The most bizarre thing about their “house arrest” of sorts, was that the three of them still got up each day to tend to the ranch. As Cassidy had suspected, the queen’s guards didn’t care to lift a finger to help them, standing a few dozen yards back from them as they went about the day’s work, mounting up their own horses to occasionally follow Dirk, Cora, and Cassidy into the fields. The guards themselves seemed to be in a constant rotation, and it was a different group of women who were watching them every day, with several keeping tabs on them as they worked, and another small group camped by the entrance to the road.

Days passed, and in a bizarre way it was almost a reprieve from everything, in this captivity was a certain release from troubles that had followed Dirk since he’d arrived. One evening, as the sun went down and he watched Cassidy and Cora herding the aurochs into their pens, he wiped sweat from his brow and looked over his land, genuinely pleased with himself and his hands. It was fouled by the glinting of the rich red jungle sunset on the silver armor of Griselda’s soldiers, and with a scowl Dirk promised himself he'd have this again one day without them.

…

“Okay where are you Cynthia?” Dirk asked with a sigh as he looked around the labyrinth of oversized couches, beds, and countertops. All of them were amazon sized, as high as his neck and made of a coarse fabric. “Come out, there’s no way this isn’t a dream.”

“Correct,” Cynthia said, causing him to whirl around and see the smiling priestess sitting on one of the overlarge pieces of furniture. She leapt off it, standing over him and ruffling his hair with her hand as she looked around, “hmm… big furniture, this is obviously a metaphor for how uncomfortable and out of place you sometimes feel in the Queendom…”

“I have a man-sized chair at my house to comfort me,” he replied, fighting the urge to lean into her hand as she gently scratched his scalp, “has anything changed? Can your faith help me at all?”

“Faith can help anyone,” Cynthia replied, “but…” she bit her lip, “Griselda knows I won’t do what she wants, and she’s shut me out as best she can. She’s got a cousin who is a priestess at a temple a few days from here, and I’m guessing that’s who she’ll have officiate this abomination.”

“Does Griselda have a liege we can appeal to?” Dirk asked, “surely someone has authority over her?”

“I’ve already written the Queen herself,” Cynthia replied, “but…” she sighed, “I’ve only been a priestess a few years, the amount of weight my words would have against Griselda’s… She has friends at court, I don’t.” She shook her head, “I’ve mostly concerned myself with spiritual matters until this… it seems I made a mistake.”

“If you could get the Queen’s attention, would she stop it?” Dirk asked.

“Oh, she’d all but have to!” Cynthia nodded, “even if she didn’t believe you about the murders, simply appearing before her and saying you didn’t wish to marry Griselda would put the entire matter on hold and cause quite the scandal.”

“The Queen it is then,” Dirk muttered, “how far away is the capital?”

“At least a week of travel,” Cynthia said, “but Griselda’s domains end about two days south from here, beyond that she’s not going to be able to pursue you.”

“Cora will need to come with me,” Dirk muttered, “Cassidy too maybe…”

“Cassidy will likely go into hiding more… locally,” Cynthia giggled. “Thomas is up in arms over the whole thing, he’s already making plans to get you off that ranch, and I imagine Cassidy would rather stay somewhere with him.”

“Tom just wants my grazing land,” Dirk muttered, “but any port in a storm I suppose.”

“That’s the spirit, now let’s try something new,” Cynthia muttered, gripping the top of his skull as she focused.

“What are you doing?” Dirk asked, he felt… funny, warm, like he’d just dipped into a sauna on a cold day.

“I’m trying to find Cora,” she explained, “dreamwalking is a very personal thing, you can only do it with people you are close to… I’ve been told that if the dreamer is sufficiently close to someone the dreamwalker can also use their relationships to… Yes! I think I’ve found her!”

The world began to fade as he and Cynthia dissipated into the realm of dreams.

…

Cora shouted a battle cry as she charged at the dragon, hefting her massive shield to block the massive stream of flame that erupted from the beast’s maw as it reared up over her. The dragon snarled hatefully as Cora struggled to hold the shield in place, until finally it was nearly molten and cracking as the dragon’s fire faded, exhausted.

She grinned at the dragon’s fear as she threw the ruined shield away, drawing her sword, “time to cool off,” she said, plunging the blade into the soft unprotected underbelly.

