's side, then veered abruptly at a ninety-degree angle to confuse the beast. That inquisitive turn of the Queen's head was all Shesayne needed as she loosed a pellet of highly concentrated oil and sulphur that burst on impact, coating the Cranium Rat's fur in a thick, yellow liquid. An expertly thrown dagger from Min that lodged into the giant rat's side drew its attention once again in a different direction. As Min had predicted, their mundane weapons would not have been enough to wear the Queen down in a single attack.

It was then that Valentina, with well-judged aim, cast a dart of flaming energy against the Queen, causing it to erupt in a flash of yellow, flashing fire. The screams of the Queen filled the chamber and those same agonised howls of agony struck fear into the remaining Cranium Rats which quickly scampered to safety, never to return. It took the Queen a few moments to perish, each one of its death throes accompanied by sickly convulsions that sent tufts of fetid, burning fur into the air. When the flames finally did die down, all that was left was a charred corpse, with white bones poking in from under blackened flesh.

"Done and done." Shesayne quipped, picking an old wooden plank up from the ground to poke the singed corpse of the Cranium Rat Queen, "This one's not getting up any time soon, that's your problem fixed up once and for all...hey, Min, Valentina...are you listening?"

While Shesayne had been indulging her morbid curiosity, a breathless but satisfied Valentina stood smiling at Min, "Well, it appears that I was not altogether wrong in seeking your services...but Min, your hands are stained with rat blood, surely you would wash. Perhaps you would allow me to offer you a basin of fresh water."

"Yeah, I could probably use that." Min said, her vivid orange eyes fixed with evident admiration on the generous, sensual curves of Valentina's body which the priestess' robes emphasised admirably.

"Quite, well, follow me," Valentina invited, "Shesayne, you may proceed to the temple treasury, tell them I authorised a payment of twenty...no, make it thirty Sigil marks for services rendered."

Shesayne scowled. She was certainly no fool. Min, however, was too busy drinking in the lush curves of Valentina's body to pay the half-elf's irritation any mind.

******

"Oh...Min, I am such a spoiled brat, I think I need to be put in my place." Valentina moaned. She was silenced by Min's lips as they kissed with wet, lusty hunger pressed against the cool marble wall of the priestess' room. The tiefling was naked in all her glory, just having been scrubbed down with fresh water by a very eager Valentina, her body lithe and straining against the soft, sensual curves of the human girl. Min's tongue was locked in an intimate dance with Valentina's, her sultry lips searing and erotic against the priestess' mouth. With well-practised fingers, Min unclasped Valentina's robes and let them spill around her waist, revealing the glorious, heavy mounds of her pale breasts, each capped with an impudent, dark pink nipple, stiff with arousal. Min lost no time in exploring those decadent, lush curves, just as Valentina revelled in the sensation of Min's taut, yet feminine bottom and in the tiefling's smaller, but no less impressive breasts.

"Hmm, Min..." Valentina sighed, she was always vocal in her lovemaking, but the tiefling rogue was something else. To feel those rich, ruby-red lips plant burning kisses on her throat, Min's languid tongue leaving warm, moist trails on the soft, sensitive flesh was like nothing anyone else, not even the most experienced priestesses Lliira, could offer. The tiefling's kisses sank lower, riding the glorious curvature of Valentina's firm, ripe breasts before settling on the human girl's tumescent little nipples. Valentina ran her fingers through Min's silky, ember-red hair, and drew the tiefling closer to suckle at her heaving breasts. She gasped, almost whimpering, at the sensation of Min's teeth scraping against the lust-engorged surface of her nipples, drawing each taut little peak out with, hot, expert lips.

With increased urgency, Min fell to her knees tugged the rest of Valentina's robes off, helping the human priestess step out of them, before quickly unlacing her silk sandals.

"Oh, Goddess, I am such a wicked slattern." Valentina said breathily, as she ran her bare toes up the slit of Min's juicing sex, effortlessly parting the deep crimson folds and gliding over soft, downy deep red curls. Min instinctively clasped her hands around Valentina's delicate ankle and raised the girl's pale foot, graceful as a swan's neck, to her lips, before running her tongue playfully over the arched sole and licking off the familiar cinnamon-spicy residue of her arousal from each pretty, pointed toe. Valentina giggled lasciviously, pleased to see Min licking with such spontaneous desire. Rising higher, Min licked up Valentina's feminine, alabaster thighs before reaching the wispy, dark-blonde hair that surrounded the human woman's sex. The air was already hot with Valentina's sweet, musky arousal that emanated enticingly from the girl's plump, deep pink nether lips.

