Reverse-Cowgirl Diplomacy

"This, in your lexicon, is what is known as an option?" Elissa asked, her voice soft with shock, staring at the blood mage in disbelief.

Jowan sighed. "It's the most I can offer--"

"Oh, Maker's cock!" she snapped, erupting suddenly from her numb astonishment. "Clearly the Chantry has been right about blood mages all along, if this is how cheaply you hold life!"

"But--"

"No! This is not a discussion. I am not killing a child, and I am not sanctioning the commission of human sacrifice. Or elf or dwarf or mabari sacrifice, for that matter. Honestly! Have we all gone bloody insane?"

Bann Teagan looked as green as Elissa felt. "I'm not happy with either option, but nonetheless, this demon clearly must be dealt with before it wreaks more havoc."

"Then I will cross the lake and seek help at the Circle of Magi!"

"And how many people will die before we get back?" Alistair challenged.

"There was no attack on the village last night, and we have dealt with all the menaces in the castle we have encountered thus far. The knights and militia should be able to keep matters in hand until we return."

"And if they can't?" he persisted. "What if the demon summons some new menace while we're gone? We could return to find the entire village slaughtered."

"Then you do it!" She rounded on him in fury. "You slit that woman's throat. You drive a dagger into that boy's heart. You decide who will die, and you execute them accordingly. Well, what are you waiting for? It's not nearly so easy to be pragmatic when the blood is going to be on your own hands, is it?"

Alistair fell silent, and finally said, "No, you're right. I'm sorry. That's...not an option."

"I need--" Elissa put a shaking hand to her head, afraid that she might suddenly be ill before them all. She could feel all their eyes upon her, insisting that she render her decision, and suddenly she felt unequal to the burden they had laid upon her. "I need time to think. Please. Just--give me a moment, all of you."

She turned her back and walked away from them, out the heavy portal leading to the front courtyard of the castle, into the fresh air. Her nausea began to subside once she was free of the heavy reek of death and decay that pervaded the castle. Her head began to clear. Her mabari nudged her hand, and Elissa stroked his ears absentmindedly.

Killing Isolde was not an option. Killing Connor was not an option. Taking the time to travel to the Circle of Magi was, at best, an extremely poor option. Where did that leave her?

"I believe I may have another option," a voice said at her shoulder, "if you're willing to keep an open mind."

Elissa turned slowly to face the witch, who stood entirely too close. It was the first time Morrigan had come any nearer than required for polite conversation, but there she stood, her body practically brushing Elissa's.

Elissa's brow furrowed in confusion. Up until this very moment, she would have sworn Morrigan had no interest in women whatsoever. However, Morrigan had described a certain willingness to use her sexual appeal to get her way; it was perhaps the only way in which she and Elissa thought alike. Which meant her sudden intrusion into Elissa's physical space could portend only one thing: Morrigan wanted something.

"I'm listening."

"Lyrium and blood are not the only substances capable of producing powerful magic. Sex, and specifically the male and female fluids which result from it, generate an enormous amount of power."

Elissa sagged in relief. Sex. Yes. Sex she could do. "Enough to get you or Jowan into the Fade to confront the demon?"

"No."

"Oh," she sighed, defeated, closing her eyes again.

"However, with a modest amount of bloodletting on top of the sexual energy, we should have power to spare."

"Very well," Elissa agreed eagerly. "Just tell me what is required."

"Jowan cannot be your partner," Morrigan said bluntly. "He must conduct the ritual, just as he would were we to use a human sacrifice. Though women are not my preference, I must be a part of the sexual activity, as I will be the one being propelled into the Fade once the requisite amount of power has been gathered. Beyond that, we also need a male partner, someone who will discharge a generous amount of seed, who is capable of sustaining orgasmic energy for a considerable length of time. To that end, he should not be anyone who has experienced release recently."

"Well, let's see...that rules out, well, most of the men in the village."

Morrigan smirked. "Yes, I had heard something to that effect."

"Even those who weren't in the tavern last night no doubt celebrated in their own way. In a similar vein, Bann Teagan is not an option. Nor, for that matter, I suppose, is Alistair. Um...Sten?"

