"Those guards knew we had saved them all and deserved equal shares, just like everyone else did. So, they sowed discord with others, twisting and turning situations to make it seem that we were arrogant, proud, and dangerous."
Soot's sighs his eyes looking out into the distance but seeing a different scene than the one in front of us, "My grandfather tried to tell the people to the truth, tried to be upright and shared even the little that they had with others. He did not do these as acts of charity to sway others, he did it because that was the kind of man he was. He never would have helped build the forge and heated it to save everyone in Calibre if not. The mining missions alone for the earth elemental catalysts were grueling, but to heat the forges to melt the ore to create the graphenium... It was taxing on all the older catalysts to work for so long. None of them ever were really the same once the platforms were finished...." Soot's looks down, solemnly.
"You mean you didn't help with the forges?" I inquire once he's quiet for a minute.
He starts, looking up at me, coming back to the present as he shakes his head, "No, not the forges. They had me working the torches to keep the areas where they were building the cities. It was not always the safest feeling in the world, being hauled into the air in a bucket with only a rope around your waist secured through different hooks alongside the columns, but I was happy to be able to help. I thought it was an honor and a privilege to assist in some way to build them. "
Soot's looks down at his hands and whispers, "But sometimes, I wish we'd all drowned in the floods. It would have been kinder than some of the deaths that happened because of those behemoth's of corruption."
I reach out to place a hand on his shoulder, but pull back when he shakes his head.
"Go get some lunch and prepare yourself for Flair's teachings. Everyone always says I am the hardest person to learn from.... Flair is not far behind me." Soot's warns me.
I shrug, "Thank you for the warning."
.....
'Soot's was not prevaricating about Flair.'
I mentally roll my eyes as Flair continues to bombard me with tons of information. It becomes almost overwhelming, learning about the histories of the catalysts and their influence on society.
By dinner time I was ready to stick cotton into my bleeding ears, from the amount of information he was pounding into my skull.
"I want you to write a paper on what you've learned so far. Nothing in particular, just everything that you remember, hand it in tomorrow, before our next lesson." Flair pats my back as we walk to the dining hall.
"It might take up more than a page though." I remark.
Flair merely smiles, "Then I would be very pleased to see that."
His smile said that he doubted that he would be seeing more than a page though.
After dinner, I'm sitting in the room with Bav, trying to write paper. Only two-thirds of the page has anything written upon. I did not want to write it in the fashion of making out an inventory sheet, but that is what I was starting to do, as I could not elaborate on many of the events that I remembered.
-The earth catalysts, Dune Slate, married the chiefs daughter and helped create a dam near the chiefs lands. This dam created Lake Mons, still in use today.
-The air catalyst, Aeros Flurros, was able to blow a horde of birds that would have decimated the already struggling farmers. His work saved thousands of lives, as the harvest was saved.
-The water catalyst, Rayne Vapore, taught many tribes and small towns how to irrigate and water crops in more arid climates, she visited over fourteen islands and three continents, before being killed by bandits on the road.
"You have no dates, will that be a problem? I've heard Flair can be very expectant of his pupils." Bav says looking over my shoulders, rubbing my neck as he read my paper.
"Ohhh that feels good.... Honestly, he asked me for what I remember. I writing what I remember. He gave me so much information, that I felt my brain bleeding through my ears, trying to escape the torment." I groan, letting his hands work my tense muscles from being bent over a book all after noon. I feel my ties come undone, loosening my top free.
"Let me help you relax more, my love." Bav removes my outer top, leaving me in my corset and chemise on top. His hands are able to work my muscles easily now, making me moan again.
"Dear if you keep making those sounds, I will have to remove all of your clothes, and you'll never finish your paper." He whispers into my ear, sending chills down my spine.
"I don't even remember what I was going to write next, so does it really matter anymore?" I moan as his hands work their magic.
"It does, my love. This is all important, in one way or another. That's why we are here." He whispers, breath, hot down my neck.
"No it is not." I barely utter above a breathy whisper.
"Oh really?" Bav stops breathing down my neck and begins placing kisses that send mind numbing chills down my spine. "Why... then?" He asks in between each peck.
"To spend more time with... *Gasp!* you..." His teeth nipped at my skin, making the fire building inside me to flare up.
