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The Beastmaker's Quest

UNICORN

The Unicorn. As far as mythical beings went, it was a popular one. She had heard stories of it as a child - not as many as those involving Theokrios, the Golden Ram, but a few, which was still pretty impressive considering how isolated her tribe had been, and how far they were from the Beastkin Lands where it was said to roam. The great library of Xangri-Du had turned up over a dozen such stories, not counting those that were obvious variants or retellings. And even then, once she had returned to her Seraglio, Lutra had been able to add several more - gems from the Beastkin Tribes' oral lore, unwritten and thus unfiled in any library in the world.

The stories varied from the fanciful and family-friendly, past tales of action and bloodshed, to a few that most decidedly weren't meant for children. The important thing, though, was the general themes they shared -that was where the Unicorn's true nature could be divined. The best and only hints she could find on how to find, approach, and deal with it. Or rather, him. Several of the stories made it fairly clear that the Unicorn was male... and, like both of the Divine Pets she had met so far, not uninterested in human (or Beastkin) women.

The most central theme in the stories about the Unicorn was his duality. As the pet of Vertanimis, the Great Hunter, God of the Wilds, he had been designed to be the Ultimate Prey... but also a hunter in his own right. Those who sought Vertanimis' favor by hunting the Unicorn always had to step carefully - or their moment of triumph could swiftly be their last, as the pure-white beast turned on them with threshing hooves and an all-piercing horn. Not, by itself, a good sign - with such an aggressive demeanor, any diplomatic overture would have to be made with great care. But it was better to be forewarned than to blunder in blindly!

The same logic applied to her study of the more... mature stories about the Unicorn, of course. Certainly, she didn't read them for some kind of erotic thrill! Considering that she had a fully-staffed Harem, filled with a rainbow's variety of Consorts, all eager to satisfy her least desire, masturbating in her chair while reading a dirty book would be just silly, oh-ho-ho! And certainly, history suggested that she'd wind up having to deal with the Unicorn's sexual predilections, one way or another - so again, best to know what she was getting into!

Again, though, there was a common theme, and it didn't mesh well with Sayn - or anyone else she knew. Namely, the Unicorn was known to be extraordinarily fond of virgins... they, more than anything, seemed to bring out the aspect of the hunter in him, perhaps because it was a chance to claim a unique trophy, or perhaps just because virgins were a rare beast to begin with. (And had certainly become more so as Sayn's wanton attitude exercised a liberating influence on the general sexual mores of the continent.) If it turned out that she actually_needed_ a virgin in order to draw the Unicorn's attention, she honestly had no idea where to find one. (Her government could probably rustle up a few, but putting out a call for virgin sacrifices always seemed to give a leader a bad name!)

One particularly interesting story had a Beastkin virgin (tribe uncertain, there were several variants of the tale, and it always seemed to use a female from a tribe neighboring the teller's) unwarily wander through the woods alone, intending to meet an ardent suitor. Noises in the underbrush and the tracks of a dangerous beast - torn-up ground, broken trees and large cuts in boulders - frighten her off the path, and soon she is lost in the woods and night is falling. Then the Unicorn appears before her in a clearing, resplendent with his pure white coat and gleaming, golden mane, and offers to guide her safely home to her tribe... if she will but give him a single drop of her virgin blood in return.

The girl thoughtlessly agrees, and in a flash, the Unicorn knocks her down on all four and mounts her. His rampaging, equine cock takes her virginity, drawing a drop of blood from her torn maidenhood - the wages she promised him, without thinking to ask where or how it would be claimed. Once he's had his fun and blown his load in her womb, and she has recovered from the shock, he agreeably begins to guide her back towards the village as she staggers alongside him, bow-legged from his girth. It is slow going, however, and the night is only growing darker.

Seeing this, the Unicorn asks her if she would care to ride him the rest of the way back to the village. Tired and sore, she once again agrees without a thought. In a flash, she finds herself strapped beneath the Unicorn's belly, his cock lodged in her throat, and can only watch his large, full balls jump and dance as he begins to canter along. With her mouth and throat sliding back and forth across his shaft, the Unicorn soon empties those dangling spheres right into her belly. However, along the way, the vantage also allows the girl to notice that the tracks the Unicorn leaves as he dashes through the forest rather resemble those she fled in fear of earlier... and that there are wood-splinters in the white coat near his rear hooves.

When they reach the village outskirts, the Unicorn releases the girl - who did, after all, ride him... just 'beneath him' instead of 'on him'. Once she'd done coughing and spitting and back on her feet, she glances up at his famous horn, and sees that there are rock-fragments clinging to its delicate spiral pattern. Realizing that he was the beast who scared her off the path earlier, and thus got her lost, she decries his behavior and accuse him of cheating her.

Hanging his head, the Unicorn asks if he should thus consider their bargain ended? With the village bonfires within easy sight, she heatedly says yes... and in the next moment is knocked down by the Unicorn, who then proceeds to mound her once again, and this time stretch open her virgin tail-hole - reminding her as he does so that with their deal dissolved, he no longer has any obligation to lead her home safely. And an unprotected woman walking alone in the woods at night, well, she should be lucky to get away with just this!

By the time her screams raise the village's warriors from their slumber and draws them near, the Unicorn has finished his business and planted his seed in her ass as well - then dashed away, laughing all the way. Soon afterwards, she finds herself reunited with her young suitor, who had been filled with worry and dread after she had failed to appear at their rendezvous. However, when he sees what the Unicorn has made of her, he immediately breaks off their relationship. "Where the Unicorn's column has passed through, a normal man like I will have little to do!" he declared.

The final line of the story held the punchline - invariably stating that the girl subsequently moved to a neighboring tribe (the storyteller's, obviously) and there found no shortage of lovers capable of 'filling her needs'. Ah, the eternal romance of the male dick-measuring contest! The whole thing was, of course, horrid; from the rape-through-trickery (and plain old rape-through-brute-force) to the idea of the girl being 'ruined for marriage' by the experience, and - as the crowning piece of twisted morality - the idea that a girl who walks around alone at night should consider herself lucky if she just_gets raped. It all came together to provide the story with a sort of bile-fascination in Sayn's eyes. And, well, one of the versions of it she found had some _really lurid and detailed descriptions of the three virginity-losing incidents...

Regardless, if that story was at least somewhat true to life, the Unicorn was clearly a clever beast - quite capable of subterfuge, trickery and laying traps. Also clearly amoral and venal... he had, after all, carried out every agreement to the letter, and it was only the girl's 'foolish' assumption of good faith on his part that had allowed him to have his way with her. All useful information for someone who intended to bargain with the Unicorn! Useful enough to justify one more read-through, perhaps... just in case there were some... detail or other that she had missed...

Those studies were in the past, however, as she soared over the great pine forest, wind in her hair. She had picked the Unicorn for her next mark because, while there was no information to be had about its precise whereabouts, its general location could be narrowed down to a fairly small geographical area. It had always stuck to the forests and jungles of the Beastkin territories - and those had shrunk significantly in recent centuries, thanks to human land-grabs. Most of those ancestral lands had now been handed back over to their original tribes, but replanting the clear-cut or burned-down forests would be the work of decades. (She had offered to send some human mages to help speed things up, but the Beastkin-tribes had politely declined, and she didn't blame them.)

And so, with such a relatively small piece of the map to work with, tracking down the Unicorn with a simple, brute-force approach was entirely possible - and as The Beastmaker, she had access to a lot of brute force. She'd started by flying around to every tribal village that her Great Winged Beast could reasonably land in, questioning the Elders, Chieftains or Shamans who were, inevitably, brought wide-eyed before her in short order about recent Unicorn-sightings. Based on what she had thus heard (or not heard), she'd narrowed the search-area to a particular region.

It was a mountainous area covered in dense, dark-green fir-trees, in the northern parts of the Territories - snow-choked in the winter, but quite pleasant at this time of year. It was also the perfect place for an elusive beast to hide - the majority of the area belonged to the Wolfkin and Bearkin, both fierce and fearless warrior tribes. Historically, they had often been at odds, fighting along the tribal borders, albeit in a 'respected rival' sort of way, rather than a 'blood-feud' kind of way. However, when humanity started making incursions into their territory, they had united and stood shoulder to shoulder against the invaders in a no-doubt dramatic and heart-warming display of solidarity and fierce determination. And, unfortunately-yet-predictably, been summarily slaughtered.

The two tribes persevered, of course, but their numbers would not soon recover, leaving their territories sparsely populated. Many villages had been abandoned entirely in order to concentrate their surviving populations for more efficient... replenishment. Something they seemed to be going at with a gusto, she noted when she landed in a Wolfkin village to ask for sightings. Quite a few huts had some loud panting and occasional howling coming from them, even though it was in the middle of the day, and virtually every female she saw - who wasn't a hanging off her mother's skirts or staggering around supported by a cane - seemed to be pregnant.

With her search-area narrowed as much as it would get, it was time for the 'brute force' to play in. From her flier, she scattered dozens of compact scout-constructs over the trees - simplified, mass-produced versions of the jungle-scouts she had designed on Flower-Dragon islands and used with advantage in the jungles of the Southern Continent, though designed to be a bit more flexible in terms of operational environment. Equal parts monkey and squirrel, they leaped and swung through the forest, searching for tracks, signs, or glimpses of the Unicorn himself. A handful of small fliers were also sharing the skies with her, darting around to peer down into every clearing and abandoned village square, seeing all that could be seen from above.

The search was slow, methodical and rather boring, but within a handful of hours, it bore fruit. One of the speedy little scouts spotted a flash of white near a cool mountain stream, and was immediately directed for a (careful, stealthy) closer look - finding their prey drinking his fill from the clear water. Of course, finding him was only half of it, and now it was time to redirect the other beasts she'd brought. Basic, four-legged critters, variously based on wolves, foxes and oversized rodents - many of them the veterans of a dozen battles from her early career. She had elected to take them out of storage instead of bringing her intimidating Elite Beasts on the reasoning that their construction - of mainly wood, vines and woven grass - would provide them with far-better camouflage in the forests. (She'd still brought a couple from the Iron Brigade, though, just in case the Unicorn proved... kicky. They'd be hanging back unless they were needed, though.)

They had set out from the Palace at the same time she had, and while she'd swiftly outdistanced them on her Great Winged Beast, they had kept loping along steadily. While she'd been hop-skipping around the entire Beastkin territories, questioning Elders and Shamans, they'd caught up - and now they were lying in wait nearby, motionless, blending into the surrounding forest so flawlessly that a few of them had birds roosting on top of them. (And in one misfortunate case, trying to build a nest inside it.) One of the larger ones was ordered forwards to be her improvised steed - her famous Golden Beast was still parked back at the palace - and met her in the nearest clearing large enough to accommodate her flying transportation.

She intercepted the Unicorn shortly after it had left the stream. He bolted the moment he saw her, but before he had taken two galloping steps, another of her beasts appeared out of the underbrush before him, baring its flint-shard teeth. Displaying astounding agility, the Unicorn somehow managed to redirect his vast inertia, tearing large rends in the forest floor as he dashed off at a sharp angle... only to find another beast baring his path. More beasts appeared from behind the trees and climbed up on hillocks or boulders, encircling him completely, leaving him with nowhere to run. The dense fir-trees with their low-hanging branches prevented any of the spectacular leaping that the Unicorn was famed for.

The large creature froze, halfway between bounding and turning, finally giving her a good look at him. He was, as the stories said, essentially a large, pure-white stallion, the size of a draft-horse but with the sleek, whiplike musculature of a racehorse. His tail and mane were streaming gold, a goat-like beard hung from his chin, and as a final, odd detail, his hooves were cloven like those of an ox, sheep or goat, rather than uniform like a horse's. His eyes, sapphire-blue, were piercing and alive with razor-sharp intelligence - and, currently, fixing on her with an expression of annoyance, even as his pose eased and he turned towards her.

"The Beastmaker, correct? Word of your accomplishments have reached my ears. And since all these... creatures were given life by your powers, I suppose I must call this a fair hunt - though it still seems more than a little unsporting." He snorted dismissively in the direction of the nearest beast, who ignored him like only a pile of tied-together branches and twigs could. Sayn nodded, conceding the point. "Well, I will apologize for not giving you the thrilling chase I know you would prefer, noble Unicorn - but I have business with you, and I am in somewhat of a hurry." Well, technically, she wasn't REALLY in a hurry - the Elves were in no danger of dying out today or tomorrow, or anywhere within the next decade for that matter... she mostly just couldn't be arsed to go harrying through the woods after the a supernaturally swift-and-agile beast like the Unicorn. But that was hardly a diplomatic way to put it.

The Unicorn shrugged, rolling his massive shoulders. "Business, is it? Fine. Speak - I am listening." She started to explain how, in her quest to save the Elves, she'd come to conclude that the aid of some of the 'Divine Pets' would be vital, but she didn't get a chance to go into any great detail. Fury was written clear across the Unicorn's equine face before she was halfway done, his sapphire eyes burning like blue fire now. "The Elves... that is what you corner me for? You want ME to help you save the _ ELVES _?" The last bit came out as a roar that shook the surrounding trees, sending showers of pine-needles to the forest floor and clouds of birds fleeing confused into the skies. Sayn winced.

"Do you know how many times those thrice-damned Elves hunted me? How many times they bled me, marring my hide?" He was stalking towards her as he ranted, spittle flying from his muzzle, and despite the raw power she had concentrated around this place, in the form of her devoted creations, Sayn instinctively recoiled from his outrage, letting the beast she was still sitting on the back of take several steps back. "But... isn't being hunted part of your purpose?" she finally managed to ask, confused at the Unicorn's vehemence. The question, at least, managed to halt his advance - instead straightened up, golden mane streaming, snorting angrily in reply.

