Chapter 133: Girl Talk
Dearest Rosalyn,
We hope you’re doing well out there wherever your wandering has taken you. Pa and I are fine, same as we’ve always been. Pa has been getting restless lately. Fixing things around town is starting to wear on him, and his back is complaining something fierce. I keep telling him to rest, but he won’t listen, the big lout. He’s shouting that it’s not that bad from the other room.
I’m holding up. Knitting keeps me busy as a bee, and with the winter still in swing, we’ve got plenty of need. Got a cap done for the hunter’s girl, Jane, the other day. Swear to the Gods it makes this heart jump for joy to see someone excited about my work. It’s not all roses, though. My ankles have been acting up lately. I’m not getting any younger, that’s for sure.
How’re you and your girlfriends getting on? That wolf girl is still treating you right, yeah? She better be or we’ll tan her hide. You tell her that, you hear? Katlyn too. Or, Princess Katlyn? She was kinda stubborn about that, wasn’t she? Anyway, I hope you’re loved, happy, and somewhere warm.
Oh, forgot to ask the last few times, have you been keeping up with your whittling? We still have a few of your carvings up on the mantle. Swear, if you hadn’t been a Druid, you’d be a woodworker.
Now, you write me back as soon as you can. Your Pa says to visit, but I know that’s not always possible.
Love you, little Rosy,
Ma and Pa Losenska
Rosalyn folded up the letter, placing it on the small desk Kat had put into her rooms for the Druid.
“Sounds like they’re doing well,” Ann smiled from the couch she was lounging on, flipping through pages of names and locations, histories and everything she’d need to know for this damn ball.
“Ye know that was a threat tae royalty,” Kat teased.
“I think parents are allowed a little indiscretion,” Ann countered.
“They’re just worried, is all,” Rosalyn smiled as she put the letter away. “At least they sound healthy and happy. Seems like the replacement you organised is doing well for the town, Kat.”
“Sure does. If they’re not havin’ Warped problems, they’re doin’ their job. Still a li’l worried about ‘em.”
“Why’s that?” Rosalyn asked, getting up and wiggling her way into Kat’s arms as the larger woman sat in an overlarge chair.
“Swarm’s comin’ up. Yer folk are pretty far out. Might be best fer us tae get ‘em moved.”
“You’re right, but I don’t know how well that’s gonna happen,” Rosalyn said. She fished out a knife and a block of wood, getting her hands working on something. “It’s been our home. Our first solid home as a family for years. Getting them to move might be a problem.”
“Well, fer now, we ‘ave already put some people nearby,” Kat said offhandedly.
“You what?” Rosalyn asked, nearly head-butting Kat’s chin as she looked up.
“Relax,” Kat said, guarding her face from swinging horns. “Nothin’ big. Just a few mercenaries hired tae help around the area. Sure, ye’ve got the Wardstone up there, but it’s not the cure for all ails. Just tha’ the mercs also ‘ave secondary orders tae get yer family out in case shite goes bad, or the Swarm starts. They’d get ‘em tae Graven Keep, then Korvas if anythin’ happened.”
“That’s… a lot for me,” Rosalyn said. “How much does that even cost?”
“Ye,” Kat said, poking at Rosalyn’s button nose, “don’ get tae worry about tha’. No askin’ about money when it comes tae keepin’ yer family safe, ‘kay?”
“Fine,” Rosalyn sighed, relaxing and getting back to her woodworking.
“Whatcha workin’ on, by the way?” Kat asked.
“Whittling. Been working on it a bit. Just little stuff, like birds and critters. This one is gonna be Ann’s wolf. What was her name again?”
“Waheela,” Ann said over a piece of paper.
“Right. Going to make this Waheela from how she described her. It’s not too different from carving a Twinwolf, but only one head, put together. Kinda weird not having that split down the middle, but I’ll figure it out. Might take a few tries and a lot of wasted wood, but that’s what fire-places are for. Ma and Pa always had a good supply of mistakes to burn, that’s for sure. Little critter heads, bird tails that accidentally got lopped off. You need a good, sharp knife for whittling and it’s real easy to mess it up and cut things accidentally. When you get into finer details, you can also scrape away stuff if you’re not careful and then it’s stuck like that. Either you work with it, or you chuck it and start over. You want to know what one of the hardest things to make is? A ball. Tried it a few times, and never could get it to be good and round. Always wound up oblong in some way, even after using a stone to smooth it out. Those made for some silly toys for the local dogs. But yeah, gonna start from this and find the Waheela inside of it. Do you think she has normal hindquarters, Ann?”
