Eubexa was continuing to improve. Tom could see that she was moving around a bit more with the help of her walking stick, though she still needed to be lifted into the wagon bed. He didn't comment on it, but found it a hopeful sign. Maybe she just needs to be fed properly, along with some more healing spells when we find Sheema.
The women had a quiet conversation while the men finished packing up camp and stowing everything in the supply wagon. When he finished his part, carefully reaching past the sick elf yet again to drop the last pack, Eubexa spoke. “Master, Diavla is going to spend time filling another amulet, so she would like to ride with the salt wagon for a while. Varga would like to keep us company instead.”
Tom thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “That makes sense.” He kissed Diavla affectionately. “Come join me when you're finished,” he told her, and Eubexa translated in between mouthfuls—she was still eating.
They mounted the wagons and Tom took the lead again, this time with Varga beside him. For a while, the redheaded elf said nothing, just watched the scenery go by with an occasional glance his way. When he heard Eubexa set down her empty bowl, he decided to break the silence.
“How are you doing, Varga?” Eubexa translated, and the women chatted briefly.
“I am pretty good, but I need more kisses.”
Tom smiled. “Well, you did ask for kisses as payment for the kissing lesson. Thank you again for that, by the way.”
A few days prior, he had had an embarrassing failure when trying to kiss Lily Rose, a local mercenary in Rivermarch. He didn't have enough experience, and was an awful kisser. When he started shying away from kissing Diavla as a result, Varga took matters into her own hands.
The first time she managed to get Tom alone, she taught him how to kiss. She was patient and kind, very different from the brash, joking personality she usually displayed. The lesson was embarrassing, and fun, and increasingly arousing. It was a tremendous confidence boost for Tom when he improved so much at kissing that Varga wanted to have sex with him right then. With effort, Tom had turned her down, because he was still feeling his way into his relationship with Diavla, and hadn't known elven customs yet.
Those customs said that it was fine for him to date both Diavla and Varga. Tom was still trying to adjust to that. He was in love with Diavla, but Varga was undeniably sexy, too. She was slender, athletic, and tall for an elf, with gorgeous red hair and amazing green eyes. She also looked very good in her new leather armor. Now she leaned closer, and batted her eyelashes dramatically at him.
“You minx.” He bent his head down and kissed her as she demanded. It started out mostly chaste, but Varga seemed to be doing her best to arouse him. He returned the favor, up to a point, then broke off the kiss when it threatened to get in the way of his driving. Besides, he could see a wagon coming the other way approaching in the distance. It was good to remember that they did not quite have Forest Road all to themselves.
That was the reason the elves were wearing their slave collars. If any humans saw the elves without them, there would be difficult questions—free elves were illegal in Baria. Tom still considered his ownership of the elves to be a fiction, and took their collars off whenever they expected to have privacy.
“Wait until that wagon passes us,” Tom told Varga. Eubexa translated. Varga nodded, and sat up straight next to him, facing forward demurely, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. I wonder what trouble she's going to get up to.
He nodded to the farmer driving the other wagon, which was piled high with grain. It was harvest season, and a big city like Rivermarch likely needed even more than what it could grow in its own valley. Tom thought about his own experience selling the grain from the caravan, and decided to call out. “Hello! Selling in Rivermarch?”
“Yes, sir! Wheat and corn.”
Tom pulled on the reins, and his wagon came to a halt. “Sanderson gave me a good price for corn. Watch out for Jack Merch, he likes to threaten.”
The other man likewise stopped his wagon. “I know about Jack Merch. Thank you for the tip on Sanderson. You a farmer?”
“No, my dad is. I'm a merchant now. What's salt selling for, where you came from?”
“Salt? I don't rightly know, sir. I know it's hard to get at the moment, though.”
“Good news for me, thank you.”
“Trent Farmer.”
“Tom Walker.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Tom Walker. Begging your pardon, but is that an elf next to you?”
Tom glanced at Varga. “She is, indeed.”
Trent peered at the elf woman curiously, but Tom sensed no vulgarity or meanness to it. “How much did you pay for her?”
Tom thought back to his dead friends and his smile faltered. “The price was high.” He forced himself to brighten, and placed a hand on Varga's knee. “But I'm glad to have her with me now.”
