Fimbulwinter (Daniel Black) (18 page)

and I’ll go fetch towels and a change of clothes.”

“Shower first,” I told her. “The idea is you get clean there, and then you

can soak in the tub for as long as you want.”

“What a wonderful idea,” Avilla enthused. “Alright, we can have our

discussion in the bath. Just close the door when you get back, Cerise, and ask

Tina to make sure no one tries to listen at it. That girl’s too honest to hide

anything.”

“Discussion?” I asked.

“Please. What do you think of the maids so far?”

“Ah. Tina reminds me of a lost puppy, to be honest. Desperate to please,

but doesn’t know what to do. Beri is smarter, which might make her more

useful, but she’s already looking for angles to play.”

“That’s more or less what I thought,” Avilla replied. “I’m not sure about

Beri yet, but I think we should keep Tina. She’s a hard worker, and I think

she’ll be very loyal. A little insecure, but she’ll get over that with time. Is she

pretty enough for your taste?”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s not exactly a requirement, is it?”

Avilla looked at me blankly for a moment, and shook her head. “Your

land must be a very strange place, Daniel. Do I really need to explain this?”

I sighed, and sat on the edge of the tub. “No, I get it. I just don’t know that

I want to do things that way. Back home it’s actually against the law to hire a

woman because she’s decorative, let alone tell her that sleeping with you is

part of the job.”

“That’s nuts,” Cerise interjected from the doorway. “What, do you have a

really ugly queen who’s trying to get revenge on all the pretty girls?”

She set a bundle of cloth down on the floor, and pulled the door shut with

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a thump. The room was plunged into twilight, lit only by the candle-sized

magic flames I’d set in fixtures on the walls.

“It’s a republic, actually. Everyone over eighteen gets to vote on who

represents their district, and the council of representatives makes all the laws.

There’s also a president who commands the military when we’re at war, but

he’s elected by popular vote too.

“Weird.” Cerise made a face. She slipped her dress off, and stepped into

the shower.

I shrugged. “My ancestors were obsessed with preventing tyranny. It

worked pretty well on that front for the first century or so, though lately it

seems like we’ve just discovered how to create one where no one is in

charge.”

“That’s interesting,” Avilla said. “But how does republican government

lead to oppressing pretty girls?”

“Oppressing? Wow, talk about culture clash. It’s supposed to be about

keeping them from being oppressed, actually. Why should a woman have to

sleep with her boss to get a job?”

“Who else would she want?” Avilla asked seriously. “A woman in that

position obviously doesn’t have a husband to care for her, so who better than

the man who has authority over her?”

“Not to mention that every girl knows a guy who’s fucking you will treat

you better than one who isn’t,” Cerise put in. “There’s nothing like a good

blowjob to make sure the boss is happy with you.”

I shook my head. “Women really think that way here? What if they’ve got

someone they like, or they’re just trying to get by?”

Cerise stepped out of the shower, and Avilla took her place.

“How would that even happen?” The dark-haired witch asked curiously.

“I mean, if you’ve got a husband lined up and something happened to your

family you’d go live with him, right? If you’re a widow or can’t find a husband

you’d probably end up being a whore, or maybe a nanny or a seamstress if

you’re really lucky. The only way a girl could end up working for a guy is if

she’s his servant, and that’s a lifetime deal unless you screw it up.”

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I thought about that for a minute. In a medieval economy there isn’t much

of a job market, and without modern technology most of the jobs that did exist

would involve a lot of heavy manual labor. In a world without affirmative

action laws no one would hire a woman for something like that. Besides, this

was the kind of society where most women went straight from their parent’s

house to their husband’s, and never needed to support themselves.

There were bound to be exceptions, and it would suck to be one of them.

But how many societies give a damn about people who don’t follow their

expected script in life?

“I think I see what you’re getting at,” I sighed. “But this isn’t exactly a

normal situation. There are probably hundreds of young women in this town

who’ve had their lives shattered.”

“Yeah, but you can only take in a few of them and they all know it,” she

pointed out. “Seriously, Daniel, those girls are both worried sick that you’re

going to replace them with someone better. The only way they’re ever going to

feel secure is if you give them something to hold onto. Not that it’s a big deal

to me either way, but keeping them worried doesn’t seem like your style.”

I sighed. “I suppose I see your point. It just doesn’t come naturally to me.

Back home anyone who did that would be a total sleazebag.”

Avilla stepped out of the shower, and laid her hand on my chest. “Do you

trust me?”

Somehow I managed to look at her face, and not the water droplets

clinging to her breasts. “Um, yeah.”

“Then trust me to arrange things. I’m already picking our staff, so you

needn’t violate your taboos by asking them uncomfortable questions. Just do

what comes naturally if one of them offers something you desire, and I’ll make

sure things work out. Fair enough?”

“Sure. I guess.”

Her smile took my breath away. “Good. Why don’t you get cleaned up

and join us?”

I did. Half the reason I’d built the bath was because I was already getting

sick of being filthy all the time, and the tub was easily big enough for three.

When I was done I settled into the warm water with a sigh.

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“This is great,” Cerise said dreamily.

“I could stay in here all night,” Avilla agreed. She paused, and bit her lip.

I raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

“No,” she replied hesitantly. “At least, I hope not. Well, normally I’d be

subtle about this, and let things develop at their own pace. But your customs

are so different from ours that I’m afraid we’ll have some terrible

misunderstanding if we aren’t blunt, and I don’t want to risk it. I am very

aware that you have no obligations to me.”

