CH 43: To Cyprus

The party awoke with the morning sun. Lily and Ana were spooning in the other bed while the trio awoke in a puddle of limbs. The trio groggily got up and prepared to set out. Thankfully, Lily and Ana had a good night’s rest, so they were able to get all their belongings back in the carriage. They also handled the checkout as Claire carried a tired Elsie onto the carriage. Jasmine immediately pulled out the blankets and padding before promptly falling asleep. Elsie soon joined her as Claire reentered to help Lily with their luggage.

“Ah, this must be your party.” A voice called out. Both Lily and Claire turned to see Alice. “I’m Alice. I was the guitarist for last night’s entertainment.” She said, holding out her hand.

“Claire, it’s nice to meet you. Give my compliments to the singer. He had an angelic voice.” Claire responded. Shaking the woman’s hand.

“So you’re Claire…” Alice said before pausing to look her up and down. Claire took in her appearance as she was very similar to the singer. She couldn’t believe it when Lily had told her that she was in her 40s. She found herself ogling the woman’s curves as she spoke up again. “You have a lot on your shoulders, it seems… good luck.”

“Yeah. It’s not all bad.” Claire responded before she caught a glimpse of the singer. He looked dead tired, and his face looked much paler than last night. Her mind stopped for a moment. He was still wearing his enticing attire from last night. Her eyes admired his dancer’s physique before she snapped out of it. “I could… say the same for you. Good luck, and I’ll be praying for both of your safeties.”

“Thank you, we’ll be praying for you as well. Here,” Alice said before holding her hand out again. She handed Claire an insignia with a Gryphon on it. “This is my Lady’s seal. If you need help, then use the incantation.” She pointed to the ring around the seal with magic words carved in.

“Thank you,” Claire said, admiring the craftsmanship. She’d have to talk to Elizabeth about who this insignia belonged to.

“You're welcome. Just… help Jasmine. She needs it.” Alice said with a more serious face. Claire nodded to her.

“I’m doing my best…” Alice nodded back, letting silence fall over them. Claire spoke up again, wanting to get going. “I wish we could stick around and properly meet, but we have to get going. Say goodbye to Toni for me.” Claire said before bowing to her.

Claire waved to Toni as he approached, but she feared how his blessing would affect her. Both Claire and Lily quickly exited the inn after one last goodbye. Lily joined Ana in the driver’s seat as Claire felt her fatigue from last night take over. She joined her lovers in the pseudo-bed in the back.

The duo drove the carriage for the entire day, opting to let their party members rest. They had the map ready for their first destination and exited the city with no issue. They passed the time by having Lily teach Ana about her craft. Ana was always eager to learn new things, and Lily found joy in teaching her about herbs and ingredients. Thankfully, the roads to Cyprus village were extremely safe, so they didn’t have to worry about attacks.

The trio stirred later in the afternoon. They began to find their own ways to pass the time. Elsie had stolen a few of Claire’s books and was reading her old favorite first, much to her annoyance. She even lay with the “Knight’s Oath” book cover facing Claire just because she could. Jasmine was taking stock of her tonics and poisons, making sure known had been damaged or misplaced. Before sharpening her blades and arrows.

Claire was using the knife Jasmine gave her to learn whittling. It may not be the smartest thing to do on a moving carriage, but she figured if she got hurt, Ana could heal her. She was starting with just simple spear-like sticks. Sharpening them into a point to get a rhythm and technique down. Even with the occasional bump or stop, she was making solid progress. It also felt nice to finally use her lover’s gift.

All five found ways to pass the time while they traveled in the carriage. Their first request was the simplest of the batch and the easiest to complete. A pack of giant rats was terrorizing a village’s food supply and making it hard to prepare for winter. These 4-foot-high monsters weren’t the strongest, but in packs of 10 to 20, they could easily overwhelm people. With their destination a week’s drive away, the five used a lot of their time to prepare.

They went over training and tactics while traveling, and had mock runs of combat before nightfall. Jasmine had packed a book full of information on common and even rare monsters for the three girls to look at. It was interesting to read about powerful monsters like manticores, wyrms, and even hydras, but the lower-level monsters usually boiled down to: harmless by themselves, but dangerous in a group. It still provided useful information on weak points and even habits of the monsters. The giant rats were outlined as somewhat intelligent but physically weak.