Trent looked both of them up and down a moment. “I see a ring! Congratulations, sir. I hope she makes you happy.”
Tom opened his mouth to explain, then simply said, “Thank you. Good luck to you in Rivermarch.”
“Safe travels, sir.”
They started their wagons and moved on. Tom grinned, wondering what Trent would make of the elves driving the salt wagon. Meanwhile, he could just hear Eubexa translating for Varga. The redhead's eyes widened and she twisted around to ask a couple of questions. The last one was, “How do you say (something)?”
“Husband,” Eubexa replied.
“Husband,” Varga called Tom with a big grin. She leaned against him, held up her hand and inspected the ring Tom had given her. “Thank you, husband,” she teased. She looked as if her smirk was just barely holding back laughter, and her eyes danced as she tried to look at him innocently.
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Tom gave up and laughed, shaking his head at her. She stretched up even closer, and watched him expectantly, batting her eyelashes again. Tom reached out the hand not holding the reins and grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulling her around and kissing her. She made a little noise of surprise.
He meant to kiss her just for a moment, without much heat, but the redhead again had other plans. She gripped him in return and kissed him a little longer, with a little more excitement, sliding and pressing her lips to his in a long caress. Tom wished he had both hands free, and time to kiss her properly. Her mouth opened invitingly, and when he did the same, her tongue darted out at his.
Tom gave a little hum of contentment as they kept kissing. His hands were occupied, but Varga's went exploring. Her touch felt good to him, even muted through his armor. It was more the idea of how heated Varga wanted to be, that was so distracting.
Tom was mostly sure that the redhead wanted to have sex with him, and that it was likely to happen some day soon. He couldn't quite shake the suspicion that her attraction was staged, though, part of an elaborate joke she was having at his expense. Well, if she's going to tease me, this is a much nicer form of teasing than some. I might as well enjoy it.
He suspected that he would have been much less calm at the prospect if he were not partnered with Diavla now. Being teased like this would have hurt his pride, and his feelings. He would likely have mistaken it as cruelty. Now, he could face the prospect of her attraction being faked, and he could see that it was just Varga being a joker.
Some people wanted to smile at the world; Varga wanted to smirk and laugh. He had no reason to think she was malicious. Jealousy didn't seem to play a role in the elf's reactions. A human woman, on the other hand, he would expect to be fighting with Diavla, possibly scheming and backstabbing.
He still was reluctant to believe his good fortune, but even if the Varga half of it was illusion, he was in love with Diavla and sharing his bed with his... What did she call it again? 'Tolanor'. Hm. I should learn more about that. Why is it that some words seem to take forever to explain?
Tom pulled his face away from Varga's, needing some air. “Water, please.”
“Eubexa, did Tom (something) ask for water?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks.” Varga got up off the wagon seat and turned, presenting her athletic behind to him fairly deliberately. The leather pants showed off her shape well, and she knew it. Where Diavla was somewhat curvy, Varga was lean and taut. Tom was torn by a couple of conflicting impulses, and resisted them both. Doing anything would only encourage her.
He kept his eyes on the road ahead, even as she wiggled in his peripheral vision. Varga, you're about as subtle as a trebuchet, and twice as dangerous. Having realized that she wasn't going to get the reaction she wanted, Varga finished climbing in back and poured a cup for him from the small water barrel.
When she came back out front and passed it to him, he thanked her and downed most of it quickly. Varga took it back from him and drank the rest. Tom looked at her, considering what an enigma she was to him.
“Varga, tell me about yourself.”
Eubexa translated, and Varga shrugged. She started talking, and soon Eubexa had to warn her to slow down so that she could keep up with translating.
“There's not a whole lot to tell. Kilder Vald was a small fishing village. Not much excitement. I was bored a lot of the time.”
“What do you do for fun?”
“Wine, women, men, and song.” Eubexa coughed. “I took liberties with translation but that's what she meant.”
“Did you have a husband...or husbands, back home?”
“Nothing that serious. There were a few guys in the Vald I would have sex with once in a while. And the child hunt every year, of course.”
“The child hunt? What's that?”
“Ah. Let me explain.” Eubexa gathered her thoughts a moment. “Master, did you know that elves have trouble conceiving children?”
