Chapter 2 - Jaxus's Seven (Part One)

"It's certainly trapped." The Countess sighed as The Thief ran his hands over the unfeeling metal of the chastity belt. It was heavily enchanted to allow it to grow, self clean, and also slightly shift out of the way to allow for the 'outgoing' bodily functions. However whenever The Thief's hands brushed against the Countess bare skin. "Cold!' She yelped and brought her legs up as the metal punished her, and through their connection he felt like someone had just put his balls into a bucket of ice.

"FUCK!" He scowled and held onto two of his lifelong partners in crime to warm them back up. "That's what that's been? Last time I felt that I thought I'd tweaked something down there and went to a druid to have myself checked out."

"What did she say."

"She took one look at me, started laughing at me and told me the problem 'wasn't me'. I think I know what she meant now." He held up the enchanted bracelet binding them together. Besides some chaste hand holding and limited clothed contact, the belt had responded the same each time. The Thief sat back on his haunches and laced his fingers together. "We need the key."

"My aunt will never turn it over to us." The Elf-sired Amazon shook her head in dismay. 

"We need to at least TRY and ask her." The bastard born Man held up a hand.

"My Chosen, I assure you; she will not give it up."

"All the more reason to make a show of it."
---

The Palace of the Amazon Embassador, who also served as the Magistrate of Amazon law in the adjacent region, was as much a monument to wealth and influence as it was a fortress. Guardswomen armored and armed with incredible kit capable of slaying rogue dragons patrolled the grounds. Every surface of the palace interior was paved with something expensive and well crafted. The walls were covered in art and otherwise paneled exquisitely. 

So much money and all of it nailed to the ground, or ready to nail a thief to the ground. Jaxus walked on the arm of the Countess, clothed tamely and with the collar still very much on his neck. The Countess's guards walked beside them, and behind the additional members of her attending party. It had been a journey to reach this palace and now it was time for the show.

As other guests arrived and presented themselves to the hostess; The Duchess of Kelom, Jaxus felt the anxiousness grow from the bond he shared with the Countess. He closed his fingers in hers. Though he did not look away from the hostess looming in the distance, with several parties yet to greet her before them; he felt her smile and warmth from beside him.

---

"So this is your long lost Chosen, my niece?" Jaxus had heard people regard him with sneering tones, icy disregard, bitter disdain, and rapacious lust before, but never all at once, and never so intensely. 

Part of his apprehension, he realized, was coming from what the Countess was recognizing in the attitude of the Duchess. 

"Yes, Your Grace." She bowed her head and the whole party followed suit, and bowed at least two notches deeper. 

Chocolate skin that hid marble strong muscles moved with liquid grace as she reached forward and lifted the Thief's chin forcefully with the least of her fingers. He felt his neck jerk up and was forced to look her in the eyes. The Violet irises dilated as the whites of her eyes sparkled like opals. 

"I suppose, now, you wish me to repeal the punishment I levied against you in your foolish youth?" She did not look away as her gaze bored into Jaxus.

"I attend the summons of my Lady Magistrate, the Duchess of Kelom, my honored Mother's Cherished Sister." Countess Ursula Elmar'Fas dutifully answered her aunt. "My personal matters, should you deign to give them attention, are second to that."

"But still second?" The Duchess laughed and with a flick nearly sent Jaxus toppling over. He stabilized and bowed deeper, the fabrics of his meager garments covering little of his body. "Cheeky girl, I have many requests to fulfill this moon, don't be surprised if you return to your city with the same weight on your hips as you arrive with." She dismissed them to enter and looked to her next guests as the Countess's group filed past.

As they did, the Duchess turn her gaze briefly at a man within the Countess's train, her skin flushed and a smile bloomed as he passed.

---

"That went well." Jaxus smiled from his seat beside the Countess in what felt looked like a lavish apartment, but was probably insultingly sparse by the Palace's standards.

"You know so little, my Chosen."