"You really do not understand, do you? Pah. I am supposed to be hunted, yes, but_honorably_. In times past, men of the Master's Tribes would stalk me, bow and arrow of their own crafting in hand, dancing around dry twigs and rustling leaves as they sought that one, perfect shot. This was right. This was pure. Those few who could do it, putting even a scratch on my hide, were rewarded well - gifted with a Spark of the Divine by the Master himself, and inducted into the House of Hunters, alongside his own children." As he spoke, the Unicorn twisted his neck around to look fondly down at a barely-perceptible line on one of his flanks - an old scar, and apparently an honorable one.

Then the head whipped back around again, fixing her with burning eyes once more. "But those Elves... damn their eyes! They would hunt me from the backs of enslaved Griffons, with gilt arrows and gem-encrusted bows, crafted and enchanted for their use. 'The Sport of Kings', they called it, as if to mock the very essence of the true_HUNT_." The last bit was like the hiss of an angry viper, and made her shudder involuntarily. Unsurprisingly, it seemed like the concept of a 'proper hunt' was very, very important to the pet of the Great Hunter Vertanimis. Perhaps she was lucky that he had not taken greater offense at the methods she had used.

Still, she could not give up that easily. She spoke to him passionately of how the times had changed, how the Elves had already been punished aplenty, what with the fall of their empire and the death of more than nine tenths of their original population. It was a new era now, a time to move forwards without the lingering resentments of the past - an age of forgiveness and mercy! The Unicorn was unimpressed, snorting dismissively and rolling his eyes. Clearly, the 'New Era' meant little to an immortal being who had spent thousands of years wandering the wilderness of the Beastkin-lands.

Increasingly desperate, she finally tried the same tack that had won the day when she'd faced Quetzalcoatl - an appeal on a more personal level, dismissing the grand matters of Ages and species. An Elf-maid was among her Consorts, a dear friend and lover, and a good, earnest, hard-working person, whose devotion to the restoration of her people was impossible to ignore... and somehow, even though she hadn't really expected it to work, this made the Unicorn look at her with suddenly-keen interest.

"An Elf-maid, you say? How nice... and knowing them, they wouldn't have sent just anyone. A princess, am I right? The old King had many daughters, I remember hearing, so I'm sure they still have a few to spare..." There was something faintly menacing about his sudden, casual interest - and not just the obvious insincerity behind it. Still, it was the only 'in' she had, so she confirmed that her Consort was, indeed, a princess of the ancient Elven Royal Family. With studied thoughtfulness, the Unicorn nodded. "I see, I see, indeed I see... I am sure these matters look quite different when you are speaking of an individual, a friend, and not an... abstraction, a 'people'. Perhaps if I had a chance to meet an Elf under... friendlier circumstances, get to know her, I would be more kindly disposed towards them."

Sayn shuddered at the sense of venom-laced honey that covered his words. She'd felt like this before, once or twice... on the battlefield, when she spotted a nasty trap ahead, yet realized that she had no real choice but to simply tear through it and try to minimize the damage. She had left a lot of burned and broken beasts behind on the battlefield on those occasions. Gritting her teeth, she nodded. "Very well, then. If I bring her - Thielwen, my friend and Consort - to see you, you will then consider my plea for assistance?" The Unicorn grandly nodded. "I most certainly will!" Which, of course, meant absolutely nothing since he had only promised to 'consider' it. She had a sinking feeling that the story she'd read had been depressingly true to life...

And so, shortly after returning to her Palace - and her Seraglio - she invited Thielwen into her chambers and told her about her encounter with the irate Unicorn. The Elf-maid looked stricken as she listened to the account, grimacing in that by-now familiar way that she always did when the past sins of her kind were brought up. "I kind of remember my father and my brothers talking about it... hunting was not considered a suitable pursuit for women..." she mumbled, looking down. Then she visibly steeled herself, and looked up. "Of course, I will go with you, and meet the Unicorn. If your fears are correct and he wishes me ill... then I will endure his anger. The words I said to you on our... first night together, I very much meant them, and I have no intention of taking them back.

Sayn sat back and sighed, nodding slightly. She'd figured on this kind of reaction. "Yeah... I just hope you're ready for what it might mean. I was_tempted_, certainly... got all kinds of amusing mental images when you threw yourself at me like that... but I knew it'd be wrong to take advantage. I doubt the Unicorn will be as restrained." Thielwen nodded seriously, but then quirked an eyebrow and flashed her a smile. Her face looked a lot nicer like that, than when she maintained the kind of 'aloof beauty' look that her own people expected of their ladies, Sayn thought. "Tempted, were you? And with amusing mental images, even? How interesting..."

Chuckling, Sayn returned the grin. "Oh yes, I specifically remember imagining you tied down to a wooden horse and being mounted by Achidias. No idea why, since I've never owned such an instrument." Thielwen winced visibly, but still maintained a lopsided smile. "Oh, I might have an answer for that - it probably popped in your head because you'd heard, at some point, about how my kind used to apply that exact tool to punish lazy slaves... meaning, of course, humans. An act of ironic justice, as such, though I am still quite happy you decided not to go there."

Sayn stroked her chin thoughtfully, nodding. That could, indeed, be the case - but more than that, it was nice to see the way Thielwen had learned to cope with her people's dark past: Openly admitting their misdeeds, without attempting to minimize or hide them, but also not letting the guilt overwhelm her. Once, a long time ago, she had been party to a great many misdeeds - if not terribly directly, considering her role as a pampered princess, unlikely to get particularly hands-on in the discipline of slaves and persecution of other races - but now she knew better. She would work hard to find absolution for both her own sins and those of her race, but she would not let them consume her. It was an optimistic sight, and an attitude that Sayn fiercely hoped could be exported to the rest of Elvenkind's survivors - some of whom were still clinging to badly-outdated attitudes, alas.

"Well, if that's the case, maybe the other image I had, of your on your knees, servicing Lutra with your tongue, must have been some kind of premonition..." she said teasingly, and was rewarded with a slight blush. Despite the loud depravity Thielwen got up to with the other members of her Harem on a near-daily basis, the prim-and-proper-looking Elf still found it hard to talk about such matters outside of the heat of the moment. Not that she couldn't or didn't, mind - she just tended to look adorably embarrassed and flustered when she did. "Although, as I recall, I was picturing you licking her pussy, not her ass, so I guess my prophetic powers remain unimpressive!" The blush deepened and subtly shifted at that, becoming less embarrassed and more... aroused. Her delicately-shaped lips parted, and her little pink tongue darted out to quickly wet them, as if the mere mentioned had made her instinctively seek to prepare herself.

Lifting an eyebrow, Sayn chuckled and shook her head. "Hey, Thielwen... what IS up with you and ass-licking? I mean, I've been known to go there myself, from time to time, and it can be good fun under the right circumstances... but you seem to be enjoying it on a whole 'nother level." Something about that statement seemed to tease a sore spot in her memory for a split second. Had she really never enjoyed that act to such a degree herself? Then the moment passed, and she just enjoyed the sight of Thielwen's luminescent blush and the way her legs were shifting, a growing wetness no doubt hiding between them.

"Oh, I cannot really say why it... arouses me the way it does. Maybe the sense of forbidden depravity it carries with it is part of it, or it could be because that exact act represented the first step I took on my own into the world of sensual pleasures..." Sayn nodded. That last bit was Lutra's main theory about the matter - and, arguably, her fault, since she was the one who had mockingly offered to teach Thielwen of her 'sexual arts' if she'd lick her ass in return... and been surprised by the Elf-maid's immediate agreement. Fanning herself with one hand, however, Thielwen doggedly forged on. "I think, however, that the smell is a main component. Humans aside, everyone in this harem has a scent-gland or something similar in that area, and I have a rather sharp nose..."

Her eyes looked unfocused now and she was licking her lips again, probably without realizing it. "Especially on the men... Achidias and T'keshi... it is such an intense, masculine smell. So... heady and overpowering." Sayn nodded, feeling herself begin to mirror Thielwen's obviously-growing arousal. She didn't know about the two guys, but even her nose was certainly sharp enough to have noticed that Lutra's asshole always smelled like freshly-cut grass, presumably because of her scent-gland.

Thielwen, seeming to compose herself a bit, then grimaced. "And, well, on top of all that... it is one act that I feel could silence anyone who calls me 'arrogant' or 'stuck-up'. Though I fear, if I was to try and do it to everyone liable to call me so, my tongue would fall off before I finished." It was clearly meant as a joke, but it came out with a bitter edge, and Sayn could only half-smile at it. After all, she had been among that group until Thielwen's earnest dedication snapped her out of it. (It hadn't actually taken a rimjob to do it, but she'd certainly enjoyed more than one from the increasingly-skillful Elf since!)

Apparently seeking to salvage the suddenly-cooling atmosphere, Thielwen smiled at her nervously. "Um. So, did you have any other amusing thoughts about me, back then?" The return to this earlier subject made Sayn blink. Then she nodded, thinking back, and felt the naughty grin return to her face. "Oh yeah... now that you mention it, there was one more. I remember thinking about tying you down, bent over the foot of my bed with your ass in the air, and spanking you until my handprint was engraved on that ivory-white rear of yours in bright red."

Thielwen leaned forwards eagerly at that, eyes intent. "Oh, the 'spanking'! I have not yet reached that point in my studies, but I have heard that Lutra is highly skilled at it." Sayn laughed, letting her eyes pan up as she thought back, then glanced down with a broad grin. "Oh, she is. Very good indeed. She's taught me a few things, too, but I've rarely had the chance to practice. Well, you know me, I prefer to be at the bottom of things, mostly. Something about you seem to have just... roused my dominant side, back then."

Then she grinned, leaning forwards to bring her face close to Thielwen's while letting her hand caress the Elf's smooth knee, hitching up the hem of her dress as she did so. "And something about you still is." Whether it was because of that slim, lightweight physique, which made the Elf look so delightfully easy to manhandle and throw around (although, of course, she was far, far stronger and tougher than her frame suggested, being an Elf and all), or the eagerness with which she submitted to anyone who'd let her have a taste of their ass, Thielwen was the one member of her Harem that she felt no desire to submit to - and occasionally, as now, felt a strong desire to bend over her knee. Which was exactly what she did.

After planting a quick kiss on those moist, eagerly-parted lips to start things off right, she simply leaned back and dragged Thielwen off her chair and across her knees. "Time for a new lesson, then..." she growled, pulling the Elf's elegant dress up to expose her naked bum. Fortunately, it wasn't one of those conservative, ankle-length ones that she had arrived with - otherwise, that particularly maneuver would have taken long enough to be dreadfully awkward. Rather, it was one of the ones she'd commissioned from the Imperial Dressmaker, in a comparatively daring cut - with a knee-length skirt, a plunging neckline, and a built-in corset that ensured said neckline actually had something to show off.

Of course, that wasn't actually all THAT daring, by non-Elven standards, but Lutra - ever the mischievous spirit - had put in an extra order on her own. Ensuring that in addition to the expected, Thielwen had also received a dress cut low enough to invite nip-slips every time she turned around, and short enough to reveal her naked bum to the slightest breeze. That same Lutra had then been surprised when Thielwen turned up at her chambers that same night, wearing that skimpy excuse for a dress - and shown the vivacious Otterkin exactly how much she had learned so far, and how much difference an Elvish endurance made. That was the night, everyone agreed, where Thielwen had once and for all graduated from being the butt of the Harem's occasional rounds of pranks and mischief, to being an active participant.

That memory rolled randomly through Sayn's mind as she began to spank Thielwen, letting her empty hand fall on the rather flat, ivory-white surface of those flawless buttocks with a loud, sharp smack - trying to remember everything she'd learned about a good spanking, from Lutra and others. (Usually by being on the receiving end of one, but hey, that was a fine way to study, wasn't it?) Well, she certainly clearly remembered what had made her shudder and moan. Variety was key - mixing some gentle slaps and a few caresses in with the real zingers, moving around to avoid favoring a single area too much... that sort of thing.

Certainly, based on the way Thielwen was panting and moaning, it was having the desired effect - and that oh-so-fair skin proved just as easy to mark as she'd hoped. The actual palm-impressions soon faded into a general reddening of the entire buttock-region, but that was fine - the shade of bright-red, so pure it seemed to be glowing, was worth looking at all by itself. She took a few seconds to just admire it, here and there, letting her hand drop to caress the soaking-wet labia beneath as she did so. This predictably raised the pitch of the moaning.

Finally, her arm-muscles and palm stinging, she lowered her hand, regarding her finished handiwork. It was like a partial rainbow, going from a hot pink near the edges of the twin plateaus where she hadn't touched much, across increasingly-intense shades of red, to darkening purple at the center of each ass-cheek. She hadn't really hit _that_hard, she thought, but Thielwen really did seem to bruise extraordinarily easily. The sore, reddened flesh shivered under her touch as she caressed it, a final time, then she clicked her tongue. "Right, lesson over... you seem to be picking it up right quickly." Indeed, the Elf's enjoyment was clear just from the way Sayn's pant-leg had been soaked through by free-flowing juices.

"Ooh... please... may I get off, please? My slutty pussy is aching... I need to cum..." Thielwen's voice was slurred, as it tended to be when she was in the throes of lust and digging into her impressively-varied 'dirty talking' vocabulary. Sayn grinned down at her, knowing from her own, extensive experience as a submissive, that it would be far too easy to simply grant such a request. "Oh... not so quick..." she said, lacing her voice with a far more erotic brand of authority than the one she used in court. "You need to go around to everyone else in the Harem first - they should all be here today. Show them my handiwork, and tell them that you have begun a new line of study - and that you would be happy for any assistance they could give you. Get a solid slap from anyone with hands. Come back here afterwards, and I will let you eat my ass until you are sated."