"No," Morrigan shook her head. "While bloodletting would most certainly be guaranteed--assuming we could gain his cooperation--if the roar I heard when I was prowling the woods in animal form last night is any indication, he also does not meet the final requirement."

"Oh, indeed?" Elissa asked, her eyebrows arching. At Morrigan's complacent nod, Elissa pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Well then, I suppose we could try the knights...."

"If I may make a suggestion...?" Morrigan ventured, and her eyes dropped to the mabari at Elissa's feet.


*****


I will not be ashamed, Elissa repeated to herself, remembering her words to Alistair all too clearly. And yet, her face was crimson as she ordered her companions and the knights and nobility from the main hall of Redcliffe castle.

"Everyone except Morrigan and Jowan out," she snapped, praying her stony expression would discourage any inquiries.

Alistair braved it nonetheless. "You're not going to let them use you as the sacrifice!" Beside him, she saw Bann Teagan immediately tense up, ready to argue.

"No, I will not," Elissa answered. "There is another way, but our mages require quiet and concentration."

"And what if you run into trouble?" Bann Teagan asked. "What if the mage who goes into the Fade returns as an abomination as well? You should have at least one armed person standing by, just in case."

He was right. Elissa knew he was right. And yet she quailed at the idea of doing this before any more of an audience than strictly necessary.

But someone must remain. Who?

Surely not Alistair. His templar skills were certainly the most useful weapons she could hope for in such a scenario, but he would absolutely die of shock and disgust. Not Leliana, either. If something went amiss, their appointed guardian would need to be someone skilled in close-quarters combat. Sten? No, his attitudes about mages and magic could prove disruptive. And she didn't know the knights well enough to trust their discretion. The events in the tavern last night were one thing; goodwill and jubilation for having survived the siege had worked to erase any prudish disapproval the townsfolk might have otherwise felt. She'd actually been rather amazed this morning to awaken and discover that they were all still willing to look to her for authority and leadership, as though a universal conspiracy never to speak of the previous evening had been agreed upon by the townsfolk.

But this was something else entirely. Among the many lessons her mother had imparted to her, one of the most crucial was in recognizing that just as there was a time for shamelessness, there was also a time for discretion, lest a loss of respect undo the ends she was trying to achieve. It was why she had concealed the extent of her erotic knowledge from Cailan. Had he made her his queen, she would also have had to carry on discreetly, for while a philandering queen was not a new concept, the people would only stand for it as long as they could somehow manage to politely pretend it was not happening.

In the end, there was only one person whose maturity and discretion she could trust. It hurt to think he might be disgusted or lose respect for her, but she could at least trust he would recognize the necessity of her actions.

"Very well, Teagan. You may remain. Everyone else must leave. Now."

As they filed unhappily from the room and sealed the massive doors behind them, Elissa crouched beside her mabari, scratching his ears and letting him snuffle her face, sweetly licking her flaming cheeks.

"I need your help now more than ever, my friend. Do you understand what I need you to do?"

The dog gave a bark of assent, waggling his tail. Elissa looked up and met Teagan's eyes.

"You said you wouldn't question my methods," she sighed. "I am afraid I must test that theory here today. Believe me when I say that this is the best of all our options for dealing with the demon without avoidable loss of life. It is my...sincerest wish that when all is said and done, you will still be able to look me in the eyes."

Turning from him, Elissa began to strip, only to find Morrigan doing the same, apparently having explained the requirements of the ritual to Jowan. The blood mage looked nervous, fingering a small golden dagger. Elissa shuddered as she realized the purpose to which the dagger would soon be put.

Her stride slow and even, Morrigan approached Elissa. "Explain to me again why you can't be the one to do this, in animal form?"

"Because I will be going into the Fade," Morrigan replied calmly. "If I am wasting magic maintaining my animal form here on the mortal plane, I may not have enough to accomplish what I need to do once I am there. Furthermore, in no possible form do I have the slightest interest in allowing myself to be mounted by that mangy cur of yours. Unless you can find a willing surrogate, I'm afraid it must be you."

Drawing a deep, reluctant breath, Elissa nodded and gave the mabari's ears another rubbing. He gave an affectionate whine in response, licking her hand.

"I shall begin by kissing you," Morrigan announced tartly. "Do not mistake it for affection; kissing generates a great deal of sexual energy, and that is all."

