Feral Mage 3: Chapter 16

As soon as they stepped through the threshold of the door, Jasper went one way while the maids and their trunk went another. Bryce and the girls followed the maids through the building, passing by paintings that hung from the estate’s pristine white walls every few yards. They reminded Bryce of those he would see when visiting mayors of towns for a contract, depicting scenes of hunts, wars, and the divine.

The maids turned down a hallway before stopping by two doors adjacent to each other.

“You may use these rooms to change,” a maid said as the other placed the trunk between the rooms. “We can offer assistance if you need it with your dresses.”

Thea and Callie moved to open the trunk, both extracting their outfits. Thea’s dress, as always, was a mess of fabric and frills that threatened to spill out of her arms. Callie, meanwhile, held a folded stack of clothing.

“Assistance would be appreciated,” Thea said to the maids, fighting to hold the mass of fabric.

A maid stepped forward and helped Thea contain the dress while the other maid turned to Callie, who shook her head.

“I can dress myself,” she answered.

The maids exchanged a look before bowing to her, though Thea’s brows furrowed.

“Won’t you need someone to tie your back?” she asked.

Callie again shook her head before turning and opening the door to one of the rooms and entering it. Thea and the maids stared at the door for a moment with confusion before the princess faced him once more.

“I will return shortly, Bryce,” Thea said before she and the maids entered the other room.

He knew those dresses could take a while to put on. So he got comfortable by leaning against the wall and taking in the paintings of the hallway as he waited. One rather large painting depicted a human male standing by the river’s edge with three elven maidens surrounding him. A snow elf, a forest elf, and a sea elf, all nude and acting very interested in the man. A plaque stated the title was The Founding of Witchbrook.

Bryce scoffed at it.

Looks like something that should be hanging in a brothel instead of a Noble's house.

He heard the door open and turned from the painting to see Callie peeking out. He raised an eyebrow at her as he was sure she wasn't done changing yet. Then, to his surprise, she gestured for him to come into the room. He looked up and down the hallway before stepping away from the wall and doing as she bade. As soon as he entered the bedroom, she closed the door and latched the lock.

“What's going on?” Bryce asked, narrowing his eyes at Callie

She was still in her travel attire, her dress and another stack of clothing lay out on the bed.

“I figured this would be our best chance to talk in private,” Callie stated as she started to undo her belt. “Lady Thea will be a while with her dress, even with the assistance of two maids.”

Bryce sighed as he looked from the door to Callie, seeing the snow elf pulling her belt off.

“You're seriously going to change in front of me?” he asked.

She pointed to the stack of clothing next to her dress on the bed.

“You need to change as well. We are visiting a Duke, Bryce. Lady Thea made sure to pack you something presentable,” she said, tossing her belt onto the bed. “Besides, you've seen me naked a few times already. Now you can return the favor.”

“Only because you're a damn exhibitionist,” Bryce growled as he walked over to the clothes and examined them.

The outfit was the same he had worn to the Duke's birthday party, only with a few minor alterations to give it a slightly different appearance. One of the things he had learned about nobility was that wearing the same outfit twice was seen as a slight. He was surprised the outfit wasn’t a new one altogether.

Perhaps she’s trying to spare Baroness Julia’s coffers.

Grabbing the hem of the tunic he was wearing, he pulled it over his head and tossed it to the ground. He glanced over at Callie to see her stepping out of her pants, revealing a small black undergarment that barely covered her sex. The white hair of her womanhood peeked out over the top of it.

She caught where he was looking, and she smirked.

“You call me an exhibitionist, but you're the one who's staring,” she teased before pulling her own tunic overhead and revealing her pale breast with pink nipples. It didn't escape Bryce’s attention that her nipples were hard.

“I doubt you brought me in here to flirt,” he said, working to undo his belt.

Callie nodded.

“I brought you in here to pick up our conversation from the training yard,” she replied, her hands sliding off the black panties. “Ciarra is the Goddess of Monsters, and you’re seeing her?”

She stood there, making no move to cover herself, her blue eyes fixed on him and waiting for an answer.

“You think I'm mad?” he asked.

Callie thought for a moment.

“Yes, but only because of your taste in women,” she answered with a smile before it faded to something more serious. “I've heard the old stories, Bryce. That's why you can use two Aspects and not become a chimera, isn’t it? The Goddess Ciarra has blessed you.”

Bryce scoffed.

“Blessed doesn’t feel like a fitting name for it,” he replied. “She is a double-edged sword and not one I asked for.”

He tried to keep his gaze focused on her eyes, but he couldn't help but recall Vex teasing her. Callie looked at him curiously.

“Do you know how it happened?” she asked.

A sigh escaped him before he started to remove his pants. “I'm fairly sure Isabelle is the one who did it to me.”

