“Come, Noah, follow me. I will feel better if we can touch,” said Chastity, walking toward Noah’s bedroom.

“But we’re gonna have to do it with the Queen, and I don’t want to waste my energy, you know?” said Noah.

“Yea, we’ll not expend yer manly vigor. We’ll merely kiss for a while. Perhaps a bit more. Chastity winked at Noah. Wow, Noah thought, she must really want him right now. He was a bit confused by it, since they had just had an emotional moment together, but he wasn’t going to argue. Maybe she wanted to ‘kiss and make up’. He followed her into the bedroom, and sat next to her on the large, round lovemaking bed.

Chastity looked into his eyes. “I love ye.”

“I love you too,” said Noah. He wanted to kiss her right away, but he wasn’t supposed to unless they were having sex. But she said she wanted to kiss, right? Was she willing to make an exception to the elven rules? “You have such soft lips. I love kissing you,” he said.

She spread a large smile. “I thank ye, mine love.”

He leaned close to her, bringing his lips so close to hers they were almost touching. “Can we kiss?” he asked.

“Nie. But let us do so anyway. We be in our wedding bet, at least, and we are Eyeless outcasts either way. So kiss me, mine love,” she said, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his.

They kissed fervidly. Noah leaned forward, leaning Chastity backward until she was lying on her back, without stopping. His hand slid up her body, groping her boobs over her dress. Her back arched slightly in response to his touch. She grabbed his messy, black hair and kissed him harder. One hand went down and started rubbing his crotch.

“You want my cock inside of you, don’t you?” asked Noah, as his hand slid down between her legs.

“Yea, I beseech ye,” she said. “I do feel so free. Mine whole life I have hidden mine desires, but in the safety of our wedding bed I can finally speak them aloud. Yea, mine love, put yer cock in me. With haste.”

Noah pulled his shirt off as he kissed her stomach. “Not yet.” He continued rubbing her crotch over her dress, and kissed her more. She moaned.

“May ye put it in soon? I desire to feel ye, mine love,” whispered Chastity.

“Be quiet,” said Noah, kissing her again. They kissed for a while as Noah massaged her covered privates. He was hard as a rock, but he wouldn’t be using his dick now. He needed to be able to perform for the Queen. Instead, he pulled up Chastity’s dress, and rubbed her over her panties. “You’re wet,” he whispered.

“Hmm? Oh, so I am,” said Chastity matter-of-factly.

“Why are you wet?” teased Noah.

Chastity paused, then responded. “Because of ye, mine love. I yearn for ye.”

“Good.” Noah began pulling off her panties without first removing her dress.

“Ah! Ye’ll not do what ye did last time, will ye?” whispered Chastity.

“I am your husband, right?” asked Noah authoritatively.

“Yea…”

“So we’ll do what I say, right?” asked Noah in an even firmer tone, hoping to establish himself as dominant. He wouldn’t actually do anything she wasn’t comfortable with, but he got the sense she wanted him to take control.

“Yea, mine love. Yet…” Chastity trailed off.

“I’m not going to lick you, but I will touch you. Like this,” he said, at once softly stroking her clitoris with one finger and massaging the entrance to her pussy with another.

“Oh…” moaned Chastity. She closed her eyes, and let out a deep breath.

“You like that?” asked Noah.

“Yea,” she whispered.

Noah spread her legs apart so he could see what he was doing, and would have a better angle. Her soft, dark thighs spread apart, and Noah could see the glistening folds of her pussy nestled inside dark curls of hair. He began to stick one of his fingers into her pussy, while touching her clit with his thumb. Since he was using only one hand, he was able to climb back up to kiss Chastity’s lips, tightly grabbing her left boob as he did so.

When he kissed her, he felt her twitch from the inside and she breathed in slightly. He fingered her while they kissed. He moved his head down her neck, kissing it all the way, and then pulled her dress down so he could suck on her nipple. She moaned in an unflattering, grunty way, which made him smile. He moved his head back down between her legs.

“Lick me not, alright?” she whimpered, tensing her muscles.

“I won’t. It’s against the rules,” he said.

“Since when do ye care for elfin rules?” asked Chastity.

“Are you saying I shouldn’t care?” asked Noah. He didn’t stop what he was doing, and maintained a firm, dominant tone while he spoke.

“Nie, I be not saying so. It merely be that yer such a rule breaker.”

“Yeah? You like it when I break the rules?” asked Noah, with a teasing note in his voice.

