Karina giggled.
“I'll be sure to warn him about that. Really I think he just wants to get laid.” Giving him a sideways glance she grinned.
“Female company, most likely, though you are rather attractive. The palace is a little dry for all of us, honestly. Everyone is either a diplomat, dignitary, or related by blood. The servants are off limits in general, so that leaves almost no one. Your place is much more interesting! Plus the spies are all available for sex. Sara Debri, she's kind of cute, isn't she? Do you know if she's seeing anyone in particular?”
Tor thought about that. Did he know? She was cute, and lived on a military installation, sort of. If she wanted men, she had them. That didn't take a genius to figure out.
“Well, your brother for a while, maybe still, I don't think they've really stopped seeing each other. Me a little, about what we did, a bit more, a bunch of times. Um, maybe Ursala? I don't know on that, they never said one way or the other, but they had opportunity if they wanted too and both of them are great, so why wouldn't they? Are you interested, do you think?” That would be interesting, wouldn't it?
Karina tilted her head, clearly copying what he did all the time, and smiled a little.
“Well, I'm not that into girls, a diversion really. Bonita was only the third for me and you were the fourth guy, so I'm not absolutely certain. Can I… Do you think I could really be your girlfriend? I know you can't speak for Bonita, but will you, I mean do you want to? I…”
They were moving so Tor didn't kiss her.
“I'd love to. Though at this rate I think I'm going to start messing everything up soon. I can't pay proper attention so many ways, can I? Well, at least everyone else has people too. Trice certainly seemed happy to see Ridley last night. He's a good sort though, so I can't complain there, and really, all we've ever done is kiss a few times.” It was true, but Tor suddenly felt embarrassed and that must have shown on his face because Karina smirked.
“You and Ridley? Well, I'd better leave that out, or Alphie will feel you're putting him off a bit rudely, don't you think? I mean, you two have been best friends for a long time, years now and you're both good looking, so you'd think if you were going to do anything with the man it would be him. Really, you probably should, just to cement the relationship.” She gave him an odd look, one that spoke of thoughts he was glad he didn't know.
“I meant Trice, thank you very much.”
That got a laugh, “Sorry, misunderstood for a second, that's all. Really? You didn't even test her out in bed? You were going to get married. I mean, I slept with Raul just to see. He looks wild, but he's actually a good lover. Kind and gentle, attentive. I should have done more with him, and not gotten sucked in with Lilli. Yeah, Raul isn't as good looking, but looks don't matter that much do they? I mean, a good soul Counts more, right?” The tone was plaintive, as if begging him to agree. As if he wouldn't? It was just true.
“Kindness, a good heart, intelligence, all these things are more important than looks. But you're cute. Good enough looking that I'm getting looks as we go past people, saying, “how did he get to be with someone like her.” Though that might have been about the height difference too. People could be judgmental that way.
The Princess didn't say anything for a minute. Finally she cut her Not-flyer and settled in place, he had to float back about fifty feet to stand next to her.
Her voice was low when she spoke, not angry or sad now, but serious.
“They aren't looking at me, not at all, they don't even see me. Oh, a girl floating by, which is still interesting, even in the Capital, but not me. Even if they realized who I was, most of them wouldn't pay that much attention, not with you here. You're wonderful. Lovely and magical and brave. If I asked the next woman that passed if she'd like to have sex with you in an alley what do you think she'd say?”
Um… get away from me you freaks? Tor didn't say that, not wanting to be insulting, so he shrugged and paraphrased.
“Probably something shocked and frightened? I mean, who wouldn't? That's a weird thing to say to a woman at random, and they'd be within their rights to call the guard and have us both beaten. We'd have to let them too, because we'd deserve it.” Tor nodded at her confidently. After all, who did something like that?
Karina didn't wait, stopping a pretty woman walking along with another female, who wasn't as good looking, but smiled at them as she stood slightly behind the first woman, which made her face seem kind and friendly. Both were dressed in clean clothes that looked well used, but didn't have an air of lower class to them, so merchants maybe? They both looked to be about thirty or so, but well kept, even so. Tor nearly fainted when she actually said the words to the first woman, asking exactly what she'd said a few seconds before. The woman looked at him hard then Karina. Then she surprised him, because instead of calling for guards, or even telling them to get lost… she smiled.
“How much?”
Without hesitation Karina said a gold. The woman countered with five silvers, since she wanted to save a little money for the celebration, the woman behind her offered three silvers if he'd do them both. Four if he'd use his mouth, she liked that better than regular sex anyway, she let them know. Karina clarified that to oral sex and not kissing, which seemed to be an important point to her. They agreed and money changed hands quickly. Too quickly.
He hadn't been able to do more than stammer a bit during the negotiation. Everyone had kind of just ignored him too. Like he was incidental to the process. A good being sold. No one asked the opinion of a hand pie did they?
It made Tor feel a little sad for the pastries in Debbie’s shop.
The whole thing left him feeling shocked and speechless. It was a trap, one built for him personally, and so well that he couldn't get out of it. Refusing them now that they'd paid would be worse than calling them ugly, and even saying it was a joke would probably hurt their feelings. They weren't ugly or even women he wouldn't have liked to spend time with in general, but there were two of them and… he wasn't a whore. Was he? Apparently Karina thought differently and had just sold him as one.
Talk about rude.
Tor found himself led by the Princess to an alley just as she'd said. In the end he serviced both of them twice, once each with his mouth, one with his hand the other his manhood. It was embarrassing at first, but he let go of that and tried to focus on using all he'd learned and practiced to make sure they had fun. No matter what, they'd paid a lot for him, so giving them less than the best he could manage would be unconscionable, right? Both women handed him a coin, an extra silver each, as they left, and gave him a groping hug, but when one, the prettier of the two, tried to kiss him, Karina intervened physically, an arm across the woman’s upper chest, and gave her a stern look.
“No kissing. That's extra.” It was almost comical. After all that kissing was an issue? It was absurd.
So much so he nearly cried.
Tor felt used as they walked away. Not by the women, who'd paid a fair price, more than fair he thought, not really knowing normal rates, but by Karina. She turned to him though and kissed him, the taste of the women still on his lips, in his mouth. If she minded, it didn't show, instead she hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear huskily.
“So… yes, Tor, they want you. No games, no set up. We could do that again and double the price if we went to the nice district and probably get ten golds if I hit up some of the dowagers that have come for the week. A full gold for an hour’s work… A good girl whore would be out here for half the festival to make that, unless she offered really kinky things. Before her pimp took most of it. They didn't know you were the Wizard Tor either, or a noble at all. Just some good looking, and as it turned out, talented boy whore. Do you really not know what you look like or something? You're always so down on yourself. It seems phony you know, you always pretending your ugly or a troll or whatever.”
Oh. That.
“Yeah… Burks, Count Lairdgren, well he explained that, it's part of my pattern. He said I was really good looking, but basically I can't see it in myself. I don't, even when I thought he looked good when he de-aged himself. His real appearance is basically like this, I guess, exactly really, same age and all. Taller obviously, by about five inches. It's that Ancient thing. Your parents told you?” She might have forgotten, it wasn't like it would have mattered to her at the time, right?
It turned out that finding out a friend of yours won't age, and might live for thousands of years or more wasn't something you just let go of and didn't think about. She shrugged and offered to buy him something with the
