#2967   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     Kodiak held onto Penthesilea as hard as he could afraid that if he slackened his grip in the slightest she would be torn from his arms. Suddenly, he realized that they were falling slower and even as he realized it their descent slowed to a drift. He twisted his head to look down and saw the soft glow of a portal rising up to meet them. Then they were falling through it. Kodiak twisted in the air as they drifted toward the floor so as to land feet first. He looked down and realized that they were near the ceiling of the Great Hall of the Castle and drifting toward the floor where most of the Castle’s population was gathered. He picked out Daemon, MoonCat and SpiritFire standing together watching their descent.
     They landed gently and Kodiak debated taking Penthesilea immediately to the infirmary when the decision was taken, literally, out of his hands.  Penthesilea began to gently glow and  to drift out of his arms. He started to hold onto her, afraid that she would drift back up through the portal but a gentle voice told him to let her go and going totally against his nature, he trusted the voice and released her even as the portal disappeared.  She drifted upward glowing like a star. As Kodiak and the rest of them watched, light poured out of her mouth, her eyes, her ears and finally every pore of her body. She was healed, made whole, every trace of her ordeal erased from her body. The torn, burned and bloody hipwrap was replaced by one of shining pristine white.  Looking like a newborn Goddess, she drifted back to the floor.
     For a long timeless moment, Kodiak stared at her. She was more beautiful than he had ever seen her and she seemed to glow like the moons. He began to take the first step toward her, intending to take a knee before her and to beg for forgiveness for cursing her but before the thought could become action, Jasmine was there crying tears of gratitude at this return. She threw her arms around him and covered his face with kisses while babbling happy incoherent nonsense. Then, as Daemon swept his sister up in a bear hug with MoonCat and SpiritFire on his heels, Jasmine took Kodiak’s arm and began to drag him away intending, she said, to tend his wounds and see to his comfort. Kodiak let her lead him away but he looked back over his shoulder for one last look at Penthesilea and saw her looking back at him.
     Penthesilea looked up from her joyous family in time to see Jasmine pulling Kodiak away. She felt a tiny pang at that but then Kodiak turned his head and looked at her and she thought that she saw the same longing in his eyes that she knew was in her own. She considered going after them but decided not to. She would find a private moment to say what she had to say to him. What happened after that would be up up him.

#2978  [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     As much as she wanted to, Penthesilea resisted the intense urge to find Kodiak before the night was done. Her ethics required that he have his time with Jasmine. That and the fact that her family, her girls especially, needed her more than she needed to see Kodiak although it was a very near thing!  Upon arising from the first restful sleep she had had in weeks, Penthesilea had bathed and groomed herself carefully and then arrayed herself in the magickally restored hipwrap. Jagamatan women were extremely body proud and lived in a hot, dry climate.  It was therefore quite logical for them to go bare breasted wearing nothing more than a hipwrap, sandals and sunscreen. Penthesilea studied herself in the mirror and smiled.  The effect was all she could wish.  She grinned wickedly.
     “Ashera, where is the Lord Marshall?”

#2980  [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     Kodiak stood in the hallway unable to move because of his physical reaction to Penthesilea’s feather soft kiss. His cheek tingled where her lips had touched and his body’s response to her was anything but indifferent!  For a moment, he lost himself in thoughts of the Keyholder but he was returned to reality by the awareness that someone was coming up behind him.  Instantly, he was on alert and turned to face whoever was approaching him from behind. He relaxed only marginally when he saw who it was.
     He did not like Satira. He had disliked her from the moment that he first saw her. He pegged her as a worthless, scheming opportunist whose only goal was to gain a position of importance in the Keyholder’s household.  Oh she was attractive, he would give her that, and under other circumstances he might even have used her for a night’s diversion but he could sense the deceit in her. He was as sure as he could be that she meant Penthesilea no good and he was sworn by his own word to protect Penthesilea. Granted, taking her to bed might get her to divulge her plans but Kodiak knew that his Lady would not ask such a thing of him. Kodiak only wished that he had enough solid proof to prove Satira’s schemes to Penthesilea. If he did, he would happily put Satira to the sword and beg the Lady Keyholder’s pardon afterwards! Kodiak felt his hackles rise as Satira came up to him. She had arranged her bodice so that she was all but falling out of it and the skirt she wore stopped well above mid thigh. It would be no trouble at all to lift it and he suspected that was exactly what she had in mind! She stopped in front of him, as close as Penthesilea had been and looked up at him in a manner calculated to entice.
     “Good morning, Darklord. I was hoping to find you.”
     “You were?” Kodiak decided to play along for just a bit.
     “I was,” she breathed and laid her hand on his chest. “I’ve been wanting to express my admiration for you for some time but the time has never been right.”
     Kodiak grinned lazily and Satira did not notice that it did not reach his eyes. “You have? Well, I’m all for ‘expressions of admiration.”
    “That is what I’ve heard.” With that she began to unbutton the top button of his shirt and Kodiak made his move. With one violent motion, he shoved Satira into the nearest wall, taking  her mouth with all of the skill and intensity at his command while his hands roamed freely under her conveniently short skirt. She was wearing nothing under it which only confirmed Kodiak’s suspicions.  He felt her respond to his kiss, felt her go soft and yielding and at the precise moment when she surrendered and gave herself up to desire for him, he stopped, stepped back and bowed slightly.
     “Unfortunately, I am an engaged man and my loyalty is to my Lady. I’m afraid you will have to find another way to express your admiration.” With that, he turned away from her and walked back toward the nearest elevator, leaving Satira shocked and aching from thwarted desire behind him.