“Mayhaps. Mayhaps I do, yet ye’ve brought me into such trouble,” said Chastity.

Noah smiled. “Right, we’re already in a lot of trouble. So what would happen if we broke one more rule?” he asked her. He slid a second finger into her pussy, which elicited another grunty moan.

“Ah! I- I nie know. Mayhaps naught. I know not,” she said hesitantly.

“But you trust me to make the right decision, right?”

“Yea-“ she paused, considering what he was saying. “Yea, I do. With all mine heart.”

“Good. Now, I’m going to lick your pussy, Chastity, okay?”

“Ah! I know not! It seems most foul, nie? Can ye nie keep going like this? It does feel so good,” whispered Chastity. Her breathing was heavy. Noah’s fingers were slick, with wetness dripping down his wrist.

“It’s not foul, got it? It’s beautiful, because you are beautiful. Every part of you. Okay?”

“I nie believe it, yet whatsoever ye say,” she said.

Noah grabbed her thigh more firmly with his free hand. “You don’t get to choose not to believe it. If I say it, then it’s true, right? Since I’m your husband?”

“Yea, yer right. I be full sorry, mine love,” she said.

“And so if I say your pussy is beautiful and not disgusting, then it is, right?”

“Yea. Yer right. I be sorry.”

“Say it,” commanded Noah.

“Hmm? Oh. It be beauteous, or ‘beautiful’, as ye say.”

“What is? Say it fully,” Noah commanded.

“Mine cunny. It be beautiful,” she said.

“Good. And what is beautiful about it?” said Noah, still fingering her.

“The semblance?” she asked.

“Yes. What else?” he asked.

“The hue?” she asked in a higher tone of voice.

“Yes, it does have a nice pinkish brown color. Looking at it turns me on, just like the rest of you. What else?”

In an even higher pitch, Chastity guessed, “The taste?”

“Yes. It tastes great.”

Chastity squinted in disgust. “That be impossible, yet if ye say so, I choose to believe ye with all mine heart.”

“What else?”

“What else?” she asked. “Not the smell?”

“Yes, the smell, too.”

“But it be abominable!” protested Chastity.

“Are you contradicting me?” asked Noah.

“Nie, I was merely saying… Nie. Mine apologies. Yer right. If ye say the smell be fair, then ye be right. Mayhaps it is, in a certain sense. Ah! It feels so good, Noah,” she moaned.

“So then, if your pussy is so amazing, I’d be an idiot not to lick it, right?” asked Noah.

“I-“ She hesitated. “Alright,” she relented, “If ye must, I shall let ye. I will trust yer judgment. I nie may promise I’ll delight therein, but I’ll hold an open mind. For ye.”

“I love you,” he said, lowering his chin to her pussy. In truth, he hadn’t expected it to go this way. He was prepared to respect her boundary, but she had been so yielding and trusting that he decided to go for it. He was sure she wouldn’t regret it.

“I love ye too- Ahh!” she exclaimed as Noah’s tongue found her clitoris. Her whole body tensed up, and her hips instinctively pulled away from him. His hands both gripped her upper thighs and held her in place as he tongued her again. “Ahh! It be so strong! The taste be nie bad, be it? Be it?”

Noah pulled his tongue away so he could speak. “Be quiet, Chastity. No, it tastes good, like I said. Now, shh!” he said, licking her again. She stopped protesting, and moaned as he slowly, teasingly licked her clitoris. He kept the fingering slow, too, to tease her more.

After a long time of licking her, when her body finally began to relax, he increased the pace, licking her pussy and fingering her faster. Finally, her body began to tremble, and she grunted loudly in an explosive, ugly orgasm. Noah felt more fluid dripping down his wrist. It left her breathing heavily, and grasping the blankets with both hands.

She relaxed when the orgasm ended and kept her eyes closed. Noah stopped licking her and withdrew his fingers. He lay next to her, somewhat on top of her, and kissed her on the lips, which she responded to eagerly.

“See?” he asked. She opened her eyes, looking gently into his. He said, “I told you it doesn’t taste bad.”

“Ah!” she exclaimed, realizing she was tasting herself. She stuck out her tongue in disgust. “Noah!” she cried, smacking him on the shoulder.

“What? It’s not bad, right?”

“I smack of metal and urine! I cannie believe ye coaxed me into that! I cannie believe ye’d want to do that!”

“Urine! How do you know what urine tastes like?” Noah teased.

