Chapter 16 - Lilas

Leaving Emilia after breakfast is difficult knowing that later today she'll be seeing a healer for the first time and we won't be there for something so important. But it's her choice that we go to the Council meeting instead and we have to respect her wishes, although we will be asking about what happened when we return home.

We're the last to arrive for the meeting, everyone else is already seated and reviewing paperwork in front of them. Taking our seats we grab the paper in front of us giving it a quick read, it's reports from the nearest cities on the soldiers they're sending to us. The numbers look good.

"Still nothing from Nerkise?" Kor asks flicking through the papers for any information on the enemy.

"Not yet but I've managed to get a hold of a nearby clan. They've agreed to fly to the border for us and gather information which they'll relay back. It'll still be a few weeks before we hear anything from them though." Kavarthon informs the Council which is more good news.

"It'll be good to have some news." Halmed replies the relief evident in his voice, knowing that we'll soon have news from his homeland must be a weight off his chest.

"From these reports the first soldiers will be arriving within a week, we'll be able to do an assessment of their equipment then and now what'll need to be made or replaced. The training grounds should be ready by then as well." Bel adds drawing us back to the current topic.

"Tents are prepared and stored near the training field for any overflow of men that can't be settled into inns. We just need to speak with the inn owners to get them to keep as many rooms free as possible, it's probably also time to release a statement to the city before the influx of soldiers cause a panic." Raziel comments. We all give agreeing nods.

"The scribes can write up the statement and have them displayed; word will get around quickly after that about a possible war. It must be made clear that the war will be far away from here otherwise we'll have people stocking up on supplies when there's no need." I state already picking up a pen to start a rough draft of the statement that'll be sent out to the city. Once it's finished I pass it around the table, "It's a rough draft we can refine it before sending it to the scribes for them to reproduce."

We spend the next several hours drafting and re-drafting the statement to get it just right. One wrong word and the city could panic or turn against us. There are always people here who are looking for something to complain about so there'll still be some grumbles but hopefully with the right words not a full-on revolt about the war.

After sorting that we write out a letter to send to inn keepers to make sure that there'll be rooms for soldiers, or at least some of the higher-ranking ones. The rest of the soldiers will end up in tents near the training field, food will need to be sent out and prepared for their meals every day. Hopefully we can get enough tents prepared but if not we make plans to set some up in the spare rooms of the manors here in Hadlau.

The whole day, until early evening, is spent discussing the logistics of housing the incoming soldiers as well as the ones that'll be sent in the future. With the numbers we're expecting we'll need to send for more food to be able to feed them all, there's no way they can train or march to war on empty stomachs. If we're lucky then we won't need to move until after the harvest in autumn.

A list is made of every blacksmith and seamstress in the city, they'll need to make armour, weapons and clothes as quickly as possible. Depending on how the war goes we may have to start drafting and they'll need to be outfitted with the right equipment, we won't send them to war unprepared. But that's only a worst-case scenario, ideally there'll be no war or at least a short one. We do start making plans though for re-taking Nerkise because it can't be left under Rhistel's control, they'd always be a threat. So long as they don't attack though we have time to plan and gather information to devise the best strategy to remove Rhistel and his followers from power with the least amount of lives lost.

Eventually we call it a day and the Council disperses after agreeing to meet again in the morning for one last review of the announcement before it's sent out to the public. We'd sent the final draft to the scribes and so long as we find no faults with it in the morning after a rest then it'll be posted throughout the city.

Emmy is in the drawing room when we reach home, apparently she'd spent the day in there with her maid working on embroidery apart from when the healer visited. Joining her we're content to just sit quietly with her after a day full of talking. She seems to understand and simply continues sewing after giving us a brief greeting and once we've rested a bit though we'll ask about the healer's visit hopefully everything is okay. Maybe after dinner though, it's not something to really discuss over food.

We haven't been sitting long before we're informed dinner is served so we head into the dining room. It's still strange having servants again after the last few decades of cooking for ourselves but it does make things easier when we're out all day for meetings, there's little time or energy to cook for ourselves with the Council taking up so much of our time.

