The Knight and the Acolyte
Book Eight: Labyrinth of Love
Chapter Seven: Shifting Paths
By mypenname3000
Copyright 2016

Note: Thanks to B0b for beta reading this.

Knight Kevin – The Free City of Grahata, Yalut Island

I walked into the Temple of Luben, a small structure dwarfed by the more popular religions of Pater, Slata, and Seljan. It was modest on the outside and plain in the inside. The floors were a checkered pattern of black and white stone, dark-stained pews forming two rows advancing towards an altar of black and white granite. Beyond, a statue of the God of Marriage, arms spread wide in welcome, was lit by candles flicking about his feet. Red tulips were held in vases beside every pew.

“It is late to seek the temple of marriage, sir Knight,” a woman’s voice said.

My eyes snapped around to one of the small transepts lining the edges of the main hall. She knelt before a smaller altar with a pair of statues, a man and woman, behind it. The stone figures held hands with the marriage binds about their wrists. No doubt they were one of the patrons of the temple, the priestess praying to Luben for their marriage.

She rose with a grunt, shifting with an awkward sway. She turned, the front of her white robes, trimmed in black, bulged from her heavily pregnant stomach. She had the red skin of Thlin, her white-blonde hair pulled back in a loose braid, a motherly smile on her lips.

“Be welcome, sir Knight, to the Temple of Marriage and Fidelity,” she breathed as she waddled out of the transept, her hands idly rubbing at the front of her robes. “Husband, we have a guest.”

“Hmm?” a voice grunted from another transept. A moment later a tall man stepped out, head shaved bald, his blond beard woven and trimmed into a square shape. He was also Thlinian, his skin a darker red than his wife’s. Every temple of Luben was run by a married couple. The priest’s robes were black and trimmed in white, his hands folded before him, hidden by the sleeves of his vestments. “Ah, Sir Knight, here to offer a prayer to your wife’s fidelity while you partake on a perilous quest?”

I shook my head, a wave of nervousness coursed through me. I shifted, so aware that the Labyrinth ran beneath my feet. That Angela was down there about to tackle the Minotaur, a foe nearly as dangerous as the dragon Dominari.

I should be down there with her. I should have journeyed with her, the precepts be damned. No one knight could take on Dominari. Scores had faced her and died. Entire armies had burned in her fires. She was the last of the great dragons, the strongest to survive, grown cunning with age but content to stay in her desolation and haunt the Despeir Mountains.

I should have understood her heart. I should have loved her enough to let her be herself instead of trying to convince her not to be a knight.

“Such grief,” the priestess said as she stepped up before me. “Do you wish to pray to win back the heart of your lover?”

“Luben is the god of Love, but he does not give out ‘love potions.’ Those are instruments of Lust and the foul god Las.” The priest eyes hardened. “Your lover is free to love whom she will. Luben will not try and dissuade her.”

“My lover,” I swallowed, the pain welling. “My lover has forgotten me. She made a deal with an oracle for a prophecy. I…” Tears burned in my eyes. I took a deep breath. I was a Knight Deute, not a love-sick boy. My hand clenched. “I need a way to break the demigoddess’s power, to reawaken her to our love so I can protect her.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” the priestess breathed, her hand reaching out and touching the vambrace covering my right arm, stroking the metal. “I am truly sorry for you.”

“Love ripped apart,” sighed the priest. “Yes, there is a way to fix her.”

“True love’s kiss,” smiled the priestess. “Kneel, Sir Knight, and receive Luben’s blessing. Let the power of your love break the demigoddess’s enchantment. Nothing can stop love. It is the most powerful force in the universe. It resides in all of us, the gift of Luben to the mortal and immortal races.”

“Thank you,” I breathed as I knelt in a clink of armor.

“Know that your love must be true for this to work,” added the priest as he placed his hand on my forehead. His wife’s hand joined his, clasping together on my forehead. “She must love you, too.”

She gave me up for the prophecy.

I clenched my eyes closed. She had to love me. “She does. I’m sure of it.”

“Then Blessed Luben, God of Marriage, Love, and Fidelity, let this young man’s love shine bright,” the priest spoke. “Let it pierce through the veils of enchantment wreathing his lover’s mind.”

“Let his lover once again feel the purity of his feelings, Blessed Luben,” the priestess said, her voice ringing true. “God of Marriage, Love, and Fidelity, let her heart’s beat overcome that which has obscured her memory.”

“Let Love reunite these lovers in your name, Luben,” they said together. Lights flared white and black, dancing, entwining about their bodies and flowing down into my flesh. I shivered, my hands both clenching as a wondrous beauty settled into me. Something pure, at once both simple as the petals of a rose and as profound as the awe its petals stirred in the heart and imagination of the beholder.

Tears fell down my cheeks as the priests withdrew their hands.

“May your love be true, Sir Knight,” the priestess said, her hand going to her stomach.

“Thank you,” I said, rising, my armor clinking. I had a chance to save Angela. When she emerged from the labyrinth, I would have to kiss her, reawaken her love, and then I would save her. I would find a way to preserve her life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Acolyte Sophia – The Labyrinth

“So…which way?” I asked as we reached the first junction of the Labyrinth.

It was damp and cold in the tunnels. Behind us, moonlight spilled down the stairs we walked in. Stone ground above us, the large disc slowly turning. We had a few hours to find the Minotaur, slay him, and escape before we were trapped for a day down here.

