Brooke yawned, gracefully refusing to cover her mouth. "Such manners, my queen"
"What did I say about mocking?"
Darius just laughed, "Would my mistress like a bed time story?" She just glared down at him, silencing him for the time being.
"Well I am going to sleep, you may rest out here. And I do suggest you get some rest" She rose without another word, blowing out the candles with a single flick of her wrist.
"Show off" He mumbled, watching her silhouetted figure disappear behind a massive door. His trained eyes adjusted easily to the dark, scanning over his strange new world. He found his pile of clothing and sat down, resting his head against it, trying to nestle somewhere in the now deep rivits of the old and worn table. His joints already ached from the effort he exerted fulfilling Brooke's petty tasks, he could only hope that she grew tired of these games soon. It was always hard to read her, at times she might come off almost as a friend but probably only because they have been meeting regularly over the past five years. He thought back to how he had first encountered her...
~~~
It was a dark night, Darius sat quietly up in a tree knowing it was best to stay hidden for now. His finger thumbed a shining silver necklace, a large blue ruby hung from its intricately interlocked chain. He had snatched it right from a prince's pocket, a rather pompous prince in fact, who had just finished showing it off to a few fellow members of the local royalty as they strolled down the street. In Darius's mind he deserved every lost penny. Either way he caught a few suspicious points and stares and decided to lay low, or in this case high, for the night.
A few hours later he heard a loud neighing of a horse, he ignored it for a while. He started to hear shouts, nothing much to catch his interest until he heard a women scream. Unable to just sit there anymore he climbed skillfully down the branches. He quickly caught a glimpse of the frightened horse, a thin hooded figure on top trying to avoid the three men blocking the path. The woman shouted again as they tried to grab her, she twisted the reigns to avoid their hands but the cart behind her limited their movements.
He sprinted up the dirt path, pulling a short sword from his back, "Hey!" He roared as he neared the scene. The three men turned, laughing as he ran at them. In quick series of movements he thrust the butt end of the blade into one mans gut, then thrust the blade forward into another's chest, though only enough to cut the flesh. He felt someone reaching behind him and quickly spun his blade behind him, a red mist gently fell over his face as the third attacker fell backwards. He spat at the body, quickly turning to see the other two hobbling away into the forest.
"Is he dead?" The woman asked, he was surprised by how calm she was.
"If not he will be soon" Darius sighed looking down on the ghastly cut across his throat.
"Well I'm sure he deserved it" she commented, once again startling him.
"Aye" He said coming to the horses side, gently rubbing a hand down its neck.
"I could have handled it myself" She muttered.
"I heard you scream?"
"It was a warning, not all women are helpless" Her hood fell back over her head, revealing her youthful face, though her features have not aged a day since, she has lost a particular innocence that she carried that day, "But thanks for the thought" She smiled weakly.
"So whats in the cart?" Darius asked as he strolled next to her.
"Supplies, herbs, elixers, just about everything"
"I can see that, are you going in to town to sell or?"
"No, I'm going home, I use these to make potions and to practice my enchantments"
"So you are a witch?"
She shook her head, "No, I am a magician. You can call me a mage if you like, though I am no witch"
"Sorry, I'll try to remember that" He commented, though he didn't really see the difference.
"So you sell your potions and uh, um-"
"Enchantments?" She laughed, "Yes, well I try too. People around here don't seem very interested in such goods"
"I might be" He offered.
"Do you have money?" He hesitated a moment, "Didn't think so. My services don't come cheap"
To this day he's not quite sure why he did it, at this point nothing she could enchant or create was worth the price. But he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled the necklace out. He dangled it in front of her grinning as her bright blue eyes widened.
"Where did you get that!" She gasped, reaching for it.
"Ah ah ah!" He laughed, "This is pretty pricy"
Her eyes never left the blue ruby that nearly matched her eyes in color, "W-Well I can make...oh wow its so beautiful"
"Tell you what, give me a place to hide out for a night and we can discus it further"
"Hide out?" She gasped, "You're a thief! You stole that!"
"What if I was?"
Her brow furrowed, hardly able to remove her gaze from the gem until he slipped it into his pocket, "Alright fine"
An hour later they arrived at her cottage, "So aren't you a bit young to be a wit- er a magician?"
