Chapter 7 First failures

Irje

She was stuck in the honey.

Irje sighed, willing her hand to stop its movement down. Where did I go wrong?

She thought about that day when it all started. How she griped, in the confines of her mind, at Sulla for buying two murk girls. Irje had seen plenty of them in her life. Most did not last a single year, usually until the masters went into the heat. How she promised herself to take better care of them. To, at least, make their current time less challenging.

Curse her bleeding heart.

She thought about her first real talk with Erf. How she thought ‘she’ was trying to end ‘her’ life, and saw the artisan’s anger at a shoddy work instead. How she jumped at the opportunity, eager to divulge the secrets for herself.

Curse her greedy eyes.

Erf.Erf was a mystery. What was initially a scrawny child, with a quick wash and a few meals, turned into a beautiful youth. Juvenile face crowned with intelligence and tempered by wisdom, unseen in those who haven’t lived for half a century at least.Erf was weird. What others coveted, he gave. He gave and gave without asking back, content with a pittance. He gave her knowledge of the artisans, which could turn her life anew as well, without her ask, or beg, or threat. He gave and gave, and she just took. But Irje wanted more, intrigued why a Scrooge would buy a male for pleasure.

Curse her nosey curiosity.

She wasn’t a child for quite some time herself. She followed Domina when Manor Matriarch gave her the permission to establish a branch house, a great honour. She had seen and had had plenty of sex over the years. And thought herself knowledgeable in it. Sex was all about pleasure. One to give and one to take.

She'd had plenty of partners herself. Girls would be more knowledgeable, but many weren’t willing to give, just trying to take themselves. Guys were easier to encourage, but many would have no idea how to please her or quit halfway. While those who did know would develop weird ideas about their status, or outright try to use her.

So she set her eyes on those younger. They were full of stamina, oh so willing to please. And naive enough so that she didn’t have to worry about them plotting something behind her back.

And there he stood in front of her, ogling her assets, eyes big like a fawn in front of a hunter. Ready for slaughter. She went in of course. Hoping, wishing that he would give with the same generosity as he did before. He did. Erf gave her what her body wanted. The only problem was that she didn’t even know the boundaries of her need before.

He crossed them, and then he promised more. Next night.

Why would she refuse? How would she refuse?

Curse the fire of her loins.

She hasn’t been so randy ever in her life. Not even during the yearly heat all wer went through. She didn't understand half of the words he said about the ‘psychology’ of anticipation. But, whatever it was, it was working. She had spent half of the day coming up with various excuses to run away, and the other half fantasizing about the evening.

How she felt envious seeing Erf and Yeva working together, talking quietly. She barged in, of course, unwilling to lose to her. Sex was nice but she would not give up their daily conversations. Erf didn’t notice but Yeva pulled back a bit from that. That wasn’t her intention. Irje promised to make up for that with her later.

And then there was the night. Irje smiled pensively, her hands exploring: Yeva was busy right now, Erf was gone in the city, and she couldn't feel any other Sparks around her. She could remember how the night started, but not how it ended. The night turned into a dream, and a dream turned into a blissful morning. And trying to remember in detail only made her body yearn for more instead.

With a sad smile on her face, she looked back on her past self. It started like every other interaction with Erf: she would come over him thinking herself in charge but, instead of a door to bash, her fist would hit a waterfall. The water that was Erf would bend, wrap around her, and then overwhelm her with his presence, with his gifts, leaving her defeated yet wanting more.

Irje realized how far gone she was on the next night. She told him that she wanted to take it easy the night after and recover, and Erf, the prick that he was, simply accepted! She lay there in disbelief, watching him snooze. Her hands hard at work. But that wasn’t enough. She crawled over to him then, her face burning in her shameful acceptance. Not to ride him for another release, but to cuddle for a restful sleep.

She was seeking a delightful snack and she fell into a huge vat of honey. And she couldn’t stop eating as she sank deeper and deeper.

She was bound to him. When he finally took her he broke what Irje was. He broke her and then he built her anew. But, in doing so, he left his name within.

Her hands were all around her body now, mimicking his touch, trying to fill the void she felt between her legs, scratching the itch only he could scratch.

“Oh, Erf. What I am gonna do with you?”

XXX

I was in deep shit.

“Stop! You freak!”