"She seemed to like me," he pause, "Enough not to snap my neck outright, at least." He rubbed his neck and felt the soreness from her disregarding gesture.

"Courtly duties preclude killing unarmed guests on the front steps." Ursula's eldest, strongest, and lead guardswoman crossed her arms as she stood in far less equipment than she was comfortable with, in such a hostile place. Still, form was to be followed. "She will have time to dispatch you without interruption later."  

"All the more reason for me to set to work." The handsome man recline in a chair. He had a stringed instrument in his lap and he plucked it as he tune those strings to perfection. "Calling me in to help with something other than a job was odd enough from you Jaxus, but I never thought I'd be performing for Royalty." His smile spoke of subtext and his eyebrows waggled.

"If you do, show my Aunt you can lead as well as follow." Ursula ran a hand through Jaxus's hair and thrilled at the silky texture it had taken on since he'd cleaned out the dyes.

"More lovely than any Solo, the Duet is a performance to cherish." The Bardic Rogue smiled and further appeared to tune his instrument, all the while little bits of small talk were made among the group.

----


"This is crazy," Weeks before, in a bar on the Wharg, "Even for you, Trailbrother." The Bard looked on either side of his fellow bastard, on one side was a Guard Knight with rank equal to Captain, on the other was no less than the Sh'lu Ve Laris; HERSELF. HERE. In the very bar the Thieves' Guild used at its most guarded cover. It was quiet as a church as everyone was watching and listening to the conversation. From inside a pile of furs and tarps leaning over the balcony, the guild master watched.

"I know, but we have to get this right, because once we're inside there will be ears and eyes everywhere. Plenty of them unseen." Jaxus smiled and he noticed the Bard twitch and smile while he fidgeted in his seat. "Yeah, I'm being that guy."

"Your Grace. I have a humble request, if you'll indulge me?" The Bard looked to the woman seated beside his brother in crime. She nodded. "Promise me that once you pop that unfortunate piece of attire, you'll fuck the smugness of my dear brother's face?"

Ursula might have held her card face, but the Captain's neatly shattered from her laughter, and the moon in the bar was restored to something jovial as the rich peels of joy brought people back to their drinks, chatter, and ease of mind.

Honus Trailborne, Master Bard, worker of rooms, and preternatural exhibitionist was on board.

----

"Amazing."
"Stupendous."
"He's so talented,"
"And he's not bad with the strings, neither." 

The chatter on the floor was better than Jaxus could have hoped for. The first day after the arrival's the guests took turns providing the entertainment. Much like a Colosseum, the earlier you played, the lower on the totem pole. The Countess was about as low as one could place family without making an offense you could challenge a duel over. They provided entertainment for brunch.

With two of his favorite dancers gently spinning and providing visual enticements, Honus played a classic, yet spirited song that, along with his voice, made sure everyone's eyes were open, alert, and on the trio of nearly naked, well oiled men whose flawless bodies were drawing all the Amazons' attention, especially the Duchess's. 

Meanwhile, like a good little girl, the Countess sat at her seat, far removed from the circles of power; while she and her Chosen Thief watched. 
Jaxus saw Ursula's glass was less than half full. Amazon courtly matters governed everything from the usual cutlery and posture rules to when you asked for refills and how much you could have in your glass before you asked, based on your position in the rankings. It was a notch past the earliest that would be allowed for him, as her Chosen, to gently pick up the glass and hold it before him. 

A server, with permission from the Major Doma, carried a jug of juice before him and wordlessly there was an exchange as Jaxus presented the narrow glass, it was filled nearly full, but not so full as she wouldn't be asking for another refill before the end of brunch, and then with a pair of matched nods, the server parted. A piece of paper plucked by Jaxus's bare feet from the ornamental ankle cuffs on the slave server.

-----

"I'm in." The short haired man smiled in the dark but dustless room.

"I've barely told you the plan."

"Yeah, and I like all of it,  whatever I don't; we change."

"Really."

