Chapter 43.4

“Wait, what?” Lynnria cut in.  “What would I be doing?”

“Knob gobbling, of course!” Jax growled before I could change the subject.  “Me mum’s arse, yer doing me head in.  I says we switch the girl over.  Maybe then we won’t have to play this game of ‘she said, she said’ no more.”

“That’s a solid argument, if I’ve ever heard one,” Arx agreed.

“But what about the consequences?” Lynnria persisted.  “Did she say anything about that?”

Mia sighed heavily.  “Like I keep saying, it isn’t a mortal concern.  Besides, the only—”  She stopped abruptly, as though choking.  “Ooh… ouch.  I’m going to feel that one later.”

“Is this one of those forbidden things?” I asked.  “Is that why you’re being so evasive?”

Mia gasped, an ecstatic moan ripping from her throat out of absolutely nowhere.  “Oh, yes!  Very much so.  Thank you, Master!”

Jax frowned and slowly pushed herself up off the bed, consequently setting her breasts to dangling.  Not that I was looking.  “Wait a scanty… why’d that make ye jump like ye took a cock up yer arse?  Master, I think that Faen of yor’n gets off on riddles.”

“You may be onto something there…” Mia cooed.

“She didn’t swear at you,” Arx observed.

“Hello?  Can you four stay on topic, please?” Lynnria cut in.  Again.  “We are talking about my future here, right?”

“Right.”  I turned back to her.  “To sum up, we don’t know what the hell we’re doing, but it might be considered blasphemy—”

“Never said that…”

“—so it might piss someone off—”

“It won’t.”

“—but we think it’ll make you more powerful?”

“That part’s true.”

“And possibly push you along to be closer to a full Do-lilim.”

“And that’s a complete stab in the dark.”

Lynnria went silent for a while after that, trying to digest what little we had been able to share—both in regard to the situation at hand and overall.  I felt for her.  She was only now coming to grips with the fact that she was changing at all, and now having to decide whether to kick the rock the rest of the way down the hill?

Obviously, I had tried explaining the situation once or twice in the past but, thanks to random memory edits and a healthy dose of deserved skepticism, she had been dismissive.  Now, seeing my mates sitting right in front of her, being able to compare her features to their own, and combined with the onset of these new cravings?  There could be no denying what was happening to her.

Arx was even beginning to grow out a respectable tail—amongst other things.  It was still almost hairless, though I could definitely see a bit of white peach-fuzz coming in along its tip.  Somewhat like Lynnria’s, though whether it would end up that way was still a mystery.

I wonder why Mia’s is so fluffy?

Arx caught my eye and smiled, making certain to emphasize the rather more significant assets nestled between her arms.  I had already given them a thorough round of appreciation earlier, but a little extra never hurt.  She winked at me.

“I’ll do it,” Lynnria said finally.

“Told you.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Go ahead then,” I said.  “You have my permission to do whatever it is you need to.”

“Yes, my lord,” Mia intoned.  “Give me a few moments to set things up.”

Pretty much the instant the Faen left my head, I felt Jax’s hand curl over my shoulder.  When I turned, I found her sitting very close, her face unreadable.

“Have a care, Master,” she whispered softly.  “Yer girl’s a troubled one.  Lot going on under her skin.  Too much to get a handle on so quick-like.”

I nodded my understanding.  “I do seem to have a type, don’t I.”

She snorted.  But there was a gentle smile hidden beneath her scowl.  “I’d nay like to see ye hurt, be all.  Don’t put too much of yerself into that one.  Not til the bind’s done.”

I chuckled then gave her a soft bump against the shoulder.  “No one could replace you, Jax.”

“Again with yer mince,” she growled before pulling me into a quick but fierce kiss.  “I don’t trust that Faen of yor’n, neither.  Can’t read that one at all, but even the sallowest numpty’d know she’s got plans fer ye.  All that talk of what’s mortal and what ain’t stiffs me short hairs, ye ken?”

I actually had to think for a minute before I ‘kenned.’  Jax was as perceptive as they came, but picking out any sort of meaning from her mishmash of lingo was often an exercise in futility.

“Oh… you mean the hair on the back of your neck, don’t you.”

She shook her head in confusion.  “Where else?”

“Well, it’s just… where I come from… never mind.”

“Okay, I’ve got it all set up.  You can begin any time you’d like,” Mia announced about then—saving me from the mental hamster-wheel squeaking away behind Jax’s eyes.

“I’m going to need you to be a little more specific, Mia.”

“It’s all very technical, but… well, I suppose there really isn’t any easy explanation,” she admitted.  “I cannot precisely duplicate Xhinn’s methods.  I am not Her nor ever any part of Her.  I am you, my lord.  And I have seen you do it.  In your own way.”

I blinked once slowly.  Then a few more times in rapid succession.  “That… huh?”

“No more than I expected,” she said with a chuckle.  “I can only explain more by way of metaphor.  What I have done is to prepare the soil, but it is you who must plant the seed.  From that, your tree will grow.”

“Tree?”  Arx straightened, understanding suddenly.  “You mean—?”

“Yes, exactly the same.  But I doubt doing this on purpose will come as easily as did your own.”

She placed a hand over her abdomen.  “That was real?!”

“Uh… guys?”

“It was,” Mia affirmed, ignoring me.  “Do you now understand the opportunity you missed?”

“But I didn’t know it was growing out of my Core!”  She turned to me.  “Donum, we have to go back to sleep!  I want to try again.  And without Mia, this time!  Just you as you are.”

“We’re the same person, you twat!” Mia yelled with a relatively mild swear on her lips.  Which was a bit surprising.  She usually avoided those unless forced.  “Besides, our lord’s dreams are still too chaotic to be able to control on a whim.  Why did you think I wanted to work on his Intelligence?”

“Guys.”

Jax raised a finger, drawing my attention away from the growing argument.  “Master… be this a sex thing?”

I opened my mouth in thoughtless dismissal, but then realization set in.  Whatever else she was on about, Mia had said I needed to ‘plant a seed.’  And that would be spectacularly on-brand for this group.

“Sex?” Lynnria said, stiffening suddenly.  “Nobody said anything about… Donum, we’re not having sex are we?”

“Now yer nervous?  Ye was happy to bob on his boaby not five minutes ago.”

“Well, I mean… I couldn’t help it, could I?” she tittered.  “With this, I—I… well, that is…”

Jax narrowed her eyes, then slowly crawled off the bed, stalking her way toward the girl.  “Fear?  Why fear?”

“Now, hold on, Jax.  There’s no need to pressure—” I began, but she held up her hand, forestalling me.

“What pressure?” she shot back.  “The girl knows ye’d not touch what ain’t yer own to touch, nor enter where y’ain’t invited.  And on silver besides.  Or I’d’ve cut her down where she stands.  No.”  She turned back to Lynnria.  “I feel yer aching, girl.  I feel yer heart pounding away.  The fire in yer veins.  Ye been wanting this.  Why fear?”

“W-well, it’s just…” Lynnria stammered softly.  “I’m… I’m not very good at it, is all.”

Jax tilted her head, frowning suspiciously.  But then her scowl slowly gave way into a knowing grin.

“Ah…  Ye was a laoi, wasn’t ye.  That’s got it.”  Laughing good-naturedly, she swung an arm over her shoulders and all but dragged the girl forward.  “Well now, ye’s about to get a lot better at it!”

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And so ends the chapter.  It's a little shorter than normal, but if I didn't cut it off here... well, I'm sure you all know where this is going.

Toodles!