Then she shoved the lightweight girl off her knees, and grinned as she watched her stagger to her feet and, her dress coquettishly dropping to conceal her glowing-red ass, out the door with a grateful "Yes, Mistress... thank you, Mistress..." It made Sayn feel a bit funny to be referred to that way. Presumably, she had learned that from Lutra, too - her regular dirty-talking teacher. She would definitely do it, too - and there wasn't even any need to order her not to masturbate until then. When she had just taken her first, shaky steps into the Seraglio's world of sensual pleasures, her own fingers had been too rough and uncertain to do so effectively - leading her to frequent desperation as she sought a more skilled partner, be they male or female, Centaur or Beastkin. Perhaps in memory of the various interesting situations that had arisen from that, she had created a rule for herself, and stuck to it even now: She would only masturbate when ordered to by someone she was currently having sex with, or while she was licking ass.

Figuring on getting a bit of work done while waiting for Thielwen to complete her assignment - the documents on her desk seemed to grow copiously even during such a relatively brief absence as her recent trip to the Beastkin Territories - she found herself distracted by that last thought, and remembering with a grin how Lutra, in a beautiful display of the philosopher's art, had used Thielwen's rule to settle a question that had haunted her since before she left her native lands. Specifically, when she'd found the lusty Elf squatting behind the newly-arrived Slira, Sirrush Consort to the Beastmaker, tongue buried in the reptilian female's cloaca, and fingers buried in her own pussy. From that, she had concluded that oral sex with someone who had a cloaca - instead of the split-up asshole/pussy arrangement most species sported - was equivalent to a rimjob, NOT to cunnilingus.

When Sayn, impressed by this unassailable logic, had asked if this brought her any closer to determining whether cloaca-equipped females (including the Sirrush and a couple of Beastkin-tribes) couldn't have anal sex, or couldn't not, though, she had only been able to shake her head sadly and admit that more research was required. Chuckling at the memory and forced to admit that she wouldn't be getting much of any work done, she sat back in her chair and thought for a bit about how remarkably well Slira had integrated with the Harem, considering what an oddity she was even in such a varied group.

Well, considering the Swift-Claw's wanton love of cock, preferably big ones, it hadn't been much of a surprise that she'd hit it off with Achidias and K'teshi. But what Sayn had failed to notice during her relatively brief stay among the Sharptooth Tribes of the Southern Continent's vast jungles was that they had just as relaxed an attitude towards homosexuality as towards sexuality in general - in other words, gay and lesbian relationship was treated no different from any other, and could be freely pursued by anyone who felt like it... openly, in the streets, where anyone could see, since that was how they treated sexuality in general, after all.

And as it turned out, while Slira's main pursuit always had been 'big cocks', she'd taken the time out of her busy schedule to have a few lesbian flings, 'just for variety's sake'. Of course, in a species whose mouths and fingertips were all lined with deadly weapons, lesbian pursuit was a risky, high-skill hobby! So Slira had taken the Advanced Oral Sex course offered by the village - a step beyond the one required to get the special 'Head-pattern' of body-paint, since it also included techniques for tongue-diving in the cloacas of males and females alike.

The idea of an established, rigorously-examined set of coursework on the subject of oral sex remained hilarious to Sayn - and the rest of the Harem - but the results spoke for themselves! Even with the slight awkwardness of adapting to her new friends' strange double-orifice configuration, Slira's oral skills were exceptional. Her long, rough tongue could push into pussy or ass with equal ease, twisting and writhing like a living snake - or like a moist, muscular, prehensile dick. It took quite a bit of faith to let her use her skills fully, though - since that generally meant that she was pushing her head forwards to the point where your groin was entirely inside her fanged maw, enabling her to use her tongue right to the root. She had yet to even scratch anyone with her impressive collection of fangs, though - further testament to the value of a thorough education.

The sun had sunk a bit in the sky, and Sayn still hadn't gotten much work done, when Thielwen staggered back in the door. Her dress was askance, her hair was mussed, there were suspicious encrustations on her face - particularly around her mouth - and she was walking even more unsteadily than when she left. There was a big grin on her face as Sayn welcomed her back. "They all said the coloration was beautiful... especially Slira... she went on about how she couldn't get enough of us 'exotic smoothskins'..." Sayn grinned and nodded - she'd imagined so. Never mind not having an actual ass - the Sirrush's rough, leathery skin basically couldn't bruise, so this entire kink was alien to them.

"And you got a complimentary slap from everyone who could?" She purred, feeling her own desires rising afresh as she looked over Thielwen's bedraggled state. The Elf-girl nodded eagerly and turned around, hitching up her dress to show off a rear end whose color had not at all diminished - if anything, it was redder than before. "From all of them!" She exclaimed, shuddering as she felt Sayn's eyes on her. "K'teshi whipped me with his wingtips, and Slira used her tail... as did Ori, and that thing at the end of his tail gave it an amazing sting." Sure enough, in addition to the hand-marks, there were a number of straight, whip-like marks criss-crossing the smooth surface - along with some patches of scale-like imprints that could only be from Ori's tail-bud. It annoyed Sayn a bit that _she_hadn't thought of those possibilities - especially since she'd been on the receiving end of tail-whippings before - but she certainly couldn't fault the results.

She also noticed the fresh juices gleaming on Thielwen's thighs, and the swollen, slightly-gaping conditions of the sphincter that sat between those well-tanned circles. "Had any trouble getting them all to contribute?" she asked with a lopsided smile, already knowing the answer. Thielwen shuddered, still obediently standing there and showing off her ass for inspection. "Not... much. Lutra wanted me to get her off a few times first. Achidias insisted on fucking my tight ass first, saying he couldn't resist such a colorful target... but don't worry, he knew I wasn't allowed to cum until I'd completed my task, so he only did it for a little while and then let me finish him off with my mouth." Sayn grimaced slightly at that - unlike her, Thielwen had no particular reluctance about going ass-to-mouth, though she also didn't fetishize it the way she did with ass-licking.

Rising from her chair, she walked over to caress the tenderized tissue, drawing fresh shudders as her fingertips gently ran over the sore skin. Then she reached up and undid the ribbon running up the back of the dress, loosening the corset and allowing her to swiftly pull the wrinkled thing off. Like much of the rest of her relationship with Thielwen, it had an exciting sensation of newness to it - undressing a shivering, submissive woman and watching her stand naked before you, awaiting your pleasure? Usually she was on the other side of that equation.

Stepping forwards, she pushed Thielwen's slim body against the smooth wood of the door with her own. She let her hands run in a tickling caress up the Elf-girl's flanks and across her stomach, while whispering in her ear "You've done well... now, remind me, what did you want for a reward?" Thielwen moaned, head half-turned and her cheek flat against the wooden door. Her eyes were cloudy and unfocused - a lust-hazed look that Sayn knew perfectly well she had worn herself on any number of occasions. But she still clearly had no trouble accessing her 'dirty talking' skills. "Ooh... I want to taste your ass... I want to push my tongue up your dirtpipe as far as it can go... mmm... please, let me worship your ass, meet your sphincter with my dirty, slutty lips..."

Sayn couldn't help but laugh. No matter how many times she heard it, seeing such crude language from such an Elf-maid just never failed to incite a combination of amusement and arousal. Thielwen, with her classic 'Elven Princess' looks, had the appearance of someone who belonged in a 'High Romance' novel - filled with purple prose, heaving sighs and stolen looks. Someone whose most daring scene might have her flashing her naked ankles at a particularly favored suitor, or allowing an ardent admirer to steal a brief, chaste kiss. Not someone who hides a freshly-spanked bottom under her dress and uses words like 'dirtpipe'.

She quickly dragged the naked, unresisting elf over to her bed, throwing her down on her back there, and then stripped off her own clothing before climbing aboard as well. Thielwen was panting eagerly and licking her lips as Sayn squatted over her head, lowering her rear down on that classically-sculpted face, and that by-now well-trained tongue flickered out to caress the descending sphincter before she had even fully seated herself. With her knees spread around the Elf's narrow shoulders, she glanced down her spine at the halo of golden hair and hazy, emerald-green eyes poking out from under her buttocks, and grinned. "I like doing it this way... means I can watch you play with yourself while you work." She was answered only by a predictably-muffled groan.

Sure enough, even as she enjoyed the sensation of a wet tongue dancing agilely around her sphincter, poking and prodding, she could watch Thielwen's slender, long-fingered hands descend to between her widely-splayed legs, eagerly digging into the wet hole between them. The labia, thick with desire, could not have been wetter if the Elf had come straight from a bath, and the questing fingers created obscene, sloshing sounds as they worked.

Sayn, of course, couldn't resist throwing in her own little contribution - without the assistance of a good corset, Thielwen's tits were vague mounds at best, but each of them was crown with a hard little nipple, and those were always fun to play with. Tugging, twisting, pinching... a shame her position wouldn't allow her to suck on them. Still, her efforts were clearly appreciated, and the first few orgasms were already rolling through the Elf-girl, who remained as quick and continuous in her climaxes as she had on the first night she and Sayn had spent together. This being the case, she had apparently taught her tongue to move on autopilot, ensuring that it never strayed from whatever mission it was on, even as climactic ecstasy made the Elf's body buck and shudder.

A faint noise made Sayn look up. The door to her chamber had slid open on its silent, well-oiled hinges, letting a breath of the warm evening air inside - along with Korlin, the only person other than Sayn herself who could command the door's sealing-enchantments. The Kirin had a playful smile on her lips as she lifted one finger towards them, and Sayn quickly nodded her understanding. As soon as the door had swung closed behind her - just as silently as it had opened - Korlin's elegant, almost ecclesiastical robes simply vanished, and the now-naked Kirin walked soundlessly towards the bed on bare feet.

Thielwen, fully-occupied with drilling her tongue into Sayn's ass and shuddering in orgasm every couple of minutes, noticed nothing - even as Korlin climbed into bed with them and positioned herself between her wide-open thighs, her cock out and proudly erect. The two of them exchanged a mischievous smile as Sayn reached down to pull Thielwen's hands away from her sopping-wet pussy. A pitiful groan emerged from beneath as she was denied her usual masturbation, vibrating against Sayn's sphincter - but there was no resistance in those hands, and no attempt to pull away from Sayn's grip.

With the agility of a consummate lover, Korlin slid on top of the prone Elf-maid - conveniently positioning herself to lick and suck on Sayn's own, lust-hardened nipples in the process. Thielwen stiffened momentarily as she felt the surprising presence of a hot, thick cock in her hungrily-throbbing pussy - then her hips rose from the sheets to meet it, lifted by a spine curling in pleasure. The tongue dancing in Sayn's asshole seemed inspired by a new inrush of energy, its activities reaching a new level of frenzied hunger.

It was hardly a wonder - Korlin was grinding her hips against Thielwen's with supreme skill, frequently gyrating her hips and shifting her legs to alter her angle of entry, making sure that the caress of her thick, hard cock reached every inch of the tight, Elfin cunt. The taut, skinny body beneath them was shuddering and jumping in night-permanent orgasmic bliss, suggesting that the always quick-firing Elf-girl had been entirely overwhelmed by the Kirin's centuries of sexual experience. Sayn could feel a powerful orgasm build in her own stomach, a concentration of the bright points of pleasure twin tongues were sparking from her nipples and sphincter.

It dawned on her, as she watched Korlin labor so skillfully, that she'd never seen the Kirin use her dick on anybody else in the Harem. When the two of them were together, it was almost always out - but exactly because of that, Korlin tended to favor her female form when carousing with the others; either working off some after-work stress impaled on the dicks of Achidias, K'teshi, or - more recently - Orichaniel, or just enjoying some languid, sapphic delights with Aishee, Lutra or Thielwen, featuring lots of fluttering fingers and tender kisses. If she was pulling it out now... clearly, like herself, Korlin felt the need to give the Elf-girl a night to remember, before she was thrown to the proverbial wolves.

Soon, Sayn came, moaning quietly, hands clutching Korlin's head to her breast. Korlin herself was not far behind, shooting her first load of the evening into Thielwen's fallow womb. Far from the end, though, this was simply the starting-bell - the sign for them to start shifting to new positions, dragging the pleasure-blinded Thielwen along. At first she just ragdolled around, getting pounded by Korlin's cock in various orifices and automatically licking whenever her mouth was placed near a wet pussy or puckered asshole - but after an hour or so, she seemed to hit some kind of critical mass. With pupils so large they seemed to consume her eyes, she began to move around in a sort of orgasmic trance, throwing herself actively into their threesome at last.

This quickly made things more fun and chaotic - before, it had just been Sayn and Korlin double-teaming Thielwen, but now the Elf's taste for submission (and ass) saw things pushed in new direction. Like using her eager tongue to lubricate both Korlin's cock and Sayn's asshole before guiding the two together, and then positioning herself behind them to eagerly tongue the Kirin's tight sphincter as they fucked. Sayn had previously experienced a similar situation with both Achidias and K'teshi - and just like in those cases, she could clearly feel an added energy in the pounding she was getting, egged on by the ass-hungry rear guard.

Her own mind was getting rather foggy too - and perhaps that was why, after Korlin had blown her load and pulled out, the sight of Thielwen diving for the Kirin's groin made her turn around and join in. She'd gone ass-to-mouth only twice before - once, forced, at knife-point. The second time, with Korlin, had been a deliberate, rebellious act, to steal the power of the previous horror. This, then, was the first time she'd done it out of genuine, erotic desire - though she still felt certain that she would never willingly do it with anyone but Korlin.

