(Continued from Ch 54, Sir Bellany)
 

The Chronicles of Rapina
Chapter 55, The Broasted Ox



The Broasted Ox was obviously not an establishment that
catered to noblemen.  The ground floor consisted of a
large commons room filled with rough-hewn hardwood
tables.  A bar and staircase dominated the far corner.
The smell of flowing ale and roasting beef permeated
the atmosphere.

Charles strode right up to the bar near the staircase.
"How many rooms have you got left tonight?"

"We have three singles and three doubles, sir."

"If you'll give me a good rate, I'll take them all,"
Charles offered.  "I also want a table, a hearty meal
and a round of ale for a group of nine..."

While Charles haggled over prices, Bellany looked
around and tried to ignore the lust tickling her nose
from quite a few of the men sitting at the tables
drinking.  They might have been more restrained had it
not been just past ten o'clock.  Most of the dinner
crowd had no doubt finished and left.  These men were
here to drink.  For a moment, she was the center of
attention.  The slacked jaws, barked comments and the
low howling whistles reminded Bellany of dogs.  The
pack had caught her scent.  It would have been quite
unsettling if the tickle of lust that coursed down her
spine had not been so enjoyable.  Bellany forced
herself not to look at the men, not to smile at them
meaningfully or to tug on their lust and not to listen
to any of their comments about her body.  Instead, she
imagined that all of the men really were dogs.
Simultaneously, she imagined that she was the noblest
of ladies clad in a shining armor of deportment.

Her stance, her demeanor, everything would have been
perfect had her jaw not suddenly dropped.  In her
memory, still wrapped in the art and armor of
deportment, she stepped into the chamber of the
Mortancers of Mortaebius.  There she talked to a circle
of dead men about a deal with Captain Red Jack whom she
would approach about providing the order with corpses
for use in building an army of undead servitors.  She
remembered the lust from some of the mortancers and the
ominous lack of lust from others.  On the outside,
Bellany hastened to recompose herself after a momentary
lapse, but on the inside, she marveled at the clarity
of the memory.

For a very long time memories after the period of her
pirate "fantasy" had seemed clutched in a deathly grip.
She had only been able to get the barest bits of them.
Something had happened.  The grip had been loosed.  Was
it just that she was finally away from her parents, or
was it the bolt in the brain she had experienced when
she touched the statue of Mortaebius?  Perhaps it was
all part of her fait.  What reason might the god of the
dead have for blocking her memories and then releasing
them when she was on her way to a school that
instructed the children of the peers of the realm?  She
would think about it later.

Sergeant Lime pushed Bellany's chair in for her as she
seated herself at a large commons room table in The Inn
of the Broasted Ox.  Charles sat at the head of the
table and the men pulled up chairs on either side as
they returned from taking the luggage to the rooms.

A few men at a neighboring table seemed to continue
looking at Bellany even after the other men in the
commons room of the inn had returned to their drinking.


"Hail there, me name's Cooyman.  This here is Dempsey
and Stratton.  I could not help noticin' ye look like
ye've got wounded.  Even the lady appears ta have a
hurt as though ye'd been doin' battle a few hours past.
Mahap a round of drinks for ye could loose yer tongues
to the tale?"

The cavalrymen of Avengene looked to Charles.

"Well met Cooyman.  Consider our tongues loosed.  I am
Lord Charles Norwit, son of the Baronet of Norwit.  At
the other end of the table is my sister Lady Sir
Bellany Norwit.  Next to her is Sergeant Lime,
cavalryman Dorety, Reid, Fyker, Lytle, Ramps and
Simms," Charles pointed each person out as he spoke.

"Good to meet ye all, waitress, a round of drinks for
the lord,lady, and these warriors of Avengene.  How is
it ye call yer sister Lady Sir?" Cooyman asked.

"That's part of the tale."  Charles smiled and launched
into the tale of his summer of misbehavior teaching his
sister skills at arms.  Then as dinner progressed he
told the tale of Bellany's sword fight with her father.
By the end of the meal, he was telling the story of
their battle with the highwaymen.

Charles smiled as he finished, "The moral of the story
is, she who lives proper and stiff soon dies cold and
stiff."

The men laughed heartily.

"Ain't ye a bit embarrassed fer bein' saved by a lady,"
a slightly drunker Cooyman asked.

"At first, I think the men and I had some misgivings,
but now we are sure it is far better to be saved by one
lady than to save yourself for one lady and die a
virgin."  Charles grinned crookedly.  It was obvious
that the free round of ales provided by Cooyman and the
second and third rounds provided by Charles were
beginning to take effect.

Bellany knew she had far too many secrets locked in her
head to drink too much, thus she had passed on the
second and third refills.  Nevertheless, the ale was
potent and the flagons were large.  She wanted to
misbehave with the men but she knew if she embarrassed
her family tonight, the walls of her grammar school
prison would be extended higher.  She tried not to let
her eyes linger on any man too long or to smile too
meaningfully, but she was not sure how successful she
had been so far.