A rock smashed into the ground nearby, making me stumble, but I kept running. I couldn’t afford to fall right now with one of my arms holding what was left of my ear together, trying to staunch the bleeding.

I jumped over a merchant’s cart as people shrieked nearby, twisting my path while I was hidden from sight.

The crowd parted too slowly for me, only giving a clear path to my pursuers, so I had to improvise.

If I wanted to stay alive that is.

“After him! Don’t let him get away!”

Running away from adults was hard. Trying to run away from wer was impossible. But somehow I managed to stay ahead and I wasn’t giving up early.

I pushed a gawker aside, giving myself a change in direction as I turned into a side street.

“That's a dead-end! Follow him!”

Fuck! I saw three walls around me, the only exit at my back. The asshole knew this place.

My foot crushed a box under it as I jumped high, slamming into the wall. My fingers dug deep into the clay gaining purchase. I pulled myself up and over the edge panting.

“Merk is on the roof!”

Groaning, I got up and kept running, gaining speed. Wheezing from exertion; lungs on fire. The roof was moderately empty giving me a straight path.

I could feel my new muscles coiling inside my legs as I ran toward the edge of the roof. On my last step, the condensed flesh released its stored energy launching me into the air, as I jumped from one roof to another.

Across the twenty-meter wide street.

I dropped myself into a roll as I crashed into some baskets on the other roof. My body screaming at me about splinters. My nose choked by the raised dust.

“Divine horns! How did… don’t lose sight of him!”

Once more I pulled myself together. The promise of future bodily harm or death was a great motivator. I limped over the roof looking for a way down. Up here I was visible from kilometres away and I didn’t have enough stamina left to continue running.

I dragged myself over the edge and dropped down like a sack of potatoes, ignoring the far cries from my pursuers. I got up in a small passage between the buildings leading to yet another street. My nanites flared up within my body, as my hair turned from sandy blond to Erf black, my leftover ear turned human once more.

Walking out into the street I tried to pick up my pace, but my body was fighting me with every step, not used to the extreme stress I put it through.

Half-running, half-limping I moved away looking for a nice turn or a nook, somewhere where I could break from sight long enough. Fearful of yet another cul-de-sac.

I could hear the cries growing closer as I found a twisty little passage leading to some other crowded space, very clearly marked by some merchant or a rich guy standing beside it and reading a book. And wearing the most dazzling red dress I’ve seen a guy wear.

Standing out from the grime of the street like a sore thumb. Or a quest giver in a game.

I had no time to admire him nor his robes, so I limped past him with a single bow. Just enough to be ignored in return.

A street urchin, running from his pursuers squeezed through and sharply stopped.

I could hear the screams behind me and the loud murmur of the crowd in front of me.

The hungry Erf hunched himself and started walking, slowly. My eyes, glanced around, looking for a snack or some charity. My hands shook from malnutrition, cradling an old disfigurement.

My teeth sunk into my lips to stop me from wheezing, my tunic hid the rapid beat of my heart.

I walked into another alley looking for some scrap, or a dead rat.

And ‘accidentally’ fell into a basket, when no one was looking. And waited.

“Which dried up cunt did he fall into?” A voice yelled not that far away.

“The freak disappeared, I swear if not that rich pri- MMMmmmpf!”

“Shut yer trap!” Someone else hissed, “And next time watch who is standing in your way!”

“MMmmmmmM!”

“I said shut it! Did you see his tail? Or the horns? If you like where your head is attached to I suggest ye don’t swear on a wermage!”

I didn’t realize I had such an unlikely help.

“Shite. So how are we gonna catch the merk?” the voices were much quieter now.

“We don’t, you idiot. If he has that kind of help, I won’t get my hands dirty with him. Did he steal anything?”

“No, he was just walking around with his fake shit. Tryna to look like us.”

They spoke some more before leaving, but I didn’t listen to their bickering anymore. I heard all that I wanted to hear.

So, my attempt at impersonating a wer failed catastrophically. And the worst part of it was that I had no idea why. I’ve done all the precautions I could think of. I’ve spent extra time in the morning observing Irje’s ears, I’ve spent most of my time travelling across the city looking for similar wers with cougar ears. I’ve even found a male that had identical shape and colouration of ears as I spend my time memorizing available products on the market.