"You're not going to get anywhere without me and mine." The man flicked the course grooves around his neck, marks of long servitude with a collar far less padded than the one Jaxus wore. "Your Lady's a padder and she's playing the game, this'll knock the bad babe down a peg and saving face'll mean losing clout and that means losing men." This time he pointed at the collar around his neck. "So. I'm. IN. I'll have contacts ready for you when you get there. Remember the Clergy job?" 

Jaxus smiled, remember a heist that had nothing to do with the church or devoutness to any of its tenants.

----

When they returned too their appointed chambers there was a soft white candle burning in the center of the table. It was short, and so was their time. 

"Dona, what's your progress?" Ursula looked to her guard captain, who smiled. 

"We've got a location of the key. Didn't even ask, it was moved out of the vaults of secrets days before you got here, it's been added to the Ring of keys for one of Lead Shift Guards, but we don't know which section of the castle.

"Can't we just count the keys and see which one has more?" The Countess asks. Jaxus shakes his head.

"They don't all have the keys to the whole palace, just their wings."

"But what if something happens and noone has the keys to the section in need?" She cocked her head, and saw how little of the candle remained.

"Look at that door," Jaxus pointed at the door out into the halls, "And tell me any of those guards would have trouble breaking it open in times of dire need?" The candle was out and almost a moment later the door opened and two collared men helped carry in Honus's dancing men, both looking well and fully ravished. 

The collared men bowed to the Countess, then her Captain, then they backed out and closed the door as they did. Jaxus handed both men glasses of water with napkins, and deftly received another note as he pulled back his hands. There was a soft knock on the door, and Jaxus rose to receive it.

He bowed to the lady messenger at the door and stepped aside.

"Lady Elemar'Fas," The woman's tone was formal to the point of being disrespectfully so. "Her Grace wishes to inform you that the Musician Honus of the Singing Reeds will be accompanying her for the remainder of his stay at the palace. His attendants have been shown the appointed quarters and will be responsible for transferring his effects." She held for a moment and noted the grim expression and pause before Ursula nodded and acknowledged the message. The woman turned to leave, and after her second step, Jaxus closed the door.

It was difficult for him to hide the smile on his face. It was more so difficult for Ursula to resist the thrills rising up from her wrist as the scheme continued to form.

---

The second evening, Honus was scheduled to play at dinner, and was reportedly working with the Duchess's court dancers to put together a marvelous show. The servers were so on point as to be virtually invisible, as they should be. No guest was wanting for drink or food or her satisfaction.  It was as if the Duchess had called in her servants from all her other abodes to accommodate everyone.

Jaxus knelt behind both the Countess and Captain Dona as they plead the case to the Duchess; how Jaxus's criminal history was one of subtly and intelligence and was only truly gleaned when looking at those crimes which when unpunished or unreported, as he targeted the well connected filth of the Wharf. 

"He is more liken too, perhaps distantly, those who serve the Imperial Shadows."Dona spoke for him. It was a very round about and distant way of praising him, also mildly dangerous for being within five degrees of the Amazon Empress's 'Problem Solvers'. But it wouldn't be the Duchess's place to punish them for that, if any of the Shadows currently stalking the Duchess's party took issue, they would make themselves known.

"I hardly see how this male could be worth even that passing approval," The Duchess scoffed, coldly, "No my niece, I fear you've yet to fully learn your lessons even now. Perhaps I may change my mind, perhaps not. You are dismissed from these chambers, may I see you attend dinner with, perhaps, the demeanor your station requires of you."

They left with grace and gratitude.

----

That evening, after dinner, Dona, Ursula, and Jaxus entered Ursula's private bed chamber together. It was dark, but for the light of a single candle. 