I frowned. “I’m not going to abandon you to the monsters, Avilla. I like

you, and you’re important to Cerise, and besides all that I don’t want to lose

anyone if I have a choice. You know, you don’t have to buy my protection.”

Cerise frowned at me, but Avilla just nodded. “I understand. May I be

equally to the point?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

She shifted across the tub, and settled carefully onto my lap with her

knees beside my hips. Her eyes met mine from a few inches away.

“Daniel, I appreciate very much how careful you’ve been not to get

between Cerise and I. But we both want a man in our lives, and you don’t seem

nearly as interested as I’d hoped. Is there some reason you don’t find us

appealing?”

“What? No! Are you kidding me? Avilla, you’re both beautiful. You’re

like some kind of domestic porn goddess, and Cerise has the badass babe thing

down cold.”

“Then what is it?”

I sighed. “It’s complicated. Partly I was worried about the same thing you

were, misunderstandings caused by the culture gap, and I didn’t want to do

anything that might hurt one of you. But mostly I’m just not looking for a

relationship. I’d just found out my wife was cheating on me a few days before

Hecate’s call, and I suppose I’m not quite over it.”

“You have a wife?” Cerise asked, startled. “But I didn’t sense any… oh,

right. Had a wife, I guess. Wow, she must have been an idiot.”

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Avilla chewed her bottom lip consideringly. It was so adorable it was all

I could do not to kiss her.

“Well, that makes this difficult. I’m sorry, Daniel, and I don’t mean to

press you. But I think we’d best be clear about things. Cerise, are we agreed?”

Cerise moved to sit next to me, and nodded. “Yeah. I’m no good at this,

and I really don’t want things to get screwed up. We need to go all-in.”

“This sounds ominous,” I commented.

Avilla shook her head. “Maybe. But if you have doubts about our

trustworthiness it may help. You know Cerise and I are coven-sisters, right?

Well, we can’t form a proper coven with just the two of us. The high rituals all

call for at least three members, if not five. Even our personal magics are

terribly imbalanced right now. Cerise needs an anchor who can resist her

succubus charms, or she’ll never be able to fully master the power she’s

claimed. My domestic magic needs a mate to serve as a focus, and there’s

enough of a fertility aspect to it that it won’t work properly with another

woman.”

“Not unless I use that incubus transformation,” Cerise observed.

Avilla blushed brightly. “If you do that without an anchor you’ll lose

yourself, kitten. I’d lose dominance sooner or later, and you’d eat me, and then

we’d both be lost. Beside, why spend all that effort on desperate mystic

perversions when we’ve been lucky enough to find a man who can do the job?”

“So, you want me to join your coven?” I said slowly.

Avilla shook her head. “No, Daniel. We want you to lead our coven.”

“You always know what to do,” Cerise pointed out. “You can kick ass

like a god, too. We need you.”

“Our aspects compliment yours,” Avilla went on. “I’m nurture and

support, Cerise is infiltration and assassination. We can be strong together. If

you fear betrayal, we can make fidelity a part of our coven-bond. That, and

mutual trust and affection.”

“This sounds like a permanent commitment,” I observed.

Avilla nodded hesitantly. “Yes. Eventually. The best coven-bonds can’t

be undone. We don’t expect you to make a decision right now, Daniel. But

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please consider it.”

“We’ll make it worth your while,” Cerise added slyly, sliding over to

press her breasts into my side. Her hand began to wander down my belly, but

Avilla took it and put it on my shoulder.

“Down, kitten. You’ll get your attention soon.” She smiled indulgently.

I chuckled. “She does do a good sex kitten act, doesn’t she?”

“Oh, it’s no act,” Avilla corrected. “Silly kitten thought a succubus would

be an easy target for her first power theft ritual, and she’s been insatiable ever

since. Keeping her occupied is a terrible distraction, especially since I’m so

easy to seduce. I can’t count the number of times I’ve lost a whole day because

she didn’t want to get out of bed. Maybe that’s something else you could help

us with?”

“Yeah. You two are unbelievably tempting, you know that?”

They both giggled happily.

I shook my head. “This is a lot to take in. Cerise, is that what you were up

to earlier? Checking to see if I could counter your mind control powers?”

“Partly,” she admitted. “But I really do like to play like that. What do you

have against enchantment, anyway? It’s not like I was going to do anything you

wouldn’t like.”

I frowned. “You’re asking for an awful lot of trust from someone you’ve

only known a few days. For that matter, the same goes for this coven bond

thing. I’m surprised you want to jump into something like that so fast.”

“In a less desperate situation we might be more cautious,” Avilla

admitted. “But the way things are going, I don’t think we have the luxury of

being indecisive. Besides, it’s been a very eventful three days. We’ve already

seen most of the important things. You’re a bold leader of men with more than

enough power to protect us, yet you’re not ashamed to ask a woman for advice.

You’re considerate to a fault, but you don’t allow others to take advantage of

you.”

“You fuck like a god,” Cerise put in cheerily.

Avilla smiled slyly. “Oh, yes. We aren’t going to find a better man. But

Daniel, we can offer as much as we ask. A coven-bond can include almost any

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vow, and once taken it becomes unbreakable. Do you wish us to never desire

another man? To always hunger for your touch? To submit to your guidance in

all things? Ask anything you like of us, Daniel. You may be surprised at how

far we’re willing to go, and how little we ask in return.”

Her beautiful face was inches from mine, her firm breasts brushing

against my chest, and the memory of what the three of us had done just last