#2982  Penthesilea

     *Servants have spread the word of Daemon's distress. Penthesilea chuckles to herself.* I keep telling him not to drink strange brews with beautiful women and does he listen? -- noooooo, he does not! Let him suffer for a while. Maybe I'll cure his headache when he comes looking for me! * Daemon had been the first to reach her when she had returned from her journey. The advantage of long legs had got him to her in advance of her daughters and the bear hug he had given her when he had reached her had driven all the air from her lungs. She didn't strictly need air to breathe but it certainly made talking easier! She had gasped dramatically (this was, after all, not the first time that he'd hugged her this hard...) and he'd gotten the idea and eased up. Then he'd set her feet back on the floor for the reunion with her daughters. And then stood guard over her until she had finally shooed him off and he'd found his way to the Pub -- and Satira.

#2984  [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     When Satira awoke, her hangover had been considerably less severe than Daemon’s. For one thing, she had not consumed several tankards of ale prior to starting in on Jagamatan stout! For another, a lifetime spend drinking the stuff had given her a considerable tolerance for its high alcohol content. She had made her way to her bathing room where she kept her herb packets. She had set one to steep in a cup of hot water while she drew her bath. She had downed the brew when it was ready and had settled into the tub. She had bathed and dressed quickly as it was nearly time for her morning prayers. Once the formalities had been taken care of, her God had issued his orders in the wake of the failure of his plan for Satira to save Penthesilea from her curse. Those orders were some of the most pleasant that He had ever given her. She was to seduce the Darklord and bring him under her God’s influence.  She was also to bring Daemon, Penthesilea’s half brother, into Mar-Nek’s fold the same way. Satira had smiled and had thanked whatever God or Goddess who have given her a nearly endless appetite for bedgames. She would need it if she intended to satisfy both the lusty Darklord and the Keyholder’s brother!
     She had set off at once to find the Lord Marshall and was pleased to find him alone in one of the hallways on the fourth floor. She arranged her bodice to reveal as much of her tempting body as possible without dispensing with it entirely and approached the Darklord.  Shortly thereafter, she watched his broad back disappear down the hallway after delivering the most humiliating rejection that she had ever received. Her God’s instructions in that event had been clear and she would be overjoyed to carry them out. If the Darklord would not join Mar-Nek’s cause, he would die!

#2986   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     After leaving Satira sputtering impotently in his wake, Kodiak decided to seek some breakfast and after availing himself of the Castle’s buffet felt much more able to face the day. He wanted, desperately, to see Penthesilea again and various servants informed him that she was buzzing around, attending to her duties as Lady of the Castle. Kodiak smiled. Back from near death and damnation and she was on her feet and working when most of the women he knew would have been languishing in their bowers or still in the grip of hysterics. The Lady Keyholder was one of a kind.
     “Honee!!” Inwardly, Kodiak cringed. Jasmine had found him and his fate, at least for the time it would take to satisfy her carnal demands, was sealed. Still, when he considered it, a vigorous round of bedgames with Jasmine would clear his head and calm his body so that the next time he saw Penthesilea, he would be able to speak coherently and, if he were to be honest with himself, NOT carry her off to the nearest bed to ravish her himself which was beginning to be more and more a distinct possibility. So Kodiak turned toward the approaching Jasmine, smiled his most winning smile and when she whispered her proposal in his ear, he readily agreed.