As the platters from their meal were removed, Charles
stood.  "Men, it's near midnight.  Since my father is
not present tonight, I have taken it upon myself to
tell you that this would be the proper time to go to
bed now that we are finished eating.  Wounds and hard
riding can tire a man.   They can make him a bad card
player and rid him of his hard-won loot.  Too much ale
can make a man do stupid things he might later regret.
You can avoid all that simply by going to bed now."

Simms got up holding the wound in the side of his
belly.  "This is hardly more'n a flesh wound.  I'm
pretty sure it didn't go through any of me guts, but it
feels like it did even though it didn't.  After a few
ales includin' one of the Lady Knight's, the pain's not
near as bad as usual.  I am going to go up and see if I
can get some sleep before the ale wears off."

Dorety stood and shook his head.  "I'd like ta stay and
play cards with ye, but all that ridin' made me thigh
wound pretty angry.  If Sir Belle here will give me the
third round of ale she missed, I'll guzzle it down and
get some rest same as Simms.

Bellany motioned to the waitress to fill Dorety's mug.
"Sleep well, Dorety," Bellany said warmly.

"Aye, thank ye milady," Dorety said as the waitress
filled the mug.

"Two pennies says Dorety can guzzle the whole of it
without a breath," Charles wagered.

"I'll call ye on that bet," Cooyman said to Charles.

Dorety raised the mug to his lips and began to guzzle
it down.  He nearly made it but coughed at the last
second.

"Awww damn Dorety, you really are tired," Charles said.

"Cough!  Aye and the lady poured me a mighty full
flagon." Dorety coughed

"Bah, I am sure ye've seen ladies whose flagons are
fuller than hers," Ried said.  "Rest up, ye're no good
for drinking tonight."

"Aye, sorry men.  I almost had it," Dorety apologized.

"Don't worry about it my good man, the night is young
and the cards have not yet been shuffled.  No man could
complain about your service today.  You risked
everything to help win the day.  We could not have done
without you," Charles said.

"Aye, thank ye milord.  I'll go rest up."

"Cards are fine if ye like but we'll be tossin' knives
at yonder target if any of ye would care ta join,"
Cooyman said.  One warnin' though, I've got me lucky
stone.  I can't be beat!  Cooyman held up a small white
moonstone.

"Doesn't every man have two lucky stones?" Bellany
asked.  Her face suddenly took on a stunned expression
as she realized what she had just said.  She covered
her mouth with her fingers.

"Hah hah!  Bellany you're drunk after one flagon!"
Charles roared.

Bellany just sat there with her fingers over her open
mouth.  In her memory, she held a white stone that
symbolized her sitting in a man's lap.  The betting was
furious as Sir Stallart, Sir Coshus and some other
warriors of Daelrath bet to win the stone that would
grant the setting of her full moon against their
thighs.  Earlier in the summer when she had flashed
back to Dealrath she had got only the briefest glimpse
of memory.  This time she had remembered a great deal
more.  She had gone by the name of Valkura in Dealrath
and she had befriended many of the men including the
Baron.  She had also gotten to know the Baron's
daughter Bruhnhilda Daelrath.

"Oops," Bellany said belatedly.

Her brother and the men roared with laughter.

"I'm not...um that drunk."  Bellany giggled.  Can I
throw knives Charles?

Charles frowned then brightened.  "Certainly Bellany,
those of us that are left will move to the tables over
in front of the target so we can watch the throwing,
order drinks and play cards at the same time!"

"Now there's a good idea," Cooyman and the men agreed
as they rose and headed for the tables near the
throwing line.

A section of tree trunk that looked as though a bolt of
lightning had split it down the middle stood against a
wall in one corner of the inn.  The target painted on
it was inscribed with numbers.  There was a bull's-eye
at its center and five concentric rings.  Lines crossed
through the rings dividing the target into six pie
slice-shaped sections numbered one through six in a
clockwise direction starting at the top of the target.
The rings were also numbered.  A rope fenced off the
lane where the knives would travel.  After she scurried
upstairs to fetch her bandoleer of throwing knives,
Bellany returned to the throwing area where Cooyman
demonstrated his technique.

Just a heav'in 'o th' strong right arm and...

Bellany squealed suddenly as she looked into the face
of death. It was a skeletal assassin.  If she could
believe the memory, the undead monster, Elizabetta, had
taught Bellany various thieving skills including how to
throw knives.

"Ha! Ye missed by a mile Cooy." Dempsey chortled.

"Hey Lady, ye suckered me throw!  Are ye sure ye're new
ta this?" Cooyman exclaimed.

"Sorry It was just one of my flashbacks," Bellany
apologized.

"Flashbacks?"

"I was a prisoner of the orcs for most of last year but
I was struck by a spell during my rescue and my memory
is a mess.  Sometimes I remember bits and pieces."

"What did ye remember?"

"Just something the orcs did if you didn't obey,"
Bellany lied convincingly.

Cooyman grimaced.

"I'd really rather not talk about bits of orc memories
though.  What is past is past." Bellany smiled.  I
would rather hear about you men.  You already know
quite a bit about me from Charles' tale at the table
tonight but I do not know a thing about you."

