Along the Path Yet Revealed

Althea waited until Soren was a fair enough distance away before picking up the trousers and shirt he'd brought her and heading into the bushes a little. Laying them over a branch she began to unlace her dress and was soon stood in her slip, holding up Soren's trousers before her and trying not to laugh.
He was considerably taller than her, taller than most men, so the sheer length of the fabric hanging in her hands seemed positively absurd.

"Oh what was I thinking!" She muttered to herself, easing her feet out of her boots and slipping them through the legs of the garment. Hoisting it up her legs to her waist she smothered more giggles as fabric still pooled around her feet. Tucking in her slip, fastening them and pulling the ties as tight as she could she then started to roll the waistline over on itself. Over and over, pulling the hem higher and gathering the fabric a little closer to her actual body shape. Satisfied that she wouldn't just be trailing trousers instead of dress through the mud, she eased her boots back on and then focused her attentions on the shirt.

It was a light material, so it would fit more comfortably under his breast plate she presumed, and pale in colour. She was sure she would be infinitely more comfortable once they hit their stride than she was in her dress, cooler if nothing else. But it hung around her and she was worried she would catch it on every low hanging branch or bramble they walked past. So she pulled her belt from her dress and after adjusting the shirt so that she was sure the wide neckline would not reveal the centre of her chest as opposed to one side more than the other, she cinched the belt over the top. Pulling the billowy fabric in around her waist and tighter across her upper body in general.

Fingers nimbly rolled back sleeves to her elbows as she twisted slightly to try and figure out how she looked. Glancing directly downwards she could make out the valley between her breasts in the light that filtered through the fabric but without the pressure of her dress' bodice her cleavage was considerably lessened and, despite a little more natural movement as a result, she thought it was subtle enough that Soren shouldn't be overly offended.

Picking up her dress, shaking it free from creases, Althea folded it up and headed out of the foliage. It felt very odd. Material encasing each leg, rubbing slightly, especially where the material was considerably closer than any other outer garments had been between her thighs. But it also felt free. She took a few overly large strides on her way back towards the fire which they were allowing to die down. Enjoying the lack of drag from her skirt and the ease with which she could move her leg to take another step. She glanced up to make sure Soren wasn't looking and then ran the rest of the way, giggling softly as she moved surprisingly quickly without skirts to tangle her ankles and legs.

Slightly breathless from her run and with dark hair spilling down around her shoulders she called to Soren's back.
"Ok, I'm as ready as I'll ever be!"
He turned and she saw his expression change rather dramatically.
"Oh does it...does it look that bad...?!" Her hands automatically tugged at the shirt, trying to straighten it. "I mean, it feels great. Well, not great but definitely easier to move in." She corrected herself, not wanting him to think that she enjoyed wearing men's clothing, wearing his clothing.
"I can always put my dress back on. If you think it best?"
 
Soren blinked a few times as he registered the actual appearance of Althea in his spare clothing. He never thought that a man's clothing on a woman would display her so openly as it did for Althea. Not that he had any real problems with the way she was displayed. There was nothing being shown that shouldn't be seen, indeed everything on display was amply defined by her dress, or even more so. But there was something about the way the clothing sat on her body that made her look more appealing.

"Oh does it...does it look that bad...?!"

"Huh? No. No, not at all."

Althea tugged at the shirt, pulling it in ways that made her bust stand out a little more prominently than before which in turn made it a lot more difficult to keep his eyes on her face.

"I mean, it feels great. Well, not great but definitely easier to move in. I can always put my dress back on. If you think it best?"

"Well, if it is easier to move in, then stay that way. We'd just loose more time having you change back again. So, since everything else is done, let's get your dress packed and we'll be on our way."

They headed up the waterlogged path, making good time as the water was draining quickly and the earth wasn't too boggy or muddy. The path seemed to be in a reasonably good condition otherwise; not many branches obstructing their way, plus there seemed to be gravel or cobblestones on spots that were prone to pooling water. Those features of the path had Soren wondering about what was at the other end, particularly how abandoned it would be.

About an hour before noon, Soren found a good spot for them to rest and have some food. He tried to hide his anxieties over their pending destination as well as concerning his reactions to the way Althea was dressed. The pants she wore seemed to outline her rear more than her dress had, which in turn made him more appreciative of that part of her body, adding it to an ever growing list of features about her he was liking more and more the longer he knew her.

He needed to talk to someone about what was happening. He had no idea of what he should do, of whether he needed to talk to Althea about how he felt, or if he simply needed to get rid of the feelings or what other options existed for him. His being Althea's Guardian was making things ever more complicated for him, and he really needed to find out what was the best thing for him to do before matters went to far to be put right.

If they could be put right.
 
The day passed without major event. Althea felt more pleased with her decision about her clothing with every step that she took. Stepping over branches and skirting around the larger puddles was so much easier than she could ever have imagined. True, the trousers did feel a little strange, pressure against places where there normally was none, but it was more than bearable. And the lack of restriction around her torso felt divine. She could breathe easily and when the exertion of their pace started to take it's toll, it didn't seem to matter. After a small section of particularly boggy mud that sucked and pulled menacingly on their feet she was left rosy cheeked and a little breathless. In her dress she knew she would have been either exhausted from trailing it through the filth around her ankles or would have been moving at a snail's pace through trying to hold her skirts up and not lost her balance.

Sitting to eat their midday meal Althea realised just how revealing the clothing was. Although it wasn't skin that it revealed, she was covered from shoulder to heel, it was shape. As she offered Soren some bread and little cured meat, she realised that the trousers were no longer as baggy. Clinging along her thighs and down to her knees, showing quite clearly how they flared in width the higher up her leg they were, until they met in the middle of her. Luckily that particular point was just beneath the hem of the shirt and out of sight. But, should he be looking - and she was sure he would not - Soren would be able to follow her leg from her boot all the way up to her hip.

The didn't rest for long, the desire to find the home the Water Spirit had spoken of driving them soon onwards along the path. Sylea's hooves clopping loudly whenever they found themselves on one of the many 'paved' sections of the path. Privately Althea was also sure the reason they were so swiftly on the move was Soren. He seemed strangely quiet, more so than usual.

Later in the afternoon, when conversation had been practically nil, Althea paused to plait her hair so that it would hang behind her back and out of her way. While moving the weight of her hair into something more bearable in the growing heat of the day, Althea wondered what might be on his mind. Deciding that whether they reached the house or not by nightfall, she would ask him what was on his mind. He was her Guardian, they should be able to be honest with each other, shouldnt' they?

'And what if he asks what's on yours?'

Her cheeks pinked, even though the words were in her own head, the truth within them remained. Forcing herself to try and stop her mind from continuing down the path it had started, she opened her mouth to speak.

"So, do you think we'll find it before-?" Althea began but as they ducked around a particularly large bush that was in their way her words ran out. They walked out into a smallish clearing, a stream running close to the edge, bubbling over stones and sparkling in the sunlight that filtered down. Towards one side of the opening was house, made of large stones with a tiled roof and plenty of windows, many now dusty and cracked with age. The door looked solid enough though and Althea briefly wondered how on earth they would make it through

Althea didn't have to ask him to check the map. She knew they were in the right place. The house, or what was left of it, strangely seemed as if it belonged where it was. Almost as if it had grown up out of the earth along with the roses that climbed up the wall.

"Well, if nothing else?" Althea smiled, feeling a little of the glade's calm seeping into her bones. "I can definitely see why they chose to live way out here. It's lovely."

Once Sylea was tethered securely Althea wandered to the door, fingers running lightly over the wood until they found the knocker and she pulled curiously. She wasn't overly surprised when the door didn't even shift slightly when she let her full weight tug against the door. Even if it was unlocked, it looked very strong and very heavy.
"Reckon you can get it open?" She grinned at Soren as she let go of the metal ring and stepped back from the house slightly, eyes moving across the exterior and brow furrowing for a second or two. "Although...I wonder if there's a key around here somewhere. That would certainly be easier than trying to break through this!" Althea laughed, rapping her knuckles sharply on the massive door.
 
Soren was getting too preoccupied with his thoughts about Althea, at least the thoughts he viewed as inappropriate for him to have. When it got to a point where he missed a solid branch that slapped the top of his head while walking under it, he focused totally on keeping an eye out for trouble. He found his willingness to stop his errant thoughts heightened his ability to pierce the foliage, as well as remain focused on his proper task.

It also helped him to keep his eyes of Althea in her new style of dress. She was decently covered, nothing that should not be seen was seen, but a lot of what was normally hidden was now hinted at rather clearly, which had the side effect of reminding him of previous views of her body when he was tending to her health after she nearly drowned. He knew at the time he was not taking his time to ogle her, and only looked at her when he absolutely had to. But what he saw was burned into his mind so well, he could close his eyes and see exactly everything he saw in those fleeting moments.

Again, his focus on the task at hand kept those visions away from his eyes, and kept them from distracting him and possibly allowing some unseen danger to strike.

"So, do you think we'll find it before-?"

Althea's words broke through his concentration at the same time the clearing came into view. He had his suspicions that the place they sought was up ahead, but all he did know for certain was that there was a clearing. But whoever made the place had chosen well; the clear ground was enough to offer a measure of protection without needing too much work to keep is clear, as well as the small stream that supplied their water. It was a soothing place, the air warm without being hot, and the house was placed to catch most of the daylight sun.

The house was of sturdy construction, even to Soren's partially trained eye and the distance between them. It showed signs of age, and lack of maintenance, but he would be surprised if he didn't find it in a liveable state.

"Well, if nothing else, I can definitely see why they chose to live way out here. It's lovely."

Soren nodded. The place was very pleasant and peaceful. Had they not been told of it, he doubted that anyone would have found it. Before he got more involved in the exploration of the area, Soren tethered Sylea and gave her an apple as a treat for her hard work. Once she had a chance to cool down, he would take her to the stream and let her have a drink.

Soren drew his sword, advanced carefully on the building, checking the blind side for any lurkers. Upon finding none, he relaxed a bit, but kept the sword out in case anything was hiding beyond the tree line.