"I think I need to be shown proper manners." Valentina sighed, licking her lips, as she curled a leg around Min's neck, drawing the tiefling closer to the gorgeous split peach of her sex. The first long, slow lick of the tiefling's tongue against the lust-swollen lips of Valentina's sex forced a most undignified gasp from the young priestess who spread her thighs wider and leaned back further against the cool marble wall to allow better access.

"Yeah, you do." Min said, a malicious smile on her lips as she rose to her feet. She renewed her kiss on Valentina's inviting, pink lips, her tongue seeking its playmate deep in the welcoming warmth of the human girl's mouth. A slender but firm hand grasped the lush curve of the priestess' bottom, vivid red nails digging into the unblemished white flesh, "show me how much you want it. Get on the bed and show me everything, 'cept for that whiny face of yours." Min commanded, placing a sharp slap on the priestess' rump. Valentina wriggled wantonly in Min's embrace, thrusting her hips forward in approval.

"Do as I say!" Min snapped, striking Valentina's delectable bottom once again, privately relishing the marvellous sound of flesh against flesh echoing throughout the elegant stone chamber, "But don't you dare walk."

Valentina was happy to crawl, all the while giving Min a magnificent view of her feminine, curved bottom and of slick sex. When she reached her bed, Valentina, rose with a deliberately arousing sway and settled on her hands and knees on the soft sheets. Min was impressed, Valentina clearly took the submission thing very seriously - a classic bored noble who enjoyed a little humiliation for a change. The tiefling drew closer, her footfalls virtually inaudible on the stone floor. Valentina quickly buried her face in the pillows at the head of her bed and spread her thighs. The pink, juicing sex was magnificent, dense like a flower dripping in sticky nectar.

"I said spread." Min repeated sternly, standing by the side of the bed to give the priestess' bottom another playful slap.

Valentina whimpered in barely concealed pleasure and scrambled to comply, wantonly using her hands to spread the glorious, half-moons of her bottom, fully exposing the hothouse petals of her nether lips and the tiny, invitingly pink rosebud of her bottom. Almost reverently, Min ran her slender, expert fingers down the sweet hills of Valentina's bottom, before running the pads of her fingers through the sodden lips of the human girl's flesh, gathering a film of musky nectar on her fingers. Valentina thrust her hips backwards, desperately inviting Min to toy with her some more and quench the flames of lust that now filled her loins.

"You sure you're alright doing this with a tiefling?" Min inquired sceptically. Given the luxurious furnishings of Valentina's room and the stern ancestral portraits that hung from the marble walls, she felt decidedly out of place.

"Did I perhaps complain last time?" Valentina said, her cultured voice choked with lust.

That was all the confirmation Min needed. Kneeling down by the side of the bed, Min graced Valentina's magnificent sex and bottom with two long, exploratory licks. The priestess moaned, driving her head deeper into the pillows as she raised her hips to meet Min's tongue. Min waited, taking her time, making sure Valentina knew that she would dictate the rhythms of their lovemaking. The tiefling then began to place curious, noncommittal kisses on the insides of Valentina's soft, statuesque thighs, drawing closer to the human girl's sodden sex, but then only tracing the outer lips with the lightest of butterfly kisses. Valentina felt her arousal as tense as an acrobat's rope, the nexus of her pleasure, deep in her hips pulsated eager for the tiefling to ravish her, even as Min withheld her favours in the most infuriating of provocations.

Very gently, Min began to lick Valentina's fragrant sex in a slow, dreamlike rhythm, as if she were savouring the finest of creams rather than pleasuring a shameless priestess. Valentina shuddered and yelped, her face running deep red with embarrassment as Min gently tapped her clit with the very tip of a fingernail. Min then continued lapping away, almost playfully, at Valentina's sex - for now she was contented with savouring the strangely addictive fragrance of the priestess and the desperate little gasps that were emitted in response to each swipe of her tongue.

Valentina squirmed, needing something to fill her, whether it be Min's tongue or fingers in her sex or bottom it did not matter, she just wanted to be mastered by the mysterious tiefling whose skills made those of her human lovers pale in comparison. Min, however, was in no mood to be charitable, for the licking suddenly stopped, causing Valentina to turn her head discreetly to one side with a plaintive whimper of desire.