I took my time finding a good quiet spot to reveal myself. I actually thought myself overly paranoid to simply walk around with my new ears on display first, before outright claiming myself as one.

The first wer to properly glance at me simply freaked out, while the next tried to grab at me. I was extremely lucky he expected a normal speed, strength and response time from me, his magically enhanced fingers swiping past my neck and ripping my ear outright.

So now here I was, hiding. My hair and leftover ear turned normal, but I still needed time to fix my Van Gogh impersonation.

I pulled out a pouch, biding my time, with my hard-earned pittance of a few bronze cuts and rolled a single coin in my fingers. Emanai had a well-developed coinage with bronze assisting gold and silver to make the cheapest purchases. Although calling it coinage would be a stretch. Coins or as they were called “cuts” were the smallest denomination as they were literal cuts from a larger piece. Expensive purchases were done with metal ingots that usually held the shape of an equally priced item. Like a knife of a hide.

I pinched an edge of the coin and dragged my fingers along it. I got an awkward blade but with a nearly monomolecular edge to it. Coins were constantly in use, so it was no wonder that they had used the least reactive alloys they had available, giving me the best attempt at a surgical scalpel.

Luckily I didn’t need to do an extensive surgery. I only needed to clean any dirt and the tissue ripped beyond repair, and let the nanites heal the rest.

Hissing slightly from pain, I decided to stop bothering about wer issue. From now on any similar experimentation was strictly forbidden unless run across a known and friendly element first. Of cougar variety, for now. Especially since the rest of the day had been rather successful.

While I’ve managed to notice a decent amount of chemicals and mixtures, that I could potentially use, nothing really sprung to my mind so far, but the trip to the salt marshes near the seashore have proven to be extremely fruitful. The same pouch that stored my coins also had a succulent branch from a bush that I'd found.

With my other paths currently blocked off the only way I could progress for now was to impress the Domina. And If my current batch would somehow fail to impress her, a batch made out of these definitely will. And more.

It took me some time to heal my injury, and even more to get back on my feet.

After everything that happened today, I decided to cut my explorations short. My ear was quickly folding itself back into a proper shape as I left the trade districts behind me, returning to the fancier parts of the city. My plans on checking the quarries, as Irje recommended, cut short.

There were people out there keeping an eye out for someone similar to me, and I had no intentions of risking my skin twice in a day. Especially since my body had used up most of its resources by now.

By the time my weary legs dragged me back the sun was setting. It was kind of surreal but I felt a sense of relief as I walked through the slave areas of the manor, a snack in hand. That how it gets you. For a small price of your own self you get food, shelter, and the comfort of not worrying about another day. And protection from those who wish to do you harm.

And I, like Savage John, wanted none of it. Fortunately for me, my passion was tempered by pragmatism, I would use this system for as long as I needed to. I will scrape and bow until I didn’t have to. I will dance their tune until I could play my own.

And then they shall listen to the music of my soul.

I walked into Irje’s room as she was working on her clothes, making her turn her head. Recently she started wearing her old shift to bed instead, grumbling about being sick and tired from washing her day clothes all the time. It was still in good condition but she definitely grew out of it quite some time ago. It was still loose enough to be comfortable as sleepwear, but her butt had a fortunate tendency to pop out suggestively from time to time.

She opened her mouth to say something but, seeing my state, thought otherwise. I smiled sadly at her, It was nice to have someone, who understood my current state just from a glance alone. I was grateful for the silence between us, it allowed my mind to forget the rush of the day, to relax in the comfort of understanding. We looked at each other in silence, until I started to take off my tunic. My mind was still too agitated to ask questions now; a rest would do me good.

Unfortunately for me, Irje understood my actions differently. Or had plans of her own. As I was placing my tunic down I heard the rustle. I looked at her and, once again, froze. Irje, without looking away, bent down from her sitting position to stand on all fours. Her back facing me. Her legs slightly apart to give me an unobstructed view of her blond peach, which her small shift was unable to cover in such a seductive position.

She stood like this in silence, her body invitation clear, her head turned back so she could watch me. I didn’t know if she assumed that was my intention, was trying to distract me from my thoughts, making up for something, or simply seeking pleasure for herself. What I also didn’t, was care.

A beautiful girl was in front of me, crawling, her entire form in a quiet, begging, proposal. A perfect distraction for my mind, a willing companion for my tired body.

