The next morning, I awoke to the lapping of a tongue between my thighs. A moan came, unbidden, from my lips as I rose to wakefulness, and opened my eyes. Looking down, I saw Vestele there, licking me with a smile upon her face.

The cleric mock pouted for a moment. “Ooh, you’re awake already? I had hoped to give you at least one good climax before you woke.” Then, with a wink, she continued her work.

“Mmm. Now, sister, don’t complain. That means your tongue was simply too skilled for her to sleep through it.” Siora’s moaning voice drew my attention away from her sister. She was standing off to the side of the bed, still naked, as she had been the night before. But that was not all.

Several spectral tentacles had spouted from the staff she had been using as entertainment the night before. These not only held the staff upright, but were currently playing over Siora’s body, gripping her, and penetrating her from both the back and front. However, they seemed to be far gentler than the tentacles that had been whipping the two girls into a frenzy last night.

“What—OOH!”

My words were cut off by Vestele slipping two fingers inside me. At the same time, her tongue lashed against my clit, driving other thoughts from my mind. The priestess’s voice laughed, and said, “No, no, no, Mel. You pay attention to me, now, understand?” I just moaned in response.

She worked me up to a satisfying climax. And, once I had returned the favor, we managed to pull ourselves out of bed. The whole time, Siora had just been watching, allowing the staff to bring her to a third climax in the time that she’d been watching us. There was a brief lull as we began pulling on our clothes, which allowed me to finally ask the question I had been wanting to know before.

“What was that, with the tentacles from the staff?”

“Oh, that?” Siora grinned. “That was the staff’s ability to gain new charges. Honestly, the magic is impressive. I’ve never seen the like before, so it must be something that the archon came up with herself. When this business with Torm is done, we plan on taking one of the staves we captured to the Abyss, to Shendilavri, where our Queen reigns. We hope to offer it to her, so that it can be studied, and the teachings it holds might be spread to all those who follow her will.”

“Ah,” I nodded. “That makes sense. If anyone knew the benefits of such a strange ability, then it would be the followers of the Succubus Queen. But, was I mistaken, or did the tentacles seem to be a bit more… gentle in their ministrations than what you were using the night before?”

“Yes, it was. The tentacles used to charge the staff are weak, but they are gentler because of it, unlike the spell we used before. Think of it like the difference between making love and having a good, hard fuck. Both are pleasurable, but sometimes you are in the mood for one, and not the other.”

Vestele chuckled at the comparison, and nodded. “Yes, like the description from the Identify spell says, this staff, and the others like it, can only be charged from the willing, the sleeping, or the helpless. Still, you would be surprised at the number of people who would be willing to charge a staff this way.”

“Ha, I bet not. You forget that I am a Twice-Born. The world I am from had ways of sharing information far and wide, faster even than a network of sending stones. A famous saying in that world was that, if an idea existed, there would be pornography of it. Even things that you would not think anyone could possibly be a fan of. The… the man who held me, in the old world, was a big fan of it, and used to make me serve him while he watched.”

“Oh, dear,” Siora embraced me. “You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to. I know those memories aren’t easy for you to bring up.”

“No, it is all right. It was literally another lifetime ago, and I’ve come a long way since then. I don’t like bringing it up, or even thinking about it, but I don’t have to repress or deny it. As long as I don’t get in situations where I am powerless, I can handle the memories.”

I took a breath, and then continued on. “In that world, there were degenerates who will look at and enjoy any act imaginable. Some of them were drawn to the acts simply because they are taboo, and they had drowned themselves in sensation for so long that they had to keep pushing the boundaries, just to feel something new.”

“Ah, yes,” Vestele nodded. “That is something we have seen, as well. It is something the Church of Malcanthet looks for. In our novices and disciples, it is something to be controlled, and balanced with connections to other beings, so that one’s vices do not become a problem for everyone. In those outside the Church? Well, it is something to be exploited, as someone led around by their vices will be willing to do almost anything for you, in return for their next moment of bliss.”

Still hugging me, Siora grinned, and asked, “How strange were some of the fantasies these people had, Mel?”

“Oh, there were all kinds. Stories of bondage, rape, and sex slavery were some of the milder ones. Of course, there were people who fantasized about breeding, of course, and of cheating. Incest, whether with siblings, parents, or more, was a taboo that people often fantasized over. But the strange ones? Hmm.”

I considered that for a moment, and then said, “The strangest ones would be from something called ‘vore’. It involved mixing sex and eating. Sometimes, it was a giant creature devouring men and women whole. Sometimes, it was taking a victim, and impaling them upon a spit, still alive, to roast over a fire and then eat.” I paused and then said, “My captor often joked that when I stopped being able to please him, he’d have a cookout, with me as the main course. At least, I prayed that it was a joke, though I was always scared it was not.”

The sisters looked vaguely ill. Siora was the first to speak, as she squeezed me tighter. “Oh, Mel. That must have been awful. I know that there are those sorts in this world, though I have never seen them in action. One of the older girls at the brothel in Northport, though, had dealings with a noble who enjoyed cutting a woman, and then raping her as the life left her eyes. She helped get him women for his dark desires, which allowed her to control him, to an extent, but she was always glad when she escaped his presence.”

I tried to keep my voice calm, but I could not help the icy tone that seeped in. The idea of someone doing something like that was repulsive to me, for obvious reasons. “Is that noble still alive?”