After a quiet dinner we decide to head outside and sit in the garden enjoying the slightly cooler evening air. We're all more alert now that we've eaten and woken up a bit, at least enough to find out how Emmy's visit with the healer went.

"Emmy, if you don't mind me asking, how was the healer's visit?" I ask breaking the silence that we'd been sitting in since we'd moved outside.

"It went well." She smiles, knowing that we were going to ask about it. "Healer Fayeth found nothing wrong with me that good nutrition couldn't fix. She mentioned that should it be something that we want in the future there'd be nothing preventing me from having children." She adds shyly, clearly not sure how we'd feel about the idea of children.

"That's good." Bel states grinning now that we know Emmy is fine or at least will be soon.

"We've thought about children." Kor states watching her intently trying to spot any hint as to what she wants, "Never knew if our final mate would be female or not, or if they'd want children. We'd only adopt if it's what everyone wanted and we'll only have children if it's what you want." She smiles slightly looking down at her hands nervously.

"I think maybe in the future. I'd always wanted a family and children but never thought I'd get to have either of them. Once I'm healthier maybe we could talk about it again or let nature take its course. Nuela mentioned that the fertility rates for elves and dragons are low so it might not happen at all." We nod in response, it's a sensible way to think about it.

"Yes, maybe someday." I say smiling at my mates who are all also smiling, happy at what we'd settled on. For now it's good that Emmy is healthy and is opening up to us more, willing to share her wants with us.

We stay out in the garden until a few hours after nightfall, watching the stars and I point out some constellations to Emmy who seems amazed by the stars. She admits quietly that she'd always go to sleep earlier in Stowu, usually around sunset, to get an early start to her day so they'd never been time to simply admire the stars.

The day ends as it has since we met Emmy, all of climbing into bed and falling asleep in a tangle of limbs. Emmy as usual is in the middle this time I'm next to her with Kor behind me and Bel is on the other side of Emmy, yet we're all touching in some way. Kor has his arm flung over all of us while Bel has his hand over the top of Emmy holding one of mine. The feeling of being connected to all of my mates helps me to drift off to sleep peacefully, the thoughts of war far from my mind for the first time today. For right now everything is right in my world.

Breakfast is kept simple in the morning although we talk more today than we had yesterday. We let Emmy know that we'll be in another meeting today but it shouldn't last all day this time, it turns out the Lady Hess had sent a note yesterday asking if she was free this morning to help plan the ball with her. I'm glad she has plans, it's not good if she spends all her time here alone but I'm sure that Lady Hess will fix that soon.

Having time before the meeting we walk with Emmy and her lady's maid to the gate, Lord and Lady Hess still live in their own manor rather than having moved into the manor reserved for the human councillor that's closer to the meeting hall. Lord Hess plans to leave it empty for the moment so that the incoming generals can be housed there, they'll be vital for any war preparations so it'll be good to have them close.

We watch Emmy walk away from us for a while before heading to the meeting hall. Luckily the part of the city she's in is safe and there are many guards around in case something does happen. Knowing that she's safe and will likely have fun with Lady Hess we can turn attention back to the meeting and everything we'll be discussing today.

Arriving we sit down quickly only waiting on Magor and Raziel to arrive before we can get started, not wasting any time though I read over the statement again finding nothing wrong with it. Once everyone is here we are quick to agree that there is nothing wrong with the statement and give our order for it to be sent out. We summon the Captain of the Guard as we send the message out, letting him know to increase patrols in preparation for any negative responses to the news.

Overnight there had been a few more letters from nearby cities detailing the troops they're sending to us. It also brings the news of the first general, General Astaroth, that'll be arriving although it'll still be at least a couple of weeks because he's travelling with his own large number of men. Astaroth is a vampire and an old friend of Kor's; they've fought together in many wars and sparred many times when not fighting in a war. From the slight smirk on Kor's face I can tell he's glad that his friend is on his way, the two of them seem to treat war as a game sometimes.