"Well I'm a journeyman armor smith and founder, I am,"
Cooyman said. "I works in steel.  It's a strong man's
profession.  Strength is what gives me an advantage at
throwin'.  A strong man's blade don't drop much afore
it reaches the target." Cooyman flexed his biceps.

"I work over 't th' tanner's," Stratton said. "I'm
somethin' of a journeyman meself.  Leather straps 'n
belts and saddles n' fixtures.  We do it all.  Leather
'as strength and a leather worker's got to have the
strength to deal with that, but a good leather is
flexible too, and I got that as well.  Strength and
flexibility is what makes for a good knife thrower.
That'll be why I win tonight.

Huhuhuh, Dempsy chuckled. "I'm an apprentice of design
at Devine's Clothier Shop.  A designer needs a good eye
and a stylish flair, and that's why I will always have
the edge in the knife throwing game over these
simpletons."

"Bite me Dempsy," Cooyman grumbled. "I'd like to see
what happened to your style if th' lady squealed when
ye threw."

"Wait." Bellany said. "I just got these knives and I am
not used to their weight or anything.  Could we just do
some free throwing to warm up before we start
competing?  I think it would help me to see a
demonstration of each of your styles."

"Oh of course.  We might as well warm up I guess,"
Stratton agreed.

"Aye we could do that for ye lady.  I'll show ye how a
real man throws," Cooyman said.

"It's all in the wrist.  I would be glad to
demonstrate," Dempsey said flexing his wrist.

"Alright milady, let me demonstrate the Cooyman
throwin' technique then ye can try.  Cooyman stepped up
to the line on the floor.  He drew his arm back and
then speedily straightened it.  The knife flew and
stuck soundly into the target high in the center within
the third ring.  That throw's what ye'd call a one n'
three.  See 'tis in th' first section and th' third
ring."

Bellany nodded.

"There now ye try it," Cooyman said. "Stand right on
the line there with both feet planted firm."  Cooyman
moved Bellany into place with a firm hand on either
side of her torso.

For a moment Bellany half shut her eyes as she savored
the touch of a strong man's hands on her body.  It had
been far too long.  She could hear Cooyman's breath
catch in his throat as her body reacted by pulling at
his lust for an instant before she could get control of
herself. After he released her, she drew back her arm
and threw just as Cooyman had but the knife dropped a
bit and buried itself in the fifth ring.

"That's the idea milady.  Ye're centered good, but yer
knife dropped some on account of not bein' a steel
worker."

Bellany smiled, trying not to let on that macabre
memories of her skeletal trainer were intruding like
chills from the hands of a dozen hungry shadows. "Thank
you Cooyman," Bellany said a little breathlessly.

"Now let me show ye my style," Stratton said.  He
quickly demonstrated and then began his instructing.
Ye don't plant your feet one beside th' other on the
line like some stone statue.  Slide this one up ta one
step behind the line and stand back about so.  Stratton
took her by the waist and pulled her back a step.

Bellany briefly arched her back and cocked her head as
she looked up at him with a smile.

Stratton grinned back.  "Heh heh, That's good now ye're
going to put this shoulder forward and haul back with
yer throwin' arm and ye'll take a step forward as ye
bring yer arm forward.

Bellany followed Stratton's instructions and the knife
sunk into the sixth section in the third ring.

"Well there ya are she got more power my way and wound
up in th' top part o' th' target she did, Cooyman."
Stratton said.

"Aye but she's off ta th' left and high, but when she
did it my way she was low but right on the money left
ta right."

"Yaa yaa, so what," Stratton said.  "I guess it's a
draw."

"Come now let me show you the Dempsey style, Lady
Belle," Dempsey purred as he did a quick demonstration
and then began to instruct.  Put your front toe on the
line.  We won't be taking a step.  It throws your
accuracy off too much to be worth it.  You won't need
that step if you get your wrist working. You will need
to put your left shoulder forward as you draw back your
right shoulder just as when ye used Stratton's method."
Dempsey took her by her right shoulder and her left
forearm to position her without disturbing her wound.
"Now cock your wrist back like so, and just before you
release, flick your wrist for extra power."

Bellany threw as in structed.  The knife stuck in the
target in the third section within the second ring.
Her skeletal trainer had spent quite some time on her
wrist action to insure the knife stopped flipping
before hitting the target.  This time Bellany had put
too much end for end spin on the blade.  She would do
better next time.  The memories of Elizabetta were
coming back to her in broken bits that began to
assemble into more complete memories the more she
practiced with the knife throwing.  After a few minutes
of free throwing she was doing pretty well, and then
the competition began.

The men bet a few coppers on each round of throwing.
Cooyman with his strong-arm method of throwing did
consistently well.  Stratton started off strong but did
poorly after the first half hour.  Dempsy started off
doing well but then had a run of bad luck before
rallying in the end.  Bellany just kept getting better
until she was throwing better than Cooyman by the end
of the hour. She even won a few coppers over what she
had started with.

