Innocent Read online

  Blushing, Cianna made a wry face and stopped scratching Glaucum under the chin, only to have him press his head eagerly to her belly.

  ‘Think, all of you,’ Jelkrael demanded. ‘I wish to depart Kea a rich man.’

  ‘How old is Moloa?’ Cianna asked. ‘And how confident?’

  ‘Old? Perhaps thirty-five years,’ Jelkrael answered. ‘Confident? Absolutely. She is unbeaten across more bouts than I can remember.’

  ‘Then what of this,’ Cianna went on. ‘In Kefra, before I went on, one woman fought two. Moloa, perhaps could be persuaded to take on both Klia and Yuilla, then me. She would be tired, at the least. In any case the gate should be excellent, and maybe I could win.

  ‘More likely not,’ Jelkrael objected. ‘I have seen her defeat three at once, and have difficulty only in deciding whose head to sit on while she smoked her cigar. It is also too risky. The odds on you would be long, true, but I prefer to bet on certainties. No, in Kea there are a hundred bookmakers, allowing Yufal to practise his art as nowhere else. Gates are secondary. We must win on bets, and at long odds. In all truth, Cianna, you must overcome your scruples and throw a match. This honour code of yours had no meaning in Makea! Who would know?’

  ‘Me, my ancestors,’ Cianna answered, causing Jelkrael to throw up his hands in despair.

  ‘Savagery! Superstition!’ he declared. ‘Yet still, this is not the provinces. Crowds are wary of match fixing and can turn violent. After your victories it would have to be a convincing opponent, and thus the odds would not be as good as they might. Again, think!’

  ‘It is simple,’ Babalyn yawned. ‘You adopt Cianna’s plan, only with a single opponent, perhaps Klia, who is more intelligent and also known to enjoy her defeats. Moloa will win easily, sit on Klia’s head and begin to shave. Klia will lick eagerly at Moloa’s anus, as she is expected to do, so eagerly in fact that she can push in a capsule and burst it with her tongue. In the capsule will be some powerful soporific. This is how distasteful medicines are taken in my homeland, up the bottom. Absorption rates through the rectal wall are higher than those in the mouth or stomach, which fact I assume is unknown in Makea?’

  Jelkrael shrugged.

  ‘As I thought,’ Babalyn continued. ‘Moloa will begin to feel the effects in minutes…’

  ‘She will be instantly suspicious!’ Yufal interrupted.

  ‘No,’ Babalyn went on, ‘the thrill of her victory will carry her on, for a while at least, only when she is facing Cianna will the full effect be felt.’

  ‘It is dishonourable to do this,’ Cianna put in.

  ‘Be quiet!’ Jelkrael snapped. ‘It is not you who will do it, but Klia, or rather Babalyn.’

  ‘Me!?’ Babalyn squeaked.

  ‘Naturally,’ Jelkrael responded. ‘You understand the process. It is for you to complete it.’

  Cianna fell back on the grass, laughing at Babalyn’s change from smug superiority to shock. Instantly Glaucum was on top of her, his weight settling between her thighs as she gave a squeak of surprise and alarm. She tried to push him off, but it was too late. Very gently his teeth moved to her neck, and all she could do was lie back, helpless in his grip. His cock was already probing for her hole, then in, sliding deep up her vagina with a single, long thrust. She gasped at the sensation, her thighs coming high and wide by instinct as he settled down to fuck her.

  In Kea they drove to an inn, the Five Moons, which Jelkrael felt would make a better base than the wagons, despite the cost. Leaving the girls in the long attic room he had taken, he disappeared into the city, to return at sunset, full of nervous energy and thoroughly pleased with himself.

  ‘There will be little need for Yufal’s rumourmongering!’ he declared. ‘Everywhere there is talk of the Ice Cannibal, much of it wildly exaggerated! I have seen Glaydrak, who owns the Dock Pit, and he states that Moloa will accept a challenge once Cianna has secured a victory actually in Kea. This is good for all of us, and I have booked contests at Faerdahl’s Pit, in two days time. Klia, you will fight Zetina, in fair contest, as a rematch from our last visit. You, Yuilla, are to go against a first timer, Iphine, who is free, and sponsored by some Elite. They have paid fifty standard for the victory, but nevertheless, you are not to hurt her. Cianna, you will fight Lia-Gau, who is rated third or fourth in the city, depending on who you believe. So all is done. I have put posters in hand, and hired a crier, everything to hand! I have the laudanum you need also, Babalyn, and the sugar. So now food, Babalyn, the experiment, then rest. Tomorrow we parade!’

