Elegy for a Star

The party had managed to get to the ruined city without any further interference. Stone buildings were still standing, at least on most of their sides, but any construction made of wood was torn over. There was a belltower in the center of the ruins that the group entered and climbed, until they came to the highest platform, just beneath the open space with the bell. They could at least rest here without worrying about exposure.

Joyona removed her armor and rested against the wall, cradling one burnt arm with the other. Gwendolyn was measuring the severity of her head wound by dabbing some cloth upon it. Mairaela unstrung her bow and set it aside, stretching out and relaxing her sore muscles.

Tess wasn’t sure what to do. She sat with her legs folded and feet resting on either side of her hips, ensuring that her loincloth was keeping her modest. There was this sense of guilt following her everywhere. She was useless. Why did she trust Scirocca? Because they had sex? Was she really that easy to convince?

“Stop pitying yourself,” Miri chided.

Tess couldn’t reply without alerting the others. She furrowed her brow. She wished she could silence Miri from her thoughts.

Miri remarked, “Scirocca wasn’t lying, so don’t be dramatic. You have to practice, remember?”

Tess felt foolish once again, hoping that Miri would continue.

Miri didn’t disappoint, “There’s dust in the corners. Practice your constellations.”

She did just that. She scooped a handful of dust and ash from the corners of the room and pulled them right in front of her. She decided to make the sign of the Stag first. Appearing like a single antler streaking across the sky, Tess dribbled little pinches of dust onto the ground to form the correct shapes. The anchoring star, the brightest of the constellation, was down by the stem of the antler, and Tess represented it with a larger pinch of dust.

“That’s pretty spot on,” Gwendolyn said, having scooted across the floor to sit beside Tess.

Tess smiled, regathering what dust she had left and preparing another clear space for her art.

“Show me the Maiden,” Gwen said.

Tess obliged, forming gray dots in the constellation’s general shape, that of a woman flying in a sea of her hair. The anchoring star was just by the Maiden’s eye.

Gwendolyn challenged her again, “What does she stand for?”

“Love,” Tess replied softly. She liked the Maiden. She always felt romantic, and Tess briefly imagined Gwendolyn kissing her at this very moment.

Gwendolyn did not, in fact, kiss her, “What else?”

“Jealousy,” Tess answered.

“And?”

Tess wracked her brain, but nothing was coming up. “Not sure,” she admitted.

“Challenges.”

Tess nodded her head, “Doesn’t seem to fit.”

“Maybe when you find love, you’ll see the challenge involved,” Gwendolyn said softly.

Tess turned her head and wiped off her hands upon one another, “Have you been in love?”

“No,” Gwendolyn said, sitting back on her rump, legs bent, and resting her arms upon her knees, “Not like you mean.”

“What do you mean?” Tess began to whisper. It felt like a private conversation and didn’t want Mairaela and Joyona to be distracted by it. The both of them looked ready to sleep.

Gwen paused, thinking for a while, before she cleared her throat and said, “I love my little sister. Lenore.” Gwendolyn looked over at Tess, “She was taken away when I was coming of age.”

“You haven’t seen her since?”

“No, I have,” Gwendolyn replied with sadness, “But she wanted nothing to do with me. She was different.”

“I’m sorry,” Tess said, leaning over and bumping Gwen’s shoulder with her own before she sat up straight again. The two sat in silence for a time, before Gwendolyn wished Tess a goodnight and snuck off to sleep.

Tess had volunteered for the first watch in order to be helpful, but Mairaela insisted that Tess was too fragile to be on watch by herself. The Fey joined her, oiling her bowstring and tending to her arrows. She seemed to take meticulous care of her belongings, which seemed strange when it was all a part of her soul.

“Isn’t that already perfect?” Tess asked.

Mairaela shook her head, “Nothing’s perfect. Discipline and study lead to further enlightenment. Enlightenment leads to a strong soul.”

“So you’re a monk? A priest?”

“Only in the same way that I want to better myself.”

Silence, once again, until Mairaela broke it, “So why did you come into the Void? I mean, really. Why?”

“I wanted to help,” Tess replied.

“You know that wasn’t the case,” Mairaela responded, “And if you’d been honest to the enlistment officer that you didn’t have a gift, they would have ever let you in. So why? Why are you lying to get here?”

“It’s a long story,” Tess replied.

“We’ve got an hour left on watch,” the Fey answered.

“I don’t remember much about my past. I think I’ll find answers here.”

“Why here?” Mairaela pressed.

Because Miri told me to, Tess thought. Instead, she said, “Joyona saw a creature from her memories. Maybe I’ll see something from mine.”

“We only found that out after you got here. Why are you hiding things, Tess? We need to trust one another.” Mairaela sounded more disappointed than anything else.

“It’s the one thing that I can’t share, Mairaela, I’m sorry,” Tess replied, remembering Gwen’s advice about keeping talk about Miri under wraps.

“So then why didn’t you share that?” Mairaela said. Tess turned to look at her, but the Fey was pointing down at Tess’ lap. Looking downward, Tess saw that the loincloth had draped perfectly over her cock, leaving a clear outline of girldick upon the thin cloth.

Panic was the first thought through Tess’ mind, but when the fact that Mairaela already knew finally set into her brain, she calmed. “It’s-... yeah, sorry. How was I going to bring that up, though? Hi, my name’s Tess, and I have a big dick.”

Mairaela rolled her eyes in amusement, smirking back at Tess as she said, “No, I didn’t say tell me about it. Why haven’t you shared it with me.”

It took Tess a moment before her eyes widened and she looked over to Mairaela. The Fey was smirking devilishly before she placed a lithe hand on Tess’ thigh. “How about it?” Mairaela asked.

Tess got a good look at her and saw those pointed ears tilted low. Those pouty lips were full and soft. She had a catlike mischievousness to her that thrilled Tess.

“You want to? With me?” Tess whispered, quieter than she’d been talking a moment ago.

Mairaela nodded her head, “I do.” Mairaela’s hand slid just a little toward Tess’ inner thigh. The Fey’s fingertips teased at the edge of the loincloth, just an inch from Tess’ barely-covered length.

Tess put a hand behind Mairaela’s neck, leaning in and giving the Fey a deep, soft kiss. At the same time, her loincloth was nudged aside and Mairaela’s soft fingers slid most of the way—but not entirely—around Tess’ hardening cock.

With a whimper muffled by Mairaela’s lips, Tess broke the kiss and tried to regain her focus, just as Mairaela’s hand began to really pump her length up and down. “You’re so big,” Mairaela purred, pumping Tess’ cock without any hesitation or teasing slowness, “You feel so hot in my hand.”

“Mairaela?”

“Yes, Tess?”

“Can you suck my cock?”

Mairaela leaned in and nipped at Tess’ ear, whispering back, “I was hoping you’d ask.”