She had to admit, though, that sharing the act with someone else made it all far more erotic. Her and Thielwen's lips and tongues danced around the thick shaft, often having brief meetings in the middle, as they worked together to clean the full length of the ass-warmed tool. Once they reached the base, Thielwen dropped lower and started to kiss and lick the heavy, hairless ballsack that hung beneath, soon sucking the testes within into her mouth one at a time. Sayn, meanwhile, moved back to the sensitive tip and delicately sucked on it, making Korlin's breath catch in her throat, before shifting her body and pushing her head forwards, deepthroating the freshly-cleaned shaft.

Thielwen, meanwhile, apparently couldn't resist the nearby lure anymore, and gave up her tender treatment of the dangling sack, in order to dart swiftly around the kneeling Kirin to once again explore her perfectly-shaped ass with an eager tongue. Korlin, trapped between two such talented heads, did not last long - and soon hot, delicious cum exploded down Sayn's throat, prompting her to quickly pull her head back and catch as much of it in her mouth as she could.

Just as the last spurt had splattered across her tongue, though, a surprise grip on her shoulders pulled her away from the still-hard cock and up - to where Korlin grinningly met her lips in an intense, hungry kiss, tongue pushing forcefully into her mouth. Melting against her lover, she unhesitatingly shared the mouthful of delicious, salty sperm with its original producer, marveling as she did so at the fact that even after years together, Korlin's dirty imagination and wantonness in bed continued to surprise her from time to time. It was probably because, like with Thielwen, it was such a far departure from the image of purity and virtue that her outwards appearance presented - though, of course, within the Kirin philosophy, there was no conflict between 'purity and virtue' and 'cum-swapping while getting your ass tongued'...

Things only escalated from there, with Korlin's nigh-infinite virility carrying them through the hours. Every available orifice was variously tongued, fucked and fingered, oft while leaking cum from Korlin's earlier visits - save, of course, for Korlin's own tight ass, which instead found itself frequently besieged by one tongue or another. Lips met often in torrid kisses flavored variously by cum, pussy-juice or ass. Nipples were pinched, pulled, twisted, licked, sucked and lightly bitten, with clits treated barely more gently. Whenever Korlin's cock wasn't buried in somebody in somebody's ass, pussy or throat, someone was inevitably stroking or teasing it, keeping it permanently hard and ready for action. Firm hands frequently fell on both Thielwen and Sayn's rear ends, freshening up the Elf-girl's crimson coloration and adding a pleasant, warm glow to Sayn's ass as well. (Meanwhile, neither one of them felt any desire to taint Korlin's perfect bottom with anything but the most gentle of caresses.)

In the end, though, Sayn and Korlin managed to catch Thielwen between them - with Sayn applying her best oral skills to the sopping-wet, cum-flavored pussy, while Korlin applied her tongue to the asshole she had been vigorously fucking only a few minutes earlier with no sign of distaste. Trapped between an Empress and a Kirin, skillful tongues dancing a jig on her worn-out, sensitized holes, she suffered through a series of steadily-escalating orgasms before finally, her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed forwards on top of Sayn.

Once they'd disentangled themselves from the resulting pile and laid out the snoring Thielwen in the middle of the bed, Sayn and Korlin lay down beside her, both exhausted from the lengthy session as well. Sayn, as was her custom, looked right past the expensive, intricate, mechanical clock standing by her wall to glance out the window and conclude from the dense darkness that they must have been going at it for hours. "She really is a delightful girl..." Korlin mumbled quietly, casually stroking the sleeping Elf's hair with one lax hand. "Do you realize, tonight is the first time she's licked my ass? We've had fun together before, with fingers and tongues and all that, but even when she was busy going down on me, she never made a move on my ass."

Sayn blinked and started thinking back. Sure enough, now that she really thought about it, she'd seen Thielwen with her tongue buried in the rear hole of everyone in the Harem (indeed, she'd found her way to Slira's cloaca within less than 24 hours of the Swift-Claw Sirrush moving into the Seraglio - an impressive feat, considering how everybody else were thrown at least a little off-balance by her strange body-shape and unusual genital configuration) - except for Korlin. It just hadn't really stood out since Korlin tended to keep her sex-life relatively private - she didn't seem to mind joining the occasional orgy on the park's lush grass, but left to her own devices, she tended to prefer taking her hand-picked lover home to her own chambers with her.

"Huh. That's odd - she certainly seemed like she couldn't get enough of it tonight!" She said, wrinkling her brow a bit. Korlin nodded, grinning. "But of course. My ass is delicious, as you know perfectly well. Anyway, I figured it out when you sent her around to me earlier... I'd watched her making the rounds to the others, showing off her bright-red bum and begging for a spanking without reservation. But when she stood in front of me, she was suddenly reluctant to lift her dress, and I could barely hear her when she asked me to throw in a slap or two myself..."

Sayn nodded, catching on immediately. "I get it. She'd fallen into the same trap I did early on - assuming that the 'pure and virtuous' Kirin wouldn't be into any 'dirty' stuff. Heh. Guess tonight served as her introduction to Kirin Sexual Philosophy - a field of highly gainful study!" They chuckled quietly together for a few moments - then Korlin's face grew serious, and her hand moved to grasp Sayn's. "You_will_ keep a close eye on her when she meets the Unicorn, won't you? Let her sacrifice her body to him if she wishes to - it is hers to use as she sees fit, after all - but do not let her sacrifice her life, no matter what."

Feeling tears sting at the corner of her eyes, Sayn sniffed and nodded choppily. "Of course. I'll keep lots of eyes on her. And if that equine bastard asks for that kind of sacrifice, I'll tell him to go hang - I'll find a way to save the Elves with or without him. Heh... or maybe I'll make my displeasure felt more clearly. A stuffed Unicorn would class this place up rather nicely, don't you think?" The answer was a disapproving "Sayn!" - but then a slow chuckle followed. Korlin was a pacifist, child of the Goddess of Life. She wouldn't REALLY approve of seeing that distasteful Unicorn stuffed and mounted. But she had read the same study-materials as Sayn, and she obviously didn't approve of his conduct any more than Sayn did... so she could still treasure the thought and the mental image.

The whole Harem saw them off the next morning, from the Seraglio Gates rather than the Main Gates by general agreement - mostly out of consideration for Aishee's limited movement-options. Korlin gave them both a tight hug before they left, and Sayn heard her whisper in Thielwen's ear "I don't get out my dick for just anyone, you know... but it'll be waiting here for your return. And so will my tasty little asshole..." In stance and appearance, though, she was all decorum, leaving Thielwen unable to do anything but blush bright-red and stumble her way through a curtsy (which she usually performed with inhuman elegance) before they departed.

The trip to the Beastkin Territories would be a lot slower this time. Never mind her Great Winged Beast's inability to carry more than one person (she'd make some more as soon as she found the time!), Thielwen's sheltered and pampered life had ensured that she'd never even learned how to ride. Not on a horse, and certainly not on a wood-and-metal construct built to resemble some strange fusion of wolf, sheep and rat. At least that also meant that she'd never ridden a griffon - giving her one less thing to feel awkward around K'teshi for. Well, Sayn could probably have managed to drag the girl on top of her signature Golden Riding-Beast, but riding through day and night and living rough was another matter. Thielwen had gotten far stronger and tougher since moving into the Seraglio, but thousands of years of easy living couldn't be shaken off that quickly.

And so, for once, The Beastmaker traveled in style - in a luxuriously-appointed carriage, complete with gilding and lots of royal-purple bunting. No-one who saw it would be in any doubt who it carried, though, since the 'horses' were gilded as well - constructs she'd made for the purpose a while back, taking quite a bit of inspiration from her beloved Korlin's natural form. The coachmen and footmen, meanwhile, were upgrades of the 'servitor'-constructs she had used in her early campaigns - many-armed and dexterous, designed for menial tasks rather than combat. They'd do for setting up the similarly-luxurious tent they were carrying, and generally keeping the camping-trip from getting too campy.

The trip took nearly a week, despite the swift and tireless 'horses' - a far leap from covering the same distance in an afternoon of flying. The roads - particularly those decent enough for the carriage - were far from direct, especially as they got closer to the Beastkin Territories, and particularly once they crossed the border. Roundabout routes and detours were frequent. Still, Sayn did not particularly mind. The night spent with her and Korlin seemed to have kicked Thielwen's lustiness up a new notch, along with cementing her submissive tendencies... particularly towards Sayn.

Whenever they rolled through a town or village, people would come out of their homes or workplaces to stare at the remarkable sight - and cheer once they realized it was their beloved Empress-slash-Goddess, gracing them with her presence. Sayn would wave graciously at them all through the carriage windows - all the while keeping her other hand firmly on Thielwen's golden-haired head, as the Elf labored tirelessly between her legs. For the most part, no-one could see it, of course - though now and again, she figured that someone leaning eagerly off the second floor of a building might get an eyeful. Either way, it was tickling her recently-developed fondness for semi-public situations and being watched.

Outside of the population-centers, when they weren't being watched, she could freely use the entire, spacious room of the carriage to explore her rarely-exercised dominant tendencies - and Thielwen's slim, ivory-skinned body. Knowing that there'd be many hours to wile away on the trip, she'd brought various supplies for her craft - wood and stone, various carving-tools, ropes and thread... many of them now being repurposed towards other uses. Tying Thielwen down was just the beginning - she'd carved a nice, solid, wooden paddle, too, for furthering the Elf-girl's education in the noble art of spanking! (Without wearing out Sayn's own arm and hand.)

The paddle had a satisfying sound to it, both whistling through the air and impacting Thielwen's tender rear. The normally alabaster bum spent the majority of the trip in various states of redness, usually verging on crimson. Its owner sat tenderly, and then only on the thickest, fluffiest pillows available, when they stopped to eat. In the carriage itself, she never sat at all, being usually on her knees or on all fours with her ass in the air. The education, however, bore fruit - as it soon turned out that a sufficiently firm paddling could make the Elf, so justly-famous for her hair-trigger orgasms, cum all by itself.

That paddle was responsible for at least as many of the trip's orgasms as Sayn's tongue and fingers - she gradually worked out a technique, based partially on her experience in empty-handed spanking, which always seemed to get Thielwen shuddering and moaning in record time. The Elf-maid herself, meanwhile, had no complaints as long as the painful orgasms were occasionally interrupted by a chance to tongue Sayn's ass. And so, the hours and days disappeared quickly...

Once they got close to their destination, however, Sayn backed off on the rough play - she wanted to make sure that Thielwen arrived in perfect condition, ready to face whatever the Unicorn might throw at her, and not staggering around with a freshly-paddled bottom. She spent most of the last day of the journey stretched out on her stomach on one of the carriage's seats, giving Thielwen a treat - a chance to go to town on Sayn's rough and experienced asshole for as long as she liked. She could lick, suck, kiss and tongue-fuck it to her heart's content, uninterrupted by other demands or concerns. Sayn had actually been wondering for a while, how long would it take for the ass-loving Elf to have her fill?

The answer proved to be 'More than ten hours' - but the test was ultimately inconclusive since at that point, Sayn was forced to put an end to it so that she could go relieve herself, after which they simply were too close to their goal to pick it up again. Rubbing her tingling, thoroughly-wet asshole, Sayn found herself wondering how much of that inhuman stamina and toughness - her own tongue would have fallen off within an hours, tops - was due to the 'Divine Spark' all Elves carried within them. Would its removal take away more than just their immortality? Well, even if that was the case, there seemed to be little choice - Korlin was keeping in touch with the scholars of Xangri-Du, and from the sound of it, the alternative plan that a couple of them had proposed was getting nowhere fast.

They had to leave the carriage behind for the last leg of the journey - few roads ran through that mountainous, heavily-wooded region, and fewer yet were even halfway decent. This had been figured into the planning, though, and so the carriage and its pullers were left under a waterproof tarp brought just for that purpose, protected by a couple of Sayn's beasts in case of passing bandits, while she and Thielwen continued on beast-back. The Elf-girl clung rather desperately to her back as the agile construct bounded up inclines and darted between trees, and it rather amused Sayn that this short, lively journey was making her whimper far more than any of the corporal punishment she'd absorbed over the length of the trip.

Sayn had left most of the beasts she'd used for the original Unicorn-hunt behind in the forest, lying dormant and soon blending in perfectly as they disappeared under a layer of the constantly-dropping pine-needles. Several of her scouts had also lingered - but not been left dormant. Instead, they had continued to stealthily and autonomously track the movements of the Unicorn, ensuring that Sayn knew his exact whereabouts as soon as she got within a couple of miles and could access the scouts' senses. All that was left was to rouse her sleeping gerbil-dogs (and various other mixed-up critters), and to guide them on the same sort of pincer-maneuver she had used the first time.

This time, though, the Unicorn made no attempt to run when she appeared before him. Indeed, he had been standing silently in a small clearing for a bit as if waiting for her to catch up, and looked entirely unsurprised when she moved out from behind the trees - suggesting that he had somehow sensed her approach, or possibly the stirring of her beasts. Thielwen's appearance, still clinging shakily to Sayn's back, _did_draw a reaction, however - an angry snort and a lowered head, as if he mostly wanted to charge them on the spot and run her through with his long, spiraled horn.

Despite pawing at the earth with one hoof, however, he apparently restrained himself, instead simply waiting as they both demounted and stepped into the clearing with him. "So, you return... and with a bonafide Elven Princess, at that..." he spat, throwing his head and glaring at Thielwen, who at first seemed to shrink under his glare but then caught herself at it and pulled herself up to her full, impressive height with a burst of determination. "I am indeed. Thielwen, daughter of Errendar, who was once King of the Elves." Her tone was crystal-clear and cut through the oppressive silence of the dark-green woods. There was no sound of birdsong, Sayn suddenly noticed - nature itself seemed to be holding its breath, sensing the smoldering wrath of its Master's favored Pet.