After about an hour Charles called her to the table.
"Bellany, why don't you take it a bit easy on throwing
tonight and give your shoulders some rest.  Come sit
here by me and quench your thirst.  I'll teach you the
game as we play.  Bellany took a brimming mug of ale
from the waitress and sat in a chair Reid vacated for
her next to her brother.  Cooyman and his friends sat
down to have another round of ale.

Charles explained that certain combinations of cards
were better than others and the person who held the
best hand at the end after all bets and counter bets
were taken won the hand.  Bellany quickly realized that
Charles was a wicked card player.  He smiled constantly
and he would occasionally bluff.  Sometimes he
pretended to bluff when he had a fine hand.  He had a
way with people and was able to read many of them well
enough that he knew when they had a good hand.  After
about forty-five minutes, Bellany was following the
game well.

"I think you've got it now, Belle.  Open that heavy
purse of yours and prepare to have it lightened,"
Charles grinned.

Bellany smiled.  She had made a point to sip her second
ale at a snail's pace, but she was definitely feeling
no pain.  She tried to get her wits about her but she
kept grinning and giggling.  After loosing her first
three hands, she decided she had better stop giggling
when she had an especially bad hand.  Instead, she
waited until she had a good hand and giggled.   She won
back what she had lost.

Bellany and the men played cards for a couple hours.
Charles increased his fortunes.  Bellany lost a little
money, but nearly broke even.  By the end of the game,
Bellany was still a little tipsy although she had not
quite finished her second ale.  The men, including
Charles, were drunk.

"I lost entirely tooo mudge on thad hand, men.
Something tells me I have had a liddle too mudge to
drrink." Charles chuckled.  "I think it's time to get
sumb sleeeb."  Charles pointed at Lime.  His hand
wavered.  "I am much too drung to get Bellandy a room
ad da Arms.  Lucgily I god a spare room heere.
Sergeant, you look soberer than the rezd of da men.
Pud her in the corner room and take the one nexzd door.
Heere are the keyz to both.  Lock the door to make sure
no one pops into her, er on her."  Charles giggled.

The men got up from their chairs.  Bellany was steadier
on her feet than the lot of them.  She was so glad she
had not drunk any more than she had.  Her flashes of
memory seemed to be getting broader.  She knew she
would have more and more to hide.  She did not exactly
feel sober, but at least she could walk straight.

Bellany had the last room at the back of the hotel. The
window in her room overlooked the stables and she
caught the faint odor of horses wafting up from the
building next-door. Sergeant Lime was obviously a bit
drunk.  Bellany could hear him on the other side of the
door trying to lock her in as Charles had ordered, but
he was fumbling with the key to her room.  On impulse,
she drew her main gauche and jammed the point into the
space between the door and door jam at the level of the
lock.   She squinted as she remembered being locked
into a different room.  There had been a bed, a closet
and... a holy book concerning the Church of Mortaebius.
It was another memory from after her pirate days.
Bellany barely had time to gasp before she heard Lime
on the other side of the door.

"Damned lock," Lime muttered.   Then he knocked on
Bellany's door.

She quickly sheathed her main gauche and opened the
door a crack.

"I can't get the lock to work.   I need to try it from
your side," Lime whispered.

"Okay, come on in," Bellany whispered.

Lime came in, turned and began to fumble with the lock.
"Click," the lock turned easily.

"Is it working?" Bellany whispered.

"Yeah, it works fine from in here," Lime whispered.

"Good," Bellany grinned.

"Milady, are you in the habit of squeezing men's
butts?" Sergeant Lime asked as he reached back and
pulled Bellany's hand out from under the skirt of his
chain mail.

"I wish, but how often do I get the chance to sneak a
man with a great butt into my room?" Bellany whispered.

Lime chuckled, "Ye'd better watch out girl, or ye'll
get more than ye bargained for."

"You're telling me I'll get something?  People used to
tell me I would loose something, but that's in the past
now," Bellany said playfully.   "Getting something
sounds much better.  What might I get?" As Lime turned,
Bellany tugged on his lust.

Sergeant Lime inhaled.  Whatever he had thought he was
about to do evaporated from his mind.   Instead he
grabbed Bellany and kissed her.

Bellany could feel the delicious heat of the sergeant's
lust as his alcohol-weakened inhibitions went up in
blazing flames.  She kissed the sergeant deeply while
grabbing his muscular rear with both hands and pulling
his loins against her womb.  She silently cursed his
chain mail for getting between her and his growing
erection.  She pulled at the power of his lust with her
own.

Suddenly Lime straight-armed Bellany, let her go and
fanned himself.  "Whew, Bellany," Lime said in a hushed
voice.  "If ye weren't the daughter of my liege I'd be
poundin' away at ye like a crazed stag.  Ye're
obviously as hot as ye are sweet, but I got to think of
th' consequences."

Bellany looked crestfallen.  "That's why I stopped
bothering the men." She sighed. "I don't want any of
you to get in trouble on my account, even if I do think
you're sexy," Bellany whispered and smiled.

Lime blushed.  "I'd say ye're going to drive yer poor
mom and dad to distraction." Lime chuckled.