He returned to find Althea at the door, examining it closely. He cursed himself silently for not telling her to remain with Sylea while he checked about the place. When he approached, he saw, as Althea had, that the door was very solid and well made, with very little intent of letting them pass easily.

"Reckon you can get it open?"

She grinned at him like she was challenging him to demonstrate his prowess against the barrier before them.

"Although...I wonder if there's a key around here somewhere. That would certainly be easier than trying to break through this!"

Althea laughed, rapping her knuckles sharply on the massive door. Soren took one more look over the door, giving her a smile of his own.

"And if you found such a key, where would you use it?" The only thing that was not a natural feature of the door was the metal ring he had seen Althea touching. "There is no lock on this door."

He sheathed his sword and looked closely at the door itself. He went to the left hand side of the door and leaned against it. His legs bent, he gave it a hard push. His feet slid on the ground, the door belligerently refusing to allow him passage. He looked at the door and shook his head. He moved to the middle of the door, a pace or two away from it, then rushed it, slamming his shoulder against the wood with a loud thump. Pain flared in his shoulder for a moment, but he was rewarded with a tiny movement at the right hand side.

"Soren, some days you lack the wisdom of the cattle." His father's favoured saying when someone approached a problem without doing the simplest things first. He repeated his barges against the door closest to the left most side, and the door moved a fraction more with each impact. At least he was prepared for when the door finally surrendered to his continual assaults, and caught hold of the wall with a hand rather than fall into the darkened room beyond.

"I do believe, Mistress Althea, that I am capable of opening the door." He spoke through clenched teeth while he moved his very battered shoulder to test the extent of the damage he did to himself. "I shall go get a torch before we enter. Please wait here for me."

Soren fetched a torch from the packs on Sylea, along with the flint and tinder and his shield, and soon rejoined Althea. In short order, he lit the torch, handing it to her. He settled his shield, grimacing when as the weight pulled on his tender shoulder, and drew his sword.

"Shall we?" he set himself before her to protect her from whatever was within, then slowly stalked through the door into the dim room beyond.
 
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"And if you found such a key, where would you use it? There is no lock on this door."
Althea looked back at the door curiously. Truly this was no normal house.

She stepped back to let Soren approach the door, arms folding in front of her lightly as he tested one side, only to apparently have it not move a fraction.
She opened her mouth to suggest that maybe they should look for another door, or maybe a window, but the thought stayed in her head as Soren charged at the door.

Althea winced as he crashed against the wood, only to have it stay almost exactly where it was to begin with, apart from a little crack appearing on one wide.
"Are you alright?" She asked softly, having heard his exhalation of breath that she was sure had to signal pain.
He either didn't hear her or didn't want to shift his focus, either way, Soren continued to batter the door with his shoulder. Each crashing connection between his frame and the door drew a quiet hiss from her lips. She didn't like the idea of him hurting himself, especially not for her benefit.

"I do believe, Mistress Althea, that I am capable of opening the door."
"It would appear so," She smiled, her expression laden with concern as she watched him moving his shoulder gingerly. His tone told her he was hurting before the action confirmed it.
"I shall go get a torch before we enter. Please wait here for me."
"Of course, and thank you Soren," Althea waited obediently while he gathered what he felt they might need.

Soon the flickering torch was in her hands and he was armed with his sword

"Shall we?"
Althea couldn't help but smile as he moved protectively in front of her as they drew nearer to the door. It was a nice idea to think of him protecting her, although her mind reminded her he already had. Several times.
"Let's." She nodded, moving close behind him with her hand raised so that the light of the torch would help light the way while keeping the flames out of harm's way.

Inside the house it was dark and the air smelt extremely stale. What little freshness poured inside when Soren broke the door was soon gone, smothered by the old . Carefully they climbed over the broken door and stood in the hallway. A stairway led up before them and she could make out doorways to either side and another set further back.
"Which way?" She whispered, although why she was whispering she wasn't certain. It was obvious no one had been here for quite some time. A thick film of dust carpeted the floor, a trail of clear footprints following them as they crept further away from the door.

Stood behind him a very strong urge to lean forwards and kiss the shoulder that she was sure was hurting rose up inside her and it took all of her resolve not to give in to it.
"I think we're the first people in here for years," She murmured, letting her gaze wander around as her eyes grew more accustomed to the gloom. On the wall was an ancient looking clock, it's face covered in grime and it's mechanism silent. "I wonder how long it has been since anyone was in here..."

The question hung in the air as they looked around, Althea trying to decide which would be the best place to check first, Soren no doubt trying to ascertain the level of danger in the darkness around them
"Well, if this was my house I think I'd keep anything of value upstairs, wouldn't you?" She whispered, leaning a little closer to him to keep her voice low in case she was wrong about the abandoned nature of the building. "Maybe we should try up there first...?" Althea moved the torch towards the staircase slightly, the flickering light being thrown onto the first few steps. "What do you think?"
 
Air that was stale to the point of being dead filled Soren's nose before the disturbed dust battered and scratched his nostrils.The flickering torch light showed an interior that had not been disturbed in years. The last time he saw anything like it was when his family opened up an old room for a newly married couple to move into. Everywhere had been covered with dust, but not to the same level of thickness as in the abandoned Sindra's home.

Not that surprising was the look of the furniture; everything as if it had been lived in normally before the people left it. No signs of violence, or searching by others at any time. All the doors were closed, leading where, he had no idea and wasn't game to guess, and there was one set of sturdy stairs leading to the upper floor.

Another not so surprising event was Althea's decision to ignore his warnings, or her inability to remember when confronted with something of interest. Rather than staying behind him, she ventured forth toward the base of the stairs. The momentary thought flickered through his mind that she might be responding to some mystic senses that only Sindra had, and that she had some idea of what may be up there. He silently scoffed at the idea, falling back to the two options he came up with earlier.

Soren had been focused on looking at the surrounds so much he had not heard Althea's soft words at first. It was a habit he was going to have to break himself of, as there would be times when she would alert him to dangers that he wouldn't be aware of, and ignoring her to the degree he had been would be bad for them both.

"Well, if this was my house I think I'd keep anything of value upstairs, wouldn't you? Maybe we should try up there first...? What do you think?"

Soren let her question float around in his head. If it were his house, anything valuable would be upstairs too. Soren rolled his shoulders and was pleased to feel that some of the pain had gone from his efforts getting into the house. He carefully moved around Althea to get to the base of the stairs and took each step carefully. With each footfall, he paused on the initial contact then let his full weight ease onto it. He found no traps or weak steps by the time he got to the top and his heart rate dropped back to something close to normal.

As mirrored downstairs, there were three doors; one at the end of the short hallway, one close to it on the left side, and one on the right side closer to the stairs than the other two. Soren looked back to Althea, nodding to the right side, hopefully telling her his intentions concerning where he was going to go.

Two slow, silent steps brought him to the door, which he found was not fully closed. He set his shield better to protect himself against whatever may be hidden on the other side, and pushed the door open with the tip of his sword. The door gave easily, and quietly, opening to reveal a dust covered library.

Soren walked in, disturbing the layer of dust on the floor, which made him want to sneeze, but he successfully fought the urge. With the exception of the small entry space, the rest of the room was full of shelves, which ran from floor to ceiling, packed with tomes of various sizes, colours and bindings, as well as enough space between them for a person to move along. Even if there was a gap between the tops of book and the shelf above, another book or two were inserted flat.

"What do you think Dagda would say seeing all of this?"
 
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"What do you think Dagda would say seeing all of this?"
Althea heard Soren’s question, she did. But there was no answer forthcoming from her immediately. Instead she stepped around him slowly, eyes growing rapidly accustomed to the gloom and spying book after book after scroll after parchment.
This…this is amazing…” She murmured, the words leaving her lips without any real command behind them, it was a half spoken thought and little more. A smile rapidly curved her lips as she moved a little further away from him.
For the first time since entering the home of the Sindra she felt something other than dust in the air. These weren’t just any old books, they were magical, of that she was certain.

Running the tip of her tongue over her lips she headed over to the nearest shelf, fingertip skimming along the edge before finding a volume that for some reason stood out. Reading the faded gilt along the spine Althea frowned, symbols she didn’t understand made up the title. Undeterred she opened the book at random. The page that was revealed showed an illustration of a tree surrounded by more strange symbols.
This is really odd, in all the books Dagda had, I’ve never seen anything quite like-” Althea began turning back to Soren to show him, a finger poised over the picture when there was a small flash of light and suddenly the space between them was filled by the illusion of a tree. The same one that had been in the book. Glowing with a slightly green hue and apparently painted in thin air, Althea’s eyes were wide as they met his through the apparition.
This is amazing.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, almost as if she was worried the sound of her voice would make the magical vision disappear. “I wonder what would happen...” Tentatively she lifted the finger that had been over the pages and reached out to the tree.

Another flash and the tree changed, the leaves on its branches growing fuller and then the green light turned to gold. Leaves tumbling down and vanishing into thin air as they did. Soon the skeletal framework of branches and limbs was all that floated between them, a darker bronze glow about it, with the faintest trace of blue at the tips. Soon though, tiny pale green spots of light began to appear all over the branches, growing like buds and then bursting into leaves. Fresh and verdant, they were soon decorated with soft pink flowers.
It’s beautiful,” Althea sighed, her breath appearing to shake the sparkling leaves and flowers before sending some of the pink blossoms tumbling through the air towards Soren. Then the tree was as it had been when it first appeared. Slowly it faded and Althea was left staring bright eyed into Soren’s face.

Whatever else happens? We have to take some of these books back to Dagda!
Putting the book back onto the shelf, excitement coursing through her veins, she reached out and tugged at Soren’s hand.
Come on!” She urged with a smile back over her shoulder at him as she led him deeper into the room. “I think I saw a door on the other side of the room!
All sense of worry was gone, there was just a thrill now. Burning and tingling and lighting her soul ablaze. But whether it was the prospect of more magic being found, or at the feel of Soren’s large hand in hers, she couldn’t say for sure.
 