"I told you, face down." Min growled, her orange eyes glowed with playful malice, "Now I think I'm just going to take my time." With that the tiefling circled Valentina's bed, gently running the tips of her fingernails down the priestess' arched spine and through her soft, strawberry-blonde hair. Min then eased herself on the pillows at the head of Valentina's bed with effortless grace and parted her lithely muscled thighs directly in front of the human girl's surprised - and frustrated - face. The haughty beauty of Valentina's face was briefly marred by a disappointed pout. But then, she reasoned, she had put herself in Min's power.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Min inquired, casually running her fingers through Valentina's hair. The priestess took a few moments to drink in the sight of Min leaning back on the headboard of her bed, knees against her breasts, thighs spread to reveal a gorgeous deep red feast, like a ripe fruit or flower redolent of spicy cinnamon and erotic promise. Min's sex was an exotic, lust-moistened tropical bloom and like nothing Valentina had ever experienced before. So the priestess began lapping at the spread nether lips with eager abandon. Her touch was expert, for she had much occasion for practice, and Min was all too happy to inform her of what a good job she was doing with low, satisfied moans of encouragement. Valentina tongue knew exactly where to tease and probe, before playfully slipping into Min's juicing canal, eliciting a pleasured sigh from the tiefling. Utterly intoxicated by the pleasant spiciness of the tiefling's sex, Valentina lost herself in a red, wet world. Her tongue gently began to flick against the stiffened little bud of the tiefling's clit, while Min's taut, flat abdomen strained under the undulations of her hips which grew ever more insistent as Valentina's expert mouth strung the tiefling's passion tighter still.

In their lust, neither could see Shesayne crouching in the shadows by the doorway of the room. The petite half elf bit her lip as she sat on the hard stone floor, one hand busy at work under her waistband. She was no fool and knew exactly what Valentina had intended to do with Min - so she had decided to give the Treasury a skip and follow the couple upstairs, where she had hidden behind the door. Now that the two were absorbed in their passion, Shesayne had slipped in to get a closer look. She had not been disappointed.

The half-elf felt her passion grow as her fingers quickly and expertly glided against her lust-slick sex lips, creating unbearable friction on the tumescent little bud of her clitoris. Shesayne wanted to moan out loud, but restrained herself for fear of interrupting the wonderfully arousing scene in front of her. Her nipples were so stiff they showed in glorious detail through the red fabric of her bandeau. Shesayne's fingers moved in swift, well judged motions, her fingertips focusing firm pressure on her clit in languid, circular rubbing movements. She was unbearably wet, so that the undergarment-like bottom of her revealing outfit betrayed her arousal in a spreading, moist patch. That wetness was a guilty pleasure in itself, but what truly excited her was the sight of Min's rose-agate skin with its enigmatic red tint against Valentina's snowy whiteness, as well as the eagerness with which the arrogant priestess submitted to obediently licking the tiefling's sex as if she were truly hungry for the spicy desire-swollen flesh she found there. Shesayne gritted her teeth, she felt that onslaught of her orgasm close as she slipped her free hand under her bandeau to strip the offending garment off. Her breasts had all the pointed elegance of an elf's, combined with a certain alluring, human roundness, her nipples were pink, stiff and ready to be plucked by feminine lips. Shesayne's heart hammered in her chest, just as the muscle-straining spasm of need coursed through her loins and down her spine.

A few more stiff twists of her fingers brought Shesayne to a spasmodic, intense climax, causing her to pinch reflexively down on her nipple and clitoris. The half-elf rode the wave of loosened tension with hungry gyrations of her hips. In the throes of her peak, Shesayne could not restrain her ragged, breathy gasps of release.

"Hmm...Shesayne, just the girl I was looking for." Min sighed. She did not even have to turn around, preferring to focus on Valentina's bobbing head and pink tongue eagerly at work on her sex, "Doing anything fun back there?"

"Just 'bout the only interesting and important thing my mother ever taught me." Shesayne replied smugly, kicking off her low-cut boots and stepping out of her soaked bottoms.

"Right, well since Valentina's doing such a great job here...ah!" Min gasped as she was interrupted by two of Valentina's impeccably manicured fingers parting the slick folds of her sex and winding their way deep into her sodden channel, "why...why don't you help her out?"

