Carahil - VI

Carahil sat on the edge of the bed and stretched. She turned and nudged Clark awake. "Come on, lazy, we've got another day of imp sex to plan!"

"Where's Sparky now?" Clark wanted to know.

"Probably still down in the corner, asleep."

"Then he's got the right idea." Clark turned over and tried to get back to sleep, too.

Carahil wouldn't let him, but she did lie down again herself. "I need your ideas," she told him. "What's next for Sparky, if we want to make him an independent imp?"

"Sleep," Clark told her, "or he won't be able to do anything useful."

"And after that?" she insisted.

"He's shown us he's willing to do it with another woman, or at least one that he sees as a queen. And it didn't matter that his own queen was unavailable, but again, maybe that was why. We still don't know if he's acting like an normal imp drone, or if he's developing the characteristics we'd prefer."

Clark started to outline the tests they'd need to make. One important one was to find out which women he considered queens, and which he didn't. "Thaurron told me he didn't show any interest in the women at the beach, presumably because they weren't spell-casters."

"Or Thaurron wasn't watching the imp!" Carahil suggested. "I understand why he goes down there to get his daily exercise. I can't believe that none of them could cast spells. There are too many basic ones that every woman should know."

"Well, I was going to suggest that we take him up to Gweden. There are a number of spell-casters on Tsarrina's roster, and none of them will take offense if Sparky shows an interest."

Carahil could see the sense in that. "I assume Tsarrina will charge us for the women's time?"

Clark knew that she would, but that wasn't the main counter-argument. He was slightly concerned that the madam would see the imp's activities as a potential source of revenue as a side-show. She'd already mentioned charging her customers to watch Virgilia and the goblins, and Sugar made as much from performances as she did from direct sales.

Still, that would be an answer to Carahil's problem with the imp, wouldn't it?

Another test, that could be made at the same time, was to see if he'd voluntarily choose another woman when Carahil was available. It might not tell them anything, of course, if she remained his preferred queen. But if his curiosity was greater than his ties to her, then that would be very informative.

And he'd been a rather mischievous youngster, a trait the mages had not discouraged as much as they should have. There was a danger that he'd become a nuisance to pretty women, especially ones who could cast spells. He had to learn what was acceptable behaviour, and what wasn't.

"I'd better go up to the farm and discuss it with the staff," Clark told Carahil. "I have a few ideas, but they'll have more."

"I don't mind helping," Prizna told him. "He'll probably notice that I'm naked all the time, and assume that means I'm available. That's most likely a good thing for him to learn. If a woman's got her clothes on, she's off-limits."

That made a lot of sense to Clark, but they'd only know it worked if Prizna put some on.

"I didn't think of that," she said. "But you also want him to learn that when a naked woman says no, then he mustn't ignore it."

"Can you say no to an imp, so that he understands?"

"Probably not, and I don't even know if I'd want to. I haven't met him yet."

"I don't mind putting clothes on," Frieja told him. "So I can handle that part, assuming he takes an interest in the first place."

Clark knew that Frieja had a good range of healing and defensive spells, but she didn't do destruction at all. There was a chance that the imp might be biased to that school, as he used it himself.

Meena was loking a bit dejected. "I'm small, and I don't do magic at all," she told them. "It sounds like you're all going to have fun without me."

"Actually, that makes you the perfect person for the other test I had in mind," Clark told her. "You'll have to try harder to make the imp want you, but if you can, that's important information, too. It will tell us that a pretty women counts more than a magical one."

Carahil and Sparky arrived at Gweden Lodge early the following day. Nobody was on the ground floor when Clark let them in. The women were all up in the dormitory, or over in the farmhouse. As they'd arranged, Prizna came downstairs first, and Carahil took off her dress as she did.

Sparky had a good idea what was happening, and he clearly liked the prospects. He was hovering near Carahil, but looking at Prizna most of the time. Prizna walked over to the bed, and lay down, spreading herself invitingly. Carahil just stood and smiled, trying not to give Sparky any direct clue as to what he should do.