"Dona, if you would?" Ursula undressed to bare flesh and her chastity belt, and slide down into a chair. Dona's courtly 'armor' was more a shirt of plates and she peeled it off as Jaxus's helped her undress. As he did so, Jaxus kissed the warm flesh of the Captain and she purred as she took his head in her hands and pressed it to her sex, even as thick, practical, material still covered it. "Bit too eager." Ursula staged whispered, Dona flashed her a blush; and while she was distracted, Jaxus pushed the fabric to the side and plunged his tongue into her womanhood. She went on her toes and gasped for air as Jaxus went to work on her.

He had pulled down her pants and tossed them aside by the time she'd forced him onto the bed and pulled what little he wore aside and pressed his manhood into her. She growled as if goading him and he responded with vigor. He placed his hand on her hips and flexed hard, arcing his body and filling Dona with each thrust. She bit her lip as she felt the heat and the stretch. Her mistress was in for a rough cherry popping of all of this went to plan. 

Somehow she couldn't bring herself to be concerned as Jaxus redoubled his pace, and her breasts were soon bouncing with every thrust, the tender node of pleasure and flesh being scraped against with every thrust and jump. She growled as she dug her nails into sheets and brought her hips down hard, grinding the lips of her sex against the base of his cock and savoring the hard flex of his cock with each pump of cum as he filled her.

"Round two?" She purred and Jaxus nodded, dutifully. 

--

It was midnight, the candle was still burning and Jaxus let the flame dominate his vision. Something cold pressed against his neck. He brought a hand up, but it was caught in a silk gloved grip. He saw in the corner of his eye a Shadow standing over where the Countess and Captain slept, white clothes were laid out over their mouths, but their breathing stirred the enchanted lace.

"You are a very naughty thief, Jaxus Trailborn." The elvish accent was thick in the husky voice that snaked into his ear. He found himself on his back, on the table, the candle near his head, but no heat came from the flame. The Shadow revealed itself, as much as they do, and much like the Shade that followed the Countess, this one had clothing that let her slip in and out of sight, completely, wait. She wasn't wearing anything but her gloves, instead her body was tattooed with runes across her skin that shimmered, her heavy breasts rising and falling as snakes of letters in ancient elvish enchanted her skin.

"A naughty thief is a bit redundant," Jaxus offered, "in the mortal tongues." He smiled. The woman pouted at his barb but the smile returned as she felt his erection rise against the inside of her leg.

"The Empress would know, Sweet little...oh... sweet LONG... thief." She pressed her legs together and thrilled at the heat pulsing between her thighs. "What do you plan for her naughty daughter's party?" She rubbed her legs bag and forth and Jaxus groaned as her natural slickness dripped down and coated his cock. "What do you plan for her spirited granddaughter?" She cast a look over to the sleeping Countess. Jaxus open his mouth to answer, and the Shadow leaned close. 

His whispers were soft, sure, and genuine. The flush in the Shadow's face spread across her chest and she kissed him there on the table. With ease and trained skill, she pulled him into her without so much breaking the pin she had him in. She rolled her hips as she broke the kiss and brought his face up to her tits. He kissed and sucked hard as she brought a knee up onto the table and fucked him with the hot wet pull and kiss of her womanhood. His own thrusts and struggles were met with short laughs and hearty moans. 

She didn't free his arms but he used tongue to great effect, exploring the breast at his lips and dragging his tongue flat across it. She cooed as she rode him and shifted so he could attend her other breast. With vigor, he continued to stubbornly thrust back into the Shadow, fucking her deep as she pressed her other breast into his mouth.

Her climax was hard fought for, after much thrusting and heavy sweating she curled her back as she pressed her lips to his forehead. She came with a powerful shudder and the moment before Jaxus passed his own point of climax, extended by his earlier romp with Dona; she was gone. He sat up, suddenly surprised by the quiet, and sighed, looking down at his unsatisfied erection. A small price to pay-

He didn't finish the thought as wet, hot breath exhaled on his shaft and invisible lips wetly swallowed his cock. Enough of Ursula's own Shade became visible for him to recognize her lips and breasts before she resumed her invisibility and proceed to relieve him.

--- TO BE CONTINUED!