And then Morrigan's mouth was upon hers, the witch's tongue parting her lips. Somehow, even her mouth seemed cold, distant. And yet she was a skilled kisser, her lips soft and supple, and Elissa found herself responding, opening to Morrigan's exploring tongue, arching into the hands that rose to cover her breasts.

Over Morrigan's shoulder, she saw Teagan, suddenly looking as though the room were far too warm. She closed her eyes, blocking him out. She must forget he was there, or else she'd never be able to do what needed to be done. She wrapped her arms around Morrigan, letting her kiss deepen, letting it settle into the very core of her body, warming her, making her fluid, pliant. Morrigan's fingers delicately pinched Elissa's nipples, creating just enough sensation to border on pain, and then Elissa gasped into her mouth as she felt the quick, hot stroke of Jowan's dagger on her shoulder. She shuddered and tensed at the sudden pain as Jowan began chanting, but even so, wetness made her thighs slide slickly against on another.

She could feel the trickle of blood running down her arm as she brought her hands around to cup Morrigan's breasts, drank in the witch's own shuddering sigh as Elissa's fingernails scraped softly across her nipples. She felt something shift within Morrigan as arousal began to take hold, overriding her grim sense of purpose. Morrigan's body suddenly softened, melting into her own. Her arms embraced Elissa, fingers skimming over the satiny skin of Elissa's back. Their soft breasts pressed together, pliable flesh rubbing against pliable flesh, as Elissa took hold of Morrigan's hips and pulled her in closer, slipping her thigh between Morrigan's legs.

Her head fell back, her hair stroking across her skin and Morrigan's arms as Morrigan began to trail a stream of soft, sucking kisses along Elissa's neck. And then the dagger stuck again, making another small slice on Elissa's other shoulder. This stroke was deeper, and a steady stream of warm blood began dripping down her arm and onto the floor.

Elissa cried out, but whether from the pain of being cut or the sudden sensation of Morrigan's cool mouth on her breast, she could not say. Morrigan, for all her professed disinterest in women, made a satisfied sound as she drew Elissa's nipple into her mouth, sucking on it skillfully. Elissa stroked Morrigan's shoulders and arched into the tug of her mouth with a needy moan, each pull of Morrigan's lips creating a pulse of need between Elissa's thighs. And then Morrigan's hand was at her hip, sliding around, dipping into her sex, stroking her nub. Pleasure mounted, coiling ever more tightly in her belly, but suddenly Morrigan's fingers were gone, leaving Elissa trembling on the cusp of release. She felt Morrigan reach out her hand, away from their entwined bodies, and she heard a lapping sound.

The mabari was licking Elissa's juices from Morrigan's fingers.

"Ah!" Elissa screamed softly, tears starting in her eyes, as the kiss of the dagger struck her again, this time on the upper curve of the breast Morrigan's mouth had abandoned. Blood flowed down her erect nipple. Morrigan took her other nipple into her mouth while simultaneously luring the dog closer, encouraging him to push his head between Elissa's body and her own. His soft tongue began to lap at Elissa's thighs, seeking more of the fluids he had tasted on Morrigan's hand.

With a sob of humiliated pleasure, Elissa let her thighs relax, let her feet shift apart, let him wedge his muzzle between her thighs and lap at her folds.

Morrigan knelt, and her long, slender fingers slid up into Elissa, causing Elissa to sway on her feet, dizzy with confusion and arousal. Another slice of the dagger, on her opposite breast. Another trickle of blood down her belly. Another stoke of her mabari's tongue, this time brushing over her clit. Another press of Morrigan's fingers within her body and suddenly she was coming, her body tensing and shivering helplessly.

Morrigan roughly scraped the nails of her free hand down the inside of Elissa's thigh as the mabari lapped harder. Another orgasm followed on the heels of the first and suddenly Elissa's legs would not support her. Morrigan helped guide her to the floor, spread her out, urged the dog to abandon his caution and lick her exposed cunt vigorously. She leaned over Elissa again and kissed her, deeply, her hands returning again to Elissa's nipples, which were now slick with small rivulets of her own blood. She was unaware of Jowan kneeling beside her, still chanting, until the dagger sliced across her upper arm, biting deep. More blood flowed, and another orgasm rocked her body.