The imp kissed Carahil on each nipple, in his special tingly way, and then flew across to the bed and knelt between Prizna's thighs. With a brief glance over his shoulder at Carahil and Clark, he turned his attention to the Dremora.

Clark and Carahil went upstairs to put the next part into play.

"Do we send down Freija next, or Meena?" Carahil asked.

"It had better be Meena," Clark decided. "After Freija and Prizna, he'd have nothing left for her."

Freija started to object, but her part was to tell the imp when she'd had enough, by putting her clothes back on. It would be easier to do that if Sparky was getting a bit tired, too.

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Clark asked Meena. "I know you're not used to taking the initiative with your clients."

Meena laughed. Mostly she played coy and reluctant, and let them seduce her. She hadn't been a virgin for a long time, but she could still pretend. "I've learned a lot from Juliana. She doesn't get all the first-timers, any more. If Tsarrina thinks that the boy needs someone who can appear as inexperienced as himself, then it's my job. So I know how to make the first moves, without making it look like I 've done it all before."

"That's rather different, isn't it? He's not a first-timer, in fact you won't even be his first today."

"If he's got anything left after Prizna, it's mine!" she said, defiantly.

Prizna soon came up to announce a successful hand-over to Meena. "She's light enough for his wings to lift both of them," the Dremora remarked, "but I think he's just showing off."

"Maybe not," Clark observed. "A real Queen Imp would have her own wings, so flying positions may seem the most natural to him."

Carahil concurred with that. "He's lifted my knees off the bed at times, and I'm a lot bigger than Meena."

Freija was getting impatient. "How long do I need to wait before I go down?"

"What's the hurry? You're the one who's supposed to say no, remember."

"But that's only afterwards. 'No you can't have any more', not 'No you can't have any at all.' If I don't establish that he wants me, it doesn't prove anything. I'm getting worried that he'll be drained, and we won't find out anything."

Clark knew what she really meant, and he had an idea. "We need to give Meena enough time, so why don't I see how long it takes you? When you think it's time to stop, then it's reasonable to expect it's been long enough."

"But then I might never get to try the imp." Freija complained. Prizna and Carahil collapsed, laughing uncontrollably.

"Sometimes you're so blonde," Clark told her.

Clark, Carahil and Frieja went down together, fully clothed, or at least, with everything covered up. Freija's dress was very short, and thin, but it did just manage to hide what it needed to. They watched Meena and the imp for a while, and then Clark told Freija it was her turn to try and tempt the imp away.

"Just slip one out and let him see it," Clark told her. Frieja slid the top of her dress aside, and exposed one breast to Sparky's gaze. While the imp was distracted, Meena slipped off the bed and crept upstairs.

Sparky fluttered over to take a closer look at Freija. He stretched out a hand and touched her nipple gently , but with a hint of tingly shock. As it hardened, a smile came across his face, and his lips replaced the finger.

"Now the other one," Clark prompted. Sparky's hand reached out to greet it.

"Oh wow! Does he always do this?" Freija wanted to know.

Carahil agreed that it was his favourite opening gambit, when he got the chance. "And wait until he gets more to play with."

Freija was reluctant to wait, but they were paying her to do this, so she did.

"Now cover them back up, and see if he's prepared to stop."

Sparky looked confused. He was certain that Freija liked that, the way she'd reacted. But she'd put them away, and he couldn't play any more. He looked at Carahil, pleading.

"What do you think, Clark?" she asked.

"Why don't you do the same as Freija just did? Let him play for a while, and then cover up again."

Carahil did as Clark asked, and Sparky came to her for his fun, while it lasted. When Carahil covered herself, he looked hopefully at Freija again. This wasn't such a bad game, if they kept playing it. Clark nodded, and Freija again let Sparky take another turn with her.

"I think we've got what we came for," Clark told Carahil. "Freija, if you want to take that dress off completely, Sparky knows what to do next."

She didn't need any more prompting. And nor did Sparky.