We spend a bit of time discussing the accommodation of the new troops that we've been informed about but it doesn't take long. With so many plans already made it's easy to arrange for the new troops when it's still so early on. It's not even lunch time before we're calling the end of the meeting, deciding that the next one will be held once the troops actually arrive although some of us will gather briefly if more letters arrive about troops being sent our way. We'll keep it on a rotating schedule so that we don't all have to be here for every letter, it'll be two at a time dealing with new troops and detailed reports will be made for the other Councillors.

Getting back to the palace we're told that Emmy is still out at Lady Hess's. It's good that she must be enjoying herself but I've become used to arriving home to her here, knowing she's not here is making the whole place seem empty despite the number of servants running around.

Wanting a bit of peace, and not having had the time for it since we got here, I go straight to the library grabbing one of the many books here that I've been meaning to read. Sometimes I'll write to Nuela or Tehlmar asking them to send some of the books to the castle but hadn't gotten around to asking for this one yet, not with new books that Kor had gotten for me. I sit down on of the settees in the seating area with Kor and Bel taking another cuddling together content to just keep me company as I get lost in the book.

They make me take a break for lunch, going as far as to take the book out of my hands to get me to stop reading. Pulling me along we go to the dining room where to our surprise we find Emmy sitting there waiting for us.

"I just got back, I wanted to surprise you." She tells us as we join her at the table.

"You are always a great surprise." Bel tells her leaning across to kiss her cheek. She blushes in response ducking her head down to keep on eating. Chuckling I start eating my own lunch, her shy reaction to our attention is always endearing even if they are lessening as she's getting used to us.

"So how was your morning with Lady Hess?" I ask between bites.

"It was good, she showed me the ballroom where she'll be hosting the ball. It's so big. After that we sat discussing what flowers to decorate with and went over a few menu ideas. Lady Hess was very kind even though she had to explain a lot of what we were talking about. She's asked me to come back tomorrow to meet some of her friends who'll be helping with the guest list." She's so excited as she tells us about her morning. I can't help but smile as she talks, over the years I've heard countless husbands complain about what their wives enjoyed talking about but I can't understand the problem. Nothing could be better than seeing my mate come alive talking about something that makes her happy.

After lunch we end up going in different directions, Emmy grabs her embroidery from the drawing room but then joins me in the library while Kor and Bel walk off together upstairs. While we'd been in the library before lunch they'd been talking quietly to each other, likely about sex judging by the look on Bel's face and now they're going off to do something about it.

"They're going to have sex aren't they?" Emmy asks not long after we've sat down in the library. After our last conversation about sex I don't see a reason not to tell her.

"Yes, since we got back they've been riling each other up. I'm not surprised that they've gone upstairs." I reply calmly turning the page of my book, noticing her turning slightly red out the corner of my eye.

"Oh." She squeaks before her expression turns thoughtful, "You don't mind them going without you?"

"Not really, I got some alone time with Bel the other day plus I want to finish this book. Out of all of us Bel loves sex the most so he makes a point to turn us on to get what he wants; he does know his limits though." I put down my book giving her my full attention as she seems to brave enough to asking these questions.

"Do you think… Could you tell more about s-sex? Madame Joanna and Nuella explained some of it, could you tell me about… between the three of you?" I nod in response standing sitting down next to her. I'm slightly surprised that she wants to know about our sex lives specifically but then again when it's been mentioned she's seemed curious.

"Well many times it starts with Bel teasing us to turn us on, which means that our penises get hard, then we'd make our way to the nearest bed although sometimes it happens in the same place where Bel started teasing us." She's an interesting shade of red but is still listening not asking me to stop, "We'd get naked then there'd be lots of kissing and touching, in whatever places feel good. Sex can be many different things sometimes we'll simply stroke each other's cocks or suck them-"

"What does that mean?" She asks tilting her head slightly. I can feel myself blush slightly having to explain this to her.

"It means that we'd put one of the others cocks in our mouth. Licking, sucking and kissing it until they either come or we move onto something else." She nods her face turning so red that her face is now redder than her hair. "Then there's actual sex which takes a bit more preparation. It involves stretching the receiving partner's arsehole carefully until their ready for anything else, at which point the other one will put his penis inside. After that it's similar to sex with a woman." By the end of it we're both red, Emmy much redder than me but both of us feeling slightly awkward.