Shesayne nodded, approached the side of the bed, and knelt down to contemplate the gorgeous curves of the priestess' proffered bottom and pouting, juicing sex. Min clearly knew how to choose them, the profile of Valentina's backside was one of pure femininity and the aroma that greeted Shesayne as she tentatively placed a reverent kiss on the human girl's thigh was no less appealing. Valentina dug her toes into the sheets, bracing herself for the assault she knew would come, all the while redoubling her efforts between Min's thighs, her fingers thrusting in a slow, deliberate, corkscrew motion to gently tease the bundle of hypersensitive tissue deep in the channel of the tiefling's sex. Shesayne lunged, finally dipping her thirsty tongue into the fragrant well of Valentina's sex. The nether lips were so soft, so velvety as to be irresistible to the little half-elf. Valentina moaned into Min's sex as she felt Shesayne begin to lick rapidly, two dextrous fingers expertly coaxing her stiff clit, while another playfully teased the tightly puckered star of her bottom. It felt so unbearably naughty to be licking a tiefling while a half-elf played with her most intimate parts, so transgressive.

A few more good licks on Min's clitoris, combined with prolonged, agonising pressure deep in her sex finally released the coiled desire in the tiefling's belly. Min pressed her sex in hard, desperate undulations against Valentina's face, her ragged gasps of pleasure filled the room, just as her nipples, crimson like cherries, seemed to pierce the air with their arrogant stiffness. The wave of itching need and fiery release coursed through the tiefling's body, causing her svelte muscles to strain under taut, red-tinted skin. Valentina certainly knew of no sight more beautiful than Min in climax. The priestess, however, did not relent as she diligently continued her work, her hard nipples pressed against the agonisingly smooth texture of the sheets beneath her, as she parted her knees further, inviting wantonly inviting Shesayne's attentions.

The half-elf did not disappoint: the combination of her expert fingers against Valentina's clit, and the playful dance of her tongue over the priestess' nether lips was irresistible. Valentina felt the boundless heat in her loins begin to mount, just as electricity built at the base of her spine, ready for release. Shesayne's licking and the maddening action of her fingers brought their rewards as Valentina felt the molten wave of her climax approach; it was then that petite half-elf, with impish malice pressed the tip of a finger against the tightly puckered ring of the priestess' bottom. Valentina moaned in defeated shame as the pink rosebud gave way to the intrusion all the way down to the base of Shesayne's finger. Both her sex and bottom contracted spasmodically as her tightly-wound lust was finally brought to its culmination. Valentina's mewling, eager cries of pleasure were music to Shesayne's ears, while Min smiled enigmatically, privately pleased that this cultured priestess would have been considered wanton even by Hive standards.

Valentina collapsed, a flood of relief spreading over her as she nuzzled Min's firm belly. Shesayne rose to her feet at the base of the bed and proceeded to lasciviously lick her fingers clean in full sight of Min. There was a moment of silence as Valentina recovered from the last pulsations of her climax.

"Would you like to fuck me?" The priestess asked, suddenly and very seriously as she lifted her gaze to meet Min's.

"What?" Min inquired, turning to Shesayne who stood, perplexed, and could only answer with a shrug of her shoulders.

"'Fucking', that would be what you people call it, right?" Valentina proceeded her aristocratic accent as melodious as ever, in spite of the question she was posing.

"Oh...yeah," Shesayne interjected, "uh, Min, she means with the rod."

"In that case," Min said, her voice betraying at least a little enthusiasm, "it's an offer I can't refuse."

"Yes, quite." Valentina said, blushing a little, "Min, if you would be so kind, there is a crystal box under the bed."

Exchanging bemused glances with Shesayne, Min dismounted from the bed and crouched down to reach the darkness underneath. Her keen eyesight soon spotted an intricately-carved crystal box with odd calligraphy sculpted into its lid which, once removed, almost caused the tiefling to laugh out loud. The implement was well-proportioned and thick, carved out of a translucent, milky material, like mother of pearl, so that its highly-textured surface was iridescent. The tiefling reflected that it must have cost, enchantment included, more than the average yearly salary of most people she knew.

"Right...you have...uh, taste." Min said rising to her feet and contemplating the dildo. Like most enchanted surrogates of its kind, it had a blunted, root-like tip at its very base.

"Why thank you, my dear." Valentina said as she flipped onto her back, positioning herself at the centre of the bed, "Now only in my Well of Sune, mind you, and not in my bottom, I am afraid that I have yet to grow accustomed to that."