“Silence, fool!” said Chastity, grinning, smacking him again. “Ye soothly say it nie tasted foul, nor smelled foul?”

“No, Chastity, it didn’t, I swear. I liked it. Every part of you,” he smiled. “You know, you swallowed my cum, right?”

“‘Tis such unholy talk. And look, we be yet entwined, yet we do not mate. Yet, I do nie wish to separate,” she said, kissing Noah again. “Yea, I did swallow yer seed. So?”

“Did it taste good?” he asked.

“Well, no, not at all! But I did it for love, for I love ye,” she smiled. “The love made it good.”

“Right, so why can’t I say I love the way you taste because I love you?”

Chastity pondered this, and then responded a moment later. “I see. Yer wise beyond yer years. Yea, that does make sense now.”

“I’m glad. Actually, though, it’s not even really true. I actually just like the way you taste, and I’d like it even if I didn’t love you. It turns me on for some reason. But even if it didn’t, then yeah, the fact that I loved you would make me love it anyway.” Noah kissed her again, and they both smiled, looking into each other’s eyes. “By the way, what do you mean, my years? How old are you? How do you know you’re older than me?”

“Well, I be assuming humans age as most humanborn kinds, so ye must be, what, 25? 30 at the most?” she asked, curiously. The fact that they didn’t know each other’s ages was a sign of just how quickly they had gotten married, and how relatively little they knew of one another.

Noah chuckled. “I’m 18.”

“Ahh!” Chastity exclaimed, covering her face with her hands. “Yer but an ilfling! Ye must think I be as yer mother, or even yer grandam!”

“What? How old are you?” asked Noah. He assumed she was around his age, maybe a bit older. Not that he cared. She could be 40 for all he cared, and he would still love her. She looked like she was young, though.

“I be 48, mine love,” said Chastity, looking away.

“What? You’re 48? How? You look so young!”

“I thank ye, Noah, yer so kind. Elves mature somewhat slower than other kinds. I shall live to be 300, even 400 years of age. Mine own mother be over 100.”

“What? She looks young, too!” exclaimed Noah.

“I shall tell her ye said so,” said Chastity. “It matters not. 18, 48, or whatsoever else. We may have 30 years betwixt us, but I feel we be right for one another, nie?” Noah nodded, and she continued. “Ye may be young and unripe in some ways, but I be so, too. I was so afeared for ye to lick me. Mine heart was pounding beneath mine breast as ye did it at first. It took more courage than ye’ll ever know. Yet, it was so pleasant, and ye were so skilled, and I felt as though mine wits would burst. I have never felt so. And nought evil did befall! Nobody died! The Eye did not obliterate us. We have but broken the rules – rules of a city that already hates us. I would never have allowed it on mine own, so I thank ye, mine love. As I said, yer wise beyond yer years. Even if yer such a damned fool sometimes!” she grinned.

“Hey!” said Noah, smiling back.


“You’re certain this is the correct room?” asked Sven.

“Aye, ‘tis Spire C, Floor 20, is it not?” Berenice asked.

“How would he know?” asked Jori. To Berenice’s chagrin, Cardi had informed Sven and Jori about Berenice’s issue, and recruited them on their mission.

“‘Tis. So this is the door. Room C20E.”

“Try knocking again!” said Cardi.

“I will!” said Berenice defensively. She knocked on the wooden door. The hallway was exactly like the other hallways in the elven spires. It was wooden, with varied plant life growing in an organized fashion all along the walls and ceiling. It was lit periodically by evenly-spaced glowing crystals embedded in the ceiling. The natural yet organized look was reminiscent of a garden and had the same well-planned feeling of cultivated beauty as the rest of the city.

The door finally creaked open. “Hail! I greet ye,” said the redheaded elf who opened the door. It was Chastity’s mother. She was wearing a tight cyan dress that went nearly to the floor. “Ye be the outlanders from the wedding, nie?” She crossed her arms, and gave them a skeptical look. “What do ye want?”

“Well,” said Berenice, “I was hoping thou couldst assist us. Me, in actuality. For…” Berenice trailed off, embarrassed.

Chastity’s mother looked at the others, hoping someone would pick up where Berenice left off. Nobody did. “Spit it out,” she said impatiently.

“W- well,” stuttered Berenice, “I have need of thine flesh printing artifact. The artifact Noah hath kindly…” she stopped again, cowering under the glare of Chastity’s mother.

