Hidden Island Chapter 28, part 3 of 3

Hidden Island
Chapter 28, part 3 of 3

As she continued to watch Tonya's energetic blowjob, Janie turned her Magistrate training inward. She picked apart her reactions, feelings, and motivations. She applied her ability to understand people's responses to herself. It was always more challenging to turn that skill inward. Internalized justifications and deflections were natural and sometimes hard to see for what they were. She glanced at the mirror as she traveled down the many branches of her internal self-analysis.

Bella was kneeling in the rain, lit from above by the lantern hung from the mast. She only wore her red headscarf to hold her hair back.

Her body was covered in painted sigils, and the rain ran down her naked form in rivulets. Her arms were spread wide, her eyes closed, and she mouthed quiet words that Janie couldn't hear. She was wild and untamed and achingly beautiful.

Behind Bella, Janie could see Captain Vex's back. Her blue coat was flapping wildly in the wind, but she was rooted in place, unmovable despite the heavy winds and the tossing of the ship's deck. She stood undaunted at the ship's wheel, shouting orders and steering the boat through the narrow channel between an island beach and a reef.

These were women at the height of their power—unchallenged and confident. Janie admired them both and wished she could be more like them. She glanced at Tonya with a small smile and admitted wanting to be more like the brave young apprentice. Tonya was shameless in a way that Janie thought of as courageous.

Tonya stood up with a saucy look in her eyes and sat back on the small round table. She rolled her body back until her legs were raised, and she was leaning back on her elbows.

"I want that thick cock inside me," she grinned.

Caine raised an eyebrow and surprised her by putting his hands on the backs of her raised thighs, rolling her back even further, and kneeling to put his entire mouth on her bare womanhood.

Womanhood? Janie squeezed her thighs together as she listened to Tonya gasp with surprise and then roll her head back in pleasure. Womanhood seemed like a word her mother would use. It was... proper. There it was. The introspection she'd been working through about the connection between her embarrassment and arousal snapped into crystal focus.

"Oh, fuck yes!" Tonya groaned. "Lick my clit, old man," she put her hands on the back of Caine's shaved head and pushed his mouth harder between her legs. He raised his eyes to look up her body and give her a challenging stare. Then he did something that made Tonya's whole body go stiff. Her legs straightened, and her back arched. "Fuuuuck! Oh, fuck me," she practically snarled.

There was nothing proper about this. Janie couldn't help but laugh. Tonya rolled her head and looked at her. Janie covered her mouth, but it was too late.

"He knows what he's doing," the young apprentice grinned. "You sure you don't want a turn?"

Janie shook her head but bit her lip. Although she was frustrated, she was enjoying it. "I'll focus on the ritual part."

"Oh, right! I should be doing that, too," Tonya said. She closed her eyes and started to concentrate on converting her pleasure into an internal reservoir of power. "Don't stop, old man."

Janie tossed off her sheer black shawl and looked down the valley of her breasts. Her ivory bustier exposed more than enough of her chest to draw the transfer sigil. She just had to get it right. Last time, Tonya had drawn it. This time, she was going to have to do it herself. It didn't seem that hard.

She was well-practiced at carving wards into stone and wood.

She quickly drew a circle on her chest and knew she'd gotten it wrong. It wasn't centered, and one side was flatter than the other. She pursed her lips in frustration, wiped them away, and started again. How had Tonya drawn it? She'd started with dots. "To measure," she said quietly to herself, suddenly understanding the method behind the way Tonya had done things.
She quickly jotted out a cross-shaped framework, carefully connected them with arcs, and was reasonably satisfied. Now came the hard part. She looked at Tonya's chest. Her small breasts were shaking as her body trembled. Both of her hands were behind her knees, pulling her hips up and her legs wide apart. Her head was off the edge of the small table, rolled back with her short hair hanging toward the ground. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..." she chanted like a mantra.

Janie realized she would have to get closer to get a good enough look at the sigil to copy it and had a moment of anxious panic. Then defiance ran through her. She walked forward as confidently as she could. The room was small, only a few steps, but they felt like leagues. She found herself at Tonya's shoulder, looking down at the shuddering apprentice's chest. Caine glanced up at her from between her legs and gave her a questioning eyebrow.

"Ignore me," she said, embarrassed again under his gaze. He made an affirming noise and dropped his eyes down again to focus on Tonya's pleasure.

Tonya gasped. Her head snapped up, and she looked at Janie.

"Decided to join us?" she asked hopefully.

"I needed to see the transfer sigil," Janie explained.

"Damn," Tonya asked. She tilted her shoulders to hide the sigil and gave Janie a defiant look.