Tom blinked. “Some elves, you mean?”
“All elves, unfortunately. No one knows why, but it's been a serious problem back home for centuries. We aren't having enough children. We don't want to die out as a people, so we are doing our best to have as many children as possible.”
“And a child hunt is...?”
“Every spring, many of our young, healthy people go on a tour of surrounding areas, where they have as much sex as possible, with as many members of the opposite sex as possible.”
Tom blinked, shocked. “You...all do this?”
“Most of us, for at least a few years. We're taught that it is important duty, to help the survival of the elven race. It's also a lot of fun, of course.”
“Varga, you did this child hunt?”
“Oh, yes, every spring for the past six years. It's a great party. The only bad part is not being able to have alcohol for three months.”
Tom reflected that the elven way of doing things would remove a lot of the struggling humans had finding mates, but he couldn't imagine it working for his race. I expect that jealousy would be a big problem.
“Did you have any children?”
“No. I did my best, but never caught. Had fun trying, though.”
Tom tried to think through what that would mean. “So, elves don't have large families at all.”
“Not at all, Master. A woman is considered very fortunate if she manages to have three children.”
“No wonder Diavla was shocked when I told her about my family. Do you have any brothers or sisters, Varga?”
“I have a half-brother. I've only met him a couple of times, but he seemed like a good man. I think he's about fifty years older than me.”
“Did you grow up in Kilder Vald?”
Varga looked a bit uncomfortable. “Yes. Saa, can we talk about you now?”
Tom could understand if she didn't want to talk about her destroyed village. He wanted to learn more about Varga, but didn't press. “All right. What would you like to know?”
“What's the funniest thing that ever happened to you?”
“That I found funny, or that other people found funny?”
“I'll be merciful this time. Something you found funny.”
Tom was grateful for the reprieve, and cast his soul back, then gave a small laugh. “I had a friend once by the name of Toad. Toad was sweet on this girl Sandy, and Sandy had an older sister named Crystal who looked a great deal like her. One night, Toad got very drunk, because he wanted the courage to confess his feelings to Sandy.”
“Did he say it to the wrong girl?”
“That would have been funny enough, but it was only the beginning...”
Tom did his best to tell the story in an entertaining way. He wasn't sure how Eubexa was rendering his words into Elvish, but paused often to give her time to translate.
“...so finally, the door opens. And that's when Toad found out that he had been serenading their mother the whole time!”
Eubexa's body spasmed a moment, and she made a sound that was half laughter and half a cry of pain.
“Eubexa?” Tom asked with concern.
“A moment, Master...” Eubexa switched to Elvish, and Tom realized that she was translating the last line for Varga.
“No!” Varga stared at Eubexa, wide-eyed, then turned her stare on Tom.
“Yes! I did see it,” Tom confirmed. “Eubexa, are you all right?”
“Master, could you...cut my pain in half again, please?”
“Of course! Varga, take the reins.” The redhead got the idea without a translation and took them at once. Tom stood and unhooked his belt, then unlaced his trousers. He reached in and pulled on the string he had affixed, retrieving the wand that controlled Eubexa's collar from its resting place along his inner thigh, the safest place he could think of. He unwrapped it, pointed it at Eubexa, pressed the second gem, and thought
Eubexa sighed in relief, and breathed heavily for a few moments. Finally, she breathed, “Thank you, Master. That was...the first time I tried to laugh in...I don't know how long. The disease...caused me some pain.” She drew a deep breath. “I'm sorry for ruining your joke.”
Tom gave her a pained smile. “If it got a laugh out of you, I'd call that a big success. Don't worry about it, Eubexa.”
Varga said something, and Eubexa almost laughed again, then snapped at Varga angrily. Varga apologized at once.
“Eubexa?”
The sickly elf snorted with a groan. “She said, 'nobody try anything funny.'” A smile twitched at Tom's mouth for a moment before he made himself scowl at Varga. The redheaded elf looked oddly indecisive, as if she couldn't decide whether to grin or feel guilty and was trying to do both at once. A brief silence fell. Tom waited for Eubexa to say something else, her reactions a mystery behind her veil.
“It was funny,” Eubexa eventually conceded in a dry tone.