The breathy quality of Althea's voice hit Soren in a way he had not anticipated. He felt himself react in a very male way to hearing her voice, which once more added to his confusion about what was happening between them. He liked her, he was willing to admit that much, but he suspected that his feelings were a little stronger than just liking her. She was attractive, of that there was no doubt in his mind, and he would freely share himself with her if he ever had the chance. But even that didn't feel right. Soren knew that he could just share himself with her the same way some of the farm girls had. Althea deserved more than just that.

But she was spoken for. She and Jameth were courting, and Soren had little to offer to counter the benefits of being married to Jameth. The young suitor was a son of a successful merchant, and if what he heard was right, was going to be a successful merchant like his father. Jameth could give Althea a good home, which was something Soren doubted he would be able to provide.

But he stopped those thoughts as he watched Althea as she investigated the books. She treated them like they were someone's new born child; all delicate movements, slow and careful placements of her hand and a softness to her voice as if she were afraid of frightening someone. But he also saw adoration there as she finally lifted one book from the shelf. He straightened himself up to get a better look at the page she opened when the magic contained within came to life. His instinctive reaction was to jump back, the sword and shield readied for action. But rather than the slavering demon from one of the lower hells bursting forth to steal their souls, he was faced with a translucent tree, accurate with the shape and colour. He watched in awe as the tree lived through the full cycle of the seasons, noting it was an apple tree by the blossoms that were falling from it, before it vanished from sight.

He looked to Althea's face, and was amazed at how beautiful she looked with her face so alive with delight and wonder at what she discovered. He remembered seeing her face look like that before, but struggled to place where and when it had happened. While delighting in the expression on her face, he absentmindedly sheathed his sword and let his shield arm hang loose.

“Whatever else happens? We have to take some of these books back to Dagda!”

"Sure, but I will leave that to you to decide which books to take."

Althea had returned the book, and took his free hand to lead him deeper in to the room. He felt his pulse speed up and his heart beat a little harder as they moved between the book cases. He knew that it was from her touch that his heart was beating faster, thought he could hardly place a reason on why. There was too much going on at that moment for him to figure out what was going on, so he did his best to ignore it and focus on what was actually happening.

“Come on! I think I saw a door on the other side of the room!”

He said nothing, but his thoughts focused on the door she mentioned and what may lie in wait behind it. Indeed, when they got to the other end of the room, there was a door, just like all the other doors in its design and appearance. Soren felt that there was little chance of there being a danger about, but he still brought his shield up just in case, then opened the door slowly.

A snapping noise preceded the loud thunk noises of several darts slamming into his shield. Soren froze, thankful that his bladder was empty as he knew that it tried to empty itself on hearing the sounds. Soren shifted the angle of the shield and saw the wickedly barbed five inch long projectiles firmly stuck the in wood. He steeped aside from the doorway, making sure that Althea was safely beside the wall, then pushed the door open further. Another snap announced a further volley of darts that slammed into the end of one of the bookcases.

"Let me go in first, in case there are any more of those kind of surprises."

Soren peered into the room, finding the first tripwire that he broke. He looked about at saw the two mechanisms that had been set up to shoot the darts. Further looking about the room revealed no other obvious signs of traps, but he was not going to believe it until he had a good look around. He had taken two steps into the room when he saw the items that rested on a table inside. One was a sword, larger that any he had ever seen before. The blade was long, maybe a little over half his height in length, but it was wider than any other blade he had seen. It rested within a sheath, and both gave the aura of age, as well as being very well crafted. Beside it, resting on a small velvet pouch, was a ring. It appeared to be a plain band of silver, but again something about it was... different.

Soren removed his attention from the table, and focused on the rest of the room. It took a couple of minutes, but by the end he was certain that there were no further traps to be wary of.

"It's safe to enter, Althea."

He moved to the table, placed his shield on the floor resting against the table leg and picked up the sword. To Soren's surprise, the blade was not as heavy as he thought it would be given its size. The blade came out of the scabbard with a whisper of noise to reveal a blade that appeared to have been cleaned the day before. He inspected the blade, and it was perfect, as well as being very sharp. To his eye, it looked as though it had never been used at all; not nicks in the edge, no signs of sharpening nor any signs of rust or other aging.

He looked at Althea, his confusion clear as he held the blade, knowing that the weight was good for him, the balance and the way it felt in his hand he knew that he would have little problem wielding it in a fight.

"That ring, Althea. There is something about it. Could it be magical? And this sword? This doesn't feel right for a sword of its size, yet there is nothing wrong with it. Why are they here, sitting in this room with nothing else but this table? They must have been important for them to be protected as they were, but why?"

He put the sword back into the scabbard, returning it to the place where he found it and took a step back from the table.

"What do you think we should do?"
 
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Althea squeaked with surprise as the round of vicious looking arrows hit Soren's shield, moving without a word to the place he directed her to. Shaking a little as the first real proof of the dangers they might face, quite literally, hit them. Shrinking back against the wall subconsciously as Soren began to open the door. Her eyes shutting tight as the whistle of more darts whizzing through the air towards him could be clearly heard. The loud when they found their mark was loud and made her cry out. Pushing herself away from the wall with a racing heart, terrified that Soren had been hurt. However it seemed a bookcase was the unwitting victim this time round.

"Let me go in first, in case there are any more of those kind of surprises."

Althea nodded, hoping with every fibre of her being that there wouldn't be anything else waiting to 'greet' them. She watched as Soren disappeared through the open doorway, her breath held, ear focused on the sound of his footfalls. Somewhere, far beyond the walls of the house, she thought she heard a rumble. Quiet and soft but there all the same. Minutes dragging by with almost painful slowness until at last he told her it was safe to enter.

The room was largely empty and at first glance one probably wouldn't have considered exploring it. The booby traps at the door to make sure no one let their curiosity get the better of them told another tale. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the table and the relatively mundane objects upon it. Swords she didn't know a great deal about but she knew that a well-made sword was a valuable item, but worth trying to kill a man over the possession of it? That sounded far-fetched even to her. The ring, looked plain and simple but she was sure that was probably not the case either.

Althea watched as Soren withdrew the sword from its casing and with little obvious effort hefted the large weapon in his hand. The metal was pristine, it's surface buffed to a mirror like shine and the edges looked dangerously sharp. He moved the sword back and forth in the air, the light dancing over the length of it enticingly. Then a brighter flash for a second as a brighter light was reflected.

"That ring, Althea. There is something about it. Could it be magical? And this sword? This doesn't feel right for a sword of its size, yet there is nothing wrong with it. Why are they here, sitting in this room with nothing else but this table? They must have been important for them to be protected as they were, but why?"

"The only thing I can think is that these belonged to the Sindra and their guardian. That they're the items that were left to be found."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Well, seeing as we made it past the protection, I guess we take them with us..." Althea shrugged. She was just reaching out to touch the ring when there was a sudden flash and a loud bang, making her jump and end up with a shaking hand holding Soren's forearm.
There was another clap of thunder almost straight away that made her cry out with shock and then blush at her reaction.
She smiled up shyly into his face before stepping back to put space between them once again.
"Sorry, I think I was just startled."

Taking a deep breath she steeled herself to try and pick up the ring for a second time. This time there was no terrifying sound as her fingertips closed around the band and lifted it from upon its pouch.
Lifting it to the light coming in the through the window, she turned it around. Keen eyes searching the inside of the band for an inscription or something similar, but there was nothing. The ring was smooth, inside and out. Frowning slightly she tried to gauge the size of the ring in comparison to her own finger. She had no desire to get the thing stuck on her finger, especially if it had powers she did not yet know and had no possible chance of understanding or controlling. From outside the gentle patter of rain hitting foliage filtered through the air to where they stood. Deciding she needed to know far more about the ring before it went anywhere near her finger, she picked up the pouch and dropped the band inside. As she pulled the drawstrings tight there was another rumble of thunder.

“There’s something…different about it.” She said by way of explanation as the pouch was held carefully in her hand. She knew she should put it back, as he had the sword but she couldn’t bring herself to let it go. ”There are no runes or markings, no words or anything to distinguish it from any other ring but…” Her eyes dropped to the small bag nestled in the palm of her hand. “…I just get the feeling it’s no ordinary ring.

The room was silent for a few minutes, neither of them speaking, just the steadily increasing sound of rain drumming on the roof above. Eventually a particularly bright flash of lightning and deafening crack of thunder seemed to jerk Althea from her thoughts. Crossing to the window she frowned as she looked outside. The clearing that surrounded the house was almost completely obscured from view by the rain. The ground still drying from the previous night’s deluge was already showing signs of flooding.
Before we think any more about the contents of this room, I think we might need to explore a little more of the house, see if it looks like there’s anywhere we could stay the night.” Althea looked back towards Soren over her shoulder with a slightly shy smile. “Somehow, I don’t think even your tent would hold up in weather like that!
 
Something deep down within Soren liked the way that Althea went to hold him at the sound of the thunder. That she saw him as a source of safety felt really good. The snide side of him wondered if Jameth produced that kind of feeling in her, somehow doubting it. He looked her way, mainly to see that she was indeed alright, and saw her slow blush after she was scared by a following boom of thunder.

"Sorry, I think I was just startled."

"Well, you're safe in here."

Soren kept his quiet as Althea investigated the ring with the same care he had with the sword. He thought hard on what each of the items could do, and his imagination ran away with him. His sword could burst into flame, or glow with a terrible light when confronting evil. Maybe it would make the wielder fearless or even kill who it stuck with a single cut. Soren harrumphed in silence as he stopped his train of thought. It may not be magical at all, and just a well kept blade.

“There’s something…different about it. There are no runes or markings, no words or anything to distinguish it from any other ring but… I just get the feeling it’s no ordinary ring.”

To Soren's eye, it appeared that Althea was lost in a similar type of thinking that he had, contemplating the nature of the ring. She would have better ideas of what was capable of such a device, unlike himself, who had no knowledge of the greater mysteries. He was glad that she was there, it made him feel like there was someone who could tell him what was safe and what was not.

The roaring boom of thunder, combined with the heavier downfall broke the silence and stillness within the room. Soren followed Althea to look out the window. The rain was heavy, and the farmer in him was thankful that the crops had been newly sown, rather than more mature. Such downpours tended to wreck crops rather than aid in their growth. He thought of Sylea, but she was tethered under a large tree, which would offer her some protection from the weather, and save her from getting too wet. The only problem was that she was still carrying their supplies. Soren decided that once the weather broke enough, he would find her proper shelter and unload the packs from her back and give her time to rest.

