The class drags on and on, and by the time I’m back at the dorm Mae’s sound asleep, and I can’t bear to disturb her (what would you even say if she were awake? ‘Hi, Mae, I watched you fantasise about me with my intrusive powers, wanna hang out?’) so I end up wrestling with my desires alone, spurning Alyx’s common-room invitation to drink and smoke with her.
The orgasm vents some pressure, but it’s hardly satisfying.
When I wake up and get changed the next morning, I’ve stupidly overslept — I’d wanted to talk to Mae before we reported to the muster ground, but I’m stepping out my door with minutes to spare. I almost crash right into Mae, standing in the hallway with her hands clasped behind her back. “There you are!” she says, bouncing.
“You can wake me up next time.”
“I just might.”
We need to leave. We do, we have to get down to the muster ground — if we’re left behind and don’t get our Familiars to help us study, there’s no hope of passing exams. But her smile floods the hallway with light and her sweater’s so tight, and I’m so terrified of ruining my friendship with her, but I’m pretty sure it’s not just a friendship to her, even though we’ve just met we do have some kind of connection, surely, and the vision, and besides she’s kissed Alyx before and not me and that’s just not fair.
My hands on her shoulders, I stare into her wide eyes and plunge in. “I’m sorry-” I begin, “I’m- I’m probably being stupid, but- Mae. Mae, I can’t stop thinking about you. If I have to find a Familiar like this, so hopelessly distracted… I just need to, um” know if you like me back “I need to do something.”
She closes her eyes. Her plump lips part. I stare stupidly for a moment before my lips meet hers, and the jolt of joy in my stomach is so powerful I lose control of myself and shove her against the wall, hands sliding down her body, to her hips. It must hurt her neck, having to crane it so high, so I lift her off the ground and our faces come level. Normally my strength scares people, but Mae giggles as she glides up the wall.
Gods, you should’ve woken her up last night. Could’ve done a lot more than kiss. Also, aren’t you being inconsiderate right now? Nobody ever taught you to include everyone?
I turn from Mae to Nym, whose lips are just as soft — but while she sends tingles down my spine she doesn’t wrap my stomach into pretzels like Mae does. Which makes me question why our lips are locked. Because her moans are cute, I guess. Wait.
“Nym,” I say.
“Yeah, stop hogging her,” Mae says, pulling me into another kiss. It’s what I wanted, but I needed to talk to Nym about something. Or… did I?
“We should-” I manage around Mae’s hungry tongue, “get to-”
“Yeah,” Nym says, in her sing-song voice, “we have to get our underlings!”
We’re woefully late to the meeting area, where the huge fluffy dragon dwarfs the assembly of First Years. The creature has already been outfitted in its huge, shaded saddle.
A troll woman with white hair is partway through addressing the crowd.
“-which is why everyone needs to remember to be careful, these things may have been mages once, but in their current state, they’re wild animals.”
Not strictly true — it would be more accurate to say that these creatures used to be parts of mages: when a powerful magic user dies, their soul is fractured into several pieces which go on to become beasts in Ilium (the destination of our excursion today).
“Do not underestimate the importance of a Familiar. Even aside from the powerful modifications they can make to your magic, each retains wisdom and knowledge from their previous lives. Now, I know many of you will want to capture and dominate the largest and most powerful creature you can find. My advice? Don’t.” The huge midnight blue wolverine at the woman’s feet tells me that she didn’t follow her own advice. “Better stuck with a dust bunny as a familiar than dead in a hypogriff’s stomach. Some will be left without even that much. If this is the case for you, you may consider your time at Vayal Academy unfortunately over. You can try sticking it out to exams if you wish, but it would be an exercise in humiliation that I wouldn’t recommend. The effect of a Familiar on a mage’s development cannot be overstated.”
She’s right — even the god-like Headmistress Lyra was only a talented Evocation mage before her cosmic dragon refined her fire magic into borderline unstoppable sun power.
