This chapter is NOT proofread, will be in the new year. Updates will be slow ( or in short chapters if people would like that ) until next year as I have personal things before we hit the 24. dec.

Chapter 33 - Greetings and farewells

Riin's POV

Flood Village, Flinty region - Mid Summer.

The first morning after I got back, went by with mother almost hugging me to dead every half minute while lightly crying about how much she had worried and missed me and father having to repeatedly save me from her claws. I really don't know what to feel about this show of such strong affliction, that I have been missed in such a heartfelt way. Should I smile, should I cry of happiness, I just don't know. Luckily for me at dinner time she had calmed down a bit, or at least enough for me not to die from getting hugged. But it did make me think back to before I came here, before I knew how a parent show love to a child. I more then ever come to realise that I know nothing of love, or how to show it to another. That I in way a way in empty inside, not that I don't know how to show a smile when I'm happy or things like that. No, I say that, I'm empty based on the fact that I have come to realise that I do not feel love, in the sense of the word. Does it come from mistrust, I have yet to figure out.

For now father have the horses in the stable at the inn, for free as mother is the only ‘doctor’ around these parts they wanted no payment from us, not that I'm complaining about it, but father seemed to find it a tad insulting for some reason unknown to me.

Lark and Ellette has been taken in under my mother's loving care, I have yet to try and talk to them as mother seems to be very much so against slavery. Both of them have gotten new clothing, real dresses, I recognize the dress that Lark is wearing but not the one Ellette is in, well I guess that it is better than them running around in old man clothing. Guess between all the hugging she had time to ask one of the neighbours about a old dress. By the smell of them they seems to have been given a bath with some of mother's strong flowers, like modern times perfumes.

The first daylight all too soon goes away and dinner is served by mother and Lark, a boar back and to my great joy there is also bread with butter, I almost let a tear fall at the sight of real newly baked bread. We are all sat at the table to eat, much to my displeasure both Lark and Ellette is there as well, all thanks to mother and fathers ‘don't treat them any different than you would us’. They seem to have misunderstood something, I will never treat two whores as I treat my family, not even for a fucking second, but for the sake of peace between us all I say nothing both the two slaves sitting at our table and eating food prepared by mother.

The second day passes with me getting the horses ready for old Baul to come look at them all morning, by midday they are some very shiny horses, still smells like horses do but nothing to do about that fact. Their hooves are coated in oil to give them the illusion of grandness, they are groomed to, - if I must say so myself, perfection. The saddles have been treated in fat, like any leather product, they are now almost looking brand new.

The old trader arrives just an half hour after I have finished treating the last saddle to its new look. Father is with me for the trade, but is staying in the background. The guards are more this time and not any of the guys from over a year ago. Baul greets father with a handshake and some pretty words, father is the first to speak after the greeting.

“Baul, are you still into the horse business?”

The old man's eyes almost shiny at those words, yep still looks to be a greedy fucker.

“Of Course I'm, if you are looking for a fine horse I got a few good ones.”

Father smiles at this, he then turns towards me and weaves me over.

“You still buying them as well.”

Baul is look at me for a short while before he smiles down at me, the smile that says ‘Oh, so you want to sell it now, huh’, I as the gentleman I'm smile back.

“Oh I see you are back, kid. Did you have a good time?”

“Yes, I learned a lot. If you are still looking to buy a horse, I have one that I'm looking to sell off.”

We both stand there smiling at each other for a few seconds before he answers.

“I'm always look to acquire good horses.”

“I'm glad to hear that, shall we.”

I give a weave towards the inns stable.

“Yes, lets.”

We walk into the inns stable, where my mornings hard work is standing looking like a million. Looking behind me, I see the face the old man is making while looking at all the horses lined up.

“As you can see, I have come across a few horses on my trip home.”

His mouth is opening and closing a few time before he manage to answer me and even then the answer is weak.

“Yes, I can see that.”

I wait for him to take the horses in, before talking to him again.