The Unicorn narrowed his eyes, and snorted again. "Daugher of Errendar, is it?" Then he bent his head sideways to point to a broad, easily-visible scar on his rear flank. "Your father gave me this, a long time ago, using an arrow so heavily-enchanted that it could actually change its flight in pursuit of a target. Oh, how he laughed and crowed, holding up its blood-soaked head, while all his pathetic entourage clapped their little hands and called him a 'great hunter'..." The venom in those words was enough to make Sayn wince, but Thielwen stood her ground and simply nodded.

"I can easily imagine it. My father, however, is dead, and has been for millenia. The same thing goes for most of his entourage, most likely. The Elven Empire, too, is dead and buried, in tombs and catacombs holding millions of my people. Our arrogance and pride has long-since turned to ash." It was a magnificent speech, delivered with the kind of ringing, oratorical voice that could send a shiver down the spine of anyone who heard it - at least, it certainly did that to Sayn. This, she realized, was Thielwen in her zone of competence. Making majestic speeches and grand declarations while carrying herself with pride and determination - that was basically what she'd been raised and trained for, while leaving out so many other, simpler skills.

The Unicorn, however, seemed unimpressed, and shook his head angrily - making his golden mane dance hypnotically in the sunlight filtering into the small glade from above the soaring treetops. "And you think that self-inflicted misfortune erases the sins of your people, do you? That all should now just forgive and forget, simply because the consequences of your actions caught up with you? Pah! Some may be softhearted enough to do so..." he threw a cold, dismissive glance at Sayn at this point "...but I will not so easily forget the scars your 'Glorious Empire' left on me... or on my Master's people."

The last bit made Sayn wince anew, and even Thielwen's face stiffened a bit despite her obvious self-control. According to the stories, there had originally been 20 Beastkin Tribes. Today, there were 16 (as she had found out after actually studying the matter, having previously assumed there only were 12, on rather spurious grounds), and of the four that had been wiped from the world and gone entirely extinct, only one could be laid at mankind's feet... and even then, only partially; the Batkin, whose final known member had died in a human 'Freakshow' about a hundred years before Sayn was born, had always been a small and vulnerable tribe, never entirely recovering from the losses they had suffered during the Golden Age of the Elves.

And the truly cursed thing was that there were a solid, persuasive argument that Thielwen could make against this accusation of genocide - but using it would only make her seem callous and ruthless: Namely, that the now-lost tribes had simply been unfit for survival. Three of them had, after all, disappeared during the Age of the Gods, while their creator, Vertanimis, still walked among them. He could have intervened, could have saved them, but never lifted a finger to do so. To him, it was simply natural selection at work - and the whole reason he had made 20 different tribes, supposedly. Some would fail, and others would prosper - this was nature's way. That their end arrived at the hands of Elven hunters and slavers did not change this. The Unicorn, who had been at his Master's side back then, knew this perfectly well - but clearly, this did not stop him from throwing those people, lost forever from the world, in Thielwen's teeth.

And sure enough, that argument would never cross her lips. Instead, she just lowered her head, closed her eyes for a moment, and then raised it again with a look of fierce determination. "Yes... my people have, indeed, committed many sins - including the extinction of entire species. Perhaps it is unfair that we might yet avoid that same fate. But still, it is in the nature of every living thing to struggle to_stay_ alive, no matter what, isn't it?" The Unicorn, of course, could hardly deny such a basic rule of the Natural Kingdom, of which he was the effective Prince-Regent - but instead, he just tilted his head and grinned viciously. "It is indeed. So how do_you_ intend to struggle, hmm? How will you free yourself of the snare that your family's past misdeeds have left tight around your leg?"

Thielwen took a step forwards, opening her arms. "Any way I can. And so I say to you: If you truly carry such anger and hatred against Elvenkind, then let_me_ take it all upon myself! I will surrender my body unto you willingly, that you might pour all of your long-held resentment unto me and me alone - but in return, please, spare my people." Sayn felt a lump in her throat as she heard this familiar speech, but just as she had expected, the Unicorn was less touched. Rather, he stepped forwards, neck straightened, grinning broadly. "Now we are talking..." he whinnied, approaching Thielwen, nostrils flaring.

He paused before her, as if to assess her more carefully, taking in the elegant, green dress (the same one Thielwen had worn the day she arrived at Sayn's Palace), the long, straight, golden-blond hair, and the alabaster skin. Then he made a kind of snorting sigh. "Hrm... I can smell you are no virgin..." Thielwen, who had clearly been expecting this reaction, just leaned her head sideways to look up at the Unicorn, a rather plain look on her face. "Of course not. To my knowledge, noble Unicorn, there is not a single Elven virgin left in the world, nor has there been for centuries. If you wish that to change, however, you need only lend us your aid..."

The Unicorn harrumphed and shook his mane again, then shrugged. "Well, I suppose I can make an exception... just this once." His eyes, aglow with dark desires, roved up Thielwen's tall, skinny body, as if looking straight through the severe, skin-concealing dress she wore, and he took another step closer, licking his lips. It was at this point that Sayn stepped in between them, roughly pushing Thielwen behind her and glaring up at the approaching Unicorn. "Just a minute there... before this goes any further, I think we need to get a few things straight. Starting with the question of whether you're_able_ to help at all."

The Unicorn glared down at her and snorted. "You doubt my power? Pah. I did_hear you, when you described your 'plan' during our first meeting, you know. You will need someone capable of removing the Spark of the Divine from a living person, no? Well, I believe I told you that among my duties, in the times of old, was granting just such a Spark to any hunter who proved his strength and talent by marking my hide... in an _honest hunt, I hasten to add." He glanced back along his flanks at the earlier-indicated scar on his hindquarters, just in case anyone had forgotten his mention of Thielwen's royal father and his comparatively unimpressive hunting-methods.

"Now, the Spark came from the Master, of course - old Vertanimis - but I handed it out myself." He then continued, speaking briskly and more lightly now that he was back in the memories of the 'good old days'. "And, by the same token... if one of the members of the House of Hunters, be they graduates of the Hunt or trueborn children of the Master himself, disappointed him... failing to live up to the ideals of a true Hunter... it was also my duty to hunt _them_down, and to take from them the Spark." His equine face twisted into a grimace of glee. Clearly, he relished the memory of being the hunter, more so than those of being the hunted.

Then he sighed, apparently dismissing the memories as he shook his mane out. "So yes, if what you need is someone who can part the Elves from the ill-deserved Sparks that accursed Sie'leal gifted them with, you have most certainly found him!" Sayn nodded reluctantly. She had more or less expected this - legends of the House of Hunters were scarce, but she had dug into what was available during her brief return to the Palace. "Very well, then. In that case, let us make a clear bargain, shall we? No more 'perhaps', no more 'considering'. If I step aside and let you have your way with this Elven Princess - a chance to work out your frustrations and get outlet for your well-aged anger - you will render whatever assistance I require in order to accomplish the salvation of the Elves. Agreed?"

The Unicorn narrowed his eyes, glaring down at her, his mouth working as if there was something ill-tasting in it. Then he finally smiled - unpleasantly. "Perhaps we could reach an agreement, indeed. But if you want that kind of assurance, I need certainty that I will have enough time to work out all of my... 'frustrations and well-aged anger', as you put it. I do, after all, have... quite a bit. Suppose you left her in my care for, say, a full cycle of the moon?" Sayn flinched and coughed, shocked by the scale of the demand. A full month? "That's ridiculous!" She started sputtering, but was interrupted by a cool, firm hand on her shoulder.

Looking back, she saw Thielwen smile - rather wanly, but still - and nod. "It's fine, Sayn. A month means little to an Elf - if that is all that I must sacrifice to save my people, I will do so gladly." Taking a breath, Sayn steadied her nerves and reluctantly returned the no. "It seems we have a bargain, then..." the Unicorn said, grinning, his hindquarters shifting in place. Sayn grimaced, her scouts in the surrounding trees informing her that the proud equine's cock was already starting to emerge from its sheath. However, as Thielwen started to step around her, she reached out an arm and stopped her in place. "Not so fast..." she said, glaring up at the Unicorn again. "Before we finalize this... 'bargain', there is a couple of minor details that needs to be made clear."

The Unicorn lifted an eyebrow, looking down his long nose at her, and sighed. "What now?" Eyes unwavering, she answered. "Firstly, you will not endanger her life, nor inflict permanent injury while she is in your care. And I hasten to remind you, at this point, that Elves heal slowly and respond poorly to healing-magics. One of their few real weaknesses - as I'm sure you well know." The Unicorn snorted and shrugged, essentially confirming that he was aware of this, without actually agreeing. "Secondly, if at any point she decides that this agreement isn't worth it anymore and informs you as such, it ends then and there. And you will give her the opportunity to say so on at least a daily basis." After all, he could otherwise avoid that particular clause simply by gagging her for the duration - it would be well in-character for him!

Sighing, the Unicorn looked down at her. "Anything else?" He still hadn't agreed to the terms, and seemed to be rather carefully avoiding doing so. Gritting her teeth, she redoubled her glare. "Just one thing. If you fail to adhere to those two conditions, I will personally end you, then have you stuffed and mounted as a decoration for my Palace and a warning for others. Do I make myself clear?" She loaded as much cold, icy emphasis into that last sentence as possible, and the Unicorn's eyebrows shot up. Around them, a low growling could be heard as the beasts she'd maneuvered into surrounding the glade emerged from behind the trees, fangs of cold stone and gleaming metal bared.

The Unicorn glanced dismissively around at them, then lowered his head and took a step forwards, looming over both of them, eyes burning blue. "You would threaten me? I, who was shaped by the immortal hand of Vetanimis himself? Do you truly think you have that kind of power, half-breed?" She could feel his presence, thick in the air, and felt suddenly less certain of herself, despite the seemingly-overwhelming advantage conferred by the nearby beasts under her command. Hunting the Unicorn was one thing - for him, that was clearly just part of the game. Actually killing him would be a whole 'nother matter. Who knew what kind of power he would unveil if genuinely threatened? Just because was far smaller and less obviously intimidating than the two 'Pets' she had met previously, did not necessarily mean that he was less powerful - or less dangerous...

But still, she could not back down. She could not possibly leave Thielwen here for a month, knowing that she might return as a mentally and physically broken husk... never mind the possibility that she might not return at all. And so, she gathering her will, she pulled herself up straight and returned the burning glare. "Do you truly want to find out?" she answered, words emerging sharply through clenched teeth. The little glade seemed filled with the potential for dreadful violence, to the point where she almost thought the earth itself was trembling beneath her feet.

Then the Unicorn took a step back, averting his eyes, and the atmosphere lightened. With a sigh, the equine beast shook his mane, and shrugged. "I suppose I'd better not. I would not be able to face my Master with an upraised head if I wound up following the same path as Thenares' disgusting Chimera over such a small matter." Sayn had to be careful not to breathe a too-obvious sigh of relief, and simply nodded curtly. "Then it seems we understand one another - and have a bargain. I will leave you to it... but rest assured, I _will_be keeping an eye on you." She still had a bit of sharpness left on her tongue, and threw it into the last bit. The Unicorn harrumphed and glared around the clearing, to where her mostly-wooden beasts were shrinking back into the shadows and disappearing again. Did he realize that her 'eye' actually were the far-stealthier constructs hiding in the upper branches of the pine-trees? Well, either way, she'd said her piece.

She gave Thielwen a quick, but firm hug and a whispered reminder that she _could_back out at any time if the Unicorn's no-doubt ungentlemanly behavior became too much - somehow or other, she would find a way to pull it off without the Unicorn's assistance, if it came to that. Thielwen nodded, and then turned to face her 'host' for the next month, even as Sayn called her riding-construct back to her side and mounted it. Dashing away from the clearing, she set her sights directly for the Palace; there was no point in retrieving the carriage which - guarded by its assigned constructs - would keep just fine for the month. She'd be able to cover the ground a lot faster this way, especially since she had mastered the art of sleeping on beast-back during her early campaigns, and never quite lost the knack despite her new-found life of imperial luxury.

Even as she rode away, however, the constructs - obvious and not - who surrounded the little forest-glade, provided her with a full and comprehensive view of what was going on. She watched as the Unicorn, cock fully unsheathed, ordered Thielwen to strip - and then took a clearly-petty delight in grinding her dress into the dirt with his hooves and tearing it apart with his teeth. Then, with sudden brutality, he knocked her down on her back with a headbutt (using the side of his head rather than the pointy bit, fortunately), and brought his stained hoof down on her groin.

Sayn was about to turn her steed around, or immediately rouse the surrounding beasts - they were still within her range - but Thielwen only writhed a bit rather than screaming in agony... apparently, the Unicorn wasn't resting his full weight on the hoof. Still, he was obviously grinding it in there harshly, making Thielwen squirm and grit her teeth. "So, I am to work out my frustrations on you, am I?" She heard him say, voice heavy with loathing. "Well, I'll do just that, and when I'm done you'll be a shattered shell of what you used to be, o noble Princess of Elvenkind... or, that's what I'd like to do, anyway." He shifted his glare, running it around the periphery of the clearing, as if searching for the now-hidden constructs. Then he sighed, and gave his hoof another sadistic twist before lifting it off. "So instead, I suppose I'll have to stop just shy of breaking you. Now get on all fours and show me your ass. I'm going to pound your holes until they're raw, virgin or not!"

Thielwen obeyed with barely any hesitation, for all that her normally-immaculate pussy was now stained by a dirty, cloven hoof-mark. As soon as she had her knees under her, the Unicorn was on top of her, clearly eager to carry through with his threat. His cock was long, thick and hard - though, ultimately, a fairly simple prospect. As equine as the rest of him, it was different from what one might find under the belly of a Centaur only by its white coloration (fading into pale pink halfway down the shaft), and while fully in proportion to his body, that still meant that he had no particular edge over a well-hung Centaur specimen... such as King Parakemnos, for instance. Sayn could certainly have faced that equine shaft with complete equanimity, knowing that she'd had bigger (in both length and girth) - if not terribly often.