"Maybe that's why they are sending me to Vergrend's
Prison for Girls." Bellany rolled her eyes.

"Ye're a talented girl with a devious brother.  I
wonder how well those walls will hold ye?" Lime asked.

"Time will tell." Bellany smiled.

"Ye'll have to lock the door from in here."  Lime
handed her a key.

Bellany smiled, "Okay.  Good night Sergeant."

"Good night Sir Lady," Sergeant Lime said.

After Lime left, Bellany tried to lock her door and
perhaps it sounded as if she had, but she really could
not because Lime had given her the key to his room
instead of hers.  Bellany looked through the keyhole.
Her drunken brother was standing in his doorway across
the hall talking to Lime. "Ahah," Bellany thought to
herself.  Bellany got into her nightgown.  Somehow it
just did not fit her.  The size was right but it had
been designed to cover what should have been
accentuated.  A brief flash of memory took her to a
lingerie shop in Argos.  "Argos?" Bellany thought to
herself.  "Bellany Norwit cannot have been to Argos."
Bellany tried not to think of who she thought she might
be.  It was too unsettling.

She wanted to find a man, but men told tales and she
was supposed to be acting like a lady of Avengene.
After dozing for about an hour trying to turn up
memories about whomever bought her lingerie in Argos,
Bellany could no longer stay in bed.  She peeked
through the keyhole and discovered that her brother's
door was closed.  Chances were good that he was asleep.
For some reason Bellany could not seem to bring herself
to leave her room without her purse and weapons belt.
She opened Lime's door very quietly before locking it
behind her with the key he had given her.  She then
crept over near his bed.  Since he was a warrior, she
did not want to startle him.  He might run her through
by mistake.  In a soft voice she said, "You are
dreaming Lady Bellany is about to get in bed with you."
Bellany hung her nightgown and her weapons belt on the
headboard of Lime's bed, and then climbed in.

Her nipples hardened as she snuggled against Sergeant
Lime's bare back.  She wrapped her arms around him and
caressed the muscles of his chest carefully avoiding
bandaged areas.  Sergeant Lime rolled over.  He drank
in her scent as his hands traced down her back and
cupped the high, generous cheeks of her rump.  "Lady
Bellany, is that you?"  His hands moved from her rump
to her breasts.  "It is you."

"Were you dreaming about someone else?"  Bellany asked.

"I am not dreaming," Sergeant Lime said.

"How do you know?" Bellany asked as her fingers touched
Lime's manhood through the loose drawstring pants he
was wearing.  His male energy rushed up her arm and
tingled down her spine.

Lime groaned softly.  "I never dream smells.  I've
worked out with ye plenty, training ye at arms and in
horsemanship.  There is something about yer scent,
Lady, that drives a man to distraction.  It creeps up
on him until he starts dreamin' of bedding ye."

"You mean like right now?" Bellany giggled softly.

"Heheh, yeah, I never noticed yer scent before ye were
nabbed by th' orcs.  Then again I never spent much time
with ye when ye were a girl.  Yer scent started working
on me as soon as I started spending time with ye this
summer.  They say men can somehow tell when it's a
woman's fertile time, and men react differently when it
is.  Maybe it's somethin' like that, only it don't seem
ever ta leave ye completely.  I should be kicking ye
out of me bed right now," Lime said.

"But you aren't?" Bellany asked snuggling against
Lime's chest, her hard nipples rubbing across his
muscles.

"The way ye smell and the way yer fingers are dancin'
over me crotch has me shakin' with desire.  Me head and
me cock have fought themselves to a draw.  If me cock
weren't throbbin' so much I would swear it had turned
ta bone."
-------

Thane left his scrying chamber and walked into the
laboratory where Rames was processing corpses. He
smiled grandly.

Rames chuckled.  "Although that cowl only shows your
bones, I can tell you're smiling, guardian.  Have you
any news?"

"Only that I am a fool, if that is news," Thane said.

"If you're a fool, Guardian, I must be a real idiot
because you're a whole lot smarter than I am.  It seems
like you and Rapina always had to spell things out for
me."

"Yet you have common sense, guardian.  I missed the
obvious.  I cannot imagine how I could have been so
stupid but now that I have finally realized it, I feel
like such an amateur," Thane said.

"Did you find her," Rames asked excitedly.

"Not exactly, but I have uncovered a bit of information
that I should have unearthed months ago had I been
thinking clearly," Thane said.

"What is it?" Rames asked.

"Do you recall the many times I have communed with
Mortaebius to ask if Rapina were in the realm of the
dead?"  Thane asked.

"Of course," Rames said.

"We wondered what connection Rapina and Bellany Norwit
might have had in the orc shaman's lair, yet I
neglected to do one thing," Thane said.

"What was that?" Rames asked with a bit of confusion.

"Let me first ask you about Rapina's scent.  Was there
any appreciable difference between her scent and the
scent of other women?"