“I will not tell you that someone dies in the Hunt every year — as is said about campus,” says the Troll woman. “What I will tell you, is that I’ve seen more students lost than I care to count, and I’m sure to see more. The exercise, by its very nature, must be self directed, and Ilium is a dangerous plane at the best of times.
“All that being said, you will be split into pairs. You may work cooperatively or independently, but you must stay within sight of your partner at all times. They will be the person you’re seated beside on the dragon. Oh! And don’t try to pet her. She’s ticklish.”
The woman claps twice, and suddenly I’m atop the beast, head spinning as my body tries to understand the process which brought it here. We rise as the dragon inhales. The seat beneath me is comfortable, at least. I rub my head and look to my partner-
And freeze in place. Beside me, long neck arching prettily and puffy white feathers undulating in the breeze like water, is the Princess Indel. “Hello, friend,” she says, serene. “I am Indel Endaria, daughter of Titus and Raeala Endaria; Lady of Sapphire Thicket and all its associated lands and incomes; niece to the Empress Endaria; and novice Alteration Mage. It is a pleasure.”
“Th-thank you, Princess,” I say, staring straight ahead. Every muscle in my body’s tense, and they only clench tighter when two elegant talons either side of my chin force my gaze back to Indel.
“Why won’t you look at me while we’re talking?”
“I-I’m just a little nervous, is all.”
“And what do you fear?”
Putting my foot in it, making an enemy of the royal family, embarrassing myself — take your pick. “I couldn’t say, Princess.”
“I will tell you what you should fear,” she says, lifting my sagging head up as her neck uncoils and her face towers over mine, “upsetting the Empress’s niece. You are quite pleasing; I would look upon you.”
My instinct is to turn away to hide the rising purple in my cheeks, but I force myself to stomp it down and hold her gaze. “Good girllll,” she coos, planting a kiss on my forehead as the wind whips my hair about. “You shall tell me your name.”
“Hattie, Princess. Hattie Hare.”
There’s a look of concentration for a few moments as she searches some mental ledger. “Ah, yes, I recognise the surname. Legate Henri Hare is Lord of a little parcel on Hoshu. This is your father, yes?”
“Y-yes, Princess.” Whatever confidence I had melts away. How could she know that?
“I believe the neighbouring parcel sits empty?”
“That’s correct, Princess.” Our last neighbour, kind old Thesas, only ever had the one son — who died conquering Iceridge from the Kingdom of Croisan. When Thesas died last year, there was nobody left to inherit his claim, and it reverted to the Empress.
“I shall see to it that your father is granted the land.”
What?! “Princess, I, well, I don’t know what to say. My father will- he’s been-” Deep breath. “He’ll be ever so grateful.”
“I do not want your father’s gratitude,” she says, eyes afire. “I want yours. Do I have your gratitude, Hattie?”
“Of course, Princess.”
“Good. Good. Very well.” Only then does she release her grip. Her attention turns to the sights around us, to the swirling pink clouds crackling with blue light, the orange and purple clusters of energy throwing forth fiery whips. All I can focus on, though, is her. What just happened? Surely the Princess isn’t interested in me the way I’m interested in Mae (and the way Mae’s interested in me!!). But what else could explain it?
Whatever her reasons, my parents will be overjoyed; I need to stay on her good side. The best way to do that is to stop overthinking, and the best way to do that is to think about something else.
I cast my eyes about for anyone I recognise. Nym’s a few seats back with Syrene. Gelstra and a broad-chested, dark skinned dwarf are locked in a hard-to-hear argument about stonecutting. At the back of the dragon… My heart sinks. Alyx and Mae. Not only will they spend the entire outing together, Alyx is already feeding Mae fat, shiny grapes with tender attention. I remember their kiss and fume.
It’s okay. You’re overreacting. Not twenty minutes ago you had your tongue in her mouth.
But pulled away, you got pulled away, and now Alyx has hours and hours to whisper in her ear, to conjure incredible wine and get her drunk.