"Oh, come now," Janie said, exasperated. "We don't have time!"

"Then you should speed things up," Tonya smirked.

"What do you want?" Janie asked, playing along for the moment.

"I want you to join us," Tonya said, her eyes full of promise and lust.

"We already talked about that. Caine and I aren't going to be... doing anything together," Janie said firmly.

"But you can both do things with me..." Tonya looked like a cat with canary feathers sticking out of its mouth.

Janie was slightly surprised but gave the apprentice a level stare, saying nothing.

"We have to work fast, right?" Tonya bargained. "And we need as much energy as we can muster? Seems like a bad idea to leave you out."

Janie had to admit that Tonya had a point. They had no idea how much energy Bella needed, but it seemed like a lot. They needed as much as they could get quickly. Was she opposed to the idea of sex with Tonya? No. Not. They'd already been together when they'd first charged the mirror. That was with Will and Bella, which made the situation much different. Their presence always made Janie more comfortable trying new things. The apprentice witch had many of the same qualities as Bella, which Janie indeed found attractive, but this wasn't the same.

Tonya was pushy in a way that Janie felt naturally resistant to.

She didn't like feeling coerced, and Caine's presence made her even less comfortable. She knew she and Will had no claim on each other, but she wasn't interested in other men. That was a self-imposed limitation, but it was still valid. How far did it go? Was she comfortable with the idea of Caine seeing her naked? Surprisingly, the idea didn't bother her. She felt like she could trust him. She was naturally shy about revealing her body, but she'd spent days now wearing practically nothing around men she didn't even know. Her standards of modesty weren't what they used to be. What about sex? She was already watching Tonya and Caine together. She was already involved, even if it was peripherally so far. If she accepts Tonya's advances, Caine would sometimes be inches away. Was that too close? They might not be having sex with each other, but they would undoubtedly be having sex with the same person together. That did sound somewhat exciting, but...

"What do ye mean, gone!" Captain Vex shouted.

"Not behind us anymore!" Will called. There had been two lightning flashes. He'd checked to be sure. The tattered back ship was nowhere to be seen.

"They didn't follow us into the channel!"

"Good!" Vex called back. "That should give us a big lead back when we come out the other side!"

"Hopefully, they'll just give up!" Will agreed.

"You mean I did all this for nothing!" Bella shouted over the winds.

"This isn't over yet!" Captain Vex called behind her. "Whatever you're doing, keep it ready."

The mouth of the curved passage around the island loomed. The two brightly painted Akula buoys floated erratically on the thrashing waves. The calm seas between the island and the reef had given them a brief respite, but they were headed into angry waters again. Between the two bobbing markers was where it was most dangerous. An errant wave might shove them in either direction, right into the reef. They needed speed and luck.

"Lace, give me as much sail as she can hold!" Captain Vex, "Then get them furled again as soon as we're clear of those buoys!"

"Aye, Captain!" the Rigging Master's voice came from above. The sails began to lower, every new foot of cloth putting more strain on the masts. The Kestrel creaked loudly, protesting the sudden pressure. Everyone aboard could feel their speed starting to build again.

They passed the final curve of the island and were in the straightway toward the buoys. The ship rocked suddenly, a solid gust tipping the whole deck starboard. Swabs slid and tumbled, clutching at each other and their ropes—riggers held on tightly, riding the sudden movement. The Captain braced herself, her legs wide, trying not to let the wheel turn with the ship. Behind her, Colin Strong grabbed the railing and clamped a strong arm around her waist to steady her. Bella tried to stop herself from sliding, but the deck was slick, and the sudden change in angle was too steep. She scrambled ineffectively and found herself clinging to her horseshoe with her fingertips. Will fared better. His chair was firmly anchored. He clamped down on the desktop with one hand and the chair with the other, bracing his legs wide like he was riding a horse.

The Kestrel tilted back the other way, finding its equilibrium and righting itself again. The crew regained their balance and quickly double-checked the various lines that kept them safe. Bella scrambled back into her circle. She swore. Sliding across the paint had smeared it badly. She pulled a grease stick out of her pouch and tried fixing it as best she could.

"Ship ahoy! Dead ahead!" Danica called from the prow.

"No," Janie said firmly. She'd been tempted, but it didn't seem right. " I'm enjoying watching, but I'm already questioning how far I want to go. I don't want to feel like I'm letting myself be talked into something I might regret."

Tonya sighed. "It was worth a shot. Fine." She rolled her shoulders so the mark on her chest was in view again. Caine gave Janie an approving look without surfacing from between Tonya's legs. She gave him a small smile in return and started replicating the symbol.