“Um, not really sure,” Ann said. “That part was all covered by trees, and when I tried to see it, I couldn’t.”
“I can try to work with that. Maybe have it just kinda turn all whispy back there.”
“I’d say ghostly,” Ann clarified distractedly. “Wait, ghosts exist, right?”
“I’ve talked about ‘em before,” Kat said. “Aye, they’re real.”
“I thought so, but I guess I just didn’t let it sink in until now. Ghosts. Wait, so how real? Like spooky haunted house type stuff or wandering spirits? Do they look like people or bedsheets over a person?”
“I have stories, but I think Kat knows a bit more,” Rosalyn said absently, flicking away shavings as she worked.
“Depends on the ghost. Some can just be floatin’ around, didn’t feel like restin’ and do their thing. Some haunt certain items or places, so I guess a haunted house could be a thing fer ye. I think they mostly just look like people, but, ye know, ghosty.”
“Oh my Gods I need to find an old haunted something. Talking proper ancient,” Ann said. “We always had stories about ghosts, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t real. Now, though? There might be ghosts from my time.”
“Feck, didn’t even think o’ tha’,” Kat gasped, careful not to jostle Rosalyn. “Aye, tha’s goin’ on the list o’ shite tae do.”
“Also, how corporeal are they? Mostly invisible and can’t touch, to completely touchable.”
“Ye wanna bugger a ghost,” Kat said flatly.
“Do not!”
“Ann, we both know you’re lying,” Rosalyn said, waving her knife in the general direction of the Lupine.
“Ok, fine, if they were cool with it, and you were, yeah. Yeah, I’d like to fuck a ghost. Can you imagine how weird that’d be?”
“What, findin’ someone yer own age fer once?” Kat teased. A pillow bounced off her face. “What was it Lucia calls ye? Hag?”
“Not a goddamn hag,” Ann huffed, ruffling her papers pointedly.
“Five thousand year old hag says what?” Kat said barely under her breath, drawing a snicker from Rosalyn.
“I heard that, knife ear,” Ann grumbled back.
“Ye say that like it’s an insult. I told ye I’m proud o’ tha’.”
“Fine, you scaled bitch.”
“Constantly in heat.”
“Fuck you.”
“Why don’t you?”
“Gods it’s so hard to curse at someone when we’re like this,” Ann sighed, putting her papers down. “Change of topics, have you told your parents about the scales yet?”
Kat shifted in her seat. “Aye. Not really somethin’ I wanted tae keep from ‘em.”
“How’d they take it?” Rosalyn asked.
“Mixed. Mum was freaked the feck out, of course. Da’, well, I could tell he was bothered, but he didn’t let on.”
“Maybe that’s why he was asking about long-term plans regarding you,” Ann mumbled.
“Gods. How bad was he?” Kat asked. “He didn’t threaten you or anythin’, right?”
“No, no. He was mostly just trying to figure out what I was thinking about you and Rosalyn. I was honest, and he seemed to like that. Also, your little brother is adorable.”
“Oh, ye met Jonathan? Haven’t had a chance. I’ll make sure tae terrorise the little bugger tomorrow,” Kat laughed. “Tae be clear, my version o’ terrorizin’ him is tossin’ him intae the air and catchin’ him until I can’t.”
“Sounds terrifying,” Rosalyn said primly, though Ann could see her thighs clench slightly. That sheep was hopeless.
“But yeah, other than that, he went over Bortislav again, the countries to the south and east, too. Interesting stuff.”
“If ye can call the cock juggling pieces o’ shite in Bortislav interestin’,” Kat grumbled.
“Well, the people may be awful, but their tech sounds fascinating. Getting enchanting to the point where it’s powering machinery is almost to something like golems.”