Of course, for Thielwen, it was a step up from anything she had previously experienced - her limit, up 'till then, being Achidias' equally-equine tool. Then again, her ability to handle the young Centaur-stallion's full length and girth, in either hole, had always been rather astounding all by itself - presumably another, less-known aspect of the Elves' exceptional bodies. And apparently, there was still more give to be had - at least, the Unicorn failed to draw any blood or provoke anything more than a slight groan of discomfort as he brutally invaded first her pussy, then her ass. Afterwards, Sayn was equally disgusted and unsurprised to see him present his stained tool to Thielwen's shapely mouth for cleaning. "Enjoying the taste of your own Royal Asshole, huh?" He crowed down at the Elf as she uncomplainingly went to work, running her tongue down the length of the shaft, cleaning off the ass-residue. "Well, if not, don't worry - you'll have plenty of chance to get used to it, rest assured."

Her recent threesome with Thielwen and Korlin had made the reason for her distaste of that particular act more clear to Sayn. When it was - as in that case - done as a loving gesture between equal sexual partners, well, it was just a dirty little kink. Something to do in the heat of the moment, perhaps, and giggle about afterwards. But all too many people, like the Unicorn there and... somebody else she could think of, used it as a punishment. A way to humiliate his partner, demonstrating his own domination to himself as well as to her. An attempt to make her feel lower than dirt, disgusting and pathetic... just so he could stand more clearly above her.

Still, Thielwen - as she had previously noticed - seemed not to have the same sort of hangups about it as she did, so perhaps it wouldn't be such a big deal to her. At least, that's what Sayn hoped, as she continued to race away from the site. The damnable thing was, after all, that in order to 'keep an eye' on things, and make sure the Unicorn did not overstep the restrictions she'd made, she had to actually _watch_what he was doing to her dear friend and lover. And to make matters worse, her own voyeuristic tendencies ensured that she was getting aroused in spite of herself...

Now, not so long ago, the swift pace she was setting would soon solve the problem all by itself. Her ability to directly control her beasts - and borrow their senses - was limited by range: Beyond a point of about two miles, both their sight and her control of them grew increasingly fuzzy and indistinct. Much past that, and they went fully autonomous, still carrying out whatever orders and missions she had given them to the best of their ability, but acting solely based on their own, rather dim and animalistic, intelligence.

However, things had changed after her journey to the Southern Continent. The feeling of helplessness, as she had stood on the deck of a ship in a storm, unable to do anything but watch, had initially sent her into a chasm of depression - but with the support of her friends, she had pulled her way out of it, and then she had heard a being more ancient than the very continent she called home, clearly and indisputably pronounce her a demi-goddess - and a Scion, at that. The details of her divine parentage remained extremely unclear - it certainly did not seem that she had been fathered by any of the eight _known_gods - but nonetheless, that meant she was one of those larger-than-life characters like out of myth and legend, made of mortal flesh but wielding astounding, divine powers as easily as breathing.

Galvanized by this knowledge, and the firm desire to never feel that sense of helplessness again, she had - for the first time - begun to deliberately experiment with her powers, testing them and pushing their apparent boundaries to see if they really were as firm as she had thought. Her original explorations of her powers had often been hectic things, driven by desperation and the immediate needs of the battlefield - and once she had gained the time and leisure of an Empress, she'd also lost any real impetus to keep improving. Until now.

It was thanks to the practice and experimentation that she had gone through during the long sea-journey back across the Great Current, and the months that had followed, that she had discovered her ability to use suitably-crafted constructs as 'transmitters' - capable of picking up sensory feed from beasts within their range, and send it on to her... or send orders and directions back. And so, as she rapidly rode back towards her Palace, every mile-and-a-half or so, she dropped a small, compact critter from a pouch - resembling something like a miniature armadillo-tortoise. Its thin, flexible shell of corrosion-resistant steel protected a large gemstone that served as its heart, the clarity of this colorful crystal somehow enabling it to pick up the 'signals' of other beasts the same way her own mind did. They swiftly buried themselves in whatever soil was available, disappearing from sight and going into a state of subterranean dormancy - though they would rouse of their own accord and relocate if they judged their position threatened, such as by the nearby activity of a peasants' shovel.

With this chain of transmitters in place, each capable of reaching the next, the sight of that forest-glade remained crystal-clear in her mind even as she got further and further away... much as she sometimes wished it wasn't so. Sure, it was arousing to watch Thielwen deepthroat the Unicorn's huge cock, her throat somehow stretching around his girth, and her nostrils flaring as they drew in just enough air between thrusts to keep her conscious. Even though she'd seen the Elf-girl pull the same stunt with Achidias several times, the sight just never seized to astound... but her arousal turned to nausea when she watched the Unicorn pause his thrusting to leave his no-doubt flared cockhead in Thielwen's mouth for a while. Seeing the Elf's throat labor, obviously swallowing repeatedly, Sayn had no trouble guessing what kind of new perversion the Unicorn was unleashing in his bid to humiliate his Elven victim. After all, he certainly didn't seem to be cumming...

Well, Thielwen seemed to handle this, too, with aplomb - enough to make Sayn wonder if, perhaps, the Elf had tasted such urine-soaked perversions before. She, herself, found the very idea disgusting, but she could hardly justify restricting the private activities of the other members of her Harem based on just her own, personal preferences, nor did she know everything that went on in the various private chambers. On the other hand, maybe Thielwen was just displaying proper, Elven stoicism - certainly, when the Unicorn (obviously aiming for further humiliation) subsequently ordered her to lick clean his heavy, dangling ballsack and, once this task was completed, his equine asshole, she gave no indication that she enjoyed that last assignment. Or perhaps, despite her general love of ass-licking, she couldn't find any real pleasure in it under such unpleasant circumstances? It was hard to say. Much as she had opened up, back in the Seraglio, Thielwen could still maintain just as perfect a straight face as any other Elf when it suited her. (As Lutra had discovered to her misfortune when she taught the sheltered Elf to play poker... and wound up losing a lot more than her non-existent shirt.)

However, thanks to the continued, visual link, Sayn also knew that the Unicorn was, begrudgingly, toeing (or perhaps hoofing) the line. He allowed Thielwen occasional breaks to relieve herself, and drink from a nearby mountain-stream. A number of small animals, apparently compelled by the Unicorn's partial mastery of the natural world, brought small handfuls of wild fruits and berries for her to eat - the bounty of the late-summer woods. She was even allowed a few hours of sleep at night... albeit naked and curled up in a ball on the grass, which made Sayn wonder if she'd really done the once-sheltered Elf-girl any favors by taking her there in the pleasantly-appointed carriage. Perhaps it would've been better to give her a chance to get accustomed to living rough, before this 'crash-course'... but, too late for second-guessing, now.

By noon the next day, Sayn was halfway home. And it was around this point that the Beastkin began to drift into the clearing, apparently drawn by some wordless call from the Unicorn, their creator's favored pet. the Wolfkin and Bearkin were the first to arrive, what with it being their territory and all - and seeing the towering, fur-covered mountains of muscle that were the Bearkin, Sayn found herself immediately regretting the fact that they, like a few other tribes, had neglected to send a suitor to her door back when she had originally been looking for a Consort. It certainly could have made the resulting orgy even more intense!

Now, however, it was Thielwen who got to benefit from the Bearkin's vast strength and sizable equipment - for that was, of course, the purpose for which they'd been called. All males, running the gamut from being at the height of their youthful virility, to showing the scars of experienced hunters and lovers - pulled away from their normal duties replenishing the numbers of their diminished tribes. And while they probably didn't have quite the same level of smoldering wrath as the Unicorn, there were few Beastkin who did not have at least _some_lingering resentment towards the Elves who had once hunted and enslaved them... not even as workers and servants, as had been the case with mankind, but as exotic, collared housepets!

Certainly, they weren't about to pass up an opportunity to work off those resentments by violating and humiliating a genuine, if bedraggled, Elven Princess... especially not with the Unicorn standing by, directly encouraging them to greater acts of perversion! So Thielwen swiftly found herself with a beastly cock shoved in every hole. The Wolfkin's canine cocks, pointy and knotty, were familiar to Sayn - and while technically new to Thielwen, she did have extensive experience handling K'teshi's even-bigger knot, so they obviously presented no problem for her. If anything, being surrounded by the powerful, male, furry bodies seemed to put some cracks in her stoic face at last - and it was pleasure, not disgust, that peeked through.

The Bearkin, meanwhile, had a lot of meat between their treetrunk-sized legs - long, thick, smooth shafts that flared widely near the tip, giving them a head like an inverted cone. It was kind of like an equine's flare, but even more pronounced and clearly permanent - though, fortunately, the edges of the head's broad, flat front seemed to be soft and flexible enough to make penetration unproblematic. These impressive tools, along with the aforementioned, knotted wolf-cocks, invaded and pounded Thielwen's tight holes throughout the day, often combined with more exotic displays on the Unicorn's prompting.

Cocks were often pulled fresh from Thielwen's increasingly-messy asshole to her mouth, slimy residue wiped against her face before she was tasked with cleaning it. Her head, held firmly between a wolf's strong claws or a bear's massive paws, was also frequently used as a urinal, bears and wolves alike relieving themselves freely in her mouth - sometimes deliberately doing it at a distance, after commanding her to keep her mouth wide-open, just so their fellows could watch and laugh as the Elf's humiliation. It was enough to turn Sayn's stomach, and she desperately wanted to look away... it was only the sight of those same Beastkin unknowingly feeding Thielwen's personal fetish by commanding her to lick their tiny, furry tail-holes that bought her a bit of ease.

Still, she could not look away - now more than ever, she had to keep an eye on things. The Beastkin had not, after all, received the same warnings as the Unicorn, and who knew where among them there might hide someone whose hatred of Elves might compel him to acts of outright violence? And so, she kept watching, even as she returned to her Palace and her Seraglio. As she returned to her work and her studies, beginning the laborious task of trying to track down her next mark, she was constantly keeping half an eye on the continuing events unfolding in that far-off forest-clearing.

Beastkin continued to pour in, on a daily basis, with more distant tribes gradually gaining greater representation. All were male and most were dressed like hunters - meaning little more than some belt-pouches and a bow slung across their backs, in most cases. None were hesitant in hate-fucking and abusing Thielwen. Had she underestimated the amount of Elf-hatred that lingered in the Beastkin Territories, or was the Unicorn just specifically calling to those whose attitudes matched his own? Regardless, Thielwen got little rest, her pussy, ass and throat constantly violated by an ever-growing variety of bestial cocks, her body passed between many powerful, furry hands.

Sayn, meanwhile, had to deal with the fact that, despite the occasional sour note, the non-stop live-show was leaving her very, very horny. At first, she tried to resist the resulting urges, feeling too guilty to avail herself to the loving touch of her Consorts while watching Thielwen be so casually violated. But Korlin, ever-perceptive and watchful of her mental state, soon snapped her out of that particular foolishness. "You'll make nothing better by denying yourself release - least of all poor Thielwen's situation. If anything, don't you think she'd feel guilty and wretched if she returned here and found that you had been tormenting yourself in her absence? You need release, my love, or you will go quite insane..."

So Korlin had given her... release. Quite a lot of it, over the course of several hours. And afterwards, she freely called on the various members of her Harem whenever her desires started to rise - which usually meant several times per day. She writhed under Achidias' stout body as she watched Thielwen struggle to accommodate a fierce double-penetration from a pair of Horsekin. She had Aishee's skillful head lodged between her thighs when she watched Thielwen tongue the reeking asshole of a stout Boarkin, dark delight sneaking through the cracks of her stoic mask. Orichaniel's highly-skilled and wonderfully-textured cock was exploring her asshole when she saw Thielwen get spit-roast by a towering Gatorkin and an only-slightly-smaller Lizardkin, their powerful hands holding her suspended in midair between their thrusting groins.

Sometimes, what she saw actually inspired her own activities - like when the appearance of a black-feathered, crow-like Birdkin gave Thielwen the opportunity to sample another cloaca, which she did without any sign of hesitation, much to the Birdkin's surprise. Seeing this made Sayn decide that it was time she gave Slira, her Sirrush Consort, a... closer examination. The concept of cloacae had weirded her out quite a bit when she'd first heard of it, but apparently there were several groups within her empire who sported them - and she was_preaching _universal love, wasn't she? And so, she spent a while behind the appreciatively-moaning Swift-Claw female, exploring her cloaca with tongue and fingers.

It proved to feel like pretty much exactly what it was - a combination of pussy and asshole. It had the asshole's circular configuration, complete with a muscular sphincter, but the soft flexibility and self-lubricating properties of a pussy. Arguably, the best of both worlds! The actual 'ductwork' that enabled its twin purposes were deeper inside than a casual tongue would reach, but it was quite possible for her fingers - especially considering that the size-loving Sirrush had no trouble taking her whole hand and then asking for more. It was not, she decided, all that different from her own throat, where the windpipe ran parallel with the esophagus. Here, it was merely a colon, running parallel with a birth-canal, and similarly closed-off and to-the-side to prevent stuff from going down the wrong hole. (Not that Slira complained when her fingers explored that little side-path!)