At night, though, they passed the time the best way they knew how. They made sure not to go overboard with it and exhaust themselves for the next day. But that didn’t stop them from satisfying their lust and even exploring new avenues of pleasure before the watch started. Claire took note of her lover’s discoveries and even started writing them down. It helped to keep track of and maximize their pleasure.

She noted that Lily had a tendency to be more passive and preferred to help others reach their climax. Elsie very much enjoyed multiple partners attending to her needs. Ana had the most to discover, though. She liked to pleasure her sister quite a bit and be on the receiving end, but it also seemed like pain enhanced her pleasure. Claire had some guilt when she knowingly hurt Ana, but the way she moaned eased quite a bit of it. Jasmine was the easiest as she could go a full session with just orally pleasing her lovers, not even needing to get off herself.

Claire had to thank the Carpenter’s for their design of the carriage when they got back. It was incredibly spacious with storage underneath and on the sides of the cabin. It had a floor large enough to fit bedding and all five women comfortably, even with Lily’s travel workbench. It made for an excellent sleeping spot and saved the party loads of time. They didn’t have to set up tents or worry about the weather. Lily even discovered how to collapse the seats on the sides to make more room for their nightly activities. They had truly thought of everything.

Thus, the Scarlet Seraphs repeated this daily cycle as they made their way to Cyprus village. Thankfully, no threats appeared, even given the time of year. So they didn’t run into any major road bumps or monsters that they had to worry about. Watch was established and taken far more seriously than last time, and all sexual activities were prohibited once the first watch began.

Drivers rotated in pairs to keep each other company. Each day passed faster than the last as the new adventurers looked forward to the first quest on their journey. Claire could feel her anticipation build with each passing hour. She was itching to use her skills and gain more levels. She looked forward to how her kit would change with levels and finally having the power to change things.

Elsie was somewhat hesitant, however. She was looking forward to stacking her Bestowed abilities with Lily’s potions. However, she was nervous to fight. She was confident in her abilities, but needed time to get used to Claire’s rhythm. They had trained back home, and any extra time they had while traveling was spent going through the motions of combat. But she still felt hesitant. She had been going through hypotheticals with Claire before she fell asleep.

Claire was driving with Elsie lying on her lap when she spotted them on the horizon. Roofs pierced the canopy of trees as houses could be seen, more similar to Restol than Clance, but it made her heart jump with anticipation. She looked at the map and double-checked the lines they marked to track their journey. She felt giddy as she knocked on the window to signal their arrival. A smile was plastered on her face as she thought about finally getting to fight monsters. Elsie roused to see the village.

“Huh? Oh, is that Cyprus?” Elsie asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“Looks like it. Finally, we’ll be able to fight.” Claire said, excitement evident in her voice. Elsie smiled at her before she took a deep breath. A pit formed in her stomach as her nerves spiked. She hoped that their training would yield results, and she wouldn’t harm her lover.

“Yeah… I just hope we fixed our issues with training. I couldn’t imagine messing up in actual combat…” Elsie said before looking down.

Claire grabbed her chin and lifted her head to face her. She locked eyes with Elsie before whispering. “None of that. Nervousness doesn’t suit you.” Elsie trembled in her grasp as she felt her face burn. “I know you’ll succeed. I trust you with my life.”

Elsie, for the first time in a long time, was lost for words. Claire so effortlessly shut the girl up with her little gesture. Her face was beet red as she stared into her green eyes. She didn’t even register Jasmine’s laugh coming from the window. All she could think about was how similar it was to a scene in the book she’d been reading.

“Finally got her to shut up. I’m impressed.” Jasmine said from the window. Claire turned to face the assassin.

“I had to. I hate it when any of you talk badly about yourselves.” Claire responded, her hand leaving Elsie’s chin. Elsie moved to chase her hand before snapping out of it.

“Oh Goddess of Virility, please smite Jasmine. She always finds a way to steal Claire’s attention from me.” Elsie said, clasping her hands together in a mock prayer. This elicited a laugh from Jasmine as she pulled herself into the driver's seat. It was big enough to fit all three, but it was kind of cramped. Jasmine sat on the other side of Elsie and pushed her closer to Claire.

Claire capitalized on the cramp seat by pulling Elsie under her arm. It made up for the interruption somewhat, but she was still annoyed. Jasmine looked to the village as it got closer and closer.

“So it begins.”