Tonya gripped the table's edges and tried to hold still so Janie could copy the sigil. Her lower body was squirming, but Caine had his hands clamped down on her hip bones and was holding her firmly in place.

Janie finished the sigil and decided it was good enough. She knelt so her face was right next to the side of Tonya's head. Tonya eyed her suspiciously.

"Watch doing?" Janie asked. She ran her fingers through the apprentice's hair and placed her lips near Tonya's ear.

"I might not be joining you, but I can do this," she said in a throaty whisper. Her lips brushed Tonya's sensitive ears, and her soft, tickling breath sent shivers down the apprentice's spine.

"Oh fuck!" Tonya gasped, her eyes wide. Her hand came off the table and clutched uncoordinated at Janie's shoulder and the back of her head. "Oh wow!"

"Do you like it?" Janie whispered, letting the tip of her tongue lick the outer edge of Tonya's ear.

"Why is that so good?" Tonya asked, surprised and confused.

Janie's fingers knotted, gently but firmly tugging at the back of Tonya's scalp. Her laugh was a silken whisper. "Didn't Bella tell you about all the places that feel good?"

"Well, yeah, but most guys just focused on the big ones. That's usually enough," Tonya writhed.

"You need to listen to your mistress," Janie breathed, her lips grasping at Tonya's earlobe at the end of her sentence.

"Yes, mistress," Tonya gasped.

Janie froze. That was not what she'd meant. That tight anxiety rose in her again. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head without thinking. Caine was looking at her again across the length of Tonya's body. His eyes rose above Tonya's mons and met Janie's from above Tonya's shoulder. She knew he could see the panic behind her eyes. He was shaking slightly, and she realized that he was silently laughing.

She glared at him. He quietly laughed harder. She made her choice at that moment. She didn't want to back out entirely and felt defiant after thinking about her mother's sense of decency. In for a penny, in for a pound. She pulled a bit more firmly on Tonya's hair. "Does it feel good, apprentice? Do you like his tongue between your legs?"

"Oh, fuck yes," Tonya groaned. "I'm getting close."

"Hold it in," Janie commanded. "Let it build."

Tonya whined but nodded. One of Caine's hands let go of her hips and disappeared behind the curve of her butt. Janie knew when he added his fingers to Tonya's pleasure. She chose that moment to bite Tonya's ear. The apprentice's whole body went stiff and trembling.

"Fuuuuck!" she cried out.

"Not yet." Janie's velvety, iron voice sent shivers down Tonya's shaking body.

"Can't..." Tonya gasped.

"You will," Janie whispered.

"So full," Tonya whined through clenched teeth. The sigil on her chest began to glow softly.

"You can take so much more," Janie breathed. "Take it. Hold it."

Tonya thrashed her head back and forth against Janie's grip. The light from her sigil got brighter. Janie reached up with her other hand and gently took hold of Tonya's nipple, rolling it between her thumb and fingers as she nibbled her earlobe.

"Are you connected to the mirror?" Janie asked, letting each consonant pulse with her breath against Tonya's sensitive ear.

"Yes! Fuck! Oh, fuck me!" Tonya swore, clutching spasmodically at Janie's neck and back.

"Caine, give her what she wants," Janie ordered. Tonya's eyes went wide.

Caine stood up, still holding in his laughter. He brought his fingers to his mouth and then down to his hard manhood, rubbing saliva across his length. Then he rubbed the head of his cock gently back and forth against her clit. She opened her eyes and rolled her head, almost like she was in agony. His thumbs pulled her wide open. His cock head slid down to her twitching entrance. He rolled his hips forward and thrust his length into her with one long, hard stroke.

"Now," Janie pinched, pulled, bit, and whispered all at once.

Tonya's mouth opened wide, but no sound came forth. Her wide eyes washed over with bright red light. Her back arched. The sigil on her chest and every carved emblem in the mirror flared to brightness.

In the dark before them, the ships' lanterns lit up the black outline of a damaged ship bearing down on them at full, tattered sail.

"What the hell?" Captain Vex swore. She forced herself to keep calm and not turn the wheel too soon. "How did it...? Will, tell me when the buoys are even with our mizzenmast!"

"Aye, Captain. Five seconds!" Will answered, setting his eyes on the dimly lit colorful balls the ship was passing. "Two! One! Now!"

Captain Vex spun the wheel, taking them off their collision course. She could make out the black ship at the edge of the ship's lantern light. It was roughly the same size as the Kestrel but rose far higher in the water. It looked like it must be completely unladen. "How, you bastard?" Vex snarled. "How are you doing this?" It was under full sail with no load in a storm.

It should have capsized long ago.

