Reverse-Cowgirl Diplomacy

"Your mother has instructed me to accompany you until you've retrieved your mabari from the larder," Duncan heard a familiar young male voice say as he strolled the outdoor walkways of Highever Castle the following day, whiling away the hours until dinner. It was Ser Gilmore, the young knight he was to test for recruitment, speaking.

"Surely, Ser Gilmore, you can manage that task without me," came a soft reply, in a purring contralto that traveled straight to Duncan's cock.

Lady Elissa.

"I'm sorry, my lady, but I'm far too attached to my hands to take the chance," the young man's voice replied, sounding strained.

"Mmm, and what nice hands they are," Elissa remarked as Duncan silently came around the corner and leaned against the wall, watching, unnoticed by the knight. She took Ser Gilmore's hands in her own. "I should rather think those hands would be put to much better use attached to me." She brought them up to her breasts, breathing deep to press her bosom into his palms. His fingers closed, massaging of their own volition. Elissa licked her lips in a long, slow, sensuous motion. "Wouldn't you agree, Ser Gilmore?"

"My lady!" the knight's voice cracked and then he was pressing against her, pushing her back against the wall in his fervor. He began to run heated kisses over her face and neck and shoulders, kneading her breasts in a rapid, desperate motion while she writhed sinuously against him. "Oh, my sweet Elissa, I swear I'll die if I can't have you soon!"

"We have to be patient, my knight," she gasped. In a lightning-quick move that left Duncan in no doubt of her skills at hand-to-hand combat, she grabbed Ser Gilmore's shoulders and reversed their positions, slamming him against the wall. Slowly, deliberately, she ran her tongue over the edges of his mouth, never quite closing in for a kiss despite the way the knight strained toward her. She lifted a knee and caressed his groin with it, causing him to whimper as though in pain. "You know why I can't give myself to you. Once my plans are set into motion, though...once the Couslands' ascension as the pre-eminent family in all of Ferelden is secure, then we can have each other. I will be Queen and you will be my most loyal Captain of the Queen's Guard, zealously watching my person morning and night, the best of knights whose dedicated service I simply could not do without."

Taking his hand from her breast, she lifted her skirt and pressed it between her thighs, humping it for a moment. Her eyes closed in pleasure as she rolled her hips, masturbating with his fingers.

"There," she hummed in pleasure, withdrawing his hand. "Now you carry my scent. My mabari will not hesitate to obey someone who smells of me so strongly. I must go and bid my brother farewell, ere he leaves for Ostagar this afternoon. Thank you, Ser Gilmore, for attending to the situation with my mabari."

"I will!" the besotted knight breathed. He pressed a fervent kiss to her hand and left at a jog in the direction of the kitchens. When Elissa turned to cock an inquisitive eyebrow at Duncan--as though she'd known he was there all along--she was entirely composed.

"Do you enjoy watching, Warden-Commander?" she asked. "I would have thought you a man of action, instead."

"I enjoy watching when the show is worth seeing," Duncan answered casually. "Well played, my lady. That poor lad has no idea what hit him."

"Are you implying I'm leading him on? For shame, ser!" she scolded, turning her back and walking away from him as though in no doubt he would follow. "Clearly you have no knowledge of how I operate."

"Are you telling me you intend to keep the knight on as your paramour once you gain the throne?" For some reason, it never occurred to Duncan to question whether or not she'd attain her goal. He suspected that Elissa Cousland having her way was as inevitable as the tides, or gravity.

"When I give my word, ser, it is golden. In due time, he shall have me if he so desires. Of course, I cannot be held accountable for the vagaries of fate. If, in the meantime, he should find his destiny lies elsewhere--for example, in becoming a Grey Warden--well, I shall of course be heartbroken to see him go, but thrilled for his sake that he has found a greater purpose, even if it's greater than his love for me."

"I see," Duncan nodded. "Remind me to make a point of extracting a promise from you some time in the near future. I should dearly love to collect myself, some day."

"If not for the fact that this Blight has suddenly become an issue, I'd be in Denerim right now, seducing the King," Elissa gave him that same assessing look she'd bestowed the first time he saw her, and was apparently satisfied with what she saw. For a moment, she let the mask of cool control slip, and confessed, "Were I not after much larger game, I'd have you in my chambers this instant," she said bluntly. "I find virginity begins to chafe. I would much rather be done with it and sample all the joys sex has to offer, instead of these childish teasing games. Oh, some of them are pleasant enough, I suppose, but I'm eager to experience a real man between my thighs. Alas," she gave a philosophical shrug, "I dare not even invite you to to play the childish games I am permitted, for you are such a man that I suspect it would be all too easy to forget myself with you and lose sight of my objectives."