The dragon roared a final time, then keeled over, dead. Cora casually pushed her perfect bangs out of her eyes as the light caught her shimmering armor. With a confident strut she walked towards where Dirk was chained to the wall, hacking through the rusted iron with a single swipe of her blade and letting him free. The sliced chain clanged slightly against the collar Dirk wore, the only item of clothing aside from a brightly colored codpiece the wicked dragon had forced him into, exposing his chiseled chest and abs, slick with sweat from the heat of the beast’s fire.

“That was amazing!” he said with a grin, leaping up into her arms.

“All in a days work for the greatest Amazon warrior,” Cora said with a grin, “now give me some sugar boy!” she leaned in to kiss him, and he eagerly returned it as she held him close, lifting his feet off the ground as they embraced.

“Wow,” Dirk said, clapping slowly from his seat on a nearby rock, “that was quite the show.”

The “Dirk” in Cora’s arms vanished, and she blinked, looking to him and suddenly feeling more… lucid. Her face went red and her shimmering armor and fine sword disappeared, replaced by a plain shirt and trousers like she’d wear every day.

“Y-You’re the real Dirk, aren’t you,” Cora said, blinking away confusion, “and this… this isn’t the ranch-“

“It’s a dream!” Cynthia said, appearing next to Cora, although Dirk couldn’t help but notice the “diminutive” Amazon priestess was now Cora’s own height.

Cora noticed too, “hey, Cynthy come on you’re not this tall!”

“It’s a dream Cora,” Cynthia said dismissively, “you can look like anything you want.”

“And by the way, what in the name of the gods was I wearing back there?” Dirk asked, fighting laughter.

“H-Hey that was a private fantasy!” Cora stammered, while Dirk smugly looked up at her, arms crossed.

“Dirk don’t mock her,” Cynthia said, “I’ve seen what Cora looks like in your dreams after all.”

Cora’s eyes went wide, and her embarrassment was replaced by a smug grin, “really? Spill Cynthy!”

Cynthia just snapped her fingers, and Cora was suddenly growing taller, looming closer to eleven feet tall than her usual nine, and her clothes had become a black leather corset. A pair of shining thigh high boots accented the outfit. Cora looked down, eyes wide, a mix of surprise and glee on her face as she admired Dirk’s fantasy idea of her.

“What kind of outfit is this?” she asked, starting slightly as a collar and leash appeared in her hand.

“Tell her Dirk,” Cynthia laughed.

Dirk sighed, “there are… institutions, like the Silver Tongue in the Empire, and uh… I’ve seen women outside them that wore something like that.”

“And I’m sure you’ve never been in one, right?” Cora taunted, putting a hand on her ample hip, “I mean a man who has taunted me for months about The Silver Tongue would probably never go into… Goddess what would you even call such a place, the Shiny Clam?”

“I’ve just passed by them and heard rumors, I swear,” Dirk said, chuckling as he realized how many times Cora had told him something similar.

“I’m going to leave you two to it,” Cynthia laughed, swaying her hips as she walked away, “Dirk, I’ll keep you updated on things, be ready to move at any time.” With that she vanished, leaving Dirk standing nervously before a towering Cora, who was grinning down at him and fingering the leash and collar in a way that aroused and terrified him at the same time.

“Now Cora, let’s be careful with that-“ he started, but like lightning Cora was on him, and he heard a *click* as the steel collar snapped closed around his neck. He grunted as the massive amazon jerked the leash, causing him to stumble towards her.

“Good boy,” she growled, “kneel, kiss those boots!”

Dirk fell to his knees, the collar tight against his neck as he placed his lips on Cora’s black leather footwear, the bitter taste lingering on his tongue as she giggled overhead. He felt cold suddenly, and he realized she’d somehow caused is own clothing to morph into the skimpy undergarments he’d worn in her fantasy a few moments ago.

“Now work your way up,” she ordered, pulling on the chain and slowly forcing his mouth up her leg. He kissed all the way, crossing from her tall boots and onto the soft tanned skin of her thigh. Another tug of his leash and he was on his feet again as the corset vanished, standing before the Amazon’s waiting lips, all but dripping in anticipation of his tongue.

Another tug of the chain and his face was buried in her cunt, the wet juices running over his face as he lapped at her eagerly. Overhead she moaned, enjoying how the extra height of his dream version of her let him pleasure her while they both stood up.