“Ye’d ask me to return the gift?” asked Chastity’s mother.

“But for a moment!” cried Berenice. “I have urgent need of it!”

“I care not what ye need. I’d not have mine hallowed artifact used for yer heretical deeds. Surely, ye might find some other way to amend yer hurt or sickness. Seek counsel of a life mage, and let me be,” she grumbled, and went to close her door. A small, black hand stopped the door from closing. Jori scowled up at the woman, and she seemed surprised to see such a determined expression on such a tiny face. She stepped back.

“Please, madam,” said Sven, “Let us use your artifact for only a few minutes. There is no life mage capable of solving our issue. We can compensate you, of course.”

“Ah, so ye’d have me set aside mine religious principles for, what, some of yer metal coins?”

“No, I-“ started Sven.

“I am not interested in consorting with Heretics.”

“We are not Heretics, ma’am!” cried Berenice.

“Well, I am, actually,” said Jori plainly.

“Enough! What is this matter so pressing that ye harass me so on mine own doorstep?” asked the mother.

“Well…” trailed Berenice, glancing at the others. Seeing an encouraging look from Cardi, she continued. “I did attach an appendage to mine body that I cannot remove without the artifact. Behold.” She shamefully took her hands from in front of her crotch and then took off the Mirage Necklace, so Chastity’s mother could see her blue penis.

Chastity’s mother stared at at for several seconds, mouth agape. “I-“

“See?” said Cardi. “She really needs that artifact!”

“Begone, perverts! Nie darken mine doorstep again, or I will react with violence!” screamed the woman, slamming the door shut. There were no locks in the Elven spires, so they could have simply opened the door again, but the woman’s threat was enough to keep them out.

“That went well,” said Sven.

“Aye… Alas, I may be cursed to live with this penis on my body forever,” sighed Berenice.

“Welcome to the club,” said Jori.


Noah and Chastity made their way down the quiet, beautiful streets of Hoomtree to the palace. They were now silent, adhering to elven custom, but before they had left the lobby of her spire, Chastity had given Noah a warning.

“I know ye be not queer, mine love, yet when we see the Queen and Prince-Consort, we should aim to please them both, yea? The royal family be fickle, and they may not aid us if they be disappointed,” said Chastity, not looking Noah in the eyes.

“Yeah, you don’t have to remind me of the stakes,” he said. “I’ll do whatever it takes. Even if I have to suck his dick or whatever. It’s fine. I’ll live.”

“I know not what that means, but so long as yer dedicated to pleasing him, then I be delighted.”

“You don’t know… Oh, right. That stuff doesn’t exist if we’re not in bed together. I forgot. Again.”

“Ye’d forget yer manhood, were it nie fast to yer pelvis,” giggled Chastity, smacking his arm. But she quickly recoiled, as if suddenly remembering the taboos against public contact.

“Hey! How come you can say that?” He smiled. “Isn’t that sexual?”

“I know not what that word means, yet I shall say that referring to a certain organ does not always have unclean connotations. It be used for more than merely the profane, nie?”

“I guess,” said Noah.

They headed out the spire to the palace, keeping quiet the whole way, but making nervous glances at one another as they got closer. They were both wearing simple, respectable clothes. Noah wore a white button-up shirt and brown pants, and Chastity wore a long, blue skirt and a white blouse. They arrived at the palace gardens, and soon after the palace itself. The palace was smallish and really more like a villa than a palace. Like the rest of Hoomtree, it was organized and angular, but covered in plants. It had a large, bright crystal window on the front, and they could see into the well-lit, cozy interior.

At the doors was a servant, who took them up a set of stairs and down a hallway to a door. “Here ye go, mine lord and lady. The Queen regrets to inform ye she will be a few minutes late, but not to hold up on yer account. The Prince-Consort does await ye through this door.” He then bowed low, and retreated down the hall. Noah and Chastity exchanged a glance. Noah was hoping the Queen wouldn’t be gone for long. If the Prince-Consort was planning on tricking them into a threesome, then Noah would be annoyed.

They opened the door and stepped tentatively through. In the center of the room was a wooden table with a few chairs around it, which held various sweet foods, glasses, and a decanter of some alcoholic beverage. A few steps from the table, all around the edges of the room, was a sectional couch, built-in to walls of the room. It was similar to the couches in the elven apartment living rooms. Along the left wall, the Prince-Consort, Resolve, sat in a relaxed posture. His arms were outstretched on either side of the top of the couch and a glass of alcohol was resting gently in his left hand. He was wearing a green crop-top which showed his muscular, dark abs, and tight white pants which showed a massive bulge that made Noah’s eyes jump away.

