Party On
We all went down to greet the rest of the guests. Isobel's group of Undaunted (all men, I noticed), had escorted the others from the Port Hunding wayshrine, with the exception of a pair of women who'd arrived by boat. I knew the ones from Mournhold and Summerset, of course, but not the others. Veya was getting reunited with Naryu, who hadn't seen her since her exile, and somehow they'd connected with Varuni, the other Dunmer.
Seryn introduced me to the two women from the boat. They were Captain Kaleen of the Spearhead, and her cabin boy (yes, that's the name of the job, even when she's obviously a girl), Nicolene.
"Is she old enough for this kind of party?" I asked.
"Yes, but only just," Kaleen replied. "And that's why I brought her. She gets a wide choice of partners, without any obligations, so she can learn at her own pace. The necessary initiations have been taken care of, so she's not ignorant of what's going to happen tonight."
Nicolene looked a bit annoyed about being discussed over her head, but excited at the prospects, too.
The Orc contingent, which consisted of two brothers from the Undaunted, their unrelated colleague, and Ulliceta, had found their way down to the beach, or maybe Isobel had dragged them down there. They were all naked already, I noted.
"House rule," Seryn told me, and proceded to tell everyone else. "It's a nude beach, and we put hampers on the steps for your clothes. We don't want you taking any food or drinks there either. Clothing is optional on this level and in the front courtyard. Since there's hot food and drink on the roof, we'd recommend you wear something up there, even if it's just a tabard, in case you spill anything hot."
"Why no food and drink on the beach?" I asked before anyone else could phrase it as a complaint.
"We don't want any dropped food attracting the mudcrabs," she picked up. "They may not be fearsome, but when you're naked ..."
"And spilled drinks would poison the fish and sponges," she added. "We'd like to keep those."
I'd invited the Altmer instructor Vaerunne, from the Illumination Academy, to give her the opportunity to strut her stuff in semi-public. She'd admitted being a closet exhibitionist, and I was curious if that would extend to this sort of affair. I hadn't expected her to persuade Meredil to accompany her. And he seemed comfortable with the situation, even if he hadn't taken his own clothes off, yet.
"Who's the cute little Breton lady?" Ulliceta asked me. She'd just come up from the beach and was wet from a swim, but that probably wasn't why she was looking tired. "She wants to help me cast a Restoration spell over the whole party, so we don't get exhausted."
"That's Azura," I told her. "And she can't cast her own spells here, but she can add her power to yours. Obviously she's picked you, because you already know the right spell, and you look like you need it yourself."
"Well that's all true. My kinsmen are looking a bit worn down themselves, but I know they'd do it all night if they could."
"Ok, let's do it," she called over to the Daedric Princess. "Where should I stand?"
Azura pointed to the lookout platform over the middle of the back courtyard. Pretty well all the activity was out the back of the house, with a few of the shy ones maybe inside. It looked like a good place to us. We met Darien and Meridia up there. She'd had the same idea, but it turned out he didn't know the right spell.
We stood up there just watching the others for a while. The Orcs on the beach were putting on a great show, and there was a line of women waiting their turn to be in the middle.
I politely offered my arm to Meridia, suggesting I should escort her back down to the action, but she took Darien's instead.
"Haven't you had enough of him already?" Ulliceta asked her. "You've had him in tow all evening."
"He's my responsibility," she replied. "I always knew necromancy was evil, but I didn't understand what it does to those who use it."
We must have looked blank at that non-sequitur.
"Darien is undead," she explained. "I accidentally raised him in Coldharbour, during the final battle with Molag Bal's champions. I cast a healing and protection spell at him, but it arrived too late, and he'd already had a sword thrust right through him. So now, I have to watch over him and make sure he only does good, as my vessel of light."
"That doesn't strike me as necromancy," Ulliceta replied. "You may have brought him back from the brink of death, but it takes longer for a man to die than you're describing."
That made sense. Iachesis had his heart removed, twice, without it killing him. He just needed a replacement really fast. And I wasn't totally sure what happened the second time, but Nocturnal assured me he was fine.
"This is still Darien, right? I think you're just confusing responsibility with control," Ulliceta added.
"Does Gabrielle think he's changed?" I asked. "Or are you really trying to keep him away from her, so she won't find out?"
Meridia's expression changed from indignant to embarrassed to resigned. She admitted to trying to keep Darien and Gabrielle from reuniting here. That couldn't go well, whatever the result. If Gabrielle thought Darien had changed, that would be her fault, and if she didn't, they'd be competing for him.
"At an orgy? He'd expect both of you, and a whole lot more," I told her. "Ulliceta, take Darien back down, while I remind Meridia what we're doing here."
"No, don't!" Meridia exclaimed, and a Mazken stepped out of a portal next to us.
"Did somebody say 'no'?" she asked.
It was Aderene, but not dressed in her armour, that she wore down in the front courtyard as Deconstruction Assistant. Instead, she wore thigh-high black leather boots, a matching domino mask, and a huge strap-on. In one hand she carried a riding crop, and in the other, a silk flogger.
Aderene was a bit disappointed. She liked patrolling at parties like this, providing 'attitude adjustment' if any of the men were acting too entitled, because even at an orgy, 'no' means 'no'. "It's the guard in me that I can't set aside. I usually end up rewarding them for learning their lesson, which is as much fun, anyway."
The misunderstanding made Meridia laugh.
"Have you ever actually used that thing on anyone?" she asked.
"No, that's intended to scare, not be used," she replied. "These two, however, do see a bit of action, and you'd be surprised how many enjoy it."
Meridia noticed that the other two had got away, and decided that I needed punishing. She offered to help Aderene do that.
"Azura and Nocturnal have taught you well," Meridia admitted. "I should lend Darien to them, and see if they can do the same for him."
"I think you can safely assume that he'll take the initiative on that. If he hasn't already," I replied. "And, Aderene, I have a task for you later, if you don't mind. I'll call when I need you."