Champion

Chapter 45

Sapphire is a Dracian sorceress and trader. Her father, Marcus, was a well-known trader, who was killed on the road south of Wolfsvale two years ago. Since then she has been searching for the men that murdered him. She is seeking a man named Galen whom she believes may have information that will help her quest," he informed the Night Lord.

What does she know of this Galen?

"Little my Lord," Cassius explained. "She has a simple description of the man, and was looking for him here in Exitibus. I remembered him traveling through here on the way to Calavius, and I told her as much. She will probably search him out there, and be out of our hair soon."

Listen well Shadow Lord. These people are a threat to us. Those who would investigate one crime are willing to investigate more. Contact Shadowmaster Whisper, and have him send two teams of destroyers to deal with them.

"Two teams Lord?" he said, shocked. "But surely one team is more than enough to deal with them. Besides, wouldn't it be better to wait until they leave, and have Shadowmaster Hood intercept them on the road? Two teams together in the city will certainly gain us the attention of the sheriff."

A splitting headache suddenly pierced his brain, and he fell to his knees in agony. It is not your place to question my orders Cassius. You will do as instructed and I will deal with the weakling sheriff, the Night Lord's voice thundered in his mind. It was only the second time his superior had ever used his name, and it frightened him.

"Yes my Lord," the man gasped weakly, and the pain slowly eased from his head.

Find a way to lure the three of them from the temple; I don't want any harm to come to it or the priestess. We cannot afford to give the Inquisitors any more reason to investigate this matter than we must. And Cassius...let the Shadowmaster know that any failure in this task will be punished. Severely.

***

Laurena was highly upset when she finally found David, and saw that Sapphire was sitting beside him. The worship room was nearly half-full when they came in, and Sapphire had chosen a cushion in the back corner of the temple. David had no desire to complain, because the room was filled with scantily clad women that might have drawn his attention away from her. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to women, but he knew ogling any woman other than the one he came with was a bad idea. Laurena had been greeting worshipers at the entrance with Phoebe while keeping an eye out for his arrival, but they had entered and sat so quickly that she had not see then come in. It wasn't until the last of the faithful had arrived and she had gone looking for him that she noticed the pair together. She tried hard to hide her displeasure at the pairing.

"Sapphire, I did not realize you were planning to attend," she greeted the Dracian with faux happiness.

"I realized that Astinus charged us both with David's education, and it would be unfair to him to have to participate in the service without me," Sapphire replied with a smile. She knew that Laurena would be furious with her interference, but she no longer cared. The intimacy she and David had shared in the marketplace had been wonderful, and it had overcome her remaining hesitancy. She had finally accepted that she wanted David to be hers. She had resolved to conquer her fears and fight for the man was falling in love with. Falling, she thought with a mental laugh. She had already fallen. She was in love with him. She had tried to ignore it, tried to deny it, but it was the truth. When she saw the look of lust and admiration in his eyes after he had opened his bedroom door, she just knew. His embarrassment over his erection and concern for her feelings just reinforced her decision. She just hoped her inexperience didn't make her terrible at s*x.

"Well I am glad you decided to join us," the acolyte lied. "You can help him see how wonderful Eros' love is when done properly." She was working hard to contain her anger. This was supposed to be her chance alone with the Champion. With just her and David she knew that her beauty and skills would be able to entice him back into her orbit. But the Dracian was just as beautiful, and her carnal skills were a complete unknown.

"Will you be joining us?" David asked with fake surprise. "I assumed there would be a line of young men waiting for your 'spiritual guidance'," he stated, a not so subtle reminder of the last time he had attended a service, and his thoughts about her role in it.

"Not today," she said, sitting down next to him, opposite Sapphire. "There are more than enough women here to ensure that the men are properly cared for, and you are my top priority."

This was not entirely true. More than a few of the women who had chosen to attend were matched with one or more men that had given her a longing look, but she had begged Priestess Phoebe to be allowed just David during the ceremony. She had told her that since he was new to the religion and she was acting as his guide, she wanted to make sure that he fully understood all the aspects of the service. Her friend had relented to her request.

Grunting in acknowledgment of her statement, he shifted closer to Sapphire and laid his hand on her knee. In return she leaned into him and rested her head on his left shoulder. Refusing to be ignored, Laurena began explaining the message of today's service. She added emphasis to her communication by using hand gestures, while not so covertly touching and rubbing against the Champion. Her exuberant talk quickly settled once the service began.