“No,” Vestele said, with a malicious grin upon her face. “He got drunk upon his own power, and forgot that his vices were indulged by another. He eventually sought to ‘enjoy’ that woman, as he had done the ones that she brought to him. She objected, and turned the tables upon him. She stabbed him in the belly with his own dagger, and then used magic to ensure his ’performance’ as she rode him until death claimed him, while sending his soul to our Queen.”

I nodded, once, my motions quick and tight as I tried to keep reign of my emotions. “That’s good. Bastards like that deserve to suffer the fate that they place upon others.”

“Enough of this talk,” Siora said with forced cheer, as she smacked me upon the bottom. “There’s no need for us to be all grim about the past. Especially not before breakfast! Let’s see what the kitchens have prepared, and then we can head back to Frostreach. There is an army to prepare for, and angels and archons we still have yet to fight, after all!”

“Indeed,” Vestele said, also giving me a smack. “And don’t forget that, at the end of it all, we still have to go up against a god. There’s no point in focusing upon the past, when we have deeds that will make us into legends waiting in our future! There are still two lines of the prophecy unfulfilled, after all.”

“Fine,” I said, as I smacked both the sisters’ rears in return. “You are right, of course. A god dying, or a new god arising? Both are events rarely seen, to the point where one may go the lifetimes of entire empires and civilizations, and not see it more than once or twice. But together? This will be the stuff of legends, I’m sure. All right, show me to the dining hall, and then we can head back to Frostreach, and see what has changed in our absence.”

With that in mind, we set off to the dining hall, where Fartooth and Sanvi were already setting about conquering the raft of food that awaited us. They looked up long enough to greet us, before turning back to their well-earned spoils. Laughing, I sat down and joined them. After all, there was no sense in letting the food and drink go to waste.

Oh, it wasn’t like we were gluttons. Far from it, in fact. There wasn’t a one amongst my party that wasn’t fit and trim. Even my form, despite the fact that I’d had a child not a winter ago, was still in fighting trim. Maintaining that form took work, and training, but it also required food. We’d all spent too many days just eating rations that were ‘good enough’ as we traveled on the road, so there was no harm in indulging now, especially when we were soon to be fighting a war, which was a far different affair from simple battles, like we were used to.

When the meal was done, we all moved to the Will of Winter, as Fartooth and the sisters reduced their ships into the cubes they used to store them when not in use. Of all the magical marvels we’d come across during our travels, these were definitely some of the most useful. I sighed, and looked back out into the freezing wind. As the blizzard whipped around us, I breathed deeply frigid air of my homeland in this world once more.

I had thought that I would never return here once I left. Now that I had, I found myself strangely reluctant to go. But I could not stay here. I was an exile from the tribes, by my own choice, and I had grown to the point where I could not just settle down and live the life of a normal person in the Nine Towns. And I certainly would not be submitting myself to Indsamling.

No, I could not stay in this land, no matter what I thought of the matter. I would have to press on, and find my own path forward. I knew that the last time I left, and this moment of reflection I was offered only made that reality clearer. I did not know what the future held for me, but I would not find it in Frostwind Dale.

I turned to look at Captain Frostknife, and nodded. “Is all ready, Captain?”

“Aye, your Majesty. Say the word, and we’ll be off.”

“Then you have it. Take us to the southern marches of Frostreach, if you will. While I do not expect the enemy to be at the gates, just yet, if any scouts or raiders have pushed forward, in advance of the main forces, then they would have had to come through Fort Coldmaw. At any rate, the fort will be where the first blow is struck, for it is the only way to get any significant force into Frostreach itself, as the fort holds the gap between the Fayward Marshes and the Strafsack Hills.”

And that much was true. Oh, neither feature was an actual barrier to someone determined to make their way through, provided they had the strength to back up their mettle. But the Fayward Marshes were a muddy mire at the best of times, and could only be safely crossed when winter got cold enough to freeze the land. That was just counting the dangers of the terrain, of course. The true dangers of those marshes were the fey who lived within them. While not always malicious, they were known to be cruel pranksters, and any sizeable force would easily lose a third of their number if they tried to force their way through the marsh.

The Strafsack Hills, however, were worse. In elden days, it had been home to an outpost of an ancient empire. That empire, based around mages, had created such wonders as flying islands the size of cities, which they created by slicing off the tops of mountains, and lifting them into the air. From there, they ruled over the lands below, their reach extending to wherever their cities could cast a shadow.

But, when one of their own grew too greedy in the search of power, and tried to take the power of Mystra, goddess of magic for his own, their empire came crashing down, quite literally. One of the cities had cast its ruin across the Strafsack Hills. Since then, the area had been home to all manner of undead and other creatures. The very land itself was said to be cursed, such that any living creature who walked upon it became sick. And any who died in that space became part of the undead horde, even beings of the higher and lower planes. So, all the surrounding lands kept watch upon the Strafsacks, and none laid claim to them, for there was no point. Those hills belonged to the dead, and the dead kept them.

I felt a pulse of magic rise around me, and the blizzard faded away in flash of light. When my vision cleared, I looked out, over the bow of my ship, and saw Fort Coldmaw, just as it looked the last time I was here. My brief excursion as an Adventurer was done, and now I needed to be a Queen once more.