“Before we think any more about the contents of this room, I think we might need to explore a little more of the house, see if it looks like there’s anywhere we could stay the night. Somehow, I don’t think even your tent would hold up in weather like that!”

"And everything would be soaked before it was setup, and that wouldn't help us either. Let's hope that the other rooms don't carry any surprises like this one."

Soren made his way back to the main hall, slowly making his way to the next door. He checked to see that Althea was in a safe place before he opened the door. That time, he stood to one side in case of more darts. When nothing happened, he slowly peered through the doorway to find a very spartan bedroom covered by a slight layer of dust. A single bed that had seen better days sat in the middle of the room, a dresser with two draws to one side, and what looked like weapons racks on the other.

"Well, I think I know where the Guardian slept."

Soren took the two paces required to reach the door at the end of the hallway. Again, making sure that he had Althea covered, he opened the door carefully in readiness for any other surprises that may await.

The door opened to another bedroom, but that one was completely different to the remainder of the house. It was in pristine condition, as if a maid had been through just before they arrived. The massive bed was made, the dressers were of higher quality and better appearance than in the other room, and the air was fresh, with the lightest fragrance of lemon flowers. He stepped in, his guard slowly dropping as he took in the miraculous state of the room.

"I think the Sindra may have liked their room a lot. This... is done with magic, isn't it?"

The thick rug bounced back well after his foot left the surface, and the coverings of the bed were new and fresh. It all made sense to him, but he never thought that magic would be used in such a manner. Almost an everyday way.

"Well, there is a bed in here that should provide you with a comfortable place to sleep. I'm sure that I can find enough to make a bedroll to sleep on. When the rain dies down, I'll go and tend to Sylea. She will need a rest after carrying our supplies for the duration of the storm, plus it would do her good to dry out properly too.

"Good thing that the house is well built. Great Maker! The front door."

Soren dashed down to the entrance of the house, closing the door as best he could to slow the spread of the rain water within the downstairs room. The dust helped to a degree in slowing it down, only turning into a thick mud where the water managed to advance. He wiped his boots on the lowest step before making his way back to the master bedroom.

What he didn't notice on his return was that any mud that fell from his boots that hit the floor of the bedroom slowly faded and disappeared, leaving not a single trace of its existence on the surface that it touched.
 
When Soren left the room Althea continued to explore. Tentative fingers reaching out to pull open the top drawer. Not sure whether she was expecting to find anything at all, her eyes widened to find clothing neatly folded within it. The cloth was expensive, that she could tell without even touching it. Heavy weight fabric with stitching so fine she could barely tell where the pieces were joined together.

She reached into the drawer and gently withdrew the top garment. It was a tunic, made of pale aquamarine silk, with a deep v-neck and slits to the sides. Turning it back and forth between her hands she couldn't say for certain whether the Sindra who'd lived there had been a man or a woman. She smiled as she laid the tunic back inside the drawer, perhaps the Guardian had been a woman. The idea was almost enough to make her laugh out loud. Putting herself in Soren's place seemed ridiculous. The idea of protecting him. The idea of him protecting her however...

Althea smiled a little more softly as she thought back to his arm rising before her, holding her back from some unknown danger. The worry that glowed in his eyes when he thought her in trouble. The way his usually serious eyes almost warmed when he was close to her. She heard herself sigh and forced herself to stop thinking along those lines. He wasn't interested in her, not like that, and she didn't want him to be.

Did she?

Her fingers rose to the necklace around her neck. The intention behind it was sweet and she did have feelings for Jameth, she did. But. Then there was the way she felt around Soren. A different kind of feeling. One harder to ignore. And one that, despite her best efforts, seemed to be growing.

Turning away from the chest with a quiet huff of frustration she wandered closer to the bed. It looked soft and inviting and an unexpected wave of exhaustion rolled through her. The disaster that had been her tent and the night of broken sleep that had followed in Soren’s tent coming back to her. No wonder she felt so sleepy. Her hand stroked along the comforter that covered the bed. A thick quilt of smooth silk, well padded and no doubt warm to snuggle beneath. For a second the sound of Soren’s slow and slightly heavy breathing filled her mind and she wondered how well they could keep warm together beneath such a covering. There would be ample room for them both to lay surely. The Guardian’s room had been so stark and bare. She couldn’t let Soren think of sleeping in there alone.

Easing off her boots she lay down on the bed, rolling onto her side to try and evaluate how much room they might both have. The position and her unconventional clothing meaning the curving silhouette of her frame was clearly on show and the shirt she had borrowed did little to hide the cleavage created by lying in such a position. Althea looked back over her shoulder, there was more than half of the bed unoccupied. As large as he was she was certain Soren would fit.

While she waited for him to return, hoping the water hadn’t made too much mess in the hallway, she dropped her head on to the pillow. It was unbelievably soft but not so much that it didn’t offer any support to her head. She was sure the down within it must be as luxurious as everything else seemed to be. Soren was right, he had to be, magic was at work in this room and in the whole house she didn’t wonder. Her eyes shut for a moment as she wondered what enchantments might have been worked to make one room so perfect and the rest of the house seem all but abandoned. It was powerful magic, that was certain. For it to remain so long after the Sindra who had lived there had gone.

She heard footsteps approaching and propped herself up on her elbow as Soren walked in. From this lower vantage point he seemed taller and broader and she lost her words for a moment before realising how it must look. Her lounging on a bed apparently waiting for him.

I was trying to see if we’d both fit…” she began quietly. “It’s a large bed you see and, well, I know I could use a good night’s sleep.

I could also use something else, her mind added wickedly making her blush. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted but she was convinced that whatever it was, Soren would be more than capable of giving it to her. She started to sit up. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable and beside, there was propriety to think of.

As she smiled shyly over to where he stood she didn’t even notice that the chain around her neck had unfastened and the gift from Jameth now lay somewhere in the sheets. Forgotten for the moment.

Will you lay here with me, Soren?” She heard herself asking in a voice that wasn’t quite her own. She had intended to ask if he’d be comfortable sharing the room with her for the duration of their stay but somehow that wasn’t what she’d ended up asking. The room was quiet apart from the drumming of the rain on the roof, an insistent rhythm that almost matched the speeding up of her own pulse.

She needed him to answer her. Needed him to be affronted or unaffected so that she could move on from this strange feeling.

She needed him to just say yes or no and be done with it.

She needed him…even if she didn’t entirely understand why.

She needed him...
 
The sight that greeted Soren when he looked at the bed was one that was burned into his mind for a long time. he had seen her naked before, but that seemed like nothing compared to the way she was dressed, and lying on the bed. It was clear as day that Althea had a fine figure, one his mother would say had 'good child bearing hips', and good sized waist and cleavage that was impressive to the point of being truly dangerous. All up, even dressed as strangely as she was, she was a very attractive woman.

“I was trying to see if we’d both fit… It’s a large bed you see and, well, I know I could use a good night’s sleep.”

He looked at the bed, and the woman draped over it, working hard not to let his mind show him images that, while he found them to be really pleasing and exciting, were not helpful and would not be happening at any time in the foreseeable future in that plane of existence or any other. In his moment of internal conflict, he missed Althea's blush. But he saw her sitting up, which only made her figure more apparent, but her cleavage less so. But it was at that point that he saw that her token from Jameth was missing.

“Will you lay here with me, Soren?”

Soren's mind was in a daze, caught in a tempest of thoughts and feelings that took him completely off guard. The lack of the token, along with her request, had the young man thinking hard.

'Has she changed her mind, and no longer wanting Jameth to court her? Does she actually want to be with me? But she doesn't like me. But she wants me to lie with her in the bed. Just to sleep, or to do more?'

He blinked a few times, as if the action would somehow clear his mind enough to have a sensible thought. It felt like forever had passed before he was able to put words together enough to speak them.

"Yes, I will lie in the bed with you, Althea. We have slept close before, I can't see a reason not to do so again."

To the background of the falling rain striking the roof, Soren started to remove his gear, placing them on a table near by the bed, then, with some reluctance, he stripped to his undergarments and climbed into the bed. Once more, he was beset by confusion about what Althea's request had meant, given that Jameth's token was no longer being worn. Their lives were going to be tied strongly, going by the spirit's words, did it also mean that they were going to be more than just Sindra and Guardian?

The heaviness of his thoughts, along with the stresses of the day caught up with him as he was lying in the very comfortable bed. He was staring at Althea, his slowing mind seeing her in a totally different light. Before him was a woman of great strength and courage, one who found she had a life path that took her away from what everyone would have thought for her and had the determination to follow it through. She was also very attractive, highly desirable, and in need of someone to fuck her. His last thoughts before passing out were that he would gladly volunteer for that duty.
 
The time between her awkwardly worded question and his reply seemed to draw out. Minutes slipping by with only the sound of the rain to break the silence. But then, at last, he responded.

"Yes, I will lie in the bed with you, Althea. We have slept close before, I can't see a reason not to do so again."

"Oh, good," her voice was quieter than she'd expected and she made a slight show of rolling onto her back to that her gaze was averted as he undressed. Althea frowned to herself for a moment. She almost felt disappointed by his reply. Yes, she wanted him to sleep alongside her, even if it had more to do with something she didn't understand than it did about her own sense of personal safety, but she wanted him to want to. She couldn't believe she expected him to throw himself at her at her suggestion, that would be ridiculous and highly inappropriate.

She heard his feet swishing across the carpet as he rounded the bed and rolled back the covers. As he slid beneath and made himself comfortable, she quickly took the chance to draw the curtains across the windows, sending the room and the pair of them into a gloom. It wasn't daylight but it wasn't dark. She could see him clearly enough but it made her feel a little less self conscious as she peeled the trousers from her legs and eased the tunic over her shirt. Left in just her slip and under things, she joined him beneath the heavily padded comforter.