There were few things that surprised Min, but Valentina was truly a case all of her own, "Great...Shesayne, why don't you get her ready?"

"My duty, honour and pleasure." The half-elf chimed as she eased herself on the bed by Valentina's side. Much to her surprise, the priestess immediately seized her and drew her into a most fiery kiss. Valentina's tongue was hungry, eager and spicy from the residue of Min's passion, so it was a pleasure for Shesayne to abandon herself to the human girl's expert touch. Shesayne may have been petite, but her body was graceful and quite a pleasure for Valentina to explore - her bottom may not have had the voluptuous curvature of the priestess', but it was perfectly rounded, tight and youthful. For her part, Shesayne was infinitely impressed with the sheer heft and ripeness of Valentina's breasts, which were large and dense without being vulgar.

Min observed Shesayne and Valentina with almost palpable anticipation. The tiefling eased the base of the iridescent olisbos into the moist tunnel of her sex and, almost immediately, she felt the enchantment take root and spread a sensation of warmth deep in the base of her belly. Gradually, the rod became attuned with the sensitivity of her sex, conveying any sensations on its surface deep into the tiefling. It felt, effectively, almost as if Min's sex had been turned inside out, for just running her fingertips down the shimmering, pearly surface drew a shudder from the tiefling. Once Min felt the implantation complete, the dildo held firmly in place by her will and the power of its enchantment, she turned to more serious matters.

Shesayne was moaning rhythmically as she offered her soft breasts to Valentina's eager tongue. The priestess was happily suckling away at one of Shesayne's rosy-pink nipples, while the slender half-elf drew her hairless sex over the human girl's soft, slightly curved belly, leaving hot, wet, fragrant trails on the flawless skin.

"Valentina, spread for me," Min ordered, mounting the bed and settling down on her knees - need pulsed through her sex like a thundering cloud, "Shesayne, make sure you keep that chattering, high-up tongue of hers busy."

Both scrambled to obey. Valentina lay back against the pillows at the head of the bed and spread her thighs, knees raised to reveal the inviting, pink well of her sex, while Shesayne settled with her knees on either side of the priestess' shoulders, leaning forward on the headboard for support. The half-elf's light pink sex, was already in full bloom with the irresistible, flowery elven fragrance tinged with just a touch of human earthiness; it was spread and eager, almost in contact with Valentina's hungry lips. With her vision obscured by the wonderful vision of Shesayne's blooming flower and flat little belly, Valentina was left in delicious uncertainty as to when Min would strike.

The tiefling was in no hurry. She gently eased Valentina's legs further apart so that she could kneel comfortably between them, before tentatively sliding the very tip of olisbos against the priestess' outer lips. Valentina moaned and began to lap hungrily at Shesayne's juicing sex. The scent and flavour of a half-elf was new to her, and every bit as fascinating and erotic as she had imagined. Shesayne moaned, eyes tightly shut as she concentrated on the sensations welling deep in her loins. The half-elf began to sway her hips to meet the eager licking of Valentina's tongue. She felt the priestess' soft hands grip her bottom and draw her in deeper. For Shesayne, there was only ecstasy in that eager, wanton mouth.

Min's first thrust was slow, delicate, but deep. She need not have bothered, Valentina was so wet that the thick, iridescent dildo effortlessly parted the pink sex lips, gliding beautifully into the tight, gripping channel beyond. Min grunted, biting her lip, the clutching sensation of the human girl's contracting channel around her was sublime, for the rod relayed that sweet sensation deep into sex in which it had taken root. Min's thrusts began to build pace as the tiefling leaned in further against Valentina. The priestess instinctively wrapped her graceful, creamy white legs around the tiefling's waist, pulling her in for ever deeper penetration. Valentina felt filled beyond belief: each time the olisbos thrust into her, she felt an electric spasm deep in her loins as its textured surface caressed her most sensitive spots all at once. The dildo was a bridge that united them, bringing passionate relief to the lust-inflamed flesh of the human priestess' gripping sex. But best of all was the idea that Min was filling her, taking pleasure from the priestess' flesh as the tiefling desired. There was no arrogant violence in Min's firm, deliberate thrusting, but just one body flowing into another, two beings - normally separated by society - becoming a single hymn to passion.

"Stay still!" Min ordered Shesayne, for the half-elf's firm, lightly tanned bottom swaying but inches from her faces was too arousing for the tiefling. Her tongue belonged there.

