For the second time that week alone, I woke up sticky, and with two women using me as a body pillow. Unfortunately for them, however, this time I didn’t feel the need to leave them to sleep, instead opting to just get out of bed the normal way.

I freed myself from under Hazeel’s toned thigh, and pushed her slightly so that her breasts were no longer encasing my right arm. I sighed at the sight of her. She had asked to be kept bound throughout the night, and after Dantae intervened, I reluctantly agreed.

Drool had pooled on the pillow that she used that night, her mouth still being held open by the gag. Her arms were still bound behind her, accentuating her chest.

I tore my eyes away from the wood elf, and, following that, I peeled Vanessa’s cheek from my skin, and gently lifted her hand off of my genitals.

“Mmh? Leo?” Vanessa got up lazily, her body shaking as she stretched and yawned. “Is it morning already?”

I nodded, and directed her gaze to the sleeping Hazeel. “I’m going to freshen up. You can take care of her, right? It was your idea, after all.

Vanessa grinned and gave me a nod, and chose to wake up the elf by violently grabbing her breasts. Hazeel squealed and sat up with a start, but her eyes gained a playful glint in them as she spotted Vanessa.

Dantae removed the gag, and took the arm restraints off of Hazeel, who groaned and stretched at the feeling of freedom.

“So, what did you think?” I heard Dantae ask as I started to run the water to clean my face. After that, I got some toothpaste and started to brush my teeth, as my mouth was in need of an urgent cleaning.

“Hmm, it was… strangely comfortable?” Hazeel asked, and I nearly spit out the toothpaste I had been using.

“Oh?” I could almost hear the smile in Dantae’s voice. “What exactly do you mean by that, our masochistic little elf?”

Hazeel laughed deeply, and Vanessa screeched, “Let go! You’re still wet and smell disgusting!”

I started drawing hot water, deciding that the way things were headed, the three of us would all probably end up taking a bath together.

“I mean, it’s strangely comfortable in a way that it shouldn’t be. I was always very flexible, so having my arms put in that position doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Not to mention, the fact that I didn’t have to purposefully keep them there because of the binder was another bonus. Granted, my jaw is a bit sore from being held open for so long, but that’s getting off track.”

The two wandered into the bathroom, and I had to physically will my eyes not to go below their shoulders, lest we get sidetracked from what we should be doing that morning.

However, Hazeel had no such qualms as her gaze rolled over me, appraising me like she would a fine piece of meat. “Good morning, Leo. I’m sure we can have some fun later, right?”

“Have you forgotten that we’re leaving today? So, no, we can’t have fun. Not anytime soon, at least. We still need to load up the carriage and retrieve Biscuit from the town’s stables.

The wood elf pouted, but said nothing more as she began to brush her teeth alongside Vanessa.

---

“It seems like you’ve properly received the letter then?” We met Kokoro in front of her sister’s bakery, and she handed each of us a bag of bread.

As nice as the free food had been, and what a great gesture of trust it was, we’d been eating the stuff nonstop since we arrived.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Leresa gave the matronly woman a stiff salute. Kokoro chuckled, and patted Leresa on the shoulder.

“Stop that, dear. You and I both know that stiff salutes have no place in this village.” Leresa seemed as though she wanted to object, but a quick glance to Rexir to gauge his opinion quieted her down.

“Rexir wanted to thank you for hosting us, for feeding us for free, and for taking care of our horse and carriage while we waited.” Leresa and Rexir bowed, and Hazeel, Dantae and I did the same.

“Oh please dears, raise your heads.” Kokoro smiled at us, and gestured farther down the road. “Why don’t we go over to the stables?”

The six of us started to walk, and I noticed Rexir looking around at the village itself. His eyes passed over the adults, many of whom were going about their daily lives.

Of course, there were quite a few who turned their heads to gaze at us, but most of them turned around and resumed what they were doing.

However, a few of the villagers eyed Hazeel warily. A quick turn of my head to face them had the men avoiding their gazes, but I caught what was in their eyes: lust.

Hazeel either didn’t notice, or didn’t particularly mind the mens’ vulgarity, as she continued walking as if they didn’t even exist.

I smiled, and not for the first time did I find myself thinking about what an amazing woman Hazeel was.

“Now that we’re in a safer location, what would you like to share with me?” Kokoro’s comment caught me off guard, so I looked at Rexir and Lucina to see if they knew what she was talking about.

Leresa shook her head, but Rexir let slip a small smile. “He didn’t tell you? Oh, well I supposed he couldn’t openly, what with his condition and all. It must be so hard on you, Leresa, to have to deal with that.”

The Silver Princess fumbled around for words, but couldn’t seem to find footing in her conversation with Kokoro. “Oh, don’t worry yourself about it dear. Rexir used to touch his nose with his ring finger whenever he had something he wanted to tell me in private.”