The bed felt even softer now. Perhaps she was more tired than she realised. She sighed loudly as she rolled onto her side and readjusted her head on the pillows.
"Oh, this bed is far too comfortable to be real," she murmured to herself before frowning when something scratched her neck unexpectedly. Half sitting up she began sweeping her hand back and forth across the sheets before she discovered the reason. The charm Jameth had given to her.
She frowned as the necklace swung from her fingertips in the increasing darkness. She knew she should put it back on, straight away. But...she didn't want to, not right then. Reaching out she placed it carefully onto the small table set beside the bed. She would put it back on after she'd slept.

She rolled back over until she was facing Soren. His breathing was already slowing and she was sure he was already asleep, if not very close to being so. His features were relaxed and it made her smile to believe he might get some real rest. She stifled a giggle as she realised that despite the size of the bed, his frame dwarfed it slightly. His feet were covered and managed to fit onto the mattress along with the rest of him, but only just.

Althea could feel her eyes getting heavier. The lure of pure, uninterrupted sleep was too strong to fight much longer. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was also sure magic was at work too. Something was lulling her to sleep much too quickly. Maybe sleeping in such a room wasn't such a smart idea after all. She hadn't felt tired in the slightest until she'd seen the bed and then all she'd wanted was to get into it. Then she saw Soren and all she wanted was...

She blinked her eyes, fighting off sleep as she debated trying to wake Soren to see if he felt it too. But the more she looked at him the more the desire to do something very different than waking him began to dance through her veins.

"Soren...?" She whispered, shifting close to him across the bed. "Are you asleep...?" Her hand tentatively tapped his shoulder where it lay uncovered by the quilt. "Soren, I've a funny feeling about this room." She continued warily, almost certain he was asleep but needing to voice her concerns all the same. Maybe he had the same reservations that she did. "There's something about it. Something about the way it makes me feel..." she looked around as she shifted closer so that by the time she looked back at his face, her chest was brushing his arm.

"The way...it makes me feel..." Althea's voice was barely more than a murmur as she found herself leaning closer. A hand appearing on his face as her lips drew nearer and nearer to his. "...the way it makes me feel about you..."
Before she could stop herself or try to reason that she was just kissing a friend 'goodnight', Althea's lips pressed sweetly against his and just stayed there.
 
Soren felt so rested as he laid on the bed. The sleep was peaceful, not one sign of the tormenting dreams about Althea; ones easily imagined from the one time he saw her naked. One where they lay on a bed similar to the one they were on, but without clothing that got between them and what they both eagerly sought to do. As much as he desired to do so, he could not and keep his honour.

But he was sharing a bed with her, and it felt comfortable. There was nothing wrong with them being in the same bed. They had even lay closer than they were, and with even less protecting their modesty. So, with more fabric to shield their privacy from the other, there was nothing to fear, worry or concern.

A tap on his shoulder brought him into a fog bound state of mind, where he knew he was awake, but his thoughts were slower than normal.

"Soren, I've a funny feeling about this room. There's something about it. Something about the way it makes me feel..."

He felt her moving, getting closer by the way the mattress shifted under her body. The heat coming from her body was delightful, warming him in ways that the quilt had seemingly failed to do.

"The way...it makes me feel... the way it makes me feel about you..."

The fog was burned away by the press of the softest lips he had ever felt in his life, ones that filled him with a warmth and vitality that scared him for a few moments before he sank into the bliss they generated with him. His free arm snaked behind Althea, sliding slowly but surely toward the back of her head. Experience told him that women loved that feeling of being held in place while being kissed by a man they liked; not that they were going to escape, but it seemed that it was a show of desire that they appreciated. His lips pressed against hers, coaxing them to join in the oral dance that was beginning, one he knew how to continue with more depth and passion.

Soren broke off the kiss for a moment, his eyes blazing with not only lust but something more, deeper, significant. He shuffled around so one arm was under her head, the hand resting against the middle of her back, used as leverage to keep her close as he resumed kissing her. Again, the warm, joyous bliss enveloped him, a bliss he wanted to experience more often. He forgot that he was kissing the woman who annoyed him so frequently, who fought him for reasons he could not fathom, yet who tasted so delicious, felt so wonderful against his body.

He felt it break within his soul. The barrier that had been holding him back, which added to the confusion he had about her collapsed under the weight of how he felt. He was attracted to her. There was no doubt about it in his mind anymore, and while she was being courted by another, he would court her too. But the way she spoke to him, and was kissing him, she had feelings for him too, which meant he actually had a chance with gaining her as his wife.

Soren was used to the manner that the farmers courted each other, which was a lot more direct and less than subtle than the village folk would do, he suspected. In the heat of the moment, he carried on as he had done a few times he had been with some of the other farm girls and women. The hand that had been freed up casually landed on one of Althea's wonderful breasts, cupping the full weight of the orb, rubbing the pinnacle softly through the thin layers of fabric. It took Soren a few seconds to realise what he was doing, who he was doing it too and where. At that point, he froze, and pulled his head back a little, but his hand remained in place.

"Ummm... I can stop that if you want."
 
He was kissing her back.

For several long moments Althea was convinced it was a dream. A very realistic, incredibly pleasant, dream. His lips moving against hers, enticing them to mimic his movements, to part a little.

The feel of his hand against her head brought her slamming back into reality and it became clear this was no dream, whatever magic the room might possess, their actions were their own.

He was still kissing her back.

She returned it as best she could, her own arm curling up and around his shoulder while her body shifted closer still upon the bed. She felt a strange desire to lift her leg over his so that they might move closer still but him stopping the kiss meant she didn't need to explore that unusual thought any further for the time being.

She smiled up as his slightly hazy eyes met her own, both a little breathless, both clearly wanting to continue no matter how...unexpected it seemed. Both arms were around his neck now, fingers combing through his hair while their mouths met once more. Althea sighed against him, feeling the wonderful blissful feeling spreading out through her body. A warm sense of peace that clashed deliciously with the urges washing through her mind. It felt right. It felt so very right. To be there with Soren, not just together in the house of the Guardian and the Sindra they protected, but in that bed. Arms wound around each other, lips caressing and tasting.

The doubt about why she was doing what she was, the worry that the room was somehow controlling or guiding her, seemed to be less important than it had a few minutes earlier. All that mattered was how perfectly Soren's mouth seemed to fit against her own, how large and oddly gentle his hands were upon her body. The face that one of those very hands was now massaging her chest only registered when he pulled away from their kiss.

"Ummm... I can stop that if you want."

She looked down to see his large, sun darkened, hand against the pale fabric of her slip. The fingers curving to rest against the shape of her breast. She could feel the peak of it awakening against his palm, tingling.

"And if I don't want...?" her voice was soft, breathy from their kisses and trembling with building excitement. "If I don't want you to stop...?" holding his gaze with hers she moved one of her hands to rest on top of his as it lay upon her breast. "Do you want to stop...?" She pressed with her hand to push his a little more firmly against her, the increase in pressure making her draw in a slightly more noticeable breath.

"I don't know what I want, truly, not entirely," she whispered, "I know what I don't want. I don't want you to take your hand away. And I know I want to kiss you again..." her head moved to bring their lips together for a moment, "...and again...", lips lingering longer this time.

Every kiss made her feel warmer and more calm, as if the weight and worry of their trip and of all they left behind was melting away. Her hand left his to trail curiously down the centre of his chest, her eyes watching it's path keenly before flicking back up to his face as if checking that it was alright to do so. She felt a jolt when she looked into his eyes, a rush of excitement she knew she didn't feel when Jameth looked at her. A rush she was certain no magic could instil in her. After all, hadn't she felt it before?

"I want to touch you, Soren, and I...I want you to touch me." Althea continued to hold his gaze as she added softly. "Please?"
 
There was no yelling, no angry words dripping with venom staying terrible things that would leave him wounded for days, and confused for longer. What there was, though, was a woman who was looking at where his hand had come to rest, looking at it in a way that he couldn't quite read, but the lack of 'normal' response left him feeling somewhat confident that he had not offended her.

As she looked, he felt the telltale sign of pleasure coming from that part of her body. If anything, it left him more confused about what was happening. No one could lie about that. But when she looked back, he was really confused by what greeted him.

"And if I don't want...? If I don't want you to stop...? Do you want to stop...?"

Her breathing, the way her voice sounded, her gaze and most importantly, the hand that came to rest against his, pressing it firmer against her breast, all screamed about her desire for him, one that he knew he matched for her. She clearly stated that she was happy with his hand where it was, and wanted it to remain there. It was a glorious breast, but he knew that already. he had seen it in real life once, and many, many more times in his mind's eye as he did more than just rest his hand on it.

"No... no, I don't want to stop." His voice shared similar qualities to hers. But his hand wasn't remaining idle after she clearly expressed her desire for him to continue. He gently rotated his hand, the palm rubbing the sensitive spot beneath. He couldn't help himself from remaining cautious and not breaking the wonderful moment they were sharing.

"I don't know what I want, truly, not entirely. I know what I don't want. I don't want you to take your hand away. And I know I want to kiss you again... and again..."

With her declarations of kissing, he agreed fully and met her lips as they came to his. Each kiss left him feeling excited, not in the passionate way that he had with the other women he had kissed, but in a more tender way, one that warmed him in a way he wanted to experience again. Lots.

Through it all, his hand continued the gentle caress of her breast, subtly exploring that part of her through a thin layer of cloth that he was wishing would vanish in the moment and feel the skin direct, and hold her. He was so caught up with those two acts that he had initially missed Althea's wandering fingers along his chest, leave a trail of heated skin in their wake. When her eyes flicked back from watching them to look into his eyes, there was nothing there to suggest that she stop, or that he found it to be anything but fantastic.

"I want to touch you, Soren, and I...I want you to touch me. Please?"

Her look was a strange one, at least to him it was, as she added her last word, the question that showed just how much she wanted what she had mentioned. But it also spoke of trust, and respect. That, more than anything else, gave him the courage to respond.

"Yes, Althea, you can touch me. I like how your hand feels..." He took a few deep breaths in readiness for the plunge he was about to make. From the short time he knew her, he was still uncertain about her thoughts and feelings, and habit was a foul beast to tame or be rid of.

