The Clark Chronicles
Part 9 - Back to Breezehome
Lydia greeted Clark at the door of Breezehome. "Come take a look at Gilda. She's filled out a lot while you were gone, and she's grown herself a pair of funbags."
"Stop calling them that!" Gilda's voice complained from the room at the back. "You're just jealous!"
Clark doubted that. Lydia had always been content with hers. Enough to get whatever attention she needed, without hindering her fighting ability. She did, of course, know the value of goading an opponent, and was probably giving Gilda a lesson she hadn't figured out yet. Still, he was curious as to what had happened while he was away.
Gilda came through to the living room, and Clark got to see what Lydia meant. She looked like she'd burst out of the top of her dress at any moment. The laces had been let out any number of times, and she could barely tie them any more.
"I don't know if her mother promised you a virgin, but I'm sure those will be adequate compensation." Of course, Lydia was joking. She knew that Clark didn't put any store in virginity, but Gilda didn't. She blushed, and confessed that she had put her new man-magnets to the test, with all the success they deserved. Lydia had taken her out to the Bannered Mare as soon as she thought Gilda was ready for it, and they hadn't often returned alone.
The rest of her was nicely filled out, too. She showed no signs of following her mother to excess, but she'd got curves where she used to have angles, and her face was beautiful where it used to be just pretty.
"They've ruined her as an archer, you know." Lydia couldn't stop having a dig at Gilda's fortune. "It's a good thing she's skilled with a one-handed sword."
Clark looked puzzled, but Gilda picked up a bow and showed him the problem. She didn't nock an arrow, just pulled back on the string until...
They did get in the way of the bowstring. "So we'll have to teach you spells instead. You don't need to be as accurate with a fireball, anyway."
"Did you teach Gilda to cook? I'm starved after that long journey," he asked Lydia.
"I'm the housecarl, so I do the cooking in this house. And I've already started a venison stew, which will be ready in about half an hour. Why don't we go upstairs while we're waiting?"
"All of us? There's only one of him," Gilda objected.
"You don't know my Thane, do you?" Lydia responded. "It's about time you did."
Naked, Gilda reminded Clark a little of Vicuņa, shape-wise at least. Her breasts were newly grown, and hadn't started to sag. From what he'd learned from the Dunmer, they wouldn't if she used one of the amulets to keep them well-supported. He had one that he'd made, and although it wasn't as strongly enchanted as he hoped to achieve later, it would be beneficial to her now. "Put this on, and tell me how it feels," he told her.
"Like I'm swimming, and the water's holding me up. But just where I need it."
"Did you bring one for me?" Lydia asked.
"I can make one if you think you need it," he replied. "Feeling droopy?"
Lydia just laughed, and pushed Clark onto the bed. "Come on, the stew will be ready soon, and I want to be properly satisfied before we eat. And Gilda's going to want the same, so get to work! You've been away too long, and you have a lot to catch up on!"
Clark lay on his back and let the ladies choose their places.
Lydia had finished eating, washed her bowl, and put it away in the cupboard by the time Gilda and Clark came downstairs. "It's a good thing I made stew," Lydia remarked, "You can leave that simmering for hours, and it won't be over-cooked."
Gilda was wearing her new amulet, and little else. Lydia was fascinated by the way her breasts just floated. Clark could see her looking down at her own. Eventually she shook her head, and started to ladle out the stew into two more bowls. "I want to intimidate my enemies, not mesmerise them," she announced.
"What do you think?" Gilda asked Clark, laughing.
"It's hard to look at those and still be capable of thinking," he replied. "You need to learn how to make the most of that."
"You'll teach me, won't you?" she asked, as innocently as she could manage.
Gilda and Clark went up to the Jarl's palace, to see what spells Farengar had to offer. As usual he was quite dismissive, and resented the intrusion on his time, until he realised that they were paying customers. They were looking for some kind of long-range destruction, that Gilda could use instead of a bow.
Farengar pondered for a moment. "She's got two choices at her level: either the weaker Frostbite and Sparks - they aren't any stronger than the Flames she already knows and have similar range, which is to say, not much. Or you can take the projectile spells, Firebolt, Frost Spike, Lightning Bolt at Apprentice level, and she can get some training from Wuunferth in Windhelm."
"How much training would it take?" Gilda asked.
"Not a lot, it appears that you're close to Apprentice level already, and once you get there, you'll be able to cast the spells more easily. I mean, you can cast them now, probably, but then you won't have the magicka to do it again. Why don't you take Sparks for now, and Ice Spike for later? That way, you'll have an alternative to the flames if you encounter resistance, like Dunmer have, and the Ice Spike will give you a stronger spell as soon as you reach it. Longer range, too."
"Using the Flames and Sparks will advance her skill without training, won't it?" Clark added.
"Precisely, and as I said before, she's not got far to go. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to examining this dragon bone Irileth brought me."
"Then practice is what we'll do," Clark decided. "Windhelm's in the wrong direction, for now."
"Oh, are we going somewhere else?" Gilda wanted to know.
"Yes, I left some unfinished business in Markarth. I want us all to go back there soon."