Both of their clothes vanished, and he was naked as she lifted him bodily, slamming him onto a bed that seemed to spring into being out of the ground. He cried out in surprise as he hit it, and Cora leapt on him, not caring for his comfort as she roughly pinned him down and thrust her hips down on him with enough force to leave a bruise.

“CORA!” he gasped, feeling the mix of pleasure and… not pain exactly, you didn’t feel real pain in dreams, but it was like pain’s distant cousin, a weird mix of pressure and discomfort that didn’t carry any sharpness to it.

“That’s it, scream my name!” she laughed, riding him roughly and pulling his face into her immense chest.

If he was able to shout it again, she didn’t hear it, Dirk muffled by her chest and quickly losing control of his higher thoughts as his eyes rolled back in his head. She was unstoppable, a storm roiling his seas while he struggled to breathe.

“Come on, scream it one more time,” she growled, “you’re mine Dirk, tell me who you belong to!”

…

“Cora!” Dirk shouted, springing up in bed and moaning as he felt his orgasm descend on him from nowhere like a summer rain.

“Mmmm…” Cora moaned, a smug grin on her face as her body writhed too, almost like she was stretching as her own eyes slowly opened, “so you really were in my dreams, neat,” she murmured, flopping back on her pillow with a smirk.

“Yeah,” he said, leaning back and feeling her arms curl around him, drawing him to her. “So… a hammock style set of underwear huh?”

“A black corset and leather boots huh?” Cora retorted, giggling and ruffling his hair

…

Dirk scowled as he saw two of Griselda’s guards escorting a wagon up to their farmhouse near the end of the day’s labor. They hadn’t been allowed to leave so far, and nobody had come for them until now. His annoyance turned to surprise as he saw Argus at the reigns of the wagon, minding his oxen as one of the soldiers approached him.

“You there,” she called to Dirk, “Lady Griselda has sent this dwarf to examine this land for… future developments.”

“Yes, the gold, everyone knows you fool,” Dirk muttered, rolling his eyes at the amazon soldier’s look.

“If you were not the lady’s betrothed, I’d discipline you for lack of respect,” the guard snarled, “keep up that attitude and I might anyway… see that the dwarf is given food and whatever else he needs.”

Dirk glanced at Argus, then shot angry glares at the soldiers as they smirked at him, walking back to their small camp at the entrance to the road.

“Ai thought those bitches would ne’er leave,” Argus muttered, climbing down from his wagon.

“So Griselda sent you out here to survey the land?” Dirk asked, “where does that leave us?”

“She hired me because there are nah many dwarves nor men who know mining about,” he muttered, “and she didn’t know you’d seen me I reckon…” he spat angrily, “I’m with you, if’n yah worry about it, the priestess explained the situation and your plight fills me with rage!” he clenched his fists and muttered curses in dwarvish under his breath, “this Griselda, she digs too greedily and too deep! We’ll have ye out of here by the underfather, or you ken write mah name in your grudge ledger.”

Dirk blinked, “Well then,” he said, smiling slowly, “welcome to the Northstar ranch…”

“It seems a nice place,” Argus said, nodding and looking around, “peaceful… I dinnae suppose you’ve a basement in tha’ house of yours?”

“We’ve got a cellar yes,” Dirk replied, “not much down there but preserved vegetables though.”

“Haul a mattress down there and I’ll move mah things in,” Argus nodded, “we need to talk, inside… away from prying ears.”

“Dirk,” Cassidy called, riding up to him, “what’s going on? I saw the soldiers come up and…” She spotted Argus and grinned, “well who’s this fellow? I like the beard.”

“Hands. Off.” Argus said firmly, pointing a gloved finger.

“We’re not supposed to touch it,” Cora explained, riding up to her, “Hi Argus, nice to see you again!”

“Ach, the nice one, and a fine hello to you too lass!” he said, smiling.

“The nice one?” Cassidy asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I guess a lot of women in town were a little… handsy,” Cora explained.

Cassidy sighed, “yeah that sounds like Rain’s End… let’s get this fellow settled in.”

…

Once Argus had moved his things in, the four of them were gathered around Dirk’s living room while the dwarf struggled his way into Dirk’s own easy chair. He glanced out the window, noticing the bored guard was a hundred or so yards away, unlikely to over hear them. Dirk looked for a place to sit, and then grunted in surprise as Cora’s hands snaked under his arms, lifting him up and setting him on her lap as she relaxed in the amazon sized rocking chair.