"Would you like me to touch you here?" He pressed his palm a little harder against her breast, being blatant in his actions and how they would effect her. He liked the press of the hard flesh against his hand, and he knew that most women, and all of those he had been with, enjoyed more than just a gentle rub.

"Would you like it if I touched you a little differently?" Finger and thumb quickly found the hardened peak, merely holding it in place. He gave it a few gentle squeezes, getting a feel for that small part of her, and how she responded to what he had done.

His heart rate jumped in response to what he was going to do next. He was definitely unsure of how Althea would respond, but he had to know. His hand took a lazy trip along the cloth shielded curves of her body, heading from the top of her body down toward her hip, excitingly close to the rear that he had been looking at more and more frequently over the last few days. But his hand went to the other side of her body, moving slowly to the most private place of a woman. As best as their positions and her slip permitted, his hand came to rest over that treasured place, cupping it as best as he could.

"Would you like to touch you... here?"
 
"No... no, I don't want to stop."

Althea couldn't help but smile when Soren admitted he wanted...whatever this was that was happening...as much as she did. It was as if time itself was slowing to allow them time to fully experience what they were sharing. His hand moved, barely, just enough to make his palm shift across the awakening peak of her breast.

When his lips returned her soft kisses Althea felt for a moment or two as if her spine was turning to jelly. She felt herself sinking and flying, all at once. Even the most passionate of kisses she had experienced, of which there had been precious few with Jameth, couldn't hold a candle to the heat she felt in those tender moments with Soren.

"Yes, Althea, you can touch me. I like how your hand feels...Would you like me to touch you here?"
The pressure of his hand increased on her breast and she heard herself gasp, not a sound of surprise but of something more deeply rooted. It was almost a groan, her back arcing to push herself more snugly against his palm. Althea nodded, wetting her lips while her hand trailed slowly but steadily down his front.

"Would you like it if I touched you a little differently?"
She was about to ask how that might be when he showed her. His palm lifting away and making her almost whine when it's warmth was gone but then his fingers moved to hold her now stiff nipple, gently pressing it between the pads of finger and thumb and all of a sudden Althea couldn't lie still. She felt a pulse, deep within her core, between her thighs, with each squeeze. Her hips twitching ever so slightly in answer to his question. She knew her mouth was open and likely her eyes wider too but not in shock, no, this was pleasure. Pure and simple and rapidly increasing.

"I...I like it..." Althea admitted, stopping short of asking him to do it again, to do it to the nub's twin, which was now achingly hard and almost tingling.

His hand skirted gently down her side, making her fidget while it tracked lower until it shifting it's path and came to rest at that most feminine of places on her body. She rolled slightly, onto her back, thighs parting in the process and allowing his large hand to settle more comfortably over her mound.

"Would you like to touch you... here?"

Althea looked into his eyes as she lay beside him, and nodded, her hand continuing it's painfully slowly exploration down his stomach until it had traversed his waist and was suddenly grazing his undergarments and the flesh hidden beneath. Fingers drawn by some unknown direction until they found that part of him that was the most definite difference between men and women. Small fingers curling around the length as best they could. She glanced down before looking back up into his eyes.

His own admissions meant she knew he was far more practised in this art than she, it would be up to him to guide her. Remembering how good it had felt when his hand had increased pressure against her body she allowed her grip to tighten ever so slightly.

"I want you to touch me everywhere," she whispered, "and I...I want to touch you back...like this?" She wanted to know if her hand felt as good as his had, she hoped it did. Tearing her gaze from his she looked down between their bodies. Her fingers moved around him, stroking down the length of him and back. Using her hand to feel his size, feeling every stiffened inch, before smoothly running her hand back the way it had come. Every movement slow and steady, gentle and curious, before she looked back into his face, her lips suddenly eager to kiss him again.

"Please, Soren, please...touch me."
 
Althea's reactions to his touch had an effect on Soren that he had never felt before. When he was with other women, he was a little unsure of himself, doing what he thought was the right things for them, and getting it right more often than not, but this time, there with Althea, there was no doubts in his mind. He felt a confidence that was calming, that told him that he was doing the right thing, being a good man for Althea, even if many others would view him as something less than that.

Which was one reason that he didn't jump and hit the ceiling when her hand found his erection. It did halt him for a moment, so he could experience the fullest effects of her touch. Althea was not the first to touch, or even hold him there, but hers was the best of all he had experienced. He let himself linger for a few moments longer, then remembered what he was doing.

"I want you to touch me everywhere, and I...I want to touch you back...like this?"

His only response was a deep, exhaled breath was a barely audible groan of pleasure. Each stroke of her hand brought a wave of pleasure that threatened to drown his mind. But he rallied himself, and with agility that seemed to defy the capabilities of his large fingers, moved the fabric that guarded her greatest treasure from him.

"Please, Soren, please...touch me."

There was nothing that he could think of to stop him from carrying through with what he was wanting to do for her, to give to the woman who seemed to have invaded his heart like the weeds did to their fields, yet it was an invasion that he was welcoming rather than cursing.

Soren's fingers found the evidence that he was indeed close to the place he wanted to find; the soft, downy hair that smoothly caressed his fingers as he slid them closer to her pearl of pleasure. The slope of her skin changed as he found the start of her slit and slowed his movements further to reduce the chance of startling her, and of touching her harder than he had planned. With great care, he moved the final short distance and found the spot he had been searching for. Soren started with a light touch that danced over the skin that hid the sensitive spot, getting Althea used to the presence of his finger. He closed his eyes, letting his touch guide him, and making his ears more sensitive to the sounds that came from Althea, which in turn would serve to guide his hand better.

Light brushes and rubs would change into movements of greater pressure, then eased off again, all the while Soren was listening and feeling Althea's responses, seeking to give her greater and greater pleasure. One of his previous partners showed him how to touch a woman there and give her the same kind of feeling that a man had when he released his seed. Soren worked carefully, building up within Althea a fire that would eventually explode the same way Nichelle had done.

He could find no more a fitting way to show Althea that he was better than Jameth was.
 
Althea felt her undergarments shift beneath his fingertips and heard herself draw a deep breath. Her hand was wrapped around a part of him that she knew she shouldn't see, let alone touch, unless it and he were hers. And yet she didn't take her hand away nor move his, her hand continued to stroke up and down the length of him. Letting her fingers explore the veins and ridges curiously and then her hold on him faltered as she felt his fingers stroke the fine hair that covered her sex.

They were not promised, at least not to each other, but as she felt his fingers grazing parts of her body no one besides herself had ever touched she wished that they might be. All concern that what they were doing was wrong, was something that might have repercussions for them both, flew out of her head as her breathing grew shaky and her body trembled with nervous anticipation. His touch was so gentle, there were moments she wondered if this was all just a hallucination. Some fantastical imagery that the seemingly enchanted room was playing through her mind. But then his fingers probed a little closer, a little deeper and the world stopped.

Her hand tightened around him slightly as she twitched. It didn't hurt, quite the opposite in fact, but the feeling of Soren's large fingers parting and stroking her most intimate of places was still a little bit of a shock. Her teeth latched onto her lower lip as she felt a sound wanting to rise up and out of her throat. It felt like a groan. She wasn't sure if she should let it out. Would he think he'd hurt her? He hadn't and she didn't want him to stop, not for a moment. Another stroke of his fingers and he seemed to find that part of her that was more awake than any other. At that point there was no holding back the whimpered sigh that flew out of her lips. Her eyes closed and her back arched up from the bedclothes.

"Soren..." she sighed, her free hand tangling tightly in the bedsheets as his fingers worked their own kind of magic over her body. Soon she was writhing beside him. Her hips obeying some command she knew she hadn't given. Rolling up against his hand, increasing the pressure of his fingers for a second or two at a time until she heard herself whine and then they moved away. She could feel a heat creeping through her body, starting where his fingers touched her and spreading out like a forest fire. Her cheeks she could feel were flushed, beneath her slip her nipples were almost painfully hard and between her legs she could hear and feel that his attentions were affecting that part of her as well. Her flesh was growing slicker, making his fingers' motion easier.

All the time she kept her hand around him, holding on to him almost desperately at times, then at others almost letting go when he sent a fresh pulse of powerful excitement tearing through her. Everything was so very intense and consuming, she wanted to tell him how wonderful it felt, how very wonderful. She wanted to tell him how special it felt. But words were beyond her capability and so all she could do was sigh and groan and writhe beneath his hand and hope he understood. Somehow she knew he did.

Soon a tingling began beneath his fingers, a pulsing sensation that was building rapidly. Her heart, already far quicker than it had ever been when she was so still, began to race and her entire body was shaking. Waves of intense pleasure started to sweep through her, robbing her of her breath and making the hand that had gripped the sheets fly up to hold onto his forearm. She wasn't trying to pull his hand away, whatever magic he was weaving she definitely didn't want it to end, but she felt as if she might be about to shatter into a thousand pieces and she needed to hold him if that was the case.

"Soren...what...what's happening to me...?" Althea managed to whimper desperately before the world around her exploded into light and her body bucked almost violently upon the bed. She cried out loudly and held on while she shuddered and shook, feeling more alive in that instant than she'd done in her entire life.
 
It was just like with Nichelle. Althea's most private place was growing hotter, and wetter, and her body was moving in ways that were not very controlled. Even her breathing was uneven, and Soren found himself mirroring it without thinking about it.

"Soren..."

Echoes of another time with another woman told him he was doing the right thing for Althea, and he literally pressed on, following the directions that seemed to be coming without any conscious thought on his part. All the sounds she was making were exactly what he was wanting, needing to hear. They provided the guidance his deeper mind needed to guide his hand to give Althea the pleasure he could bring her. Everything else faded away from him, even the grip about his length that Althea never released. All he wanted to do was bring her to that place, and make her writhe with the ultimate joy.

When she began to shake, trembling like she was possessed, he felt that he may have been doing something wrong. Even her sudden lunge for his arm reinforced that, yet he couldn't move his hand from her. His mind commanded it to move away, yet it remained in place, touching her most secret place and bringing her joy beyond his imagining.

"Soren...what...what's happening to me...?"