"Get onto your hands and knees," she dimly heard Morrigan's voice instruct. As she complied, Morrigan rose to her feet, her slick, musky sex before Elissa's face. She took Elissa's head in her hands and pressed her hips forward, giving a low moan as Elissa's tongue immediately found her clit and began to flick at it. Morrigan's hips began to shift and pump, seeking more of that pressure, and Elissa gave it, sipping her slippery fluids, grinding the flat of her tongue against Morrigan's nub. She hardly noticed the next bite of the dagger on her other arm, nor again almost immediately afterward on one buttock and then the other.

But then the felt the paws and claws of her mabari on her backside as he crawled over her, felt something hot and hard prodding against her cunt, smaller than a human, but still substantial. The ministrations of her mouth on Morrigan's clit faltered as she hung her head and shuddered, feeling a wretched arousal that wanted this even as her mind railed against it and cowered in humiliation at the spectacle she must surely present. Morrigan's hands grabbed her face roughly. "Do not interrupt the buildup of the power," she commanded, and forcefully shoved Elissa's face back into her cunt.

Sobbing, Elissa licked and sucked on Morrigan's clit, bringing the witch to a hard, bucking orgasm. And then she screamed with her own climax as, at the same moment, the mabari's cock nudged its way into her cunt and Jowan's dagger drew a long, shallow line down the back of her shoulder.

The dog gave only a few very short, brief pumps and then suddenly, Elissa felt him swelling...swelling, growing thick and bulbous at the base of his cock, stretching the narrowest part of her cunt her beyond what even a human cock would do as the mabari grew very still. Confused, Elissa tried to pull away, but found herself suddenly immobile.

"A paralysis spell," Morrigan said. "Only a very minor one; I really cannot afford to waste any mana here. You have never mated with a canine in any form, so perhaps you are not aware. Right now, the mabari is swollen and locked within you, and unless you remain still and wait, he will not discharge and all this will have been for naught. It could be some minutes, perhaps as many as twenty or more. It is imperative that you remain still and allow him to reach completion, and that as he does so, we continue to generate more sexual energy. When the dog reaches his climax, when his fluids are released, there will be an explosion of power and I will be propelled into the Fade. Until then, you will continue to pleasure me to keep the energy flowing. Now I will release you. Do as I say!"

Tears flowed down her face as Elissa obeyed, wriggling her tongue into Morrigan's slick cunt as the witch ground her hips into Elissa's face. All the while, she felt that odd pressure of the dog's bulbous cock filling her, giving her a pleasure she did not want. And yet...it was needful. As her lips and tongue manipulated Morrigan's clit, her own fingers found the nub of her pleasure and she began masturbating, working herself into a hard, brutal climax as Morrigan grabbed her hair and humped her face.

Each time the flow of her blood began to taper off, Jowan sliced her again, and she was aware that her body was now cold and sticky with drying blood, the carpet beneath her stained. An eternity dragged by as the dog's inflated cock remained lodged within her, an eternity in which she forced herself to embrace her sense of humiliation, dragged reluctant ecstasy from it.

I will not be shamed! her pride insisted, even as the thought of Bann Teagan's eyes upon her drew another wretched, sobbing orgasm from her.

And suddenly, it felt as though there was too much air in the room. Her ears popped, her skin felt tight and constricted, the hair of her body prickled and stood on end. She felt a hot rush of fluid deep within her cunt, and as her dog began to shrink within her, Morrigan stiffened, her body elevating off the floor in a rigid arch. She shimmered and her body became translucent, obscure and hazy.

The mabari withdrew from Elissa's cunt, and she quickly sat upon the floor and curled into a ball, unwilling to display her body or the dog's seed seeping from her slit. Anxiously, he whined at her and nudged his muzzle against her face, and with a sob, Elissa scratched his ears. "Thank you, my friend," she whispered. "Good dog."

She refused to meet Teagan's eyes as she drew her clothing and armor over her bloody skin. She opened the doors to allow the others within, and then stood in the corner, apart from the others, refusing to answer all questions about her bloody condition or Morrigan's nude state as she awaited the witch's return.

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