“Welcome, guests,” said Resolve, bowing his head. “Pray, take a drink and come make yerselves full comfortable.”

“Okay,” mumbled Noah. He and Chastity stepped toward the table and each filled a glass with the brownish liquid. Noah swallowed nervously. He had never been in a situation like this before. He and Chastity were going to sleep with the Queen and the Prince-Consort – virtual strangers. The lead up felt so awkward. Noah and Chastity were silently filling their drinks as Resolve eyed them from the edge of the room, waiting patiently for them. Noah wondered how many couples the royal couple had invited to the palace for sex. It seemed to be a normal custom for elves, and who wouldn’t want to sleep with the Queen? She was very beautiful, even for a somewhat older woman. The Prince-Consort on the other hand… Noah looked at him from the corner of his eye, saw his bulging abs, and then quickly looked away.

He spilled his drink. He wasn’t paying attention, and spilled it all over the table.

“Oh,” said Chastity, looking around for something to clean the mess.

Resolve stood from the couch and confidently strode toward Noah just as Noah found a cloth napkin to wipe the mess with. “Ah, allow me,” he said, taking the napkin and wiping the liquid from the table. He also touched Noah’s arm, raising it so he could wipe the bottom of the glass. “There, all clean. Be careful next time, yes?” he asked, looking directly into Noah’s eyes. He was several inches taller than Noah, and made him feel small.

“Y- Yes,” said Noah.

Resolve smiled at him. “Come, let us get to know each other while we abide for the Queen. And pray, do relax. I bite not hard.”

“Okay,” said Noah. He and Chastity followed him to the couch, glancing nervously at one another.

Resolve sat on the couch and Noah sat on one side, Chastity on the other. Resolve then spread his arms wide as they had been before, not making contact, but making Noah feel like he was nearly being embraced. “So,” asked Resolve, “ye be a Heretic. I nie mind, in sooth. I do think it be brave of ye to eschew convention so. It will make the Queen joyful. Many are too devout in their single-minded worship of the Eye.”

“And ye be not?” asked Chastity curiously.

“Not so much, nie. I but worship what may be seen. And touched,” he said, smiling. Noah took a deep gulp of his drink. He didn’t know what the drink was, but it was strong, and he coughed.

Resolve smiled but didn’t comment on Noah’s ineptitude. “Ye say yer true human, yea? How is that possible?”

“Well,” said Noah, “I don’t really know. I just woke up one day, and the world was different.”

“Ye just waked up here? With naught memory of the transition? But ye remember yer forgoing life, yea?”

“Yeah, I remember my life before,” confirmed Noah.

Resolve leaned closer to Noah, though not excluding Chastity from his attention either. He seemed genuinely curious. “What was it like? Ancient life. Tell me. What was different, betwixt then and now?”

“Well…” Noah thought about it. “A lot was different. There was no magic at all, no classes, and no gods.”

“No gods! Not even the Eye?” he asked.

“No, nothing.”

“That is startling, if it be true. Mayhaps hold that fact from the other elves, too. Most believe the Eye be the wellspring of all life. I, of mine own, acknowledge mine own ignorance.” Resolve drank from his glass, drinking half the liquid in one smooth gulp.

“I know not how to feel,” said Chastity. “How may it be sooth? If the Eye was created in some age of man, then who wrought it? Man himself? If so, how came the Eye to govern man, rather than the reverse?”

“I don’t know,” said Noah. “Whatever happened, it was after my time.”

“Tell me more about yer time,” said Resolve. “I nie desire to hear of grand ideas like religion and history. Tell me about yer life, before ye were plucked from yer time and setted into ours?”

“Well… What do you want to know? I was a student. My life was boring, really,” said Noah.

“Nay, I nie can believe it,” protested Resolve. “How might such a fair youth such as ye have a dull life? Surely, at the least, the human women of yer age must have swooned over ye. Or the men?” he asked flirtatiously.

Noah looked away. “No, not the men. Not the women either, really. I had a girlfriend for a while, but that’s it. Once, a gay guy in my class tried to kiss me, after class I mean, but I’m not gay, so…”

Resolve smiled. “By ‘gay’, I see ye mean ‘queer’? Methinks all men be queer if they be open-minded, though none be openly so. Love be too mighty a force to be bounded, nie agree ye?”