He drew breath to respond, but her loud cry brought nothing to his lips but an enormous smile as her body bucked and thrashed beneath his hand. Her cry was so similar to the one Nichelle made when he brought her to her highest pleasure, and all other thoughts of her were dismissed as his focus remained wholly on Althea. He kept his hand resting on her sex, the finger moved away from the little nub, yet still resting against her slit.

Soren waited as Althea rode out her pleasure, the smile never wavering through the entire duration of her calming down. He gingerly removed his hand from the depths of her clothing, allowing himself to rest completely at her side. She looked beautiful with her face glowing in the aftermath of her pleasure. He remembered hearing Sarthi make similar comments to his wife once when they thought they were alone. Soren remembered there being a difference in his brother's voice he had never heard before, and then there was something whispered back to him the ended in a long kiss, and the pair retreating to their room. Soren looked at Althea again, closer, and he conformed that she had not looked any better than she did in those moments.

"I... I was making you... happy. No, more than happy. Giving you pleasure. Like a good man gives his woman." Those final words brought Soren up almost cold. 'His woman...?' He called Althea his woman. She was the one he was meant to guard, a Sindra no less, but she was not interested in him, because she had Jameth's token. How could she be his woman if she was being courted by another man?

Yet he gave her great pleasure, which she accepted. That said that she liked him more than she liked Jameth, unless Jameth had done that to her too. That thought stirred an anger in him, but it faded, lacking the strength to hold Soren in its grip. Something deep within him told him that Althea would never do that to him; allow another man to do to her what he did.

With the passing of his anger, he became aware of the hand surrounding his girth, and how marvellous it felt. He became aware of his hips rocking gently, moving his captured flesh within the ring of her fingers and palm. Each tiny stroke sent a shudder through his body, and fed a desire for longer strokes. His eyes were fixed one hers as his rocking became more pronounced, and the need clearer in his eyes. All he wanted was to feel the same kind of joy, but from her hands rather than from his.
 
Slowly Althea came down from the blinding heights Soren had pushed her towards. She was trembling and her breath fast and shallow. She felt so warm and relaxed, her limbs felt all at once heavy and unwilling to move and lighter than the air itself. Once or twice she blinked slowly, her vision growing sharper and more focused until the ceiling up above was once again clear.

Turning her head to look at Soren she could do nothing but smile hazily at him. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and she was sure the flush spread beyond her face too.

"I... I was making you... happy. No, more than happy. Giving you pleasure. Like a good man gives his woman."

"I didn't..." she began, barely recognising her own voice. It was so soft and husky, there was a deeper quality to it than she had ever heard herself use before. "I didn't know I could feel like that. I...never knew such things were possible..." Althea admitted breathlessly. She stopped herself short of saying she would love nothing more than to feel that way again though. She knew such thoughts were not to be voiced, especially when the person she would be admitting them to was not her husband. Or even her betrothed.

She wanted him to be. The thought surprised her as much as it thrilled her. She wanted to be with Soren. In that moment it was the only thing she was certain of.

Maybe it was just the room, the enchantment that hung in the air around them.
Maybe just it was the after effect of the pleasure she had just experienced.
Althea couldn't say for sure and she wasn't sure she even wanted to try. She liked feeling as she did in that moment, she liked being beside Soren. More than liked it if she were being totally honest.

She loved how his hands had felt on her body, how his mouth had melded with hers, how he felt in her hand...

It was only then she realised her hand was still around that most male part of him and that it was moving. Glancing down between them she watched his hips gently feeding himself back and forth through her fingers. She looked back up to his face and without a word knew that he was close to feeling what she had. Althea wanted him to feel like that, if it was possible, to bring him the thrilling joy he had given her.

Carefully she tightened her hand around him, watching his face for any indication that she was hurting him or...doing something she shouldn't. Then she started moving her hand, a little like she'd seen the girls doing when they were milking the cows or the goats. A soft pulling motion down the length of him before relaxing her hand and repeating the motion, over and over again.

"Let me pleasure you too, Soren," she whispered softly, "I want to make you to feel as I did."
With her hand moving with steadily increasing speed along his length, her body shifting to let her press her lips gently to his.
 
Soren listened more to the way Althea's voice sounded, rather than what she was saying in the soft, slow afterglow of her passions. Her voice resonated in his mind, body and soul like no one else's voice had done before. None of the other women he had been with sounded anywhere near as good as Althea did, and he was certain that none of them looked as good as her either. He felt that everything they were doing was right. There was no doubting that she wanted what he offered, and she felt that it was acceptable too.

Then he saw the change in her expression, and felt the change in her grip about him; she remembered what she was doing, and noticed the effect it was having on him. For Soren, it was a moment of truth for him. He knew how he felt about her, and his willingness to express that to her, for her. Would she do the same for him? To him? For the same kind of reasons?

With the increased grip, Soren started to suppress a moan of pleasure as she started to move her hand as well, in sync with his own movements. He caught himself, knowing that she would want to know, want to hear, that her actions were doing great things for him. He still kept the top lip caught between his teeth as he let go of the sound that he had trapped deep within his body. She was pleasing him well, and he wanted her to know she was doing well at pleasing him.

"Let me pleasure you too, Soren. I want to make you to feel as I did."

Soren was going to reply when Althea pressed her slips against his as softly as she had spoken her desire. Their touch released the flood gates, and the passion he felt for Althea rose up, and washed over them both. It was still a calm kiss, compared to some of his previous ones where passion ruled his head. Yet it was the most passionate one he had shared with Althea. His tongue brushed her lips, but not trying to go further. He pressed his lips against hers firmer that she had started with, and his breathing whistled through his nose in erratic bursts which barely interfered with the kiss.

All the while, Soren's hips had burst into life, sending his length within Althea's hand at a rapid pace. Her grip was magical, firing sparks of carnal pleasure along the length of his body, making him almost whimper in the need to reach the ultimate peak. It didn't take long before any sense of rhythm was lost, and his body hunted down the release he was so close to getting. But then his body reached the point of no return, and he pulled his lips back from Althea's so he could look into her eyes, and let the desperate sounds escape him. It only took a few more strokes before even Althea would have felt the bulge of his initial blast of cum pushing its way along his shaft.

Soren's eyes went wide as he felt himself soar higher than he ever thought would happen. Each pulse that splashed warmth between them seemed to throw him higher and higher, to a place where he could not breathe, and the sounds of extreme joy were muffled from the lack of air. His entire body went rigid, except for the gentle pumps that were ever weakening, expelling the proof of Althea's ability to bring Soren great joys.

Finally, he drew in a deep breath through his gaping mouth, and spent a moment or two getting breathing back to a workable pattern, his eyes never leaving Althea's. He didn't need to say anything to her, as his look told her how he truly felt about her. He could not lie to himself about it any more, and he would not lie to her about it either. He wanted her, not just sexually, but as a life partner... wife... companion. Sindra or not, he would stand by her side because it was where he wanted to be. Because he loved Althea. She had shown him how much she meant to him, and he would do show her how much he could mean to her.

Once he had fully recovered his mental capabilities, Soren gave Althea a broad, loving smile. He carefully leaned forward and gave her the same kind of kiss she gave him before she started to please him.

"I think it is safe to say that you managed to please me as much as I pleased you. Though the mess we have made may make the sleep we need a little more difficult to find."

He glanced down to where the evidence of his pleasure was spread, and saw one pool of it on the sheet starting to vanish.

"Althea! Look."

He moved back enough to give a clearer view of the spot, which in turn broke the contact that he had been enjoying, along with the delicate warmth her hand had been providing. The shock of the enchantment laid on the room almost swept away the lassitude and the afterglow, but not even that could dissolve everything he had gained in the short time together in the bedroom.
 
Even though she suspected what would happen when he reached his peak the power of his release, along with the quantity of his seed, was more than a little surprisingly. She watched as his shaft flexed and swelled between her fingers, following the droplets with her eyes as they left his body and landed between them on the sheets. She slowed her hand and eased her grip, not wanting to hurt him.

As Soren recovered Althea held his eyes, smiling softly down at him. Fingers combing through his hair while her other hand released his softening shaft and moved to rest lightly on his thigh.

His kiss was tender and sweet and brought a fresh flush of colour to her already pinked face. It was somehow even more intimate than the more passionate kisses they had shared because of how still they were in that moment. Her hand on his thigh, the pair of them recovering their breath and calming their pulses.

"I think it is safe to say that you managed to please me as much as I pleased you. Though the mess we have made may make the sleep we need a little more difficult to find."

She giggled softly, it was true. Aside from the seed he had released she knew there was also a dampness between her thighs that she was sure had to have spread to the sheets beneath.

"Althea! Look."

The urgency in his voice made her sit up slightly, propping herself up on her elbow to look down the bed just in time to see the last of his seed seeming to almost melt away. She sat up more definitely then, leaning down to run her hand across the sheets expecting to feel wetness but feeling nothing but smooth cotton.

"I...I don't understand..." she frowned, "It has to be magic but I wouldn't begin to explain what kind...or why it's here..." Another stroke of her hand over the bedding was undertaken before she allowed herself to settle back beside him. "It must be some kind of regenerative or restorative enchantment. That would explain the need to sleep we felt when we entered. Perhaps the Sindra enchanted the room to ensure rest would always be available to them even in the most stressful times."

She glanced across to Soren's face, once again beside her own, to gauge his thoughts on the matter. Restoration and regeneration wouldn't explain the other feelings they'd felt though, of that she was sure. If the magic was regenerative then yes, perhaps on some level it could induce the desire to procreate but...what they had shared, as limited as her experience was, she knew would never result in offspring so on that score at least she felt she could relax.

She didn't want to believe that what they'd just shared was purely the result of a spell. She knew somehow it wasn't. The feelings and desires had come from somewhere so deep inside herself that only the most powerful of enchantments could have affected her so strongly. The worry though that the feeling she had felt and was feeling when she was so close to Soren would simply vanish when they walked back out through the door was almost enough to banish the glow she felt radiating through her entire body. Almost.