#2988  [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     As Daemon slowly sips his ale and prays for his head to stop pounding like the war drums of hell, he signals a passing serving girl. “I need to speak to the Keyholder. Do you know where she might be.” The girl went to inquire and Daemon sank back into deep thought with a sigh. Now that the situation with his sister was resolved and she was safe, the business that had brought him to her Castle needed to be addressed. They had been lucky so far but he knew, all too well, that it would not last. When the servant returned, she told him that Penthesilea was in the Main Hall. Daemon thanked her, paid his tab and went seeking his sister.

#2990  [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     Daemon had found that the “hair of the dog that bit him” was no help when it came to Jagamatan stout. He had managed to eat a little and it had stayed down. He knew that would eventually help as would exercise as soon as he was steady enough to do it. Which, considering how he felt, could turn out to be quite a while. He was about to seek out his sister and beg for her hangover cure when he caught sight of Satira coming towards him. She was smiling slyly and, as was apparently her custom, revealing enough skin to arouse a stone god.
     “Morning!” she chirped brightly. Then the smile turned into a slight frown. “You don’t look so good.”
     “Thank you, milady. I’m afraid I’m suffering the aftereffects of that brew you introduced me too last night. It is tasty and smooth going down but it has a considerable kick. Especially the morning after.”
     Satira’s smile returned and she pulled a small packet from her belt pouch. “I have something here that should help. It is the least I can do after giving you that black eye. I would have been more gentle but I was a bit drunk myself.”
     “The fault is entirely mine but I will accept your offer of relief from this headache.”
     “All I need to do is steep it in some hot water. It even tastes good. You don’t have to add honey to it to get it down.”
     Daemon considered his position relative to the Dining Hall and the Castle Pub. No contest. The Pub was closer and he was sure that the bar keep could come up with a mug of hot water. “Then if I may escort you to the Pub, we’ll see about that hot water. I will even spring for breakfast if you haven’t eaten.”
     “I haven’t and once you have this in you, you will have a bit more appetite too.”
     Shortly thereafter, Daemon was downing the brew while Satira ordered some breakfast for herself and, true to her word, once the brew had hit Daemon’s stomach, he found himself hungry. His order of steak, eggs and fried potatoes arrived along with her more modest meal and they ate and made small talk between bites. They avoided anything too personal and the talk wandered to battles that they had been in and the adventures that they had had.  Daemon found the conversation as pleasant as the view and when the meal was done, he stood and offered her his arm.
     “I need to speak to the Lady Keyholder about a matter of some importance. I would be pleased to have your company while I hunt her up.”
     Satira rose gracefully from her chair and took his arm. “I’d be delighted.” A quick inquiry yielded the information that Penthesilea had last been seen in the Entry Hall overseeing the repairs to the Main Doors and they strolled off in that direction.
     Meanwhile, Penthesilea had heard from a servant in the Dining Hall that Daemon was looking for her.  She swallowed the last of her meal and spoke to the Castle. “Ashera, where is Daemon?” Upon receiving the the answer, she went to intercept him.

#2992    [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

Daemon looks vaguely embarrassed. “Yeah, it is” he replies and hopes that Penthesilea will not inquire further.  “Now that you are safe, we need to have a war council. Something has come up.”
     “Does it concern the letter you left for me? I found it on my desk this morning.”  Daemon only nods and Penthesilea frowns, quickly deciding who to summon to the council. “Ashera, we need the Lord Marshall, Sir Michael,  Sir Alexander and Sir Kevin and since she will tag along, Jasmine for a meeting in the Castle Pub.”

#2996  Penthesilea
     
Quote:
“Ashera, we need the Lord Marshall, Sir Michael,  Sir Alexander and Sir Kevin and since she will tag along, Jasmine for a meeting the the Castle Pub.

Ashera: Locating. They have been informed.

#2998   Penthesilea
     
*The Lord Marshall comes striding down the hall with Jasmine in pursuit. Kodiak slows when he sees Penthesilea, allowing Jasmine, who is fumbling with her bodice, to catch up. When she sees Penthesilea standing with the group, she takes the Lord Marshall's arm. Penthesilea simply smiles...*