  Finishing, he threw himself down on a couch, reaching out for his box of cigars. Klia hurried to help, rasping one of the fat yellow headed splints against the wall and lighting the cigar. Jelkrael drew on it and puffed happily. Babalyn hurried away to order the food brought up.

  ‘There is more,’ Jelkrael went on, ‘if only gossip. Moloa has celebrated her two-hundredth victory, indeed, with a few more after. Hulak, for whom I was assistant once, has retired, selling off his stable, Lia-Gau among them. On an amusing note, a group of fishermen claimed to see a great winged demon some weeks back, flying across the sea against a low moon. Nonsense, of course, but apparently every sect in Kea is trying to claim it as an omen for their particular god! Priests!’

  ‘A demon?’ Cianna demanded.

  ‘Probably a large gull,’ Jelkrael answered dismissing the subject. ‘So the experiment. Who wishes to have Babalyn lick her bottom hole?’

  ‘It should be me,’ Yuilla answered quickly, ‘if I am to lose at Faerdahl’s Pit.’

  ‘What if the effects linger?’ Klia asked doubtfully.

  ‘True,’ Jelkrael admitted. ‘A possibility at the least. It should perhaps be me then.’

  Presently Babalyn returned, greeting the news that she was about to have to lick Jelkrael’s anus without too much shock. Their food followed her, baked meats and bowls of rice, both highly spiced, a soft, white cheese and bananas cooked in their own skins. Jelkrael ate with gusto, in the best of spirits, talking between mouthfuls, to expound his opinion on every subject that arose.

  Their meal finished, Babalyn sat down to work, using candles, spoons and earthenware mugs. Cianna watched in fascination, Babalyn bending low over her work, her eyes near shut, a mannerism that reminded Cianna of Sulitea.

  ‘Where did you learn such skill?’ she asked. ‘Have you studied with a witch?’

  ‘A witch!?’ Babalyn chuckled. ‘Really, Cianna, do you know nothing? The powder is derived from poppies. The liquid is a distillate, a simple alchemist’s trick.’

  ‘You said you knew nothing of alchemy?’

  ‘Every girl or boy of Aprinia who ever attended a party knows how to concentrate laudanum. The sugar glass is trickier, and is really a cook’s skill. Pass me another spoon.’

  A thick, clear golden liquid had been produced from the laudanum, which Babalyn set aside to cool. Taking the new spoon and a fork, she began to heat the sugar as Jelkrael came over to them.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he asked.

  ‘Making a capsule of sugar glass,’ Babalyn answered

  ‘A glass made from sugar,’ he said, peering closer. ‘Who would have thought it! You are clever, you Aprinians, it must be said.’

  ‘Be careful, it is hot,’ Babalyn cautioned him.

  They continued to watch as she completed her work, creating a tiny cup of the sugar glass, into which she poured the laudanum. A few deft touches sealed the cup, which she licked when it was cool enough, leaving a smooth golden capsule no bigger than the end of her thumb.

  ‘She will feel that going in, surely?’ Jelkrael queried.

  ‘Not once I have her juicy,’ Babalyn answered. ‘It is after all, a lot smaller than any cock. She will just think it a trick with my tongue.’

  Jelkrael gave a sceptical grunt and began to undo his trousers. Pushing them down, he exposed huge soft buttocks, a shade paler than the skin of his face, then the dangling mass of his genitals as he cocked up a leg to remove a boot. Babalyn watched
, her mouth slightly open and her huge dark eyes fixed to the bulbous bottom she was about to lick. When he was nude from the waist down she popped the capsule into her mouth and went to her knees.

  ‘Stick it in only when I tell you,’ he directed, sinking into a squat. ‘I will see if I feel anything.’

  Babalyn nodded and lay down beneath him, full length, casting Cianna a last rueful glance before her head disappeared beneath Jelkrael’s massive dark buttocks. He settled himself on her face, pulling out one massive cheek, then the other, to spread them across it. As his expression changed suddenly to bliss, Cianna knew that Babalyn had begun to lick his bottom hole. He took his cock in his hand, tugging gently, his eyes closing in pleasure, the other hand moving to fondle one of Babalyn’s breasts. For a long while he stayed still, masturbating lazily, with his big balls spread out over Babalyn’s chin.

  ‘Now try and get the capsule in,’ he ordered finally.

  Babalyn raised a hand. Jelkrael’s expression became thoughtful, then pleased once more.