Warm, strong arms wrap around me and hold me tight. Bav, clutches me tightly, his heart beating loudly in his chest, as he places kisses in my hair. "I love you, Rakara."
"I love you too, Bavarthos. However, this is making my neck muscles tense again, after you've worked so hard at relaxing them." I chuckle lightly, as I am released from his arms.
"Finish your paper, make Flair proud and write some more. If you can remember a date or two, I would add them though." Bav pats my arm and heads for the bathroom, turning on the water as I look down at my paper.
'UGHH!'
.....
"You know, Rakara, I am pleasantly surprised." Flair reads over my paper, nodding as he reads. "You may not have remembered every date or mixed up one or two... but you did well."
Flair's praise makes my head rise a little higher, happy I could be given praise.
"Well enough, that we will continue going over the history of catalysts, hopefully finishing by this day next week. Then we can get started on the history of our society and our fall from the faith set by the Elementals."
'I am diffident about whether I should be proud we are continuing or be apprehensive that we are continuing..' I think to myself as Flair begins by showing me a map of the world but before the floods. I knew we were going to be working hard when Flair had told me to take notes.
...
"How did today go with Flair, dear?" Bav asks as I drag myself into our room before plopping on to the bed.
My mouth is slightly muffled from the blankets, making my response muffled.
"I'm sorry, Rakara, I didn't quite catch that?" Bav asks me to repeat myself.
"I said," I push my self up on my palms, "I really do not care for Flair as a teacher...." I turn my head and see Bav in only a towel. His sexy chest on display, to match his wicked grin.
"See something you like?" He asks.
My mouth goes dry as I nod.
"Well come join me then. I was just about to hop in." Bav drops the towel and my mouth becomes like a parched desert.
My mouth is like a desert and in between my legs is flooding with desire. Flair's three page paper will have to wait.
I stand, dropping my clothes so fast I don't know how I untied them. I strutted towards him, pushing him back until he sat on the rim of the bathtub. I slowly bent over, staring deeply into his eyes, promising everything and nothing but my love for my husband. My lips teased his in a sweet chaste kiss, as he wrapped his arms around me to hold me close.
"I love your powers of persuasion." I whisper against Bav's lips.
He pulls me up, to straddle his lap, before picking me up and stepping into the tub, and sitting down, keeping me straddled over him.
"My powers of persuasion, hmm?" Bav kisses my neck as I rub myself against his body.
He slides a hand down my chest, cupping and fondling my breast, pinching the nipple, to make me suck in a breath. His eyes grow darker, fading to black, causing the deep part of me to tremble with need.
"You are absolutely so beautiful..." I whisper, always stunned with how magnificent he is to me.
His hand snakes around the back of my neck, gently he tugs it, bringing my lips to his. He kisses me deeply, his free hand gripping my hip that I move back and forth across him. His hard member, teases my clit, my breath quickens, with each passing of our flesh.
It feels so good, even without him entering me, that I could already feel my release approaching. Speeding up, his mouth finds my breast, sucking and groping it, teasing my nipples, sending little bouts of pleasure to my core.
Bav moans his head leaning back, before he raises it to meet my gaze, "My love, I need you." He grips my hips and thrusts inside of me, causing me to throw my head back at the sudden fullness, with a cry of pleasure.
"Ah!" I'm coming undone, there's nothing I could do to stop it and try to prolong it. "Bav...!" My anxious and high pitched voice has him meeting my gaze. His eyes read me and a devilish smirk crosses his face.
He sucks a nipple into his mouth, slides his hand down between us, his thumb finding my clit, as his other hand grips my hip. It all happened within a second, before he begins to thrust into me faster, stealing my breath, and my soul from my body.
Long after the bath had gone cold, did he take me from the waters, he made love to me all night, and well into the next morning. Even when Soot's came banging on the door, Bav merely tossed a hand up, sending something at the door. Later, Flair came knocking like he was using a boulder, shouting through the wood. Bav who was in between my thighs, put his hand back up to send something through the door again. We were left alone after that.
By evening we were completely exhausted, but we lay wrapped in each others arms, staring at each other with smiles on our faces, and soft kisses when our gazes held too much emotion.