Callie didn't even try to hide her gaze as she watched him.

“So our crazy crime boss is a heretic. Lovely,” she said, her eyes focusing on his crotch before she looked back up to him. “I'm surprised you didn't throw her out the window when we stopped on the way here.”

He chuckled.

“I thought about it, but Thea was outside. I’d be a pretty shitty bodyguard if I picked a fight with Witchbrook’s biggest crime boss in her turf while my client was waiting on me,” Bryce answered. “Also, like I said, the blessing has been a double-edged sword. Without the damn blessing, you and I might not be here right now, and Thea wouldn't be human. Still, Isabelle and I will have a talk about this, and I'm sure as hells gonna let her know I didn't appreciate her doing this to me.”

He met Callie’s blue eyes. They were both now standing completely nude in the room together. She broke their gaze first, but not to finish dressing or to turn away. Instead, she once more looked over his body, and Bryce did the same to hers.

Her figure was toned with lean muscle built from years of training and fighting. Scars spoke of battles and the price she paid for her Bloodline of Thorns, but they didn’t diminish her beauty at all. He felt his heart start to race as he imagined how soft her breasts were, the taste and texture of her nipples in his mouth, the feel of her…

He noticed her breathing had quickened. When he looked up and met her eyes once more, there was heat in them, and her face was flushed. That was when he realized he was becoming hard and saw Callie’s eyes glance down before she smiled.

“Glad I don’t need a fluffy tail for you to find me attractive,” she said, her voice husky.

Tension hung in the air between them. Bryce knew what he wanted to do right now, and he was sure Callie wanted the same thing, but…

“We need to get dressed,” he said, breaking the tension as he moved to the clothing on the bed. “Thea won’t be happy if she has to wait on us.”

Callie let out a laugh, but when he looked at her, he saw a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

“The reaction to her realizing we changed in the same room together would be priceless,” Callie said, grabbing the fresh undergarments beside her dress. “But then she would be in a mood for the rest of the day.”

She slipped the panties on, a white pair made of thin fabric, and Bryce did the same with the clothing brought for him. Silence filled the room as they started to dress.

“The Goddess is responsible for the ice breath attack, isn't she?” Callie asked as she pulled the dark blue dress over her head. “Also, do you mind?”

She turned the back of the dress to him, showing the laces of the built-in corset.

So that’s what surprised Thea when Callie said she wouldn’t need someone to tie the back.

“Yes,” Bryce answered as he grabbed the laces and tightened them. “Then, when I didn’t kill the Wyvern, she attacked me and almost turned me into a chimera.”

Callie looked over her shoulder at him, eyes wide.

“Like I said, a double-edged sword. She only stopped when I explained my reason,” he replied, Callie’s blue eyes still boring into him.

“Which was?” she asked.

He looped the strings and tied a knot.

“To let you girls escape,” he answered. “So far, what I’ve learned is that there are virtues sacred to Ciarra, and violating them pisses her off and could get me killed or turned into a monster.”

Curses escaped Callie, more than a few directed at Isabelle.

“Power comes with a price, and many times we don’t get to be the ones who choose to pay it,” Callie said, her tone bitter.

He knew she was referring to her Bloodline, but her tone spoke of more than the poison she needed to bleed from her body when she used it. He had heard that the process of creating and enhancing a Bloodline could be horrific and was one of the main reasons, along with the cost, that so few even attempted it.

“Whatever is needed or happens, I have your back,” Callie said. “You’ve protected Alice and given her a place where she’s safe and happy. I owe you for that, Bryce.”

Once her corset was tied, Callie worked to style her hair in front of a mirror in the room while Bryce finished dressing. When they left the room, he had to admit Callie looked more like a noble lady than the swordswoman he had gotten to know since their fight during the Second Northern Border War.

The blue dress was simpler than the one Thea would no doubt be wearing or any of the other noble ladies here, but Bryce could barely keep his eyes off her. The top was a blue and black corset that led to a long blue dress with black trim. She also wore a matching blue silk rose in her hair, held in place by a silver clip.

“You clean up nice,” Callie said as they waited in the hallway, her eyes running up and down him, but without the heat they once held. “Lady Thea did well in picking it.”

“I like yours as well… it really brings out the blue of your eyes,” he replied.

Callie clicked her tongue.

“I figured you’d comment on finally seeing me in a corset,” she said before looking at him. “Is that what you liked about me? My blue eyes?”

Before Bryce could answer, the other door opened, and Thea stepped out, followed by the maids. Her dress was a mess of frills and ribbons, and she smiled as her eyes ran up and down him.

“Oh, good! You found your outfit,” Thea said. “I think the tailor did a splendid job; it looks even better with the alterations.”

She gave an approving nod before turning to the maids.

“I believe we are ready to see the Duke of Witchbrook,” she stated.