“Ann, I know you don’t know better, but that’s racist to the Grrn,” Rosalyn said.
“Shit, sorry. But yeah, we had a concept of magical robots in all sorts of fantasy in my time. Imagine having sapient machines not from electricity, but magic.”
“If it comes from Bortislav, I don’t trust it,” Kat said flatly. “Guarantee ye everythin’s set tae self destruct the second shite goes bad, an’ it’ll take everythin’ wit’ it. Either that or be created tae kill us.”
“Imagine Wendyl with that kind of thing, though,” Ann countered. “She could do incredible work. Sorry, my brain is kinda all over the place right now. How good are this time’s prosthetics?”
“Not great,” Kat admitted. “Healin’ magic basically replaces any need we’ve got fer the old fixes. Those who can’t get healed make do. That’s more than ye’d think.”
“Should we get Wendyl working on that? After the whole portal to a furnace project? Might be a good way to earn both her and us some good money and provide her a challenge.”
“It’d help people, aye,” Kat nodded.
“I like the idea, too. And since she’s starting with just a prosthetic, I can imagine other places for such magic to be used.”
“You and me both,” Ann nodded.
Ann stared off into the middle distance, letting her mind wander for a minute. She didn’t even notice Kat gently place Rosalyn down in the chair and slink over to her side.
“Thinkin’ about feckin’ a ghost again?” Kat teased.
“Now I am,” Ann laughed. “I mean, how would that even work? Would the cum stay inside her? Would she care about air, or does that not matter anymore? Can you reach through her while fucking? I have so many questions.”
“Not tae mention what if she possessed someone,” Kat laughed. “Or he, I guess. Don’t think ye’d take kindly tae feckin’ a dude, though.”
“Nope. Girls for me, please,” Ann nodded. “Possession sounds interesting, though I think you and I are already way too familiar with voices in our heads.”
“Aye. Ghost is gonna ‘ave its work cut out fer it tae get us,” Kat said. “Maybe less so fer Rosalyn here.”
“Unless I get some inner monster. You two seem to think that’s just time, though.”
The room got quiet. Rosalyn was still not doing well with the idea of becoming like Kat and Ann. Her human stubbornness refused to let go of what she saw as herself. It was a good trait, but Ann was pretty sure the Druid was fighting a losing battle.
“Know of any estates or old ruins that have particularly slutty poltergeists?” Ann asked Kat, trying to keep the conversation going.
“Got a few that we know’re haunted, but not with the spirit o’ some harlot.”
"Then we do our horny ghost hunting the old-fashioned way,” Ann declared. “Poking our noses into every creepy building we can find until we get one that’s down.”
“You doing alright?” Rosalyn asked.
“Ugh, yeah. I’m just stressing over all this ball and announcement prep,” Ann groaned. “Driving me crazy how many new names and words I’ve gotta learn. Did you know the Tren and the Forgold families have two members in a relationship most of the families don’t know about? I do now, and know not to bring that up to either of them when I notice, because of course I will, that they’re spending time near each other while hiding the feelings. Or, how about the business deals between Havelok and Setlik families that are influencing the price of grain, but Kremdol isn’t sure whether that’s collusion or coincidence yet? Holy fuck, this shit is complicated.”
“Now ye see why I avoid it,” Kat said flatly, laying her head on Ann’s chest and playing with a loose strand of Ann’s hair. “My brain’s full enough o’ military strategy an’ history on that front, Warped tactics, an’ me own family’s stuff tae want more.”
“Like your head isn’t also filled with women,” Rosalyn teased. “You sure had fun with Wendyl.”
“So did ye, well, tangentially,” Kat pointed out.
“Never said I didn’t,” Rosalyn said back, a sly grin splitting her lips. “But yeah, I get you, Ann. I’ve been reading as many of those papers from Ilana as I can get to and it all just slides out my ear. Not sure how you’re cramming all that in that head of yours.”
“Lots of study habits and forcing myself,” Ann grumbled, petting Kat’s hair as the large woman relaxed on top of her. “Helps that I need to not embarrass anyone here when we get to the day. Puts some pressure on.”