Maybe the Princess will let us group up, informally — the four of us. That might be-
Indel’s head appears beside mine, thanks to that long neck. “Which do you envy?”
“What?!”
“Do you want to be the goat, courting this pillowy human with magical gifts — or the human, accepting said gifts with batted eyelashes and spurring giggles?”
“It’s not like that, I-”
She chuckles. “I’ve seen through better liars than you’ll ever be. Which do you envy?”
“The goat,” I mutter, unaccountably.
“I see. That will do just fine.”
Before I can ask what she means, the wind intensifies as the dragon pulls us down into Ilium, the Plane of Magic. The impossible landscape gets clearer as we descend. Floating islands of golden grass and silver waters; huge spires of obsidian flecked with diamond; lakes of crystal wobbling under the radiating purple sun. And all about, the Familiars. To think, one might be a piece of Damarel the Giant, whose duel sent Hoshu floating in the sky.
The troll tells everyone to gather before she sends us off, but Indel grabs my wrist and drags me away. We walk over pale blue moss that lights beneath our feet.
“I was thinking we could team up with the goat and human — they’re my friends, Alyx and Mae.” Mae’s my friend, at least. Alyx acts friendly, but she’s after my-
“No. That won’t serve. Perhaps if they were more than your friends.”
“What does that have to do with it?!”
“I would not stand in the way of love.”
I think about confessing, about just telling her how I feel about Mae, how much I want to be something to her, but Indel’s stopping every few seconds to put her claw against the ground. (For a second each time I see an orange flash, but can’t identify the spell.) I don’t want to break her concentration.
“Yes. This will do nicely.”
“This?” We’re a little ways from the group, but not far — I can still hear the troll, even if I can’t make out what she’s actually saying. We’ve come behind an outcropping of polished marble spotted with gargoyles.
Indel closes her eyes, takes a deep, billowy breath, and plants an orange kiss on my forehead. In a blink we’re far underground, in a twisting cavern illumined by pulsing crystals cycling through colours. Indel’s white feathers absorb the hues completely; one moment she’s pink, then red, orange. A pool of clear, steaming water beckons behind her.
Am I here to swim? There certainly aren’t any Familiars around — there’s nothing else at all. This is the world (it dawns on me that Indel took me here, and she’s the only one who can take me back).
“Princess? Why are we here?”
Her eyes are wide and wild, like Mae’s back when Alyx- grr. The Princess steps forward, blue and brilliant. “Ravage me, Hattie. Tear my uniform from me and have your way with me. I will pretend to resist you; put your orcish strength to use.”
I blink. I breathe. I blink a little more. My mouth is dry. Everything escapes me. I don’t know that I could ravage anyone. Even if I didn’t have my heart set on Mae.
“Would you deny me?” she says, softly. She gracefully slips her sweater off, unbuttons her blouse slowly as I do nothing but stare. Indel stretches out when the blouse falls open, tightening the muscles across her slender, elegant form. A lacy bra in Endaria red and silver barely covers her small breasts. “I can alter your equipment, if that makes it easier,” she says, flash of orange magic in her talon.
“No, it’s not- I-” I just can’t find the words. She’s beautiful. Gorgeous. Sexy. But (I hate to admit) so is Alyx, so is Nym, and I don’t want them; I want Mae. Even if she could double my parents’ wealth with a word. “I only just met her, but, that human back there — I can’t get her out of my head.”
“I’m not asking you to marry me — such a thing would be ludicrous. I am demanding something base and physical. You make no commitment.”
There’s a flash of temptation, if only because it’d help with all this pent up Mae-energy, but this whole situation is just so disorienting. I can barely believe it’s happening. If Mae were here to watch, maybe.
What? Why am I thinking like this?
She dared Alyx to kiss you; she loved it.
“I’m sorry, Princess, I- I just can’t.”
“I see.”