“I have all of them up for sale, if any of them catch your eye.”

He is still looking at them, time to push him a bit.

“I mean, it would be a shame to let them all end up on the dinner table.”

At this father raise an eyebrow, while grinning at me, from behind Baul. That wakes him up, in a loud voice he almost yell at me.

“Dinner table! Are you out of your mind, kid!”

I smile at him.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“They are fine, no perfect horses! They are not for eating!”

I'm really about to piss my pants just holding my laughter in.

“Ah, but I'm afraid that a family like mine can't afford to keep them, that why we hope to sell them off, so that they won't have to end up as dinner.”

“I will buy them all!”

Ha, got you old man.

“Ah! I'm so glad! Let's talk prizes.”

Father has been called to his workshop by two hunters, so that leaves me alone with the old man.

“I will give you fifty gold for each horse and two gold for the each saddle.”

I give him a long hard stare.

“I seem to recall a time where you, yourself told me that a fine horse can easily go for seventy gold and a saddle can cost as much as ten gold prices…”

He stare wide eyed at me for a minute or two before his head turns a dark red color, high blood pressure much?

“That was over a year ago, kid. The prizes have changed since then, with the bandit attacks increasing, the roads have become unsafe to travel.”

“And you have hired more guards to keep your goods safe, I saw.”

“Yes, what do that have to do with anything?”

“So, the ‘unsafe’ factor that you talk about and claim to be lowering the prices of the horses, does not count for you, in the same way it would a normal traveling man.”

At this point he is glaring at me, well too bad for him, that I'm not some stupid blue eyed kid, that know nothing of supply and demand.

“Don't insult me, kid. I did business before you were even born.”

Kindergarten much?

“If that is true, then you of all should understand the value of a good horse in time of uncertainty.”

“Your point in all this?”

“Pay me the coin they are worth.”

After a few more insults on his part, the amount pair horse was set to sixty-five gold and each saddle to five gold, a good seven hundred gold in all. The weapons, - the four daggers, the spears and swords and the four bows, were sold to the village guards for a sad amount of fifty silver. Father said that it was a far amount see as I had gotten them for ‘free’, I strongly disagree with that. Mother on the other hand was a bit more on the logic side of things, making a point that all the weapons would help defend the village so the price was fine, I still can't see how fifty silver is fine for that many weapons but I kept my mouth shut since they saw the price as completely fair. On the other hand, I did keep the one hundred arrows and the iron shoulder plate for my own use, given that I still have to grow a bit for the shoulder plate to be of any real use. The silver ring I held unto as well. The book, I gave to mother who in return gave me a bone crushing hug and one of those ‘Aww, my boy is so cute.’ looks, that gave me the chills.

The day went by as I returned to my room to stash my hard earned money, in the floorboard under my bed. All in all it was a good amount getting stuffed down into the little room that as of now getting filled up. Seven platinum coins worth one hundred gold each, two gold coins and a pouch stuffed to the brim with one hundred and sixty-three silver coins. Not that I'm forgetting my hard earned sixty-seven copper coins, all of them had been placed into another small pouch.

As I sat in my room, with the old map of the Aspred Isle out, planning how I would get to The Lost Isle, a knock sounded on my door. I waited to hear my mother's voice but instead Lark's voice sounded from the other side.

“Master, dinner is served.”

I turned to look out my window and saw that the sun indeed was on its way down, that late huh?

“I will eat later.”

“Understood, master.”

I listened for her steps as they got weaker and weaker down the stairs, then returned to look at the map in front of me once more. A knock sounded again, this time followed by mother's voice.

“Sweetie is something the matter?”

I looked up and out the window again, not much time had passed if some at all.

“Nothing is wrong, mother.”

“Then why not come down and get some dinner?”

If I were to say that I would rather eat alone that with the slaves at our table, a fight would have broken out and my timeplan would be ruined.

“I'm in the middle of some studying, mother. I will come down and grab something later, okay?”