“Ye do work well under pressure.”
“Oh hush, you,” Ann swatted Kat’s pointed ear.
“Just don’t push yourself too hard,” Rosalyn said. “Don’t want you freaking out on us.”
“With you two? I get plenty of stress relief,” Ann giggled as Kat nuzzled into her exposed stomach. “Even without the sex.”
“But it’s mostly the sex, right?” Kat prodded. “Cause holy shit.”
“You two still doing ok with that? I know I’m a lot.”
“I’m very happy with our situation,” Rosalyn said, making a decisive cut as if for emphasis.
“Aye, couldn’t be happier. Feck, wish I could keep up wit’ ye more tae get more o’ ye. Shite, we’ve not gone at it since Wendyl right? Been craving it a little.”
“Craving?” Ann asked.
“Aye. Not sure if it’s a me thing or what, but just get this feelin’ that I want ye inside me again. Gets strong sometimes.”
Rosalyn and Ann shared a glance. “Like, just an internal clock sort of thing?” Rosalyn asked.
“Heh, a cock clock. Anyway, kinda? A feelin that’s going ‘hey, you need Ann tae rearrange yer guts soon’ sorta thing? Maybe a habit? I get… I dinnae, cranky when it’s been too long?”
Ann cringed a bit. Fuck. She’s not getting addicted. Right? “Kat, by grumpy, how grumpy? Like, just distracted or…”
“Distracted, aye. Feels way too good bein’ wit’ ye, an’ I just want more, I guess? I get what ye’re gettin’ at ‘ere an’ I don’t feel like it’s an addiction. I mean, if ye take away somethin’ fun or good, I’m gonna get testy, same feelin’.”
“Ok, just making sure,” Rosalyn said. “With all the rest of things happening, having sex with a divinely sponsored sex paladin might have done something.”
“If it’s done it tae me, it’s done it tae ye too,” Kat jabbed a finger at the Druid over her shoulder. “I’ve seen the way ye melt.”
“I do that for you too.”
“Sure do, but Ann’s usually there wit’ us, so proximity addiction?”
“It does feel like nothing else when she’s in you, right?”
“Literally perfect,” Kat sighed, starting to trace her fingers around Ann’s stomach in patterns. “Every little bit ye ever wanted hit gets hit. It’s exactly as big as ye want it. Feck, then the knot is somethin’ else.”
Ann groaned, feeling her cock starting to harden, poking out of its sheath and into the back of Kat’s head. Hearing Kat and Rosalyn talking about her, well, how could she not get excited?
“Feck, would it bad if we were addicted?” Kat asked, rolling her head in a way that stimulated Ann’s tip through her kilt.
“Not so long as we have Ann with us. Might be a problem if we ever have to split up,” Rosalyn said.
“Gods, can ye imagine withdrawal from her cock? Or that pussy? Mm, we haven’t fecked wit’ her arse much. Can do that later, but I bet ye it’s amazin’.”
“What would that even be like?”
“Probably get all shaky? Lose all concentration? Gotta ‘ave cock. Gimme cock. Not just any dick, but hers. Brain can only want me body tae be filled.”
“For the hypothetical, imagine getting it after that set in,” Rosalyn said, her thighs grinding together.
Ann groaned. Kat wasn’t letting up with her teasing, and she was making a wet spot as pre-cum started to drip from her hard-on.
“I mean, ye already pass out when she’s havin’ ‘er way wit’ ye,” Kat pointed out. “Though ye’ve been gettin’ better. Takes a lot more tae knock ye out.”
“Experience I’m really happy to have obtained,” Rosalyn laughed, putting down her carving. It looked slightly wolf shaped, but was still early in the process. “After all, practice,” the Druid dropped down behind Kat, wrapping her arms around the woman and grabbing fistfuls of her breasts, “makes perfect.”
“Alright, that’s it. Bed. Both of you,” Ann demanded, shoving Kat off her and standing.
“Yes, ma’am,” Kat laughed, grabbing Rosalyn’s arms and carrying her into the next room, kicking and squealing, trapped on her back. “Distraction feckin’ successful!”