Rexir nodded in confirmation, causing Kokoro to smile. The former princeling pointed to Leresa, who took over the conversation from there. “Rexir wanted to tell you about the contents of the letter, and what exactly we have to do. We did inform you that we were required to leave, but Rexir decided that you deserve more of the picture than that, for all the years that you’ve taken care of him.”

“Thanks honey. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m glad you trust me to such an extent.” The three of them walked behind the stable, while Dantae, Hazeel and I ventured inside to check on the condition of Biscuit, and our caravan.

“Biscuit!” Hazeel ran up to the horse and hugged his snout. “I missed you boy!” The horse responded with a small cry and rubbed its face against her’s.

“Can you please explain the horse, Leo? I didn’t get their relationship back when I had amnesia, and I still don’t get it now that I’ve recovered my memories.”

“Well, Biscuit here was Jane’s old warhorse.” When Vanessa tilted her head with a look that simply screamed, ‘who is Jane,’ I was quick to keep the conversation on track.

“I promise I’ll fill you in on everything again when we get on the road. We’ll have plenty of time out there, after all.”

Vanessa didn’t look pleased, but remained silent, allowing me to continue. “Like I was saying, Biscuit is Jane’s old war horse. Jane is a close friend of Hazeel, and they even fought in a war together against the empire we are currently in.”

I paused to see if Dantae had any questions, but she simply stood and waited for me, occasionally looking over to see Hazeel’s shared affections with the horse. “Hazeel apparently treated all the animals under the Azure Kingdom’s control as her pets, and her unique traits as a wood elf grant her brownie points with animals.”

Vanessa nodded, and said, “I see.” She moved over towards Hazeel and Biscuit, and hesitantly reached out a hand to touch the horse.

Biscuit recoiled from her, and Dantae’s shoulders slumped. “You can’t just approach him out of nowhere.” Hazeel explained, grabbing Vanessa’s hand and placing some feed in it.

“You have to communicate to him that you’re a friend, and not a threat. Do you understand?” Vanessa nodded, and slowly but surely worked her way towards biscuit.

Biscuit had his eyes locked onto her, and slowly accepted the offering from Vanessa’s hands. She looked excited, and reached a hand up to stroke Biscuit.

However, Biscuit was having none of it, and he quickly turned his head away from Dantae and back into Hazeel’s shoulder.

I couldn’t help but to chuckle at Vanessa’s crushed expression, and even Hazeel giggled a bit. “Don’t worry about it. He doesn’t hate you, trust just takes time to build. Of course he won’t take a shine to anyone in just one day.”

Vanessa sighed in exasperated defeat, and continued to watch Biscuit as he ate out of Hazeel’s hands.

I stopped watching them, and decided to look around and make sure everything in the caravan was still good to go. I made sure all our cargo was present, and even threw in the sack of bread we had just received.

I climbed in and started taking inventory when something caught my senses that gave me pause. What was it? I searched the interior, but found nothing to be out of place, or even changed slightly from when I left it here.

I got low to the bed of the carriage and put my ear against it, when I realized what had bothered me: the caravan smelled off. I got out immediately and told Hazeel and Dantae not to touch the caravan, before returning to my inspection of it.

I looked under the carriage, and I was disappointed to find what looked to be a crude bomb attached to the underside.

“I wouldn’t go about touching that, unless you all want to die.” A high pitched voice came from the stable’s entrance, and I looked up to see the group of men from the village earlier.

One of them, a man who was bald with a beard, and had very little in the way of actual muscle stepped forward. “Now, hand over the elf slave for a night, and none of you have to die.”

He spoke in the same squeaky tone I had heard earlier, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Hazeel, however, had no such qualms, and openly laughed at the man’s expense.

His face grew red and he shouted, “Shut up you filthy whore! The entire village must have heard your lovemaking with your master for the past week! The only women around here are either old or married already.”

He turned to me, a smug smile making its way onto his face. “Just think of this as tax for your stay, young noble, and we won’t have to hurt you.”

This time, I did laugh. It seemed so ridiculous that I had even considered them a threat in the first place. Leo, may I? I may not mind under the right time and place, but I will not stand to be called a whore by a man who seems like he spends every morning sucking from his mother’s breasts.

I widened my eyes at the sheer anger radiating from Hazeel’s words. I sighed before transporting the crude bomb into a nearby river to make sure we weren’t in any immediate danger before giving the thumbs’ up to Hazeel. “Sure, go wild, but no deaths. We do owe Kokoro for taking us in, after all.”

The men seemed dumbfounded, but that only lasted until Hazeel cracked her knuckles in rapid succession and punched the leader of the men. A sickening crunch came from his nose as her fist impacted the bone, and sent him sprawling to the ground.

She looked up from her first victim, and stood up fully, standing taller than them all. “So, which one of you wants their turn next?”