She flicks the orange ball with a sudden motion. It hits my chest; my legs collapse beneath me, my arms hang heavy at my sides. “What,” I stammer, even a single syllable requiring every ounce of my energy.
“Turned those big muscles of yours off. Except the ones I need.”
Indel crouches in front of me, her neck looping round mine to bring her face level with mine. “I was at your mercy, Hattie.” She lifts my hand to her firm breast; the lace isn’t quite as soft as her feathers. “You could’ve had me. Used me.”
There’s gotta be a way out. Nullification’s too dangerous (and honestly, anything I try needs the risk weighed against the half of me that wants to give her what she wants). Maybe I could just focus on breaking the spell, but I can’t move my fingers to make the movements. And I don’t even know how to break a spell! I’d just be improvising.
Her foot forces me down, onto my stomach. She rolls my stockings down, underwear with it. “Your little crush would have understood, Hattie. Do you think she would turn down a Princess?” Warmth presses against me, then into me. I gasp. It’s handcrafted, and she made it big.
“P-Princess,” I try, but there’s no strength left in me for any more. Every attempt to pull together a coherent train of thought, to find some way out, shatters with each violent thrust.
“If I went to her, right now, she would do whatever I asked of her. She would behave, rather than play these little games.”
What is she- I moan into the rock, and it echoes throughout the cavern.
“Pretending you don’t want me… It’s shameful. You shall apologise.”
Apologise?! For- another spell prickles against my skin, and every sensation — the cool rock against my skin, the numbness in my muscles, the Princess filling me — triples in strength. She stops, only just still inside, and sits there. Which is good. That’s what I want. I want her to stop. I want her to stop because I didn’t want her to- no, Gods, it felt so good, she gave me five seconds of bliss and what could ever compare? Why would I deny her?
“I’m sorry,” I slur, desperate. She doesn’t move. “Princess.”
“Thank you, Hattie. You are absolved.” When she resumes, colour comes back into the world, and shivers of pleasure dance across every inch of my skin.
“P-Princess.”
“Shhh. You’re being so good. I’ll dial it up.”
Another prickle. True to her word, my body experiences such bliss that I wonder if I could ever survive coming back down. There’s another prickle, and some of my strength returns. I use it to throw my hips back against her, to whimper “thank you, Princess.”
“What a fine servant you are.” Indel strokes the back of my head, sharp clawtips tingling tremors through my skull. “Here is your reward.” Her other hand goes to circle my clit, but the first touch is enough to send my body shuddering with pleasure. I tighten around her as it rockets through me, so intense and pleasurable that my mind shuts down.
I wake with her cum dribbling down my thigh, but it disappears when her cock does.
“Have you learned your lesson?” she asks. Indel fears no reprisal, it seems, because my strength’s back but she’s right close to me, stroking my scalp with her talons. “I do not… enjoy it — disciplining peasants. It would be a shame if you forced me to do so again.”
Again? Could she, even? My legs are still shaking from the intensity, and even though the threat sounds almost as tempting as it does torturous, I nod my head vigorously. Her grip tightens and she mashes my face hard into the ground.
“Address me properly, Orc.”
“I’ve learned my lesson, Princess.” My face burns from the humiliation.
“I hope we can put all this behind us, now. The next time you receive a royal command, I expect it carried out without complaint. Yes?”
“Yes, Princess.”
“Good. Now, we must return to our purpose. I will have no difficulty securing my Familiar, so we shall focus on yours. Let us return to the surface.” Indel begins tracing a sigil with her claw. I stare down a tunnel that swallows light, branching off the cavern.
“No,” I say, firm, and rush to, “I meant, please wait, Princess. I think we should go down there.”
“Very well,” she says. She redirects her assembled mana into a trilling ball of orange light that hovers between us as she gestures for me to lead. “Until we have your Familiar, I am in your service — you shall lead, and I shall follow. What a fun game it will make.” It sounds like she’d be biting her lip, if she had one.