  ‘It is in?’ he asked, lifting his bottom a fraction.

  ‘Yes,’ Babalyn panted.

  ‘Good,’ he went on. ‘I didn’t feel a thing. Now continue, well up my arse. Cianna, climb on her, and suck my cock while she licks.’

  Cianna obeyed, crawling quickly across and throwing a leg over Babalyn’s body. He once more settled his bulk into Babalyn’s face. Leaning down, Cianna took his cock into her mouth, sucking firmly to spare Babalyn any more anal licking than was necessary. He was already hard, and in no time he was groaning, his hand tightening in her hair, obviously near orgasm, only for his cock to start to shrink. She sucked harder, but it did no good. Instead his grip slackened in her hair, he sighed, clutched for the floor, and toppled slowly over. Babalyn lifted her head, looking at Jelkrael in surprise.

  ‘A little less,’ she said, ‘or perhaps a weaker mix.’

  Faerdahl’s Pit proved to be a tall, narrow building in the oldest part of Kea, entirely made of wood, black with time and wax. Faerdahl himself greeted them, immediately extending invitations to a hall, where many of the more important spectators had been invited to drink and take their fill of the girls after the contest.

  The pit was already crowded, with a great queue extending down the narrow street. More were arriving at every moment, and Faerdahl hustled Jelkrael and his party inside, quickly closing the door. Introductions were made to the other girls, Lia-Gau proving to be a lithe, broad shouldered woman the top of whose head reached Cianna’s eyes.

  Greetings exchanged, Cianna moved to the mouth of the corridor, where Jelkrael was looking out at the crowd from the shadows. The pit was tall, if no further across than others she had been in, with ranks of seating rising so steeply it appeared dangerous, and also a triple column of well appointed boxes, most of which were already occupied.

  ‘Many of the Elite are here,’ Jelkrael said quietly, ‘Exquisites also. See, in the central box, Eudahl, who is brother to the King, and beside him old Velacqual, who commanded the fleet, and again, Ulourdos and his brother Nairgren, the King’s nephews.’

  ‘Will they come afterwards?’ Yuilla queried.

  ‘Not they,’ he answered. ‘Should any such wish to fuck you they will send for you. No, at our party will be merchants, officials, minor nobles. But look, Moloa herself, and Glaydrak beside her. See, the great slab faced woman beside the man in scarlet and blue? Have you ever seen such a monster?’

  ‘I have seen true she trolls,’ Cianna answered. ‘The smallest could lift your Moloa one handed.’

  ‘Undaunted, that’s the spirit!’ Jelkrael answered. ‘Now there is one who should strike fear into your heart, you and Klia both. Observe the big man with the bald head in the box with the two women in blue. That is Bulzar, administrator at Julac mills. He will be there. Maybe I shall put you on the saddle and let him fuck you, if you do not do well tonight?’

  ‘You do not need to threaten,’ Cianna answered.

  ‘I joked, only,’ he said. ‘You will win, I am sure of it. Lia-Gau’s signature, by and by, is to spit in her victim’s eyes, mouth and cunt, then to have her masturbate in the spittle.’

  Cianna shrugged, glancing back to where Klia was talking to her opponent, Zetina, happily and openly. Faerdahl was beyond them, speaking to a green robed Elite who was Iphine’s sponsor. Stepping back beneath the stands, she stretched, flexing her limbs, then began to tie her hair up into the tight topknot she wore when fighting. A new man appeared, apparently a clerk, to tell Faerdahl that the pit was full to capacity with many still outside.

  ‘Fine indeed,’ Faerdahl answered him. ‘Perhaps we should have hired the Great Pit. So, to work.’

  He strode for the corridor, Zetina and Klia coming behind him. Cianna followed, crowding around the entrance to join the other girls peering around Jelkrael’s bulk. Faerdahl stood, at the centre of the ring, announcing the first pair with a flourish, his two placard girls beside him, and retreating into the mouth of the corridor with a bow.

  Cianna watched with what had become a familiar pleasure as Klia and Zetina fought. They were well matched, and both experienced, executing complex moves, sometimes with grace, sometimes in a manner design to invite ridicule, but always to the best display of their bodies. The crowd were in festive mood, stamping and clapping until the pit shook, also showering coins down on the girls. At the end of the sixth round it finished, Zetina forcing Klia into submission with an arm lock. Jelkrael grunted in annoyance, but chuckled as he watched Klia urinated over, bottom up, then spanked on her wet skin, with droplets of pee and sweat flying in all directions, to the yet greater delight of the crowd.