Rames thought for a moment.  "There was an undertow
about the way she smelled.  It was a subtle thing, but
it was as if she was so fertile, so ready to make love.
Damn it!  I never thought about it but I miss her
scent, it was the scent of lust."  Rames shook his
head.  "I better not get started or I'll be crying into
a stein of ale before you know it.  What did you do
that you hadn't done before?  Smell her through the
crystal ball?"

Thane chuckled and shook his head. Nay, I do not
believe I have practiced a spell for that. "Up until
quite recently, I had never thought to ask Mortaebius
if Bellany Norwit were in the realm of the dead.  When
I asked, the answer was quite eye-opening."

"It was?" Rames asked.

"Bellany Norwit is dead," Guardian Thane said
succinctly.

"She is?" Rames asked.  "I thought you said she had
recovered from her wounds?"

"Mortaebius has told me that Bellany Norwit is dead,
yet the young woman we delivered to Norwit is still
very much alive.  I checked on her a moment ago.  She
is staying at an inn in the town of Vargrend with her
brother and their retainers.  When I looked in on her
she had just sneaked into the bed of an Avengene
sergeant named Lime.  He made some observations about
her scent that prompted me to come and check with you."

"Then maybe Bellany is really Rapina?  How is that
possible?" Rames asked.

"I am not sure it is possible, but it has just become
much more probable.  I will ask another priest of the
order to check my findings, but I have no doubt of what
Mortaebius has revealed.  I must return to my skrying
and see if I can find more evidence." Thane turned.

"Hold on, Guardian.  I've a question about our precious
here," Rames said.

Thane chuckled heartily.  "The Avengenes were such
fools to bury Evangeline in the cemetery of his own
church as he had requested in his will.  Is there
something wrong with his remains other than the ease
with which we were able to steal them and replace them
with those of a commoner?"

"I am not sure, but I thought I'd ask before I took
matters into my own hands."  Rames walked over to a pit
and hauled on a chain.  A chain bag filled with bones
rose out of the pit.  Rames shook it for a while to get
the beetles out, and then swung the boom that held the
chain out over pit so he could lower the bones to the
floor. He opened the bag and pulled out the pelvis.

"Curious, the beetles have not touched this flesh?"
Thane asked.

"No, I thought it was odd too, but it is very tough,"
Rames said.

"How ironic that, even as a skeleton, Evangeline should
have an un-dieing erection.  There is an aura of
necromancy in this flesh," Thane said.  "I have read
that one can create a particularly powerful form of
zombie by draining the life force out of a man to such
a degree that he has negative life force. The flesh of
the zombies is similar to this.  The spells are
difficult and taxing, however.  My guess is that Rapina
was so frightened of this man that she kept frantically
draining him for a moment after he was already dead.
This is the result.  I have read that a succubus can
create a lust zombie by draining a victim to negative
life force.  I suspect this is an abortive and
inadvertent attempt at the creation of such a monster
by Rapina.

The ligaments that hold the member to the skeleton may
not be sufficient if the skeleton is often in motion,
yet it is somehow appropriate for Evangeline to keep
the appendage.  Let us leave it.  Braid some rope of
human hair and make a pouch of skin and we will simply
secure the appendage to the pelvis while I enchant
Evangeline's remains as a moaning skeleton."
_______

Sweat bathed Sergeant Lime's back as he pistoned in and
out of heaven.  Bellany was smiling and moaning very
softly below him, her hips were thrusting in
counterpoint to his as she squeezed him within like no
woman he had ever known. "Nnngaaa," Lime croaked as his
eyes bulged.  He fountained seed into her greedy depths
for what seemed an eternity until at last he collapsed
on top of her.  "Damn Belle, I really am dreaming,"
Lime whispered.  "I came so hard and sooner than I had
meant to, sorry."

Bellany squeezed Lime's muscular rear and grinned as
she snuggled him.  She had been careful not to take too
much out of him.  It had been a long time since she had
been able to make love to a man and she wanted it to
last.  She silently thanked her lucky pony that she had
reserves enough that she did not have to fight to
control how much of Lime's energy she drew.  "Oh don't
worry about that.  It's like a crossbow isn't it?  The
first shot comes quickly but the second takes a while
to reload?"

"Not all men have a second bolt in their quiver, you
know." Lime grinned.

"Really?  I thought they all did," Bellany whispered.

"Gods I can see why.  Ye've got a real treasure 'tween
your legs.  I can't recall a wench with half your grip
strength," Lime whispered.

"Well, I'm not exactly a virgin even if I can only
remember a few orcs out of the hoard I was no doubt
obliged to bed.  Heavens, I'm still taking everyone's
word for it that I am Bellany Norwit.  If I turn out to
be someone else I'm going to be awfully embarrassed."

Lime chuckled quietly, "After bedding ye I'll be hoping
ye turn out ta be a common girl so I can marry ye."

"Oh you wouldn't want to marry me, sergeant.  I get the
feeling I am much too naughty to marry a good man like
you.  My only hope is to marry a wild swinger who lives
so far away from Avengene that the scandalous tales
will never reach my father's ear." Bellany grinned.

"Heh, it sounds like ye're tryin' ta outdo yer brother
for irreverence," Lime whispered.

