“Don’t worry, my friends,” said Grast, his bulbous nose glowing a soft red. “I’ll get you in, no problem. Those dumb goons at the gate won’t suspect a thing. And if they give us any trouble, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
I grinned and clapped my hand appreciatively on his back. “You’re a good man, Grast. Thank you for helping us.”
“Lord Chauzec,” he said solemnly, “you’re a good fellow, a damn good fellow for helping us out like this. You’ve got no real reason to risk your neck against Nabu and his bleedin’ Resplendent Crusaders, but you’re doing it anyway. If only more lords cared as much about justice as you do, instead of worryin’ only about how best to stuff their pockets and suck us poor folk dry. If you, an outsider, are willing to risk your neck for us, then, by the Lord of Light, so am I!”
I chuckled warmly and patted Grast on the back again. He was a cheerful old guy, and although he didn’t have a single fighting bone in his body, he had a stout heart. Hopefully, the guards wouldn’t give him any trouble or harass him on the way in. If they did, they’d have me to answer to.
Rami, Elyse, and I managed to squeeze ourselves into the back, among my skeletons and Fang, who took up most of the space there. I gave him a scratch behind his ear holes, and he let out a contented rumble. Elyse shuddered and pressed herself against the side of the wagon. Rami, though, was quite fascinated with Fang.
“We have similar creatures in Yeng.” She marveled at the bright red and deep black patterns of his scales. “But ours are smaller, and they’re colored more drably. They’re very rare, these giant lizards. Their scales and flesh are of great value.”
“Well, nobody’s taking Fang’s scales or flesh or even a single claw clipping off his paws.” I had to admit, I was surprised at how attached I was becoming to my giant zombie man-eating lizard. “I don’t give a shit how much gold his scales are worth. He’s far more valuable of an asset alive than dead.”
“Did you create him?” Rami ran her fingertips softly over the armored scales around Fang’s nose. “He is undead, correct?”
“The eyes are a dead giveaway, aren’t they? Excuse the pun.”
She smiled and nodded, still petting Fang’s scaly head.
“I guess you could say that I ‘created’ him,” I said. “I also killed him, back before he became my pet. Mount. Whatever. You know what I mean.”
“You killed a giant lizard single-handedly?” she asked, astonished. “Really?”
I couldn’t resist flashing Rami a smug grin. I also couldn’t resist fantasizing about that tight body, its seductive curves and contours revealed so tantalizingly by her form-fitting ai’tendar. Soon, there was a very vivid and unshakable image in my mind of me sliding that tight black outfit off of her, and her firm, pert tits popping out into my waiting hands, and—
“Tell me how you defeated this mighty monster,” she said, grinning as if she’d discovered a dragon’s hoard of treasure.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elyse scowling and rolling her eyes as she observed Rami’s behavior. But, a hint of a smile flickered across her face, too, when I started telling the story; she’d been impressed by how I had killed the lizard, even if she was too proud to admit it.
I recounted the tale to Rami, who was suitably impressed, too. Indeed, she was so impressed that I noticed her nipples stiffening and swelling, straining against the tight fabric of her ai’tendar. Her full lips were parted with seductive delight, and I could see an eager hunger for me lighting up her eyes as I talked. This woman certainly loved combat. I was glad she would be fighting alongside me rather than against me. And if we found a private spot to take some well-deserved rest after our victory, I could think of countless ways we could help each other unwind.
Elyse listened too, though she did her best to pretend she didn’t care. She couldn’t help grinning with delight after certain parts of the story, and shooting subtle gazes at me when she thought I wasn’t looking.
I finished telling the tale just as we rolled up to the gates of Erst, having gotten two beautiful ladies’ hearts beating and chests heaving using only my words.
“You there, halt!” ordered a gruff voice from somewhere nearby. I peered through a gap in the thick canvas curtain that blocked off the back of the wagon from the front seats. Two poleax-wielding guards in chainmail were approaching Grast.
“Hey, boys, it’s me, Grast!” he said. “And I’m just in time to refill Bishop Nabu’s wine cellar. I’m guessing it’s starting to get dangerously empty by now, eh?”
“Oh, yeah, I recognize you now, you stupid old git,” growled a guard. “What took you so bloody long? We’ve been waiting an hour for you!”
“We were slightly delayed loading the wine. Wanted to make sure this wagon was going to carry as many barrels as it possibly could.”
“They’re not beating the damn slaves hard enough if they can’t load this fucking wagon on time,” the guard muttered. “They should send me there; all I need is a whip and an iron gauntlet. Anyway, let’s have a look in the back. His Eminence will want to make sure your numbers are right. Then, you can head on over to the cathedral’s wine cellar.”
I quietly unsheathed Grave Oath as Rami and Elyse drew their weapons too.
“Whoa, whoa, hold up there,” Grast protested. “Like you said, I’m already running a bit late. If you two lads go and start counting all the barrels of wine I’ve got packed in the back, I’ll be even later. As I said, we had them really stuff wine into every corner. By the time you’ve worked yourself through that, Bishop Nabu is probably getting tired