With a sigh, determined to enjoy whatever might be left of this time together, she settled up against him. Daring to rest her cheek upon his chest as she lay beside him, her arm draping lightly across his stomach. If he didn't wish her to be there she was sure he would move, although she felt certain he wouldn't.
"Whatever the cause of all we've seen we still need to rest, perhaps even moreso than we did before," she couldn't help but smile at that. "Perhaps the answers will present themselves after we've slept."
 
It was both calming, and nerve wracking, when Althea responded with a complete lack of reason for the disappearing stain. But the fine balance was tipped by her honesty about it, the explanation that followed. She was as new to all of what they were experiencing as he was. They were both novices in their respective arts, which was somewhat grounding for the young man. He thought that she would know everything about magic, since she was a Sindra. But, being a Sindra was no different from being a fighter, or carpenter, or farmer. There was much to learn... for both of them.

Her voice trailed off into silence, and Soren found himself looking at the intent expression on Althea's face. She was smart, he knew that beyond all doubt, the same as her courage. He still thought that she was a little impulsive, not thinking about her actions enough at times. She still was a touch arrogant too, at times, but what could he expect of a villager? Yet, he could not argue that she was also rather attractive physically. She was not lithe, not like a lot of the village girls and women, neither was she physically strong like a lot of the farm women. The later, in his mind, had better curves to their bodies than those found in the village, but few of the women he had seen had a figure that matched hers.

In what felt like a blink of an eye, Althea was lying flush against him, one arm draped over his belly, causing a broad band of fire to spread across, and deeper into his body. That was soon joined by her head coming to rest against his chest, along with the soft, silky strands of her hair brushing his skin while she settled. The first intake of breath after that was full of the aroma that was unmistakably Althea. His mind soon followed with a stream of images, memories, of those times where he saw more of her than was socially acceptable for an unmarried couple, or those seeking to be betrothed. But not one of those images felt wrong to be looking at, and there was a strong desire to see more.

"Whatever the cause of all we've seen we still need to rest, perhaps even moreso than we did before. Perhaps the answers will present themselves after we've slept."

It took a few moments for Soren to realise that Althea had been speaking, and it was a good thing for him to reply. He felt guilty for being too caught up with imagining his companion in rather intimate ways, more so with her being right there with him at the time.

"Yes, you're right." The excitement had fled his body, and weariness crashed on him hard. The rain was still falling hard outside, and just as sleep claimed him, Soren thought of Sylea still out in the elements, with the burden still on her back.

~||~​

Soren woke with a start, a heavy weight pressing against him and preventing him from moving. Flashes of the previous events since he ran off to help the captive farmers rolled through his mind, painting a picture of some massive disaster. His eyes opened, blinked several times before they could focus properly. His heart rate dropped when he saw the ceiling, felt the clean sheets and blankets about him, and once more got a deep breath of Althea.

At first, he thought they hadn't moved an inch from the last time he remembered anything. But there were subtle differences. A leg was atop of his, and Althea's body was slightly different against his; more of her lush figure was pressed against him, including a part of her that he had touched, at her request and great pleasure.

Once he had brought his breathing under control, Soren remembered Sylea. Gritting his teeth, Soren carefully moved his legs out from underneath Althea's, which in turn moved his hip away from the lowest part of her torso. He felt upset about breaking that contact, which was not surprising given his change in attitude toward her, but the strength of the feeling. Minutes passed as he continued to get himself out of the bed without waking Althea. He paused more than once at some sleeping murmur, or other sound that he first thought was some objection, or indication that she was waking.

Finally free of the confines of the bed, Soren was dressed quickly and heading downstairs and out the front door. The air smelled clean, and the ground, while damp, was not soggy.

"What father would give for ground like this for his crops."

Further speculation was put on hold while he went to the sole reason for being out of bed that morning. Sylea. She was soaked, and not looking too happy about her circumstances, and Soren felt guilty for not doing something sooner. He ignored the looks of extreme displeasure as he freed her and started to lead her to the stable that was a few yards away from the small house.

Naturally, it was devoid of anything like hay, and the few other items within were rotten with age. But the stable itself was sound, and the few railings, hitching posts and work benches were all as sound as the day they were made.

Soren unpacked Sylea, which earned him a look of thanks that existed momentarily before returning to the scowl over her treatment from the night before.

"I know, I was bad leaving you in the rain and with the pack on you all night. But, we will be here for a little longer, mainly to give you some time to rest." Soren put some food out for her, and grabbed her brush and worked most of the water out of her coat. He felt that he was making her feel more comfortable, and he sensed that she was relaxing a little with the attention.

"I promise that if we make a stop like this again, I will take off the supplies before doing anything else. Is that OK?"

Sylea turned to stare at him hard, then snorted and nodded. Soren frowned, once more wondering if she actually understood him, or if it was just a coincidence that she responded the way she did. If a body could form out of river water, then why couldn't a horse understand human speech enough to be able to respond in a way that could be understood?

"Now you're fed and cared for, I need to see if the rest of us can be fed." Soren stroked Sylea's flanks a couple of times, then headed back into the Sindra's home. It took no time at all to find the kitchen, which was coated with the same layer of dust as the rest of the rooms they had found, barring the Master bedroom.

In one corner, the one closest to the pot belly stove, sat a bin full of fire wood that appeared to be in the proper state to use. Questions flowed through his mind, but he didn't stop them from getting in the way of making use of the fuel. He was still surprised at how quickly the flames took hold and spread. The warmth started to spread through the room, and make the otherwise dead room feel more alive.

"It would have been much smarter if I brought the food in with me when I left the stable." He shook his head. "Fool." Soren turned and headed back to the stable to collect the food he planned on cooking for their breakfast.
 
When Althea's eyes opened in the morning light she stretched beneath the sheets and smiled sleepily. She could scarcely remember the last time she had slept so soundly. The events of the previous night making her smile grow a little wider as she looked across to the now empty side of the bed where Soren had been laying. She assumed he had gotten up to tend to a call of nature or poor Sylea. Rolling onto her back she let her arms extend above her head in a longer stretch, arching her back in the process. As she relaxed and her hands fell back down where they had been she found her mind drifting back to what she and Soren had shared in the storm. One of her hands idly moving across her slip, trailing across her breasts and then down her stomach towards the place where she knew his touch had changed her world forever. She'd never touched herself before and the thought of doing it seemed strange, although given how powerfully she'd felt after his ministrations she could start to understand why some young ladies might want to. Her hand lay gently on her own sex, not probing or rubbing just cupping it. Knowing she shouldn't have encouraged him to touch her at all and certain she shouldn't be desiring more touches of the same sort from him.

The sounds of Soren in the kitchen below forced her to leave her lusty daydreams and get out of the bed. Padding across the floor she picked up the trousers and shirt she had borrowed from Soren, holding them up and eyeing them. Glancing back over her shoulder towards the drawers she set them back down and crossed the room again. Sliding the top drawer open she pulled out the same pale turquoise tunic she'd discovered the night before, shaking it out and holding it up before her. It looked like it might actually fit her and the longer length would make sure her behind was covered. She pulled it over her head and smoothed it down over her body. The v-neck came down close to her breasts but not low enough to show anything, unless she were to bend over or something similar. The fabric was unbelievably smooth against her skin, the sleeves running down just past her elbows and with incredibly fine silver stitching running around the neck. The bottom of the tunic fell between her hip and knee, in the middle of her thigh and while the garment had seemed far bigger when she'd first found it, it now almost felt as if it had been tailored for her. It was roomy enough in the chest for her breasts but not baggy, it afforded her a degree of support. It felt like it tapered in around her waist and yet felt comfortably over the flare of her hips, the slits in the sides allowing the fabric to move when she walked. Perhaps the previous owner had been a woman after all.

Peeking back into the drawer she found several other tunics in differing colours and slightly different fabrics. She rifled through a few before sliding the drawer shut and opening the one below it. As she suspected there were more clothes but these looked more like a blend between a pair of trousers and a pair of the hose that were popular with the townsfolk in the winter months. Pulling out a pair that were dark brown in colour she took them to the bed and, sitting down, pulled them on. The fabric clung to her legs but were not tight. It felt in the strangest way like the material moved with her. She squatted down a few times, feeling the trousers stretch with her legs. Her face wearing an expression somewhere between being impressed and amused.

She spotted a tall looking glass on the wall which she wasn’t sure she remembered seeing there before and moved to stand before it. Turning one way then the other, trying to judge if the clothes she was thinking of wearing were too indecent to wear in public, she was a little surprised to notice how happy her face looked. Relaxed almost. The colour of the silk almost deepening the green of her eyes. She ran her fingers through her hair and decided against braiding it for the time being. Letting the dark waves bounce down her back as she pulled her boots back on and headed downstairs to help Soren. Jameth’s token all but forgotten on the top of the cabinet.
There was no sign of Soren in the kitchen when she got downstairs but the fire was dancing merrily in the stove going by the flashes of light she could see through the door and the heat radiating from the black metal. She started to look through the cupboards, looking for a kettle or a pan she could use to boil water for tea as well as cups and plates for them to eat and drink from. Althea focused all of her energy on her task and tried to ignore the itching sensation of doubt in her stomach.

The room they had slept in had obviously been enchanted somehow, hopefully she would be able to figure out how and why before they had to leave, but she couldn’t bear the thought that the feelings she’d experienced towards Soren were just the product of that magick. That they would have melted away just as the night melted into the day.

She knew she would know as soon as she saw him next. She would either feel nothing or everything and she found herself feeling further doubt that even if she continued to feel as she had, perhaps Soren would not.

The scuff of his boots crossing the hallway alerted her to his arrival. Wiping off her dusty hands on a marginally less dusty rag, she turned to meet him with a warm smile. A smile that only grew broader when she saw him. As soon as her eyes met his she felt the same rush she had done the night before, the same almost magnetic pull urging her to get as close to him as she could. Setting the cloth down and waiting until he had put down the supplies he’d brought in from outside, she moved before him. Pushing herself up onto her toes to press a warm, lingering kiss to his lips, Althea closed her eyes for a moment and found herself hoping against hope that he felt just as she did.

Good morning, Soren,” she said softly, blushing ever so slightly as she moved back. “I hope you slept well, I know I did.
 
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