"It's not that really.  I just have the hardest time
resisting.  I am sure my unbridled lust would get me in
a lot of trouble if I tried to get by in a traditional
marriage.  I think the orcs must have broken
something," Bellany whispered.

Lime vibrated with laughter as he pushed his face into
a pillow.
-------

An hour or two before dawn Bellany slipped out of
Sergeant Lime's room.  She returned to her own room to
don a dress and then stole down the stairs and looked
around.  The commons room was empty and the worker at
the front desk of the inn was snoozing on his barstool.
Bellany crept by and went through the breezeway into
the carriage house.  She peered down the row of stalls
and heard a familiar nicker as her lucky stud called to
her.  He always seemed to know when she was near.
Bellany answered him with a quiet squeal.  She was not
an entirely fluent speaker of horse sounds, but she
knew the basics just from being around Starstruck so
much.  She checked for stable hands and when she was
satisfied that there were none present, she went to her
stallion's stall.

Bellany grinned.  He was already drawing as she opened
the gate and came in.  She tugged on his lust just the
same.  He nipped her very softly and nickered
endearments to her in his own equine tongue.  It had
taken her weeks to teach him that she was more fragile
than his other mares but she had managed to turn his
nips to nuzzle-nibbles at last.  He covered her with
them as she came to him to stroke his inky mane and
look into the sweet depths of his deep brown eyes.  She
could not help but bend now and again to peer at his
loins.  There was nothing quite as impressive as seeing
his majestic shaft lengthen and rise.  He was somewhat
longer than the average light stallion.  However, his
shaft tapered more than most stallions' from base to
tip and that made him at least marginally manageable
for Bellany.  She knew precisely how much of his
magnificence she could take.

She knew her peers would be scandalized if they knew
what she did with her black stallion, but she really
did not care.  He was a sweet pony.  She would have
loved him even if he had not saved her life and kept
her from loosing her mind in the face of celibacy.
Yet, he had done both of those things.  After his
outstanding service it was no wonder she held him in
such high esteem.  Bellany hiked up her dress, turned
and bent as if to grasp her ankles.  Starstruck nibbled
the firm, round cheeks of her rump and smelled her.
After a long inhalation of her, the stallion threw back
his head and lipped the air.  For some reason her scent
seemed to do a lot for him.  She could see his erection
stiffen.  She smiled, tugging at his lust as his
stiffness tugged at hers.

Bellany turned again and backed up so that she was
standing just to the left and ahead of his powerful
loins.  She twisted briefly, reaching behind her with
her far hand she grasped Starstruck's shaft about eight
inches behind the tip.  He was so thick the fingers of
her left hand could not touch her left thumb.  Bellany
steadied herself with her right hand on her stallion's
upper foreleg. She had barely enough time to pull his
massive, veined cock to the left and place the tip at
her entrance before he began to thrust.  Bellany gasped
open-mouthed.  Gentle entry was not her stallion's
strong point.  His huge erection stretched her to her
limits even though she had spent time just before she
had come down stretching her capacity by plunging her
fingers into herself and teasing her clit to the brink
of orgasm.  The hand she had clamped around his shaft
thumped against her butt and bounced her forward
repeatedly as his plunging cock sought to exceed the
limit her grasp imposed.

His massive lust built rapidly.  Before the end of the
second minute of thrusting Bellany watched his fist-
sized balls rise behind her.  She slid her hand up his
shaft two more inches to reduce the penetration and
give her overwhelmed cunny some slack to accommodate
his rapidly flaring glans.  As he reached his peak of
arousal, his tip became painfully enlarged and then he
grunted with pleasure as he began to fountain.  The
pain vanished as she squealed like a mare; orgasm
drowned her mind in pleasure like the torrential jets
that blasted against her cervix practically drowned her
in cum.  She drank more deeply of Starstruck's power
than she would dare drink of any man.  Her stallion
always spent so powerfully that it was only after
considerable practice that she could now strain to take
just a tiny bit more than he gave naturally.  She could
tell by the grunt that was joining her squeal that she
was bringing a great deal of ecstasy to her equine
lover as he spent himself inside her.  His orgasm
lasted nearly as long as the thrusts that had led up to
it. Bellany inhaled sharply as her stallion's power
surged up her spine and spread out from her loins and
chest in tingling waves that made her tremble with
pleasure.  It was all over in less than three minutes.

He was so blissfully overwhelming Bellany might have
missed the groan from across the corridor if it had not
come at the tail of her orgasmic squeal.  There was
someone in the stable.  His groggy tone suggested he
had been deeply asleep and that explained why she had
felt no ambient lust from him when she had searched the
stables.  Her stallion withdrew his huge erection and
Bellany flexed her nether muscles to hold as much of
his spend inside her as she could.  Nevertheless,
enough dribbled out to generously spatter the straw
beneath her with cum.  It was difficult to close down
tight after having spread so wide but Bellany had long
ago found that her control over her interior muscles
was considerable.  After a series of groans and
stretches from across the hall she heard a voice.

"Heeyyy I musta passed right out," The voice across the
corridor said.