"I...thank you for the compliment, my lady," Duncan said, both intrigued and aroused. Even having spent the better part of the previous evening buried balls-deep in Fergus' eager ass while his lovely Antivan wife tongued Duncan's balls and asshole, he was all too tempted to attempt to persuade the girl to take the risk anyway. He wanted nothing more than to feel that talented throat quivering around his cock.

But he knew the gesture would be futile: the girl was too set on her goals, and he dare not intrude upon Bryce Cousland's good will if he wanted his invitation to Highever Castle to remain open.

Elissa studied him thoughtfully for a moment. "I understand that Cailan is a great admirer of the Grey Wardens," she said at last. "I imagine, then, there will be no shortage of opportunities to invite you to the palace. And this promise I will make you, Warden-Commander," she gave him a look that made his armor suddenly feel far too hot and confining, a look guaranteed to make any sane man wish to begin removing his clothing, "I will invite you."

She let her sizzling eyes linger on him for a moment, then offered a bright smile. "If you'll excuse me," she licked her lips slowly, with relish, "Now that I know the crisis in the kitchens is in capable hands, I must go find my brother and bid him a proper farewell before he leads our troops to Ostagar."


*****


Twelve hours later, there was no sizzle in Elissa Cousland's eyes. They were cold and hard and bleak as she beheld her dying father.

"I swear to you, father, by Andraste's pyre, the very last thing Rendon Howe will feel in this life will be the Cousland family sword raping him, just as his swine did to Oriana."

"Duncan!" Bryce gasped, a fleck of blood appearing on his lips. "You must take my wife and daughter with you, away from here. You must help them reach the King."

"I will, my friend, but I fear I must ask something in return...."

He was keenly aware of Elissa's merciless eyes upon him as he laid out his bargain. He would recruit her into the Grey Wardens in exchange for escorting her to safety. Clearly she did not like what he had to say about the duty of a Warden overriding all other considerations, even vengeance.

"You must get to Ostagar," Bryce insisted over her protests. "The King is there. Whatever you have to do, you must get to the King. Our best hope for revenge now is not only to bring Howe to justice, but to ascend even higher in spite of his schemes. Do your duty as a Warden as you must, but you are a quick thinker, Elissa. You can adapt our plans as you see necessary to win the King."

Finally, she nodded, and Duncan saw a minute fracture appear in her facade for the briefest instant, a hint of the inconsolable grief savaging her. Then she turned those desolate eyes to Duncan. "My virginity is now the only coin I have, and it's far too precious to squander lightly," she said at last. "Give me your word of honor, here before my father, your friend, that I will arrive at Ostagar with my maidenhead intact. And that so long as I do my duty to the Wardens, you will allow me the liberty I need to pursue my game with Cailan."

"It can only benefit the Grey Wardens to have more intimate ties to the throne, particularly if those ties override those of some of his councilors who are not in favor of the Wardens. You have my word."

"I will stay here," Eleanor Cousland announced, withdrawing a small blade from the knot of braids at the back of her head, then carefully tucking it back in. "If Howe's men took the time to sport with Oriana, they may well wish to sport with me as well, and Maker willing, I may prove more dangerous game than they anticipate. 'Twill buy you more time to make your escape."

Grimly, Elissa nodded. She moved toward her mother and bestowed a long, loving kiss on Eleanor's lips as tears flowed freely down both women's cheeks. Then she bent and did the same to her father, and when she pulled back, her lips were red with her father's blood. She made no move to wipe it off.

The blood was still on her lips, dark brown and flaking, as the sun broke over the horizon and, in exhaustion, she and Duncan made camp in a wooded copse. As Duncan set aside his weapons and began to settle on the ground to sleep, suddenly she was there, her determined hands on his shoulders, pushing him down onto his back, her smallclothes still dangling from her fingers where she hadn't even bothered to drop them to the ground.

Without words, she straddled him and ground her cleft down upon his face. Duncan grabbed her hips and began to lick, his tongue delving cautiously into her cunt, before returning to her clit. Her body began to make jerking movements and soon a sound reached his ears.

It was not passion.

Heaving with sobs, she rode him to a bitter, anguished climax. Afterward she sank onto the ground beside him, her tears making the blood on her lips dissolve into trails down her chin, and cried herself to sleep.

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