"I am plenty old enough" She said eyeing him, "Aren't you a bit young to be stealing and killing?"
"Fair enough, so...lets talk business" He said sitting down at the round table once positioned in the center of her room. She numbered off every potion that she could make, at the time she was a fairly unskilled enchantress. None seemed appealing enough to part with his catch.
"My horse" She finally blurted.
Darius blinked, "Your horse?"
"Yes, she is strong and loyal"
"Don't you need her?"
"No, I can manage without her"
He thought hard for a moment, even with the horse it was probably not worth it, he could buy three fine horses with the money he got selling it on the market. He lifted the necklace in front of him, the ruby twisting back and forth as it dangled below his fingers. His gaze shifted slightly into hers, anxiously awaiting his response. He was only a year older than her but with those eyes he felt like he would be denying a treat to a child.
"Alright, but only if I can get a rather steady supply of that potion you said could knock a man out for a few hours"
"Deal!" She squealed. She beamed a bright smile, one that he would never see again, as she gripped the blue ruby in her hands, quickly pulling the chain over her once short hair.
It seemed they had gotten off to such a pleasant start...it was hard to figure when their friendship seemed to go downhill....
~~~
"Hey!"
Darius mumbled and rolled over.
"Hey!" Brooke yelled again even louder.
Darius's eyes flickered open, grimacing as they fell on the still giant Brooke. He sat up, clutching his back which was sore from the hard and uneven bed.
"Time to get to work again slave" she grinned.
"Let me guess you need me to feed you your breakfast?"
"No, I am bored of that"
"Oh I see"
She set a plate of assorted fruits before him, taking a few in her hand as she leaned back into her chair, "Actually I was going to go out into the forest and gather some herbs, and before you start whining no I am not taking you with me, you would be terrible at that"
"Thanks"
"But I do expect you to work. Some dust has gathered under the furniture and I don't want to look at it anymore"
"I see"
"After that well, I don't know I'll think of something" She let him eat for a few minutes before setting him on the floor, leaving the fruits on the floor as well. He watched her walk off, now wearing a slightly more modest green skirt, though wore the same shirt as she had yesterday. She had given him some sticks and a large bucket to pull of the dust into.
He went about his work lazily at first, grimacing as he handled the strange gray fluffy substance. He let his mind wander back to his planning. His mind was already set that he would need to shrink himself sometime before he entered the castle walls, perhaps slipping under the gate by foot or hitching a ride on a cart. Once inside he would have to make it as deep into the castle as he could, the idea of hitching a ride on someones robe seemed more and more appealing.
He worked his way around the length of the room, constantly zig zagging back to the overturned bucket. A few hours later he was actually a little surprised by the size of the pile. As he hopped out of the bucket the door opened, he watched as she examined the room before setting her collected herbs on the table. She leant down to his level.
"Well its not perfect" She opened her mouth as if she was going to compliment him, but held it back. Instead she took the bucket and emptied it outside the window. She lifted him into the air and carried her into her bedroom, clearly she had ideas already by the grin across her lips.
"So what do you require of me now?"
"A foot rub" She said rather blatantly.
"Oh wonderful" She flashed him a grin before climbing onto her bed, setting him down by her feet.
"Well get working" She said impatiently. He sighed, approaching the tall pale pillar that wriggled before him. She sighed as he pressed his arms against her heel, "Ahh thats nice" She leaned back as he continued to work his way around.
"I can't reach any higher" He called up. He was unsure if she heard but sure enough she tilted her foot onto its side. He walked across the cushioned surface, constantly pressing his arms and hands into the sole of her foot, reaching up towards the much softer and delicate arch. There was a strange feeling of intimacy, though it was obviously just an illusion. This was made clear as she suddenly lifted her other foot and pinned him to the bed under her toes. He groaned as they wriggled around him before finally reaching their mark. He felt himself lift off the bed as she pinned him between two of her toes.
"Careful please" He groaned as she lifted her leg onto her other risen knee. She rose and lowered her toes playfully, seeming to get a kick out of how helpless he was. He was slightly relieved when she let him from her toes grip and back into her hands.
"Sorry, I got lonely up here by myself" she laughed, he didn't share her sense of humor, "Though that did feel quite nice"
"You're welcome"
"I didn't say thank you"
Darius rolled his eyes, this was getting old.
Giantess World