Bellany straightened suddenly. Her dress fell down over
her long, shapely legs. She pushed the straw on the
floor around a bit with her feet to conceal the
splattered straw beneath her. Across the isle and four
stalls down a box opened and Cooyman came out squinting
towards her stall.  It was difficult to see him through
the slats until he was out of his stall, but the sound
of his still partly drunken voice told her who he was.
She moved laterally and stood directly in front of
Starstruck's loins so that Cooyman would not be able to
see the stallion's rapidly retreating erection.
Cooyman soon appeared at the door to Starstruck's box.

"Hello Cooyman." Bellany smiled pleasantly, trying to
look as composed as possible.

Outside she seemed composed, but inside she kept her
vaginal muscles tensed to hold a veritable flood of hot
stallion cum inside her.  There was something sensual
about the feel of it.  During less tense times, Bellany
had enjoyed drawing the life force slowly out of a load
of it while reveling at the sheer volume within her.
Currently, the little stream oozing down her left leg
was not helping her composure any.  Fortunately, thanks
to her prudish mother, all of her dresses were quite
long.  Bellany hoped the smell of ale radiating from
Cooyman would prevent him from smelling certain other
things that she was trying to hide.

I tell ya all those extra rounds of ale Lord Norwit
treated the gang to snuck up on me.  By the end o' th'
night I were in no condition ta make it home.  Is it
mornin' already?" Cooyman asked blearily as he entered
the stall."

"Just about.  I expect Dorety will be down to groom the
horses in a few minutes," Bellany said. "I wanted to
make sure my stallion was doing okay here at the inn.
Sometimes he gets a little jumpy."

Cooyman blinked. "He looks pretty darned relaxed ta
me."

"Oh that's just because I am here so he feels safe,"
Bellany said.

"Then ye spend a lot of time with 'im do ye?"

"Of course, he's my father's finest so I have to hog
him." Bellany giggled.

"Spoiled brat, are ye lady?" Cooyman asked chuckling.

"Yes, but there are still plenty of things I can not
get away with that Charles might manage without a
hitch," Bellany said.

"Aye? Like what?" Cooyman asked.

"Like Charles could probably get away with having a
little fun with common women he would never be allowed
to marry or court," Bellany said.

"Aye, but ye could not get away with fiddlin' with th'
men?"

"No, even after the orcs daddy seems to think I am some
sort of innocent virgin child.  I guess he does not
want to realize that nothing can restore my chaste
reputation and that after a year with the orcs and no
pregnancy, my fertility is... questionable.  Mother
still thinks I should follow in her footsteps and be a
pious Vindicator wife."  Bellany frowned.

Cooyman chuckled. "Ye don't find that an appetizing
proposition?"

"No, I think I have spent enough time as a slave girl.
I'd like to do something different."

"Ha! Bein' a pious Vindicator wife is th' same as being
a slave?"

Bellany nodded. "Shh, I didn't say that." Bellany
winked.

"Well I'll tell ya, I'd be glad ta fiddle with ye.  I
expect any man would.  Ye're about as pretty a woman as
I've seen.  That red hair and the way ye're built
really does somethin' fer a man.

Cooyman's hands began to wander.  His left hand
smoothed over the curve of her hip while his right hand
slid over her bodice to cup her left breast through the
fabric of her dress.  Bellany inhaled as the man's lust
tickled her senses.  For a moment, her body responded
and she intended to take him. Then she remembered she
was stuffed with cum already.

Bellany looked into Cooyman's eyes. "I like men, but I
have to be very careful not to let any one man get too
attached to me.  Some men just can't understand my
situation or the secrecy that is required.  Daddy's
rath can be deadly and I don't want anyone hurt.  I
would never consider doing anything in Norwit where my
father's word can send a man to the gallows, but Baron
Bristol is not on the best of terms with my father what
with all this quarreling over religion lately."

"Aye, so ye'd consider it?" Cooyman asked.

Bellany nodded. "But only with a few men who would
reveal nothing.  Gossip about such things could get a
man imprisoned or worse for violating a lady's non-
virginity."  Bellany smiled.

"Heh, non-virginity.  I guess if ye've got enough power
ye can ignore reality about certain things if ye have a
mind to."  Cooyman squeezed the fullness of the right
cheek of Bellany's rump.

Bellany nodded, her face flushed. "Yes for a practical
military man, daddy has his blind spots.  I had better
get going.  It is not safe while father's guards are so
close. If I can find a way to get out of Vargrend's
Prison for Girls now and then is there an easy way to
find you?"

"Aye, behind The Vargrend Armory there are some cabins.
Mine'd be th' one with the arm o' steel mounted on th'
door."

"I had better go," Bellany whispered as she smiled to
herself.  Suddenly, she put her arms around the burly
smith and kissed him while heaving sharply at his lust.
She slipped out of Cooyman's stunned grasp and rushed
away, leaving him in the stall with his jaw agape.

-------

This ends, The Broasted Ox, Chapter 55 of The 
Chronicles of Rapina
The story continues in Chapter 55, Inmates.

Copyright 2003 by Rapina