Against my expectations, the temple gave us a whole room to ourselves, instead of a pallet in the common hall. Though the one bed almost filled the cramped room, the floor and sheets were clean. We even had a tiny window, though the thick gss only revealed a view over the muddy outskirts. In the distance was a hill with a stone manor, presumably the residence of the local freelord, when he wasn't at the capital.

  A small girl brought us a bucket of fresh water half as rge as her. Sulme paid in greenish copper, closed the door and pced a bell on the tch, so any tampering would alert us. He removed his gear and went through the room, searching for anything that might be a peephole, and stuffed more tiny bells into them.

  "Let me see your back," the Nilkoan said after he was finished.

  "Why?"

  "You try to keep your weight from it, so I'll take a look, how badly it was burned. Hopefully your salve hasn't boiled useless."

  I frowned but sat on the bed. My skin did hurt, but no more than from a heavy sunburn. On the Prince's endless war marches, my hide had endured its share of the unkind daylight. Sulme took the salve and sat behind me. I unbuttoned the gown and pulled it off my torso. Gently, the man pushed me a bit forward, forcing me to become aware of the small weight of my hanging teats. Sulme sang a simple song against fire's wrath, while he spread the concoction. At first the salve bit like ice, but soon my skin numbed.

  "There," he said. "Keep your back uncovered for a while."

  "Thank you," I muttered.

  "No, thank you, Ryymi. You saved my life."

  "Of course," I scoffed. "I could, so I did."

  A hand brushed my shoulder, making me shiver.

  "Would you still take offence, if I called you beautiful?" the man murmured.

  I turned to gre at the Nilkoan. He had an infuriating lopsided unsure smile on his face. I pushed him against the wall and mounted his p.

  "Do you truly enjoy ogling me?" I seethed. "That's fine. Take your fill. But what about me? A few weeks ago, if I had admitted, how I found you more pleasing than as a mere friend, would you have wanted to embrace me? Would you have been willing to kiss my lips?"

  Sulme looked aside.

  "Exactly!" I lifted the soft flesh of my bosom in a gesture, which I hoped would look as obscene as I felt. "How can I trust any affection, if it hangs on carnal appendages such as these?"

  Sulme looked me in the eyes and took my hand. "I'm not enough of a poet to expin such matters as love." The man pced his free hand on my thigh.

  I shivered. It was no pommel of his knife, which pressed on my thigh. The Nilkoan spoke of love, yet meant his lust. I would have punched him --or at least the wall beside his head-- if it hadn't proved my ck of restraint.

  Instead, I leaned forward to press my lips on his, with all my weight to make sure he got enough. Those bowman's fingers of his tangled in my hair. Our shared breath grew heavy like the grunting of halfwitted beasts.

  I pushed him down and sat straight. "Is this, what you desire? The motions of lovemaking, while I keep my lower half covered, so the illusion is not broken?"

  Sulme frowned. His hand piled the hem of my gown, until it could snake under the fabric. I shuddered, when his fingers brushed my bare thigh, but I did not avert my gaze from his eyes.

  "I'd like to help you rex and enjoy yourself." Sulme spoke softly like a knight might to his horse. "But you sure make it hard to figure out how. So I'll have to guess. Stop me, if you want."

  His rough hand touched my member, which had managed to grow but not to harden. Though I had tried to brace myself, a sighed moan escaped my lips. The man did not wait, but engulfed a most vulnerable part of me.

  It degraded a male to be thus fondled. Like the rest of my body, the remains of my manhood were pliant and soft. Like me, it failed to hate its weakness inside the safety of a strong embrace.

  I closed my eyes to escape from at least one part of my existence. The man should have crushed me in his grip to demonstrate the consequences of such feebleness as mine. Yet his touch was tender and agreeable. My body melted to mush, and I had to lean on the man. He kissed my neck. I answered with a hissing whine.

  It was a curse, to be created as a man and then to enjoy one's own meekness under firm attention. I had ridden a warhorse and grinned, as I breathed brimstone and the fumes of blood. Before Surtalm, nobody with sense had doubted my bravery or strength, those two aspects which made the good part of manliness. But now I was pleasured by a man, with my sensitive breasts pressed against his powerful chest. It had to be intolerable, yet I cked the strength to resist.

  If the man had been anyone else but Sulme, I would have screamed, fought, ran and hidden. Anyone else would have rightly mocked me for revelling in such a ck of potency. He was the only mortal in the unforgiving world, who I had trusted after the fmes of Surtalm.

  The hand kneaded and squeezed, coaxing me towards an incongruous climax.

  "St-stop!" I whined. The hand withdrew immediately. I cmbered off Sulme and hurried to the corner of the room.

  Footsteps followed me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn--"

  "No, you don't get it." I pushed my gown off me and kicked it away. "Here the mess is easier to clean up after. Please..." The words almost got stuck in my throat. "Continue."

  I leaned on the wall, presenting my backside to the man. I had to slow down my breath in order to keep my weightless head from spinning into the sky.

  Sulme walked behind me. His hands nded on my waist and descended to my hips. Agonisingly slowly, he reached around me to my quivering need.

  "Does this feel good?" The man rubbed me like a clueless burgher might try to milk a cow: all too gentle from the fear of reprisal.

  "Just shut up," I hissed. "And do your work slower yet with more ardour."