I shivered. I did not want to be trapped for a day down here. My robes already felt damp and the smell… A musty rot pervaded the dungeon mixed with a sour rank, like something unwashed for a hundred years. I wrinkled my nose, staring at the walls of mortared stone, my pink light shining next to me, but not shedding much light to either right or left.

“When solving a maze, the best way is to place your hand on either the right or left wall and follow it to the end,” Faoril said. “If there is a way to the center, then you will find it eventually.”

“And the rumor that the place rearranges itself?” Minx asked, staring at the floor. She bent down, stroking her finger along the mortar groove. “There is a segment right here.”

Xera nodded, her ears twitching. “Yes, this line extends to the walls and ceiling.”

“Then we need another way,” Xandra said. She rubbed her hands together. Chaun, beside her, strummed his lyre with a stimulating note.

“Sophia’s divination spell,” Angela said. “She’s used it in the past.”

“I have,” I smiled at my Queen. I found Faoril with it and the caravan to take us out into the desert. “It can guide us. Wonderful.” Then my smile fell. I had to masturbate.

“Well, let’s get to it,” Minx grinned, straightening her short stature, her metallic-red hair looking almost pink in my light.

“I have to masturbate and orgasm,” I said, my cheeks pinking. “Thrak, Chaun, turn around.”

“But you are such a radiant flower, Sophia,” Chaun said, strumming his lyre again, this time with a lusty note that made me shiver, my pussy growing wetter. “I seem to recall how much you enjoyed being paraded on the Golden Hunger.”

“Because my Queen commanded,” I answered. I glanced at Angela, her smile amused.

“I’ll make sure they keep their backs to you,” Faoril said, kneeling, her red robes swishing and her silver nose ring glinting in my pink light. “Men, I think a fresh dose of both your cum will be a useful thing. So come here and let me blow you.”

Chaun glanced at Xandra who gave him a loving smile. She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips before her sapphire eyes looked at me with a hot hunger. She had changed since we left Hargone. More confident. It made her even sexier.

I unbelted my robe, licking my lips as I stared at Xandra and her eyes falling on my small breasts, my nipples so hard. I let my white robes slip to the floor, letting out a little shiver. It was chilly in here. But I was a temple-trained servant of Saphique. I could masturbate in a blizzard.

Probably.

“I could use help to make me cum,” I purred at Xandra as my hands slid down my stomach to my shaved pudenda. “Volunteers are welcomed.”

“Sure,” Minx said. The halfling was behind me. I gasped as she grabbed my butt-cheeks, pried them apart, and licked at my sphincter. She rimmed me with her tiny tongue, swirling about my asshole. “Mmm, not bad, Sophia. Tasty ass.”

“Everything about Sophia is tasty,” Angela smiled, her hand resting on her sword as she leaned against the wall by the junction. Xera moved to the opposite side, her ears twitching, the gold flecks gleaming in the shamrock tucked behind her right ear. She was lush and naked, always a delight to stare at.

Especially with a naughty halfling rimming my asshole.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Chain groaned as Faoril sucked noisily on his cock, making such obscene sounds. I tried not to notice the ebony and swarthy dicks. I could just see them as her mouth went back and forth, sucking on them, eager for the nasty cum to spill in their lips.

“I can help you, Sophia,” Xandra said, her voice so musical, a bird’s dulcets.

The slim woman moved to me, her nipples pressing on her sleeveless top, her knee-length skirt swishing. Her eyes were so bright in my pink light. My pussy clenched as I rubbed at my clit, eager to feel Xandra’s tongue on my pussy, licking, nuzzling, driving me wild towards my orgasm.

As Xandra fell to her knees before me, Minx’s tongue wiggled into my asshole. It was so tiny, swirling, teasing, sending sensations rippling to my pussy. I groaned, shuddered. Xandra’s delicate fingers stroked my inner thigh as she leaned her face forward, her breath washing across my pussy.

And she licked.

“Oh, Xandra,” I moaned, her tongue sliding so wonderfully through the folds of my pussy, teasing me, exciting me. “Mmm, that’s great. Oooh, yes.”

“And what about me?” Minx asked. “Isn’t my tongue great?”

“Yes, it is, you naughty halfling,” I moaned, sliding my hands up to my breasts, squeezing them as the halfling jammed her tongue back into my asshole. “Oh you are just delicious. Mmm, I love it. Worm that tongue into my asshole while Xandra devours my pussy.”

“She’s great at that,” groaned Chaun.

“Don’t look over your shoulder,” I groaned as the bard grinned at me, his teeth so white compared to his midnight-black skin. “Just enjoy your blowjob.”

“I am,” groaned Chaun, Faoril sucking with such enthusiasm.

I closed my eyes, ignoring Chaun’s and Thrak’s grunts and groans as Faoril gobbled their cocks. I concentrated on the delight of Xandra’s tongue probing into my pussy, swirling around, gathering my cream. She had her face pressed so tight into my pussy, her sapphire eyes shining up at me.

Oh, she enjoyed it.

Minx’s small fingers massaged my ass as her tongue probed and swirled. Then she sucked on my asshole, making me buck, my clit throbbing against Xandra’s delicate lips. The avian slid her tongue to it, stroking my nub, sending pleasure racing through my body.

Her delicate fingers slid slowly into my pussy.

“Xandra,” I panted.