I walked up to her feeling her gaze on me. One of my hands slid her shift higher, exposing her bronze back, while the other cupped her mound, feeling the scorching heat within. Irje didn’t move or say a word as my hands went on exploring her body. As they slid across her stomach, fingers circling her navel. As they stroked and cupped her swaying breasts, her nipples pinched. She watched me quietly as I massaged her thighs and butt, although I could see her relaxing under my touch.

Irje’s biggest change of expression came later when my hands gripped her ass and my thumbs spread her pussy apart, revealing the pink inside. I could see her flush scarlet as she kept her eyes on me, her lower lip bitten.

Emboldened by her lack of response, I descended down on her, planting a deep kiss into her core. Irje finally squeaked as I sucked on her inner petals, making sure every crevasse was properly wet for what was coming. Pulling myself away as her legs begun to tremble.

I fished out my hardened dick, ready for action as I admired my work.

My hand slid over Irje’s back and pushed her gently but assertively to the ground. Her head now laid on the mattress, her breasts squished underneath, as her ass rose even higher, lining up perfectly with my shaft. In silence, I pulled her hands back to me and placed her palms on her buttocks, my intention obvious.

Irje, while still looking at me from her awkward position, whimpered slightly but obeyed. Her fingers mimicking mine just a few minutes ago. Spreading apart her lips for me to enter.

“Good girl,” My soft murmur made her shudder, which was intensified by my tip gently grazing at her folds. Aided by my hand, I let my shaft rub against her entrance as she moaned slightly, her hips trying my match my movements and impale herself on me. I heard her groan as my hand gripped her hip and stopped her movements, I felt her wetness as her opening leaked her juices all around my dick.

I felt her heat as I slammed deep inside of her.

Irje’s gasps were interrupted by our skin slapping against each other. My fingers dug deep into her butt as I tried to plunge myself as deep as possible. My other hand greedily exploring her body, as she braced herself against the mattress trying to push herself as deeply into me as she could.

We didn’t make love to each other. We fucked. Our actions, full of aggression and animalistic desire, let us vent our emotions through force. The stress of our daily lives released in the throes of passion.

I remember her grunt and moan my name as my hand pawed her breasts. As she shook and screamed in my kiss while my fingers rubbed her clit mercilessly, my shaft pumping in and out of her in abandon. As I groaned myself, filling her to the brim with my seed. As we lay together, bound in the afterglow, my dick still within her, keeping her full, and stopping any leakage.

Yeah, we definitely needed that.

“Irje,” I said as we lay together a few minutes later.

“Hmmm?” She was curled around me, her legs wrapped up against mine, enjoying the warmth of our bodies.

“Tell me about yourself.”

“There isn’t much to tell.” Her finger roamed my chest. “I was born into the Kiymetl manor, my mother a companion slave herself. I was lucky enough to grow up unnoticed in the large manor, but when I heard that Domina’s daughter was granted a new manor I saw my chance. I followed her knowing that there would be plenty of important positions to fill.” She turned to me grinning, “And I was right!”

I smiled back at her and ruffled her hair.

“What is more mysterious is you,” Irje continued, looking intently at me. “Where did you come from?”

“Would you believe if I said I grew up on a farm merely a week of travel away from the city?” Irje squinted her eyes at me for that. “But it is a truth. Just like your story, mine is devoid of anything important. The only difference between us was that I was sold to a merchant, apparently to recover some funds either the Domina or her family incurred.” It was harder to smile. “My mother and my uncle stayed behind, I wonder if they are alright.”

She patted me. “You could buy them out yourself soon. With all that knowledge you have but don’t talk about much.”

I took her hand in mine. “Thanks, I sure hope so, at least as soon as I earn the freedom myself. And my knowledge was just a lucky accident I believe. Just think about it as a wise man that taught me a few tricks. Tricks that, while immensely useful, have glaring holes within them.”

“What do you mean?” She asked curiously.

“Well you for example,” I said, making her blink. “What are wer? What is the difference between you and me?”

“You know I don’t think about you like that” Irje murmured, I could see her growing uncomfortable.

I stroked her chin affectionately. “I know, but I also know that there is something that I don’t understand, and even if you can see past that, others won’t. And I need to be ready for that.”