"Thank you." She squeaks out before burying herself in her embroidery again, keeping her head down to avoid looking at me. I move back to the other settee giving her space as I return to my reading. Now I'm going to have to tell Kor and Bel that I've talked to Emmy about how we have sex, including hand and blow jobs. Even though I might not be able to speak to them privately until the morning I can already picture Bel's laughing face. He'd have loved having this discussion but I'm sure he'll find great amusement at picturing me having to explain it all to our innocent little mate.

It's almost two hours before Kor and Bel join us both having satisfied smiles on their faces. By this point neither Emmy nor I are blushing still but she still can't seem to look at me directly, the blush starting to return whenever she does. This gets interesting looks from Kor and Bel but I simply mouth to them that I'll explain later getting nods in return as they sit down with us, Kor next to Emmy and Bel next to me.

We spend a quiet hour together, enough time that I manage to finish my book, when Kor suggests that we go out for a walk. Having been sitting for hours we're all quick to agree so we head out, going straight out the palace towards Kor's favourite garden. Still wanting some private time together but needing to be out the palace for a bit it's the perfect place to go.

As we're leaving I ask Tehlmar to have dinner sent over to us, we can set up a picnic here for dinner and not need to move until we're ready. Even though we sit ourselves down in one of the deepest parts of the garden Kor and Bel will still know when dinner is delivered either by smell or hearing the servant coming close.

Seating ourselves on the grass we relax against each other in one big pile. Kor is leaning against a tree providing a base for all of us, Emmy is sitting between his legs leaning back against his chest while Bel and I are sat on either side of him. The way were sitting shouldn't be as comfortable as it is but that could just be because we're together isolated from everyone else. Here in this garden, at this moment, we could be the only people alive and never realise it.

"So… what did you two talk about while we were gone?" Bel asks shifting his head against Kor's shoulder to look at us. His question breaks the silence we'd been sitting in but brings a new silence that's slightly more tense as I fix him with a look unable to believe he's asking now. I'd said that I'd tell them later but clearly he couldn't wait.

"Lilas, he umm… he explained a bit more about s-sex for me. A-about how you h-have sex." She manages to stutter out to my surprise although I can see the top of her ears turning red while she's speaking. Over the top of her head Bel stares at me in shock and even Kor tilts his head down to look at me.

"Really now." Bel replies slyly smirking at me in amusement. It seems his amusement about the situation is overwhelming the shock now. "Sounds like an interesting conversation. Wish I'd have been there."

"You'd have scared her." Kor comments, "Too many details."

"Exactly. I kept to the basics but you'd have gone into all the graphic details as though you were speaking to us rather than Emmy." I add as Bel reluctantly nods in agreement but he's still grinning like he wouldn't have traumatised poor Emmy who only recently learned about sex.

"It helped. Made it more… real. Madame Joanna and Nuela didn't mention sex between men so I was c-curious." Emmy admits putting her head back looking up towards us. She's blushing heavily but at least she's still willing to talk to us about it.

"That's good Kitten." Kor says leaning down enough to kiss her forehead, "You can always ask us anything you want. We'll tell you what you want to know or help you find the answer." She nods giving us a small smile, relaxing slightly.

"And whenever you're ready we'll be happy to show you how good sex feels." Bel can't resist adding just to make Emmy blush more ducking her head back down and moving her hands nervously in her lap. Kor reaches an arm up pinching Bel's ear slightly in punishment for his teasing, reminding him that there is a line and he shouldn't cross it. We don't want to push Emmy too far and have her retreat from us, becoming unwilling to talk with us about this.

Bel pouts up at Kor getting a quick kiss to reassure him that Kor isn't actually mad at him. We go quiet again sitting comfortably together and letting Emmy calm down after Bel's teasing. I love these moments just getting to sit with my mates, not even needing words just each other's company. With everything going on we might not be getting many of these moments in the future so I'll have to enjoy whatever I can get.