They were caught. If this ship was fast enough to go all the way around the reef and come about to face them in the time it took the Kestrel to get through a gently curving channel, there was no hope of escape. "Lace, get those sails up! Reeve, prepare to repel boarders!" Vex yelled.

The crew scrambled. There would be no tacking, no rope hauling now. The rudder would be the only way of directing the ship. She hoped their momentum was enough to carry them all the way clear of the reef. The sails were pulled up and tied off. The riggers swarmed the deck, tying off and drawing weapons to join ranks with the swabs.

"Bella, if you've got some magic up your sleeve, now's the time!" Captain Vex called over her shoulder.

"Almost ready!" the witch answered as she finished repairing the smudged circle. It would have to be good enough.

She reached her metaphysical senses to the mirror and pulled.

Luck is, obviously, unpredictable. Even to someone like Bella, who had made understanding and trying to influence luck her life's work, it was still a largely unfathomable force.

Sometimes, things happened that defied any explanation. Even afterward, with the virtue of hindsight, it was sometimes impossible to sort out why and how events had transpired the way they did. Being able to predict was the key to good planning. The fact that so many plans fall apart quickly indicates how awful humanity is at predictions and the ambiguity of fortune.

For instance, those seeking to understand the nature of luck often run into trouble when they try to comprehend destiny. Many people's frustrations are enough to cause them to dismiss the concept of predestination altogether. Concluding that randomness doesn't have cosmological qualifiers simplifies things.

As with most things, the simple answer is, of course, wrong.

Destiny exists—it is just misunderstood. It is a byproduct of divine power, the result of the gods shaping existence to a plan no human can comprehend. Sometimes, people can catch glimpses of it. These people are often called mad or prophetic. People do not have destinies.

Gods have destinies; sometimes, people are a part of them or become caught up in the wake of that power.

It is unfathomably rare for someone to manipulate destiny for their designs. After all, that is the opposite of how destiny should work.

It is even rarer that someone manages to do such an incomprehensible, powerful, stupid thing on accident.

It can be said that luck bends itself to the service of destiny. Every once in a while, luck demands that destiny returns the favor.

The circles of paint on the deck had begun to glow slightly. Bella was drawing power out of the mirror through the central circle and channeling it into the two circles surrounding herself and Will. Binding circles weren't only for containment. When connected, they can safely move the flow of power between them. Moving power like this was dangerous, and Bella was pulling that power as hard as she could. There was a great deal of resistance. The mirror did not want to give up what was bound within it, but Bella was the one who created it. It belonged to her, as did every drop of energy it held. To the laws of magic, ownership was sometimes significant. The larger outer circles bound and stabilized the whole ritual. Without them, the energy would have become uncontrolled and corrupt, or worse, very quickly.

"Light up that ship!" Bella yelled. "I need to see it!"

"Danica, get those lights on that ship!" Captain Vex repeated. Reeve echoed the order as well.

All the prow lights refocused as the swabs aimed them at the oncoming vessel.

It was a wreck.

There was a gaping hole in the prow right at the waterline. The waves crashed against it, causing frothy water to gush in and out of the breach. One of its lower cross beams was broken and swinging limply across the deck like a pendulum, the tattered sail slowly ripping more and more.

On its deck were figures, kneeling, holding onto rails and ropes, hardly moving, waving their free arms back and forth in a classic sailor's sign of distress. Their faces were masks of desperation. Their mouths gaped wide, calling wordlessly for help.

The distance was closing far too quickly. The other ship loomed in the black, trying to ram them.

"Will, break your mirror!" Bella shouted. "Then aim it at the other ship!"

Will should have spent time wondering why. He pulled the mirror free and smashed it down on the corner of the desktop, then lifted its shattered face toward the looming wreck.

Bella put her hands on the horseshoe and let the energy fully connect and release.

The mirror was a passageway. Its entire purpose was to connect things that should be separate. Aligned with its purpose again, Bella's resistance ended. The flow from the circles and sigils in Bastard's Bay to the circles and focuses on the Kestrel became one solid power conduit.

The black ship rose on a wave, and its prow rose above the Kestrel's deck. The breach in its hull gaped like a fanged maw. Then it descended.

If Bella had fully understood the forces she was dealing with, she would never have attempted this desperate plan. She was filling in the blanks of her understanding with guesses and trusting her good luck to see her through. She was a fortune witch. Gambling was her nature.
The black ship crashed into the Kestrel with a sickening crunch.

Mortals should never meddle in the affairs of divinity.

Not twice.

Never twice at the same time.

Destiny bent.

A great deal happened simultaneously, and Tonya paid the price for it.



To be continued