A Walk in the Dark Chapter 22 by Maggie Finson

“A visitor?” I looked at Kae’song who just shrugged to let me know this was my show then returned my attention to Kevin. “Might as well show them in, then. And what happened to him? I hope he didn’t do anything to insult my guest.”

“Guests, m’lady.” Kevin grinned and shook his head while giving the guardsman an almost pitying look. “And no, this one just got a lesson in manners from of your new handmaidens. Since this isn’t my home I thought that should be left to either one of you.”

“Lisarra,” I muttered and briefly closed my eyes, “that girl is going to make me crazy.

“All right, all right!” I responded to Kae’song’s smirk as he heard that. “Crazier than I am. Better?”

“More accurate.” The mage chuckled.

“I love you, too.” I grumbled and waited for my guests to arrive. There was no suspense involved there since no one in their right mind came here to see me. Or even knew me well enough to seek me out.

So I wasn’t at all surprised when a pair of burly (for elves) Dhro’aaa males entered, glared suspiciously around then placed themselves on either side of the door. With Sam, and these guys, who may or may not have been the pair I had encountered in the woods with Mrrthiss, I really had to wonder how all the gamers and writers back home had ever gotten the idea that the males of the race were smaller and subservient to the females. Oh well. To be honest, a full grown male Dhro’aaa was actually kind of imposing and a little scary from what I’d seen so far.

Writers and their fantasies. Sheesh.

What did surprise me was the entourage that entered following that.

Oh, Mrrthiss was there, and in the lead. That I hadn’t exactly expected. But it appeared that every priestess in her clan had come with her to get a look at ‘the strange renegade’ who had bested their princess. Was princess the right designation for her? Couldn’t tell you just then. Nope, not clue one as to what title besides priestess Mrrthiss held.

If not every priestess, at least there were a lot of them. About ten, but I’d never seen that many Dhro’aaa before in my rather short life on this world. So, you might think I gave them a regal stare, or overpowered them with my powerful gaze, or gave them an overly formal greeting. Right?

Wrong.

I looked at them, tilted my head with a grin and brightly said. “Hi.”

Okay, I’m kind of a goof when I’m nervous, I already knew that.

Kae’song cleared his throat, gave me a look that plainly said he thought I really had taken leave of my senses that time and rose from his chair to give the visitors a bow. “Welcome to my Citadel, give no harm and take none while you are here.”

At his rather pointed look, I stood up too. But a little voice in my head (Yeah, Mama was meddling again) insisted that I didn’t bow to them. So I simply looked them over for a few moments.

“Welcome, all of you.” I parroted the mage’s greeting then added. “As Kae’song has said, offer no harm here and none will come to you.”

“We offer none.” Mrrthiss answered with a rather formal curtsey. The hand I’d hurt in our first meeting was still bandaged and I wondered why that was.

“Your message was received and deliberated on.” Mrrthiss replied then let a little grimace appear on her face. “I communed with the goddess once I returned to Caet’he Og and learned that you told me the truth.”

I could tell from the way she said that that the communing must have been a real hum-dinger. “Oh, well at least you believe me now. I see that your hand is still sore?”

The others in her retinue were standing there with a regal disdain for anyone else that I was starting to associate with Dhro’aaa. Did all of them have sticks up their butts? But underneath that I also noticed they were nervous, not all that friendly, and definitely NOT happy to be here.

“My injury won’t heal.” Mrrthiss answered me with a sigh. “No one has been able to heal my hand.”

I sensed the rather busy hand of Mama again and sighed. “Let me see it.”

She hesitated, so I walked up to her with a loud sigh. “Oh, for… Let me see it. I can tell you’re in pain and if you are then it will be all that much harder to negotiate, now won’t it?”

“You speak oddly.” She told me but nodded and held out her bandaged and splinted hand. “Yet I get the gist of what you mean.”

“Finally.” I muttered. “Someone else showing more than a thimble full of sense.”

I gently took her hand and started unwrapping the bandage and carefully removing the splints. Wow, it was really a mess, swollen, one hand shaped bruise (which showed as reddish brown on her dark skin, and had several broken fingers that were obvious even through the swelling. “I take it pain remedies haven’t worked, either?”

“No.” She shook her head as she said that through clenched teeth then gave me a hopeful look. “Will you be able to ease this for me?”

“Fair is fair.” I told her. “I did this so I guess it is up to me to fix it. If you hadn’t left in such a hurry the first time we met, I would have done this then.”

“I think it was an object lesson, Lady.” She answered as I gently probed the damage. I hadn’t realized I’d hurt her that badly and felt kind of not-so-good about that.

“Knowing, Mother,” I shook my head, “that’s probably true. Now hold still, I need to really see this before I start.”

The damage was extensive. Injuries like this would have taken a lot of surgery and physical therapy back home to even get the hand functioning at all. Now how did I know that? Back home the sum total of my medical knowledge was, take Tylenol for a headache, antibiotics would do diddly squat for a cold, and it was best to avoid hospitals if at all possible.