  Sulme's frame pushed against me. Though there was his long shirt between us, the rigidity of his member touched my flesh. He could have forced himself into me, and I would have been unable to resist. In body, and likely in will. Yet, despite his apparent lust, he only did what I asked.

  I had already been at the brink. Soon my wand twitched in the forceful grasp. My breath quivered from satisfaction, as the man made sure to coax every drop out of me. I braced myself for a wave of shame.

  "Did I do it right?" There was only kind tones of concern in his voice. No derision.

  I didn't answer. Instead, I turned around and csped the man's head to kiss him. Sulme's arms hesitated, presumably not wanting to touch my salved back with whatever was in his hand.

  After pulling back, I said: "I must repay you."

  "You don't hav--"

  "Stay silent." I lifted his shirt above his crotch to find a cavalry sword: heavy, curved and eager for the charge.

  Guided by my push, Sulme moved backwards to the bed.

  "Lie down," I commanded.

  Like the good soldier he was, Sulme obeyed. I knelt between his legs.

  His rod was stocky despite its moderate length, with a loose hood. Just as I had expected and hoped, it was pleasantly rge and warm inside my hand. I showed the man a pursed smile and pushed my shoulders together to emphasise my hanging assets. The unsure frown had returned on his face, but his member twitched in anticipation.

  "Now..." I bit my lip. "I could rub you until your purposeless lust is abated. But that you could do yourself. I have heard that some women py manhoods like flutes even without pay. I cannot comprehend the appeal, but I will try to find out."

  Fortunately, the man did not offer his useless interjections. I leaned down, and before doubt could overwhelm me, took the moist head between my lips.

  A tentative test with my tongue showed that the taste wasn't pleasant, but neither was it overwhelming.

  I squeezed the shaft and blew inside the hood. Sulme grunted. Clearly the hidden tip was sensitive. With beastly joy, I pulled the cover off those vulnerable gns.

  On my way down, the girth of the member forced me to stretch my jaw open in order not to scrape the tender meat with my teeth. My tongue moved around the head, and the man did his best not to squirm. I could barely contain my mirth. He shouldn't have acted so delicate, unless he was woefully inexperienced.

  I let the cock out of my mouth and asked: "Have you never had this done before?"

  Sulme lifted his head and drew his mouth into a straight line. "With whom I might have?"

  "Company is always for sale, especially anywhere soldiers are."

  The Nilkoan dismissed the thought with a grunt. "That's a good way to catch the pox."

  "Oh, chaste are we," I teased.

  "No, just prag--"

  His jabbering was pointless, so I crushed his rod in my fist to silence him and resumed my oral administrations. I had small idea of what I was doing, but eventually he pulsed in my grip. A pleasant thrill shivered coursed through me; I had satisfied a virile man. If he hadn't lied about his inexperience, I had cimed him first.

  "Look out," Sulme said.

  I rolled my eyes, just the sudden burst made me gag. Though the deed required concentrated willpower, I managed to swallow. After a moment, I got used to the aftertaste. The slime wasn't overly off-putting, but any appeal it had was in the context and not in the substance itself.

  Though this hadn't been a proper ritual of reproduction, a sliver of his masculine force of creation entered me, like it would have into a woman.

  While I thoroughly sucked him clean, the man twitched indecisively still. "Inmo's mercy," he cursed under his breath.

  I smiled to myself and crawled to y on the man. My wet nub pressed against his lower abdomen. He didn't appear to mind.

  Still careful of my back, Sulme wrapped his arms across me to hold my buttocks.

  "That was great," he whispered into my ear.

  "Of course."

  It was nice to have the rge sb of a man below me. However, my position wasn't suitable for rexation. I slid down to Sulme's side, and he shifted his arm to below my head.

  "Did that help you forget that I was a man?" I whispered.

  "You are a girl, then."

  I frowned to myself. Little glory was there for womenfolk in their toil and hardships. Even during the best of times they were at the mercy of men. But Sulme would never denigrate or hurt me. With him, I wouldn't have to give up anything of myself. I cooed: "Are you happy now that you have tamed me?"

  Sulme let out a small warm ugh. "I doubt that is what this is. Though perhaps you can now reserve your vitriol, until I better deserve it."

  I traced the lines of his abdomen with a finger and lifted my leg on his. "Will you be mine from now on?"

  The man brushed my thigh. "I already was." Sulme kissed me, but quickly flinched back. His face was twisted wry. "That taste must be mine."

  I grinned. "It is not quite that awful."

  "Still, it's not something I wish--" Sulme gnced down on my body. "Unless you want me to."

  "No--" I reconsidered for a moment, but shook my head "No. I don't want my man to do that. Who knows, how my inner forces are aligned at the moment? Besides, I fear you would accidentally bite off the worm."

  Sulme reached to my groin. With my wand between his fingers, he cupped my testes. I showed my enjoyment by nuzzling against the man.

  "I'm sorry," Sulme said.

  "Do not star--"

  "If I had known, how much you'd enjoy this, I would suggested it earlier." The man reached to kiss my cheek. "You were rather pretty in your 'disguise', even before these changes."

  A lump formed in my throat. My mind was a whirl of warmth and bitter cold. I hid my face against the broad chest, and failed to stifle my sob.

  The man removed his hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean--"

  "Stop." I breathed in deep and concentrated on his manly scent. "All is fine. I am merely overwhelmed."

  Sulme pulled me tighter against him.

  "I love you," he whispered.

  My heart leaped hard enough to make me wince. "Oh, Sulme... I love you too."