“Okay, sweetie. Your father and I are leaving to the village meeting in the morning, so we might not be there when you wake up.”

“I see, have a good meeting, mother.”

“Thank you, be sure to get something to eat before you go to bed, okay?”

“I will, mother.”

I was awoken by the sound of knocking on my door… Is this some new thing I have to get used to? If so I'm not loving it. I finally get a good's night sleep only to be awoken by someone.

“Who is it?”

“It is Lark, master.”

“Has mother and father left for the meeting?”

“Yes, master.”

“Is there a reason that you are waking me up?”

“Ma'am, told me not to let you sleep too long.”

Ah, mother you fucking bitch.

“Get in here.”

The door slowly open and Lark steps into my room, she walks over to the bed and gets on her knees while looking down on her hands that are resting in her lap, at least she has manners. If I had the body for it, I would so do her, nothing like a good fuck in the morning, but that will have to wait a few more years.

“Tell me, who is your master?”

“You, master.”

“Hmm, so how come you follow my mother's ordre.”

At this point I'm awake so I see no point in staying in bed, getting up I walk to my closet and get some clothing. Her eyes look up as I stand up but she quickly look back down again, when she sees me all naked. Weird to her I should just be a kid, seeing as I'm not of age yet, oh well.

“How do I create the papers used to state ownership of you?”

At my question she spins around and almost throws herself in front of me, her head landing on my still bare feet, at this point all I have on it underwear and pants.

“F-Forgive me, master!”

Her body is shaking.

“Shall I take that as you don't know or that you won't tell me?”

I feel her soft lips on the top of my foot.

“I-I'm s-sorry if I o-offent you, master.”

Her lips press down on my foot between her words, the feeling of her lips on my bare skin have giving me another problem… Yeah, I have a hard on, not that I'm into feet kissing or anything like that, it's purely hormones playing their part here. That and her begging, is what has giving me a boner and let's not forget the fact that it is morning, let's just pretend that it's not there for now.

“Do you know how to create the paper?”

A kiss is all I get as an answer, her body still shaking, is she trying to test me, if so she picked a back time to do so, I'm not a morning person.

“Answer me, slave.”

A small moment of silence passes before she speaks.

“I-I do, m-master.”

“Well, do speak.”

Her head still hovering over my foot, she finally begin to talk.

“The slave brand is drawn on a paper with the slaves blood.”

She take a deep breath as she finishes answering me. Huh, well that's simple but it confirms my thoughts on the way the slave brand works, that the true brand is the one on the slave. That the paper is a merely a easy way of stating ownership over the slave.

I walk over the my desk and take out a paper, the warmth of her lips leaving my foot.

“Go get, Ellette.”

She get up on shaky legs and move to the door, where she stops for a few moments.

“Get moving.”

A weak nod and she leaves. A few minutes tick by before she returns with Ellette behind her, I sit on the chair waiting for them with a dagger and a piece of paper.

“Come here, Ellette.”

She slowly moves towards me but stops the moment she see the dagger on the desk, her eyes begin to grow teary and she slowly backs up. I release a sigh, annoying brat.

“Get over here now!”

As my voice grows in volume she stops in her tracks.

“I will not say it again.”

She slowly begin to move towards me again, as soon as she is within range, I grab hold of her wrist. With nowhere to run, she begins to shake.

“Be still, I need a new paper made, the soon you cooperate with me, the soon you can get away from the knife.”

At this she slowly nod her head, good time to get it done. A small poke in her finger and a square with a line in the middle later and she is almost running out the door. I let her leave, I'm having a bigger problem than a slave running of scared of a knife. Yeah, I still have a hard on… Which at this point is starting to hurt a bit.

I walk over the my bed and get into a good spot… Wait a moment, look over at the door, Lark is still standing there and look at me.

“You can leave.”

I loosen my belt and… The fuck…

“I said leave.”