But that was beside the point. Here I knew. I also knew that fixing this was going to take more than a simple healing. I started with that, though, and saw the faint lines of pain etched into her otherwise pristine face disappear as I did. The swelling went down and vanished, along with the bruising and the bones knit back together under my hands, but her hand was still in a near useless claw when I’d finished.

Mrrthiss looked at it, shook it, and actually smiled. “The pain is gone.”

“Good.” I told her while wondering what to do next.

“This.” An all too familiar voice whispered and something showed me.

“I’m not finished yet.” I scolded her as she started to move away. “Give me your hand again. Simple healing wasn’t enough to make that useable.”

To this day it is still difficult to describe what I did there. I was just able to look into her and SEE how that hand had been before it was injured. I yanked that image out of where it resided and superimposed it on the injured hand, then told it to become real. Yeah, I just told a ghostly image to do that. Much to my surprise it worked.

Go figure.

She flexed the restored hand, wiggled her fingers, rotated her wrist and started smiling. “I am in your debt, Lady Dahlia saaa Llolth.”

“No you aren’t.” I told her firmly. “I did the damage that caused your difficulties, so it was up to me to make it right. That, I think, was my object lesson from my Mother.”

“You are very strange person, Dahlia saa Llolth.” Mrrthiss looked at me and I saw something in her eyes that I’d never expected to see given what I’d heard and learned about the Dhro’aaa. Gratitude.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” I answered then took pity on her confused expression. “I’ve been told that. Frequently.”

“A Dhro’aaa does what is necessary at the time then does not bother with the consequences. None of us would have cared that a victim was crippled by one of our acts other than to feel satisfaction.”

“Then maybe it’s time for a change.” I told her.

She gave me an odd look, as if I’d just sprouted Brussels sprouts all over my body or something like that got a thoughtful look on her face and nodded. “Possibly that is true.”

I was used to getting odd looks from people by then so I simply, quietly answered. “Yeah, think about it. I’m not asking for miracles here, just think about it. Everything starts with one person no matter how big or small it is.”

“Indeed, Lady.” She answered slowly and thoughtfully. “No wonder you are renegade. What you say goes against all our people have known and believed from the formation of the world.”

“Everything, everyone,” I countered, “has to change just to survive at times, Mrrthiss.”

“I begin to see that, Lady.” She answered.

“My name is Dahlia.” I snorted. “All this Lady, m’lady, bowing, scraping, and banging heads on the floor kind of thing gets irritating after awhile. Now, come to the table, have a seat, take some refreshment, and tell me what your council’s answer to my request was.”

She did so, but her retinue held back. I could see that something in their attitudes had changed, and much to my embarrassment caught something close to awe in many of their expressions. Oh, that had to stop right now.

“All of you.” I gestured at them then to the furniture scattered around the place. “Sit down, relax, and enjoy the refreshments Kae’song’s excellent servants offer you. We’re kind of informal around here most of the time and all that stiffness is giving me the heebie jeebies. So lighten up, sit down, have a drink and a snack and stop worrying. This isn’t some clever trap. I really do wish to establish at least halfway pleasant relations with your people. So poisoning any of you would be kind of counter- productive don’t you think?”

They did as I asked, but still acted like they were obeying a command. Oh well, this deal with the Dhro’aaa was bound to be long and drawn out, with them kicking, screaming, clawing, and backsliding all the way. But at least they managed to appear relaxed as a number of girls I recognized as Kae’song’s concubines began circulating with wine, juices, meats, and fruits.

Once Mrrthiss had been served and my goblet had been refilled, I looked her in the eyes and asked. “So, what was the decision?”

“The elders have agreed to meet with you.” She answered. “But only within Caet’he Og.”

“That is something I’m willing to do.” I nodded.

“At the next fullness of Lythia.” Mrrthiss added a bit uncomfortably.

Lythia was the largest of the three moons that this world had. Its cycle was roughly thirty days, and we were two past the last full phase, which gave me about twenty eight days to prepare. “That is acceptable, so long as I have assurances and oaths that I will not be attacked when I arrive.”

“You have my oath that you will not be harmed during that meeting.” She answered.

Sheesh, are all elves that transparent about trying to be slippery?

“Good, but I also require the promise of safe passage to and from Caet’he Og before I will agree to meeting them there.”

“You have it.” She repeated that then took out a small ornamental dagger that wasn’t quite as ornamental as it looked. I made a mental note to never take anyone’s jewelry for granted after seeing that, and cut the palm of the hand I’d just healed. She held that over her cup, letting a few drops land in it then passed it to me.

I added a bit of my own to the brew then took a sip before returning it to her. She drank then passed it to a servant with the order to pass it to all her people present.

Once that ritual was finished, she rose and gave me respectful nod. “Till the full of Lythia then.”

They all trooped out in reverse order from their entrance after that.

Lord Kevin Dregostes looked at me, at Kae’song then at the door the delegation had just passed through. “I have to tell you I have never seen anything like that. Dhro’aaa tend to be a fractious bunch and to see that many of them remain that polite for that long…”

“Is that a good thing?” I asked.