“Your priestess friend has been busy on your behalf,” the dwarf muttered, reaching down to a drinking flask at his hip. He took a quick sip, sighing contentedly, and continued, “we think we’ve got a way out for yeh, if yah want it.”

“I don’t see that we have much choice,” Dirk said with a sigh, leaning back and letting Cora’s massive breasts overhang his head slightly.

“So tonight you’re going to get raided by bandits again,” Argus explained, “they’re from-“

“Tom and friends,” Dirk sighed, “and what is that going to cost me?”

“Between you an him that is,” Argus shrugged, “your part is to tie that fool dwarf Argus up and then steal fireworks from his wagon, they’re in the back, the fuses are already set. You’re an Imperial, so I assume you know their workings?”

“Well enough,” Dirk replied.

“’Tween the explosions and yer friend raising hell down by the road, it should be easy enough for you two to slip down to the other cabin,” Argus explained.

“Cassidy’s,” Cora nodded, “but that’s pretty far from the road-“

“There’s a hidden trail behind it,” Cassidy said sheepishly, “it goes through the jungle and onto the main road about a half mile down.”

“What!?” Dirk exclaimed, “you could have told me-“

“Only Tom and I know about it,” Cassidy said defensively, “we cleared it together so we could uh… meet discretely.”

“Oh, a romance trail?” Cora giggled, causing Cassidy’s face to go red.

“The fancy fellow in black just said there was a trail,” Argus said, holding his hand up, “I’ll nah judge what it’s for.”

“Then we beeline straight south to where the Queen is,” Dirk realized.

“An’ from there I imagine things’ll start to work more in yer favor,” Argus agreed with a smile, “now, can a dwarf smoke in ‘ere or is this the kind o’ place where I should take it outside?”

…

“H-Help!” the guard by their house rasped as Cora tightened the sleeper hold. A moment later she went limp, and Cora dropped the armored woman to the ground with a clatter.

“Griselda would have had me whipped if I was so sloppy on guard duty,” she muttered, waving for Cassidy and Dirk to follow her outside into the cool night air. She quickly checked the woman’s pulse, she’d wake up with a brutal headache, but hopefully no worse for the wear.

Dirk spared a glance back at the dwarf, who was tied up and laying across the floor atop some blankets, “are you going to be alright?” he asked hesitantly.

“Lad I’m just goin’ to go back tah sleep, the knots are convincing enough,” he laughed, “go on, I want tah see the fireworks show before I nod off.”

Dirk nodded as he stalked up to the wagon, “Cassidy, go back inside and get a lit candle, but stay back until I tell you.” From down the hill he smirked as he heard shouting and the clangs of steel as Tom’s hired hands began met the guards at the road. They wouldn’t last long without help of course, Griselda’s soldiers were well armed and armored, but they were about to have quite the distraction in their favor.

“Stick them into the ground,” Dirk hissed, preparing the flint as Cora planted the rockets facing upwards. He grinned as he saw the dwarf had prepared nice long fuses, ample time for them to get away. Cassidy handed him the candle, and he scurried down the line of rockets, lighting each one before tossing it away and waving eagerly to the amazons, “come on!”

They ran for their horses, climbing into the saddles and taking off at a full gallop down the range towards Cassidy’s cabin, “keep a grip on your reins!” Dirk shouted as the first rocket hissed into the air. The large blue skyflower burst overhead a second later, and he heard the whinnying panic from Cora and Cassidy’s massive horses as the amazons struggled to keep them under control. His own mount, well used to explosions, carried on without missing a beat.

They reached Cassidy’s cabin, and a familiar figure was waiting next to it, a small lamp in hand as he watched the firworks bursting one after another overhead.

“Dirk,” Tom said, tipping his hat with a grin, looking positively sinister in the low light as he climbed into his own saddle.

“I’m guessing I’m paying dearly for your assistance?” Dirk muttered as Tom waved them back to the brush behind the cabin.

“Hey stranger,” Cassidy called, riding up alongside Tom before he could respond. Tom started as she leaned over, embracing him from her own saddle and roughly kissing him, throwing the man’s calculated smug smirk into disarray as his hat nearly tumbled off his head.