“Well, I don’t know. I don’t really feel that way about men. My brother does. And that’s fine. But when I look at a guy, I don’t feel the same way as when I look at a woman.” Noah wasn’t sure he shouldn’t just be pretending to be gay to please Resolve, but he was just being honest.

“Ah, ye may simply have not been in the right situation, or with the right man, for such feelings to grow. Oft, men repress such feelings, for society deems them forbidden. Do ye not agree?” he asked Noah.

“But in my time, in human society where I was born, we didn’t suppress it. Being gay was allowed, even celebrated,” said Noah.

Resolve smiled wider. “Yet, if celebration be needful, the taboo must be present yet. For if it were fully accepted, they nie would need celebrate it, correct? It would be normal and unremarkable. Like others in yer society, then, ye must feel some shamefastness about any warm feelings toward the same sex, or do I be mistaken?”

Noah paused, looking down at Resolve’s abs, and then looking away again, sipping his drink. “Uhh, maybe. I don’t know. The idea of doing anything sexual with a man really turns me off, to be honest.”

Resolve raised one eyebrow in mock confusion. “I nie know what that word does mean. ‘Sexual’? I nie know what ye mean. Mayhaps ye may teach me?” Resolve touched Noah’s cheek, and the contact tingled. “And mayhaps I would have some things to teach ye, as well.” He turned to look at Chastity, who was blushing just like Noah. “Chastity, we’ve left ye out of the talk. What of ye? Have ye ever been intrigued by the same sex?”

“Umm,” said Chastity, “Methinks I have not.” She was speaking even more quietly and feebly than Noah. “I suppose I may hold an open mind. I am afeared of many aspects thereof, however. It is a meal I am not prepared to partake in, methinks, especially given the forbidden nature of it. And I am anxious about the taste.”

“Taboo has no place in the bedchamber. Though it be in itself taboo to acknowledge such. As for the taste, I think that over time ye’ll grow a fondness for the sweet taste of breaking the restraints society has set upon us. In private, of course, among trusted company. Oh, speaking of delectable meals, here be my fair wife. Welcome, Adherance.” The Queen had just entered the room and walked toward the table, pouring herself a drink. She wore a relaxed green gown, which Noah noted showed a lot of cleavage, giving a nice view of her large, brown breasts. She was not wearing her crown.

Taking her drink, she approached the group. “Hail, mine love,” she said to Resolve. “And greetings, Noah and Chastity. I am full of delight to mine heart that ye came.” She wore a coy grin. Noah noticed she was no longer speaking of herself using the word “we”, as kings and queens sometimes did, opting instead for the less formal, “I”.

“Your Highness,” said Chastity, standing and bowing deep, nearly to the floor. Noah made to stand similarly, but the Queen stopped him with a wave of her hand.

“Oh, I pray, dear. Call me Adherance.”

“Yes. Alright. Hail, Adherance,” said Chastity

Queen Adherance smiled. “I beseech yer pardon for my lateness. I hope Resolve nie has been boring ye.”

“Hardly,” said Resolve. “Our talk has been full fruitful. We were but now speaking of the merits of romance of the same sex.”

“Of course, mine love. One of yer most liked topics.” She turned to Noah, and as she did, her eyes quickly looked him up and down, subtly checking him out. If his senses weren’t heightened from nervousness, he might not have even noticed it. “He hath a fondness for speaking of aught that would make a demure dame blush. Or swoon.”

Resolve laughed, speaking in a teasing way. “I hope yer nie thinking yerself to be one of these demure dames. Yer far worse than I!” He turned to Chastity. “Ye shall soon find how little my wife cares for the standard advice found in pillow books.”

“Resolve!” exclaimed Adherance in mock offense, winking. “I pray ye, speak not of such matters here. It be profane, nie? Come, if ye must speak thus, let us wend to yer bedchambers. If that be agreeable to all here present?” she asked, looking at Noah and Chastity, searching for any objection. Finding none, she urged them to follow her.

They all set their glasses down on the table on their way out. Noah took a large swig of the bitter fluid before setting his glass down, and he noticed Chastity doing the same thing.

They followed the Queen out of the room, and Resolve followed right behind. He was walking close to them, and would likely have been touching Noah’s shoulder, he thought, if such contact wasn’t considered impolite to elves. He exchanged a nervous glance with Chastity as they arrived at Resolve’s bedroom. No turning back now.