Shesayne nodded wordlessly and did her best to comply, despite the mounting, urgent need she felt in her sex, all thanks to Valentina's tireless licking. Min settled into shorter, more abrupt thrusts now that she felt Valentina's pleasure mount, so she was finally able to draw close to the tight crease of Shesayne's bottom and run her tongue hungrily down that magnificent valley. From her vantage point, Min could see Shesayne's fragrant, pink sex spread open and eagerly licked by Valentina, just as she could see the gorgeous scenery of the priestess' heavy breasts rising and falling, nipples stiff like gems, with each laboured breath. Shesayne braced herself against the headboard when she felt Min's tongue slide between the globes of her bottom and apply gentle, licking pressure on the tight, sensitive surface of her anus.

The wanton Valentina was the first to come. Min's expertise with the olisbos was beyond the human girl's wildest dreams, so that each consummate thrust was enough to seek out pleasure she had never before imagined could be elicited from the depths of her sex. Her cries, higher and more shameless than ever before, were partly drowned out by Shesayne's sex, upon which she feasted just as the walls of her channel contracted spasmodically around Min's rod. Min moaned, but held her release for a few more moments, before allowing the wave of tightly packed, electrical pleasure from the rhythmic convulsions of Valentina's sex - relayed perfectly by the enchanted rod - to overcome her. Min's climax came in low, ragged breaths as the coiling serpent of her desire finally struck, flooding her belly and sex with indescribable satisfaction. Between Min lavishing wet licks on her rosebud and Valentina's expert ministrations on her sex, Shesayne felt the final barrier of her need break, leaving her awash and trembling with the release of her climax.

Languidly, as if in a trance, Min withdrew from Valentina in one, loving movement and carefully detached the dildo from her own sex, setting it aside on the bed. Valentina had already repositioned herself onto her belly, with Shesayne sitting cross legged on the pillows in front of her. The priestess' mouth was already at work on Shesayne's sweetly fragrant sex, two graceful fingers parting the lust-inflamed lips, much to the half-elf's giggling delight. Min smiled at the sight of her two insatiable companions. She then, as it were the most natural thing in the world, lifted up Valentina's hips, spread the soft, perfect half-moons of the priestess' bottom and began coaxing the puckered rosebud nestled in that sensual valley with loving, insistent licks.

*********

"Hey, Shesayne...wake up!" Min whispered fiercely. Valentina's bedchamber was dark, just as it had been when they had all finally decided to allow sleep to interrupt their frenzied lovemaking.

"What...Min...?" Shesayne squinted in the darkness, even as she snuggled closer to the comforting, soft warmth of Valentina's breasts.

"Get up...we have to go." Min was already fully clothed. The sound of Valentina's soft breathing was all that could be heard in the darkened chamber.

"Min, c'mon it's soft and comfortable here." Shesayne herself did not know whether she was referring to the luxurious bed or Valentina's lush, voluptuous body.

"Yeah, but then she's going to have one of her weepy 'I love you' things tomorrow morning, trust me. We've got to go." Min had no intention of indulging Valentina's emotional mood swings. No doubt the spoiled priestess had servants and underlings who had been well-trained to handle her tantrums.

"Aw...fuck, Min, you waking me up...that's a new one." Shesayne stirred and reluctantly shifted the arm Valentina had wrapped around her waist. It was not often that the half-elf had the opportunity to sleep in such a luxurious bed. The priestess slumbered on, oblivious to the situation.

The slender half-elf scrambled in the dark for her clothes and dressed, before following Min in clambering down the open window and onto the temple gardens below. Sigil by night was magnificent. Thousands of lit, multi-chrome fires illuminated winding streets that spread, and finally curved upwards, into the distance. Sigil's Great Wheel was afire with light and energy. Min could not help but wonder whether the Temple Ward and the administrative Clerk's Ward were the only two neighbourhoods that ever slept. Wrought with boundless wonder, Sigil had to be savoured and explored, so the pair made their way back into the alleys and side-streets they knew so well. Perhaps Shesayne's mother had left some supper (or would it be breakfast?) on the stove, perhaps they would make do with the Grand Bazaar's night food-market and simply watch another, doubtless fascinating, day dawn before their very eyes.

Author's Note: the adventures of Min and Shesayne continue in the Sigil series, also stored on this archive.

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