Instead of doing as she is told, she moves into my room and closes the door behind her. She walks over and kneel in front of me and slowly raise her hands to my belt, I look down at her as she works to loosen the pants.

“What a needy slave you are, going around touching your master like this.”

I grab her hair and pull her head near my hard on.

“Let's see, if you can be of any use, shall we?”

“Yes, master.”

She lowers her head over my hard on and let her mouth swallow me whole. Ah, I almost come there and then, I can feel the back of her mouth as her tongue licks the length of me. I manage to hold on a full three minutes before I press her head closer and fill her mouth with my cum. Her head still pressed down onto me, I take a few breaths getting my breathing under control again.

“Clean up your mess.”

She starts to suck and lick me clean, swallowing my sperm. I pull my pants up and redo my belt, Lark is still on her knees in front of me. Her breathing is a bit quicker than normal and her face hold a weak shade of red, but other than that you can't see she just sucked someone off, I'm impressed. She is the first to speak up.

“Was I of use, master?”

Oh, is this all about not being sold of?

“Yes, now go get me something to eat.”

She stand and leave my room as if nothing happened, whore.

The day passes and soon nightfall arrive, tomorrow is the last day here. I fold the two new slave papers and put them on my disk. Reaching for the omelet egg.

[Blood Magic] detected, would you like to infuse [Blood Magic] treat into the egg?

What does the blood magic treat do?

[Blood Magic] treat turns [Forest Queen Egg] into [Blood Queen Egg], would you like to infuse [Blood Magic] into [Forest Queen Egg]?

Oh, a blood queen sound very interesting indeed, infuse.

Infusing [Blood Magic] into [Forest Queen Egg], this will result in a [Blood Queen Egg], time until infuse is done:72:00:00:59

Seventy-two hours, not bad at all.

As the sun rose in the sky, my backpack was filled with everything I might need or it was strapped onto it. A hand axe, a mining pickaxe, my two bone swords and a rolled up bundle of fifty arrows, the bow over my swords. I felt ready to take on the world, or in this case the four day journey to reach the coastline from where I would have to cross over to The Lost Isle.

The evening before, I had managed to talk to both Lark and Ellette, giving them strict orders to protect both mother and father with their lives in case of any attacks happening while I was away. The omelet egg was secured in the top of my backpack with a few pieces of clothing as a form of protection against any random bumps that might come on the way.

I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, there I found mother at the dinner table eating breakfast not with father but together with Ellette, much to my displeasure. I was then greeted by a bright smile from mother, that fell as soon as her eyes took in the packed bag on my shoulder.

“Good morning swe-, are you leaving?”

“Good morning to you too, mother. Yes, I'm leaving after I have had some breakfast.”

Her eye became moist and a look of longing showed in them.

“I see… Where will you go this time, if you don't mind me asking?”

“I was thinking of heading for the old house and then up into the mountains from there.”

There is no need to tell her that I plan to stay on a deserted island for a year's time, just to test my stills.

“Ah, do be safe.”

I feel a smile form as I speak.

“I will mother, I will, so worry not.”

But I know now that the ones that loves you will always worry if you like it or not. Mother gives me a short smile, before turning her attention to her food again. We eat in silence before she walks me to the front door, something is missing… Ah.

“Mother, where is father?”

She looks at me with a sad smile.

“He was called to work with the other weapon craftsmen at Lord Jalim's request.”

“A nobleman?”

A short look of shock covers her face before she shakes her head slowly.

“Ah, no child. He is the Lord of the Isles, Lord Teador Jalim, High Guard of the Isles.”

Another fancy title for another useless person, it seems.

“Ah, I see and Lark?”

“She went with him to help out, you know how bad of a cook that he is.”

She let out a low chuckle at that. I give her a smile, now the question remains should I worry about it or not? While mother seems sad that he is called to serve the man, she seems calm about it, for now I will leave it be.A short but teary farewell is said between us and I take my first steps about on my first really solo adventure.