Of course, now and then, her games instead got soured and effectively interrupted by the more disgusting aspects of the ongoing forest-orgy. Truly, it was a testament to the inhuman fortitude of the Elves that poor Thielwen hadn't sickened from the sheer number of ass-stained cocks and hot bladderfulls of piss that had found their way down her throat! Some of the Beastkin even took some kind of twisted pleasure from harking large wads of spit into the beleaguered Elf's open mouth and forcing her to swallow that as well. And while Thielwen certainly wasn't new to licking ass, doing so to the residents of the Seraglio (which was blessed with some very nice bathing-facilities) was probably a lot more hygienic than doing it to a pack of unwashed Beastkin hunters who often had traveled for days or weeks to reach her.

Meanwhile, whenever there was a lull in the incoming Beastkin, the Unicorn himself would step in to fill the gap, inevitably pounding Thielwen's skinny body with all of the raw power in his draft-horse-sized body. He would also grind his hoof into her pussy or asshole whenever he found them unoccupied - or land a halfhearted but still potent kick there, making the poor girl gasp and shudder in pain. Still, though, he stuck to the rules - never trying to break any bones or inflict anything more than mild bruising. (If anything, Sayn's own paddle-based experiments had arguably been rougher.) But it came on top of an endless, exhausting train of rough-handed 'lovers', making it a wonder that Thielwen remained unbowed - even refusing to pull her legs closed after such assaults, despite her thighs often vibrating with the subconscious, instinctive urge to do so. This often left her open to follow-up kicks, but still she persisted, whether out of sheer stubbornness or a refusal to show the Unicorn a reaction that might make him take things in a less-rapey, more-torturey direction.

Eventually, a bit less than a week before the end of the one-month period, the Beastkin dried up. Even the most distant tribes, hailing from the swamps, jungles and savannas of the southernmost tip of the large peninsula that made up the heart of the Beastkin Territories, had come and gone - each having their rough way with Thielwen, who was looking a right mess by then. She could wash her face in the nearby stream when she was led there to drink, but the rest of her body was stained with dirt, sweat, and various other bodily fluids. Bruises had blossomed in various areas, whether from the Unicorn's sadistic kicks or just the rough handling of some of the stronger Beastkin. Her normally-lustrous golden hair was matted and tangled with twigs, dry grass and the fur of a dozen different tribes. Her nails were cracked, her palms were blistered and her knees were bloody from too much time on all fours - the Unicorn would not allow her to stand erect, so even when she was allowed to go to the stream for water or to the bushes to relieve herself, she was forced to do so on her hands and knees. All in all, her appearance had gone well past 'bedraggled' and into the general vicinity of 'a pitiful wreck'.

Still, her spirit clearly remained unbroken - in her rare moments of privacy, Sayn often spotted her flashing a tired smile towards the tree-crowns, and the watching constructs she knew had to be there. But she, like Sayn, had to be wondering what the Unicorn had in mind for the last bit of time - certainly, it didn't seem likely that he was intending to simply let her rest and recuperate for the last week. And sure enough, before the day was out, new visitors began to arrive in the clearing - heeding the voice of Vertanimis, as interpreted by his long-abandoned pet.

Wolves, first, and a couple of bears. Then a few great-antlered deer, and a pair of wild boars. Not Wolfkin, Bearkin, Deerkin or Boarkin, mind - but their wild, feral, four-legged cousins. Under the Unicorn's influence, their normal instincts and behavior seemed dulled, their predator-prey relationship momentarily put in abeyance. Instead, they descended on the shocked-looking Thielwen, an unnatural hunger in their eyes - and many miles away, in her Palace study, Sayn felt the gorge rise in her throat. Truly, it seemed like the Unicorn would stop at nothing to fully humiliate his victim.

The feral wolves were even less gentle with her than their more intelligent cousins had been, their blunt claws leaving long, angry-red scratches on her back as they mounted her from behind, growling in lust. The bears, blessedly few in number, were even larger and stronger than their humanoid kin, and more well-equipped as well - and they spared none of that size or strength as they brutally pounded Thielwen's well-worn ass, holding her body down with one massive paw. The bucks and boars - and, indeed, the massive moose who wandered into the glade not far behind them - were comparatively less formidable in terms of pure dick-size, but their mating was no less violent; the moose, in particular, proving capable of a truly brutal ride, its heavy body turning even a relatively modest penis into an effective weapon.

And, of course, under the Unicorn's tight control, they didn't stop at the basic sort of mounting that their instincts would have supported. Some would mount her from the front, forcing their disgusting, animalistic cocks down her throat. Others would back up against her, while the Unicorn coldly commanded her to tongue-clean their dangling ballsacks and unwashed tailholes. More tempted than ever to look away, Sayn was even force to watch - literally retching - as the animals emptied their bladders in the poor Elf's mouth, her throat working visibly to swallow the sour loads.

Everything that had been done to her by the Beastkin, was now being done to her by simple, dumb beasts - and they kept coming. It seemed like every larger, male animal in the entire area had heard the Unicorn's siren-song, and started plodding towards that one area. The wolves continued to dominate, by sheer quantity - leaving Thielwen to spend most of her time on her knees with a furry beast covering her back and a knotted cock up her pussy or ass. The boars weren't far behind, though, and seemed to focus mostly on her mouth - filling her stomach with cum and piss in equal measure. It was a disgusting, gut-wrenching sight, and left Sayn entirely without a sex-drive for the first time in... well, a long time.

She had to watch it for five more days - albeit tuning it out as much as she dared, figuring that her attention would be swiftly drawn back if something went suddenly wrong - before it was even time for her to leave. Five days of her dear friend, the elegant and pure-hearted Elf-maid Thielwen, being endlessly brutalized by mindless, lust-crazed animals, getting more and more red lines on her once-pure skin from carelessly-placed claws and stray hooves. She didn't get much work done - nor did she eat much. Finally, though, the month was about to be up, and she set out in her Great Winged Beast, carrying various medical supplies both magical and mundane.

Of course, the Unicorn did not ease off on Thielwen during the final day, and as Sayn flew swiftly across miles that had taken many days to cover last time she went in that direction, she had to watch him step up his rough treatment one last time. Small rodents were appearing, now, out of the underbrush - field-mice, squirrels and groundhogs. As Thielwen knelt in the grass, mounted as always by a wolf or other beast, they'd jump for her flat tits or her pussy, sinking their tiny but sharp teeth into the nipples or labia, and letting their small bodies dangle as torturous weights from them. A small mountain shrew even wound up dangling from what looked to be her clitoral hood - drawn a low shriek of pain from her, for the first time in the entire month.

Sayn arrived a bit ahead of schedule - having subconsciously egged her Great Winged Beast into flying faster than normal, for all the difference that would make to the actual end of Thielwen's torment. Instead, she was just left to circle the area for a while, waiting for the sun to inch towards the same spot it had occupied in the sky when she had left this clearing behind a month ago. When she finally judged that the time was approaching, she guided her steed to land in the clearing itself, great wings folding on the way down - and jumped off almost as soon as it touched the ground.

The Unicorn had ushered away the last of his bestial assistants shortly before she landed, leaving behind Thielwen - in as sorry a state as could be imagined - panting on the ground, still on all fours with her ass in the air. Her pussy and asshole, after a month of near-constant rough treatment, were both swollen and clearly raw - and still dripping with the cum of the recently-departed critters. The Unicorn was standing with his back to her, facing Sayn, and she quickly approached him. "So... have you worked off all your unreasoning resentment?" She asked, voice toxic with bitterness. The Unicorn composed his face into an expression of exaggerated thoughtfulness for a moment, and then - with an elaborately regretful tone - said "Not yet."

Suddenly, one of his hind-legs lashed out, the hoof landing in Thielwen's groin with noticeably more force than the halfhearted kicks he'd usually been tormenting her with. The impact sent her sprawling forwards on her face with a cry of surprise and pain. Sayn took a half-step forwards, balling her fists as the Unicorn grinned down at her. "Right, NOW I've worked it all off. Guess that concludes this end of the bargain, huh? Feel free to collect your pathetic wreck of an Elven Princess and get out of my forest."

The anger that had been building in Sayn's heart over the past month - and particularly the last week - was reaching a boiling-point as the faced the Unicorn's dismissive, airy attitude. Clearly, he had not the slightest empathy for the girl he'd so eagerly brutalized, or anyone else for that matter. "It's not your forest..." she hissed, not quite sure why she was bothering, except to simply contradict him in any way she could. "This forest is part of the Beastkin Territories. The Beastkin Territories are part of my Empire. This... is _ MY _ forest!" She brought her foot down as she spoke, knowing that she'd look childish, stomping around like that - but simply needing a physical gesture to offload some of her built-up anger in... and it wasn't as if she could make the gesture she really wanted to...

The earth trembled under her foot. A bit in front of her, it suddenly rose, swiftly taking the form of an oversized foot wearing a large, heavy traveling-boot, much like her own. It described a clean, powerful arc, with a simulacra of a knee near the ground adding extra snap - and landed square in the Unicorn's heavy, dangling ball-sack. sending it flying backwards like a punching-bag after a boxer's hay-maker strike. With a high-pitched whinnying shriek, the Unicorn collapsed, his legs simply giving out under him - even as the briefly-extant boot crumbled into a simple mix of earth and old pine-needles, its task apparently over.

Fighting not to let her own surprise and amazement show, she stomped over to the Unicorn - now gasping on the ground, nearly bent double, and glared down at him. "That means that as long as you live here, you're technically one of my subjects - and therefore also subject to my laws." She continued, as if the incident with the giant boot had never happened. "I've heard a lot of stories about you and tender young virgins, lost in the woods. So let me make myself clear: If I hear any MORE such stories, I will drag you in front of a court, and see you convicted, sentenced and punished for rape, rape-by-deception, animal-abuse, and whatever other crimes you may commit. I don't give a damn if you're five thousand years old and used to stand at the right hand of a god - step out of line in _my_forest again, and I will see. You. Hang." The last words were bitten off and spat out as she stalked past him to pick up Thielwen, who had managed to pull herself up on her elbows and was staring at the fallen Unicorn with amazement written across her stained face.

As she half-carried, half-dragged the shaky-legged Elf towards her Great Winged Beast, however, the Unicorn staggered back to his hooves, albeit with some apparent difficulty keeping his balance. "Ooogh... just who the hell is your daddy, girl? None of Vertanimis' daughters had that kind of punch, I can tell that much..." His voice sounded a bit slurred, and while she almost instinctively reached out towards the part-dormant beasts in the surrounding woods, he did not appear inclined towards retaliation. "Wouldn't you like to know." She spat back at him. "Anyway, I've got a few others I need to look up - when everything is ready, I'll call on you. Best make sure you show, or I'll have to come looking for you, and you wouldn't want that, now would you?"

Surprisingly, the Unicorn just shrugged and said, without trace of hesitation. "Definitely not. I'll be there, no worries. That was the deal, after all..." then he trotted out of the clearing, albeit without the usual spring in his step. Had her display of power (which had certainly surprised the hell out of her) won her some kind of subtle game of dominance? Or had her willingness to attack him so openly just earned her some sort of twisted respect? She didn't have time to wonder about that now, though. She had a badly messed-up friend to take care of.

Thielwen made the descent from the mountain glade to where they'd left the carriage parked on the back of the Great Winged Beast, half-unconscious and tied down to the saddle on her belly, while Sayn followed them down on a simple, terrestrial beast. There weren't any proper riding-beasts left in the area, since she'd ridden the only one she'd originally brought with her home after the first visit - instead, she was clinging to the back of an agile fighter the size of a very large dog or rather small pony... not a ride she'd willingly expose Thielwen to in her present state.

At the foot of the mountain, meanwhile, her servitor-constructs had made camp next to the carriage, and carried out preparations as she'd commanded. A fireplace had been lit, water had been fetched and warmed, and blankets had been taken from the carriage-supplies where they'd just spent a musty month, then thoroughly aired out so they'd be ready for use. Soon, Sayn had Thielwen laid out on one of them as she carefully cleaned the Elf-girl's slim, roughed-up body with a handcloth, taking particular care of the many thin cuts and scratches.

Of course, that was just the beginning. By the time she helped her poor Consort into the carriage and laid her out on one of the seats so that they could start heading home, she looked a lot better in most senses, but also, perhaps, worse in some. Bandages had been run across any larger cuts she'd sustained. Her knees and elbows were thoroughly covered. Her elegant hands had been stuck into a pair of thick, linen gloves, whose inside was coated with a soothing balm. Healing poultices had been attached to her tits, covering her tormented nipples - and also her groin, in the form of a rather uncharming, diaper-like setup. She'd also been fed several draughts, designed to quiet her no-doubt rebellious stomach and replenish her energy after a month on decidedly short rations - but of course, that didn't help with the visible impression. Still, once the blanket had been pulled over her, it didn't look too bad - and she slept like an adorable, frizzy-haired baby for most of the first day, while the carriage carried them steadily east towards the Palace.

By the second day, though, she was already fast recovering - talking, eating, and smiling at Sayn's abiding concern. "Really, I'm fine..." she insisted. "It certainly wasn't pleasant, but... I'm an Elf. My body can handle a lot more than one would think." Sayn nodded, lump in her throat. "I know. I was still worried, thought. Maybe not so much about your body as your, well, mind... I was expecting you to be traumatized, near-catatonic, or just... wanting to hide in a corner and cry." Like I did, she didn't say. Thielwen, however, just sighed and shook her head with a lopsided smile - saying nothing.

It took over an hour before she broke the silence again. "Sayn... can I tell you something I've never told anyone before?" Her voice sounded light, with perhaps just a hint of underlying strain. Sayn, of course, immediately said "Yes, of course... anything you want to talk about..." Thielwen sighed again, and started staring up into the decorated ceiling of the carriage as they continued to rumble down the road. "I remember when our Empire fell. The Civil War didn't touch me much - I was too highborn to be drafted as a soldier, obviously, but also too young and low in the line of succession to become a political token. But the slave-uprising... that was what finally broke the Glorious Empire's back, and there was no missing that. I saw the fires, smelled the smoke - felt the fear as the very foundation of our Empire suddenly rose as a single mass, crying out for our blood."