They parted a moment later, and a flustered Tom straightened his hat, “H-Hey Cass, good to see you too,” he stammered. He turned to Dirk and cleared his throat, “I’ll be sending my women over here to make sure your cattle are cared for while you’re… away. You definitely owe me for this Sommer,” he chuckled and shook his head, “I can’t believe there was gold on this land… and I was feuding with Markus and Amaya over gods damned aurochs…” he sighed, “that’s life I suppose… you can pay me back with the money you pull out of this place someday.” He spared a glance at Cassidy, “I think I’ve got back the most valuable thing over here anyways…”

“Mighty decent for a bad man Tom,” Dirk teased as the other man led them to an overgrown trailhead just behind Cassidy’s home.

“Decent nothing,” he snorted, “it sets a bad precedent to sit on my hands while another handsome Imperial boy gets married off against his will, sooner or later one of these women might take a look at old Tom and think she can pull a Griselda on me, that Hardstone woman is probably already thinking about it.”

…

Tom led them through the thick underbrush, the trail was only barely wide enough for the amazon’s horses, and bits of branches and leaves often brushed against their sides as they hugged their saddles. The fireworks in the distance had ceased, as had the sound of shouts and clanging steel.

“You think your girls are okay?” Cassidy asked Tom quietly.

“They’re all cunning types,” Tom said, chewing his lip, “they knew our game here, cause a ruckus and get out… I’d think with all that steel weighing Griselda’s people down mine should have been able to make a break for it once the fireworks went off…” He sighed, “t-they’re just hired muscle, part of the territory includes risk.”

Dirk couldn’t help but notice the relief in Tom’s expression as the hidden trail let out on the main road, revealing a trio of masked amazons waiting for them. The other man’s smile returned to it’s usual smug state as he waved them over, and the masks came off revealing Flora, Suzette, and Atla all smiling, though Tom winced slightly as he saw a blood running from a cut on the biggest Amazon’s arm.

“It’s just a scratch,” Atla reassured him.

“I’m sewing that up as soon as we get back,” Tom muttered, “and you’re going to sit still for it this time!”

Atla scowled, a comical sight as she almost seemed afraid of the man nearly half her size, “yes boss,” she muttered.

“You want me to tie her up for you?” Cassidy teased, “I’m pretty good with knots, remember Tom?” he just scowled and the other three amazons smirked, enjoying their boss’s discomfort.

“head south on this road about two hours,” Tom said, turning to Dirk and Cora, “there’s a large rock on the side of the road, it looks kind of like a dog from the right angle, when you see it go perpendicular to the road into the brush. You’ll find a small cabin with dry food and a straw bed. You can rest up, fill up on provisions, and then start working your way to the capital.”

“What an odd thing to know about Tom,” Dirk said with a smile, “why would an honest ranch owner need such a place?”

“Because he doesn’t like to pay taxes on his liquor or things he imports from his home country” Tom replied, rolling his eyes, “and I know exactly how much is there Dirk, so don’t go helping yourself and thinking it’s free,” he tipped his hat and grinned, “Cassidy darling, I understand if you want to go with them, but I think in the wide acreage of my ranch we could keep a gal hidden…”

“One of these days I want you to kiss me in public, after all of this sneaking around,” Cassidy chuckled, turning her horse to join Tom and his women, “take me home then scoundrel.” She shot Cora and Dirk one last nod and smile as they group left, heading back in the direction of Tom’s ranch.

“Let’s get on our way,” Dirk said quietly to Cora, spurring his horse down the dark road.

…

The cabin was easy enough to find, if it could be called a cabin. The ramshackle structure was obviously seldom used, but far enough from the road not to be seen in the thick jungle. By the time he and Cora reached it, the exhaustion of the night was beginning to wear on both of them, and as they forced their mounts through the overgrown brush, they were on the verge of collapsing in their saddles.

Dirk was vaguely aware of Cora lifting him bodily out of his, chuckling softly as she threw him over her shoulder, “Shh…” she said, tying their animals up with her free hand, "just let me take care of this."

She slowly pushed the door open, revealing a multitude of glass jars full of a clear liquid that was almost certainly Tom’s moonshine, along with a ratty looking straw mattress in the corner. Gently she laid Dirk down on it, then a moment later collapsed onto it herself, smiling as her arms slowly circled around him, pulling him close to her. It may have been a dilapidated cabin and a burlap sack stuffed with straw, but as they drifted off it was as comfortable as any bed Dirk had ever slept in.