“It’s your Spark,” She murmured as she leaned into my hand. “They say you don’t have the magic inside of you. That’s why your bodies are so weak.” She glanced at me, trying to measure my reaction and slowly continued. “It is why they call you Wermurks, or Murks for short.”

‘Or merks in spite’ I thought to myself.

I planted a quick kiss on her as thanks for the candour. “What are Sparks?”

“You can’t sense them?” Irje’s surprise was obvious.

“Sense what? And where?”

“The Sparks are within us, all Wer can sense theirs and the others. That is why they call us Wersparks, for we are Sparks in human form. It is the magic that fuels us, that makes us who we are. You mean you can’t sense them at all? Even mine?” I could hear her disappointment about the last part.

Huh. That explained how they knew I wasn’t a wer.

“The only way I can distinguish wer is when they have a tail or cute ears.” I brushed my finger against her ears to prove my point, making her chuckle softly.

“But what about Yeva? She can sense me.”

“She can smell you.”

“Shut up! I wash regularly!”

“And her sense of smell is through the roof. The smell is how she tells us apart. She might not even know if you are wer or not, or I for that matter.” I scratched my chin. “Probably why she is so withdrawn, it’s much harder for her to gauge threat from others.”

We went on talking about the Sparks. Irje went to extreme lengths trying to explain what Sparks were to me and how they felt, but without any reference, it was all flying over my head. I didn’t let it bother me that much, compared to Irje’s growing frustration. I knew that no matter how much she tried it was like trying to explain sight through smell or smell through touch.

Since I never had that sense to begin with, and the nanites were equally unsure what it was, I felt nothing about the fact that I lost the magic lottery. In fact, I’ve spent more time trying to calm down Irje instead. What did the trick was me stating that her feelings about me weren’t affected by my lack of a Spark and similarly my emotions weren’t affected by my inability to sense hers.

What really was important wasn’t my ability to wield magic, it was the fact that there was information, that was considered common knowledge in this world, which was still unavailable to me. And, worst of all, didn’t rely on things like logic to decipher. I had no idea wer could sense each other until Irje told me, and that lack of knowledge nearly got me killed today.

How many more things I was blissfully unaware of? And how many of these have the ability to get me killed or worse? If simply shifting my ears and walking around was enough to call me a freak and nearly claw the windpipe out of me, what would a full disclosure of nanites bring? What about the knowledge in my head? And that was only my body. Had no idea what the crashed shuttle still contained. And since there was an escape shuttle - what about the bioship that is probably orbiting this very planet as I thought.

I nuzzled into Irje’s sleeping form as I let myself relax. I have to be more cautious and establish a name for myself first, I’ve decided. There was little gain and everything to lose in rushing things. I will take my baby steps, gain the approval of Domina and work from there, chess piece by chess piece.

The morning started as usual, except Irje disappeared somewhere once again, busy as she was. I picked up Yeva and we went on to work. We worked fast together, especially since I’ve spent most of my morning telling her about my previous trip and things that I’ve seen around. I decided not to tell her about the chase, but even without it, there was plenty to say.

I told her about the yells of the merchant quarters, the constant murmur of the busy streets, the screams of seagulls on the shore and the slow rumble of the sea. I heard her laugh listening to how I ran from the hungry birds and I saw her swallow as hard as I did when I saw that stall with juicy snacks.

I lived through the brightest parts of my yesterday again, and, with my words, so did she.

It was during one of my monologues that I spotted us getting company. I trailed off observing the newcomers with caution.

In front of me stood Sulla with two redhead warriors beside him. Their hair was long and, apart from luscious ponytails, was braided into two braids that fell onto their chest ending in bone rings full of engravings. The mark of free men.

I excused myself from deathly quiet Yeva and stood up, bowing. These were most likely the family members of the manor that choose a martial path. Both shared a family resemblance and the colour of their hair.

But it was Sulla, who spoke instead, while both warriors kept staring at me, ready to strike.

“Domina has summoned you.” His words were blunt and demanded nothing but compliance.

I silently bowed again and made to follow, allowing the twin warriors to trail behind us.

There was no point in freaking out, and their actions, however menacing, were exactly what I was planning all this time for. Right now I was a pawn, that was invited to the queen’s court.

It was time for my promotion.