Sayn nodded, feeling a shiver down her spine as she listened. She'd met a number of tremendously long-lived beings by now, and heard much from them - but it still never failed to give her a thrill, hearing events that she knew as distant history, myth and legend, be described as firsthand accounts. "There was panic in the old palace... but there was also contingency-plans, from the recently-ended Civil War." Thielwen said, continuing her story. "Me and my family was to be smuggled out of the city by a secret route, and rendezvous with Imperial Knights at a prearranged spot. Of course, the original plans hadn't accounted for all the Griffons shredding their harnesses, and all the carriages being kicked to kindling by the Centaurs who had once pulled them."

"So instead, we had to escape on foot, guided by a few loyal retainers, through a city that was tearing itself apart and mostly on fire. In the chaos, we soon got split up - but that was fine, there were several redundant paths to take to the rendezvous-point anyway. I wound up by myself, with just a small handful of guards and retainers, taking one of them." She paused there, for just a couple of beats - then took a deep breath and continued. "A ways outside the city, we were ambushed by a group of humans. Newly-liberated slaves, obviously. I recognized one of them - I'd seen him sweeping floors and watering plants around the palace. And, apparently, sneaking looks at the escape-plans in my father's study. They overwhelmed my retinue. Slaughtered them to a man. Then..."

Another deep breath, and just before Sayn could say something like "You don't need to tell me, I get it", she continued, in the same light voice. "Then they raped me. For two days. Passed me between them as they celebrated their new-found freedom with wine plundered from the royal cellars. They got... creative, too. Then, once the alcohol ran out, they just... staggered back towards the burning city to look for some more. Left me there, surrounded by the day-old corpses of my retainers. I had to tear the clothes off of one of them to replace the tattered rags that remained of my dress, and search their pockets for the map and compass so that I could continue to the rendezvous by myself."

Sayn could only sit back, feeling overwhelmed by the story, as Thielwen blithely continued. "I made it there, obviously. Found a pair of Knights still waiting, along with one of my brothers, who'd insisted on staying behind to wait for any stragglers. Turned out, I was one of the lucky ones. Several of the groups had been ambushed, including one containing two of my sisters. They never reached the rendezvous at all." There was silence, then, for a moment, before Thielwen continued in a thoughtful voice. "Actually, now that I think about it again, I don't think it was 'luck', as such. Those sisters I lost that day... I remember them being in favor of keeping a 'firm hand' with the servants. I, however, was a bit of a soft touch, even back then. I'd certainly never given those men who caught me any reason to hate me, specifically and personally. That may very well not have been the case for my sisters."

She sighed, and then rounded off the story without further pauses. "Anyway, I got bundled off to a secret settlement in the woods after that, along with the rest of my 'Royal Family in Exile'. Nobody ever asked me what had happened to me, in those two days where I was missing. Everyone had lost something, or someone - and usually plenty of both. I didn't want to be selfish, when everyone was having such a hard time. So I didn't say anything, either. Until now, that is." Sayn swallowed, though her throat remained equally thick afterwards. "I'm... touched that you felt able to share this with me... and so, so, sorry..."

Thielwen shook her head gently. "It was a long, long time ago. And the point is - I got through that. I was a virgin before that happened, you know. Had no understanding of sex beyond the various lurid rumors I'd heard floating around the palace. Then, after two days of near non-stop rape, I had to poach fallen retainers - people I'd known since earliest childhood - for supplies to move on, and head towards a rallying-point that would probably be abandoned at that point anyway." Her voice broke slightly at that, as if remembering a long-ago despair. "And I still did it. I got through that nightmare. This? This was nothing. I had the sexual experience to face anything that beastly creature could throw at me. I had the firm knowledge that a warm, loving home was waiting for me afterwards. And I had you, standing up for me, threatening an ancient and powerful creature with bloody murder if he stepped over the line - and watching over me at all times, ready to step in and spirit me away the moment I called 'enough, no more!'."

Sayn blushed, hanging her head. "I... guess I can see that. But, what I'm_really_ sorry about is the way I treated you when you first came to my Harem. Bullying you the way I did, when you had such a... terrible experience in your past. It must have been horrible." Thielwen, though, just laughed. "It wasn't fun, but... well, you weren't to know, and it all worked out just fine in the end. Besides, you just kicked the Unicorn in the balls for me. I think that's worth forgiving a bit of bullying back before you got to know me." They both giggled at that, and the tense atmosphere in the carriage dispersed somewhat.

There would be much more talking, though. With a week to burn and Thielwen in no condition for the kind of acrobatics that had occupied them on the way out, there was little else to do. And with the Elf-girl rapidly recovering - mentally as well as physically, indeed - their conversations often turned naughty. It still took several days before Sayn worked up the guts to ask a particular question, though, and even then, only obliquely "I just don't know how you managed it... deal or no deal, I would've been gagging and throwing up all over the place!"

Thielwen gave her an inquisitive glance at this and answered, blandly, that as an Elf, she had greater control over gag- and vomit-reflexes than humans. "Oh, right... of course." Sayn blushed. Then Thielwen flashed her a mischievous smile. "...of course, it might also have helped that it wasn't the first time I tried drinking piss... through, granted, my previous experiences were under somewhat more pleasant circumstances."

Intent, Sayn leaned forwards. "Really?!? When? With whom?" Thielwent laughed at her obvious desire for such juicy gossip, and put on a mock-severe expression. "Come now! Do you really think I would kiss and tell?" "I ain't asking about kissing..." answered Sayn, deadpan, and they both broke into laughter. Then, the Elf finally fessed up. "It was with Ssinizz - the Lizardkin. During that week I spent in her room." Sayn blinked at this, then put a thoughtful hand on her chin. "Ah, I see... you know, I had been wondering what you two got up to in there. Especially now. I might not have been there to see it myself, but several witness-statements claim that you staggered out of there, at the very limit of your endurance - barely making it back to your own room before collapsing and sleeping for two days. You were, supposedly, frazzled and unfocused for most of a week afterwards. Having seen you now bounce right back after a month of brutal treatment and sleeping rough, I really have to wonder how she got you into such a state in just a week."

"Oh, it wasn't so much anything she did, as what she didn't so..." Thielwen said, carefully looking away to avoid Sayn's piercing look. She let that hang for several minutes before Sayn exasperatedly exclaimed "Come on, just spill it already!" Grinning, the Elf-girl answered, and explained what that week had really been about. "Well, she didn't let me sleep. Or even rest, for more than a couple of minutes at a time. She was using an extremely powerful stimulant on herself, see - the Lizardkin have enormous tolerance to poisons and drugs, and she'd undergone training since childhood to further boost her own ability to handle the more potent concoctions. Her mother, you see, was the clan's Shaman and Herbalist - cooking up some amazing things from jungle-herbs and swamp-mushrooms. She was expected to follow in her mother's footsteps, before she found her new... ecclesiastical calling."

This statement, of course, brought with it the usual, teasing tone of voice that tended to be used whenever the subject of Sayn's deification came up. Groaning, she shook off the familiar embarrassment, and pushed Thielwen to continue her explanation. "That's interesting, but how does that circle back to a sleepless week of lesbian experimentation?" "Ah, well, it's an induction-ritual, you see - a newly-minted Shaman spends a week in a hot-house with her teacher, learning the innermost secrets of the craft, and expanding her consciousness in various ways. Including imbibing powerful drugs 'filtered' through the system of their hardier teacher..."

Sayn blinked, trying to parse it all. Then, finally, blushed. "So, for that whole week..." "Yep. Ssinizz dosed herself with the stimulant, and I got a diluted version every time she peed. Even then, a human couldn't have survived it. Intense stuff! Anyway, the secrets she passed on to me had less to do with shamanistic magic and herbal medicine, and more to do with bondage, oral sex, masturbation-techniques, and so on. Even that, though, was just a... shift of priorities compared to the actual ritual, rather than a complete departure. Maintaining a constant state of ecstasy - for the purpose of 'enlightenment' - is part of it too, as is passing down the sexual skills needed to do so... for that and other similar rituals."

"Constant_ecstasy?" Sayn asked, wide-eyed. Thielwen nodded with a dreamy look on her face. "Oh yes. Even with the somewhat-altered curriculum, we otherwise stuck quite close to the original ritual. We had breaks for excretion, and that was it. Not only did I have to try and bring her off with my tongue whenever she was pissing in my mouth, she was also always licking my ass and fingerbanging me while_I relieved myself. We ate in shifts, too - while I had a bite to eat, she'd be between my legs, licking and sucking and keeping me in a frenzy, masturbating all the while. And likewise for me when _she_needed to eat." "For a whole week..." Sayn whispered, before whistling appreciatively.

Then, freezing in mid-whistle, Sayn grimaced. "Wait a minute... didn't you say that Ssinizz's teacher was her mother?" Thielwen, for her part, just shrugged. "I did, and she was. Apparently, the Lizardkin are... less concerned about such things than some. Several of the other Tribes take similar attitudes, from what I hear. And, for that matter, so do the Sirrush, or at least the Sharptooth Tribes, based on what I've heard from Slira. Did you know that she originally took the Advanced Oral Course and got her head-pattern so that she could help her two younger sisters 'ease the pressure' just after their coming-of-age, so they wouldn't have to rush into taking the patterns themselves just to deal with their rising clutching-urges?"

Sayn had not known that, no, but she did not suppose it was terribly surprising, considering the extremely easygoing attitude that the Sharptooth Sirrush seemed to have towards sexuality in general. She also found herself remembering her recent discovery that, on a mental level at least, all Kirin were deeply incestuous - being highly accustomed to casual, sexual relationships with other Kirin who were, for all intents and purposes, their siblings. Thielwen, meanwhile, continued with a thoughtful look on her face. "Actually, it seems like humans might just be inordinately bothered by incestuous relationship - probably because your bloodlines are so vulnerable to inbreeding."

This made Sayn raise an eyebrow, and crack a sudden smile. "Could be..." she said at a drawl. "And come to think of it, I remember hearing that the old Elven Royal Family was terribly incestuous. Not to mention licentious, and several flavors of decadent. So perhaps it _is_just us who are concerned about it..." Thielwen rolled her eyes and lifted on hand - recently freed from its healing-mitt - to her chest, like a fencer admitting a hit. "Well, I can hardly deny it... after all, I was engaged to my first cousin before the Civil War." she said, with a sigh - leaving unsaid that he probably didn't survive it. "And for that matter, one of my older brothers carried on affairs with no less than three of my sisters - it was kind of a public secret, though I didn't entirely understand the implications back then. All while married to one of my other cousins, of course. He used to be very kind to me, I recall... but I guess I was still too young for him to make any real moves on me."

Sayn rolled her eyes grandly. "Geez. Guess those stories of Elven decadence really_weren't_ exaggerated. I'm assuming you never had any consequences for all of that?" Thielwen shuddered. "You mean like misshapen or mentally-retarded children? No, not a trace. The only reason why relationships between outright siblings were ill-seen was that it was thought to provoke a little too much nepotism - had to give other families a chance to marry into power, you know? Anyway, the lack of birth-defects may very well have been because of this... 'Divine Spark' deal. If all of this works out, we may need to be more careful."

Grinning, Sayn lifted an eyebrow at the Elven Consort of The Beastmaker. "Well, if that's the case, maybe you can give them all some pointers. I'd say that by now, you're an experienced master of 'having sex with non-family-members'." They shared another laugh at that, and as it petered out, Sayn leaned back in her seat and looked wistfully out the window. "...I do hope it comes to that. Even with all the headaches it'll likely be, for the Elves to adjust." "It will happen." Thielwen's answer was completely clear and even, drawing Sayn's eyes back to the reclining Elf-maid. "You're that sure?" she asked. Thielwen nodded without hesitation. "Of course I am. You said you would do it, after all. And I have complete Faith in you."

---

It is difficult to say to what degree, if any, the Beastmaker's decision to save the Elves from their by-then clear fate of slow decline and extinction was motivated by the presence of Thielwen, youngest Princess of the House of Errendar, by her side. Certainly, one could argue that political convenience or her (well-documented) strong sense of compassion would have compelled her to step in sooner or later regardless. However, it is certainly clear that Princess Thielwen had managed to become one of the Beastmaker's closest confidants and dearest friends in record time, perhaps second only to First Consort Korlin in that regard - and this is bound to have been, at the very least, a hastening factor.

How Princess Thielwen accomplished this is another intriguing question, especially considering the prevalent Anti-Elven sentiments that pervaded human society at the time. Even in an isolated, nomadic tribe like the one 'Running-Through-Grass' was born and raised in, memories of Elven subjugation and abuse would have lingered in stories and tales, hatred of disdain of their ancient masters passed down with the mother's milk. However compassionate and enlightened one may be as an adult, such deeply-ingrained notions are difficult to set aside. So how did Princess Thielwen manage to make the Beastmaker do just that, accepting her not merely as another Consort and member of her circle of advisers, but as a genuine lover and close friend?

While such matters will likely never be fully known, we do have some accounts from the time that may shed some light on the subject - suggesting that part of the secret may lay in Thielwen's upbringing amid the wonders of the Elven Royal Court In Exile. Thus accustomed to being around people who had complex and powerful magics at their fingertips, she was less prone to letting the image of The Beastmaker, a demigoddess with awe-inspiring and terrifying powers, blind her to what lay beneath it: A girl named Sayn, who, perhaps, really just wanted a friend...

• Excerpt from The Seraglio at the Center of the World by Senior Scholar Prakarov

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Continued in_THEOKRIOS_