  After only a brief pause for refreshment, gathering up the coins and raking the sand, Faerdahl stepped out to make his second announcement. This met with more laughter than clapping from the crowd, with the wiry but small Iphine obviously no match for Yuilla. The crowd’s amusement grew as the fight started, and rose to a crescendo of guffaws and catcalls when Yuilla finally submitted after deliberately giving up a dozen chances to take the match herself. Yuilla was duly made to kiss Zetina’s anus to acknowledge her defeat and left face down in the sand with a small flag showing the Elite’s house colours sticking out of her own bottom hole.

  ‘A farce,’ Jelkrael remarked, ‘but a profitable one.’

  Yuilla returned, making a wry face at Jelkrael, who sent her in under the stands with a slap to her bottom. Cianna stepped forward, her pulse rising fast as Faerdahl once more stepped out. Silence fell on the audience as he raised his hands to announce first Lia-Gau, as third ranked in Makea, then Cianna, as the challenger with her twelve victories behind her. To Cianna’s surprise Lia-Gau kissed her before stepping out, something no opponent had done before.

  ‘She seeks to make you friendly, thus an easier victim,’ Jelkrael hissed. ‘Ignore her. Now go.’

  Cianna nodded and stepped out, raising her arms to the crowd and baring her teeth. There was a roar of approval, the first coins falling on the sand even as the placard girls ducked back. She turned, facing Lia-Gau, both ducked low, balancing on the balls of their feet. Cianna waited, eyes locked with her opponent, ignoring the roar of the crowd, with their demands for action and display. Lia-Gau came close, carefully, ducked, scooped sand up and hurled it at Cianna’s face. Cianna danced back, eyes closed, dropped and swung her foot out, catching Lia-Gau’s thigh to send her sprawling.

  Again they faced off, Lia-Gau now slightly unsteady on one leg, and more cautious still. Cianna reached out, inviting a hold to test their strength. Lia-Gau took it immediately, tugging hard the instant she had her grip, pulling Cianna momentarily off balance. Cianna lunged forward, going the way she was pulled, head down, full into the softness of Lia-Gau’s chest, to sprawl together on the sand. Both grappled for a hold, Cianna on top, the audience crying out in delight at the view of her spread bottom. A coin struck her thigh and she jumped up, allowing Lia-Gau to rise without interference. They circled for a moment, both wary, then sto
pped as the gong went to mark the end of the round. Immediately Lia-Gau stepped forward, patting Cianna on the shoulder, then kissing her and pulling her into a hug

  ‘You are fast,’ Lia-Gau whispered, ‘and very strong, but a novice at heart. You are pretty too. After I’ve beaten you I intend to take you to my pallet, to smack your little bottom and have you lick my cunt. Two more rounds for show, then I’ll have you.’

  She pulled away, grinning. Cianna stuck her tongue out before accepting water from one of the placard girls. Again the gong sounded and she dropped into her ready crouch. Lia-Gau came on, wary, darting her hand out, pretending to scoop sand, only to hurl herself forward, shoulder down, meeting empty air as Cianna danced aside. There was laughter, mixed with demands for a better show of their bodies. In response Cianna flaunted her bottom, pushing it well out to show both her sex and her anus. Lia-Gau dived low, for Cianna’s legs. Cianna jumped, kicked her legs apart, falling to land on Lia-Gau’s back, only to tumble backwards, legs wide, onto the sand.

  The crowd roared approval as Cianna jumped quickly to her feet. She was sweating, her paint smeared over her body, Lia-Gau’s as well, making their skin slippery and hard to grip. Her tuppenny was wet too, as it always was during fights. Her nipples were also hard, in blatant erection, which Lia-Gau noticed, letting her eyebrows rise to show she had seen. Cianna wiped the sweat from her forehead, bracing herself once more. There was a little smirk on Lia-Gau’s face as their eyes met, knowing, somehow taunting. Cianna responded with a shy smile, waiting, moving slowly, only to put her foot on a coin and slip. Lia-Gau was on her immediately, grappling to throw, one arm low to catch Cianna by her sex. Cianna hurled herself backwards, Lia-Gau coming down on top of her, to grapple, pulling up Cianna’s leg and twisting. Cianna pushed back, lifting her body from the ground, her teeth set as she forced Lia-Gau’s arm back and down. Lia-Gau leapt back even as the gong sounded, but offered a hand to help Cianna from the sand.