Priestess Phoebe chose a sermon on love for that evening's service, and how to recognize and share it. Not terribly original, but David couldn't complain too much. She was a gifted orator, with a kind disposition, and she was able to get many of the couples to share stories of how they met and realized their love for one another. Many of the couples shared similar histories: meeting at the temple, coming together during worship, feeling a deeper love and connection with their mate than they ever had before, and then deciding to dedicate their lives to one another. It was one of the most unusual and graphic discussions David had ever witnessed in a place of worship, but the clear and obvious love that each couple felt for one another was beautiful to behold. He also wouldn't trade the feeling of Sapphire against him for anything.

Sapphire was absorbed in the stories told by the faithful. This was her first Erosian service, it would be her first time with a man, and she had nearly no knowledge of the intricacies of carnal acts. She listened very closely to each couple, trying to glean any information she could from what they said. She was still somewhat frightened by the size of David's manhood, but she was determined to make the experience the best he ever had. She also melted into his embrace when he casually moved his arm from beside him and wrapped it around her, resting his left hand on her hip. In return she laid her head on his shoulder, reached her arm around his waist, and snuggled herself into his side while her fingers lazily played with the sash resting on his right hip.

Laurena was unhappy with how closely the two had moved together but was glad they were both so attentive to the discussion. She was able to utilize their distraction to draw nearer to David as he sat cross-legged in the center of the cushion. She slowly inched across the distance until one of her legs was pressed against his right thigh. Then she slowly moved the hand that rested her on her left thigh over onto his right leg, barely an inch above the knee.

David had barely noticed Laurena closing on him, he was so happy with Sapphire's new affectionate nature; until she put her hand on his leg. He looked down at the offending appendage, and then looked up to glare at Laurena, but she was watching the current speaker with rapt attention. Sighing he reached down and gently removed her hand from his leg. Was she completely oblivious to his feelings for Sapphire? Couldn't she see that they were quite happy together without the acolyte butting in? Apparently not, because a few minutes later her hand was in the same place again. Not even bothering to look at her he reached down and pushed it off his leg, rather less gently this time.

Unbeknownst to the other two, Sapphire had witnessed everything, and was well aware of Laurena's intent. The difference was she had already accepted that the other two were going to lie together today. She knew it had become a competition between herself and Laurena, and she also realized that s****l experience was probably the only thing that Laurena had to offer him. Sapphire also felt that David was falling in love with herself, while he could barely tolerate Laurena most of the time. Her only fear was that her inexperience with s*x would ruin what they had. Laurena didn't realize it yet, but she was about to be Sapphire's training aid in carnal intimacy. So when the acolyte rested her hand on David's leg for the third time, Sapphire reached across with her left hand and intercepted his right, interlocking their fingers. When he looked down at her with confusion in his eyes and a question on his lips she just raised her head to look at him and gave a soft smile. Then she shook her head slightly, kissed him chastely on the lips, and returned her head to his shoulder while giving him a tender hug with the arm around his waist, keeping their fingers interlocked.

David was confused as hell about what was going on, but Sapphire's message was clear. She was here with him, but she didn't care if Laurena touched him. In fact, she seemed to want him to let it happen. What the hell is that all about? As the service continued, Laurena became more brazen as he continued to allow her carte blanche. She slowly inched her hand up his leg, sliding under his robe and getting nearer his manhood each minute. His erection, which had slowly lessened during the service, came roaring back to life as her finger tips drew nearer to it, barely concealed by the bottom of his robe. Looking down, he cleared his throat softly and gave Sapphire a squeeze with the arm he had wrapped around her.

Sapphire had allowed a few locks of her hair to drift forward and help conceal where her eyes were focused. She didn't want to draw attention to what was going on between David and Laurena. But she was watching the acolyte closely, noting every light stroke and caress of her hand under his thin robe, and his clearly visible reaction. When Laurena's hand had reached his inner thigh, mere inches from his hardness, he had softly cleared his throat and squeezed her hip, and she decided it was time to come clean with him. She adjusted her head higher on his shoulder, turning to move her lips so close to him that the tip of her nose brushed the top of his ear.

"I need to explain a few things, but I don't want Laurena to know what we are discussing," she whispered to him. "So please say nothing and just listen. I will only ask you yes or no questions, and I want you to squeeze my hip once for yes and twice for no. Ok?"

He squeezed her hip once.

"In the last week I have fallen in love with you, as I think you have with me. Am I right?"

It took David a few moments to organize his feelings, but it wasn't really a difficult question once he thought about it. What did he have to lose? He responded with a single squeeze.

"Good," Sapphire purred into his ear. She had suddenly become worried about his answer, when he didn't respond immediately. The longer she waited for a response, the more terrified she had become.

"Now that I know your feelings about me I have to ask this...do you care for Laurena?"

Two strong squeezes.

Smiling she continued, "I figured. Now comes the hard part. I have to ask you for a rather large favor, one that you may not want to grant me, or may even hate me for asking. So I will explain why I ask, before I tell you what it is.