“Oh indeed, Lady Dahlia.” He affirmed then added quietly. “It is a gods be-damned miracle if you ask me.”

“No wonder the race is dying out.” I muttered.

Next up was the just slightly mauled guardsman. He had prudently vanished into a convenient alcove when the Dhro’aaa had appeared. Okay truthfully, he had looked at the two males, paled, and scramble-dived to the first reasonably safe spot he could find.

“They’re gone.” I announced to the area in general. “You can come out now.”

That one slowly looked out from the draperies that he thought had hidden him. I knew better but decided that just now wasn’t a good time to point out that everyone in the chamber had known where he had hidden. Once satisfied that the nasty, evil, scary Dhro’aaa really were gone he emerged with a sigh of relief then paled all over again when he noticed I was still there.

Kevin waved him forward with a look at Kae’song. That one shrugged then indicated me with a point of his chin to indicate this one was mine to deal with.

“Oh for the gods sake, man.” I grumbled. “I’m not going to eat, bite, curse, or hurt you. Get your butt over here and tell me what happened.”

The man stared at me with wide eyes, but I could see that my order had actually relaxed him a bit. But he was still hesitant to move.

“Right here.” I pointed to a spot on the floor in front of me and gave him an expectant look. “Now if you please.”

Well, at least he didn’t flinch. Even better he marched right up to the spot I had indicated and went to attention.

Well, at least he was where I could talk to him. “All right, what happened and who did this to you?”

Up close I could see that he was bruised, had a black eye, and his nose was swollen. Well, maybe he hadn’t run afoul of Lisarra. He’d have probably bled to death by that time if she was to blame.

“It was the short one, of your kind, Lady.” He answered hesitantly. “I know she has been sharing her charms with others and sought to experience them myself. She objected.”

“So I see.” I nodded. At least it hadn’t been my constantly blood thirsty handmaiden. That alone was kind of refreshing. “Just how did you approach Oessethhe?”

“I offered to share a little wine with her then showed her how much I appreciated her form.” He answered.

Uh oh. “Tell me you didn’t grope her.”

“Grope, Lady?”

“Get too familiar with parts of her that women in general don’t like having touched by strangers.” I answered.

“I merely patted her bottom — and stroked one of her breasts.”

I hadn’t been female all that long myself yet, but after hearing that I had to restrain myself from hurting him a little more. Just a little bit more you understand. “Did she invite those touches?”

He looked uncomfortable but finally shook his head in the negative.

“All right.” I sat back and just stared at the man for a few moments. “What is your name?”

“Morales, Lady.” He answered reluctantly. Good, now I had a name to use while I tore into him.

“Morales,” I carefully asked, “You are aware that my — handmaidens were men just a few days ago aren’t you?”

“I have heard the rumors of an event in the concubine’s quarters.” He nodded. “But rumors are often overblown, Lady.”

“Well, if those rumors involved five men getting changed into females, they were right.” I told him. “I know Oessetthe likes the boys, trust me, I’ve spoken with her about that at length. But up to now she has initiated those encounters. To be honest, with what that girl can already do you’re lucky she didn’t kill you.

In future,” I went on. “and do tell your fellows this, if one of my handmaidens initiates things that lead to good times in the sack, enjoy it. But never, ever try to get that going without their consent. The girls are new to all that kind of thing and still aren’t fully aware of the things they can do without even thinking about it.

“You are lucky to have gotten off with a few bruises, a broken nose, and whatever.” I went on. “If you had done that to Lisarra, the tall, willowy one with the golden hair, the healers would have had a hard time even saving you.”

He nodded, quite fervently. I actually thought he was going to shake his head right off his neck for a minute there.

“If one of my girls shows you she is interested, and that does not mean with the way she walks or glances at you, have fun. Though if it should happen to be the golden haired high elf, it might be wise to have some healing potions with you or a healer close by in the unlikely event she would even allow herself to think about having that kind of fun with a man.” I told him. “My handmaidens are not whores. They just aren’t used to being beautiful, desirable females yet. Tread very softly when they are around. If one wishes to have the attentions of a man, they’ll show it, and most likely ask or maybe just drag the lucky guy into a dark corner to have her way with him.”

Kae’song gave me an approving look then lifted an eyebrow to tell me that I’d forgotten something.

“Of course, I will have a talk with the girls about this kind of thing.” Sheesh. I’d been female all of what? A few months? And here I was promising to give the local equivalent of sex ed to someone else.

Oh, this mess just kept getting better and better. Not!

I had that discussion with my ‘handmaidens’. And no I am sooo not going to describe it. They had only been female for a few days and having the birds and bees, or satyrs and nymphs explained to them by me was just plain embarrassing. Not to mention the nuances of sexual suggestiveness from the other side of things they were used to being on.

But come to think of it they were more receivers of that bounty than they had been before. Much more so. Me too, come to think of it. Nope, not going there right now. I was still reluctant to admit out loud and in front of people that I LIKED what Sam did with me in bed on a cold night, or a warm night, or a…

Well, you get the idea.

*Blush*