[coronatiger]

Thoughts on March 17th

It was raining today, but that didn’t matter much, as I planned to remain in the cabin. Olivia reported that we would be docking at Vallaria in the afternoon, and that Va’lyndra had told the captain we would be leaving again in the evening.

We spent the time as we did yesterday, with studying, gymnastics and sex. Jusiel and Kallan convinced the captain to let them take one horse up on deck, and trained with it. Ilzo had an accident, stepping on Leopold’s backpack, and breaking his wax tablet and a healing potion.

In Vallaria, Leopold purchased a small barrel of rocks to eat for the rest of the journey. Va’lyndra went shopping and returned with fancy travel garb and a barrel of ale to share with the crew. I took Olivia, Jusiel and Kallan and went to visit Varek. Luckily, he was at home, and opened the door himself when we knocked. He was happy to see us all, and invited us in for a bottle of wine. I told him we were going on tour and needed a manager. I explained we were going by ship to Fort Glory, and then we would perform our way north to Surd.

Varek would love to come with us, and said he had to discuss it with his wife and his boss first. The rest of us went outside to wait, but heard raised voices from inside. His wife didn’t like him going away for so long, but Varek came out and said that he was ready to go.

Varek wanted me to come along to see his boss, so while Olivia and the others returned to the Floating Fly, he and I went to the merchant’s guildhall, where we convinced his boss it was a good idea to let him come. His argument was that one can’t say no to such a celebrity as Mattea Vishi. His boss said we had to promote the merchant guild at my shows, with posters saying that the show was sponsored by the merchant guild. “But is the merchant guild sponsoring my shows?” I asked. The boss said of course, they were sending one of their officers to support the tour, after all! “Uh, who?” I asked, and Varek cleared his throat. Oh…

Varek and his boss talked privately for a few minutes, and then we returned to the ship, too. As soon as everyone was back, we cast off.


Thoughts on March 18th

I put on my leathers again, and the rope, and spent the day with Olivia.


Thoughts on March 19th

Varek dropped by our cabin and asked me to join him and the elves in planning the tour. I asked Olivia if she was okay with that, since I had promised to let her have me all to herself, but she said that she had only thought the promise lasted until Vallaria, and we were past that city. Olivia did join me for our discussions, though, and she pulled Kallan aside for some girl talk. I didn’t pry. If Olivia wanted me to know what they discussed, she would tell me, otherwise, I figured I’d rather not know.

We arrived at St. Clair before midday. I took Olivia, Varek, Kallan and Jusiel ashore to see if we could locate Winnie Wik, the juggler. The captain wanted to remain in port until evening, so Va’lyndra suggested we put on a show. I asked Varek to organize it. Kallan said she and Jusiel would get a couple of horses from the ship for the performance, so Olivia and I headed out, in search of the juggler.

We found the address that Jusiel and Kallan had, but when I asked there, we learned that Winnie had moved, and the current residents didn’t know her new address. She could be anywhere, but probably not in the Old World. Olivia and I returned to the others, and we put on a show in the afternoon. Then we congregated at the Floating Fly, and then we were off.


Thoughts on March 20th

Since they would be travelling with us on the tour, we decided to get Leopold, Va’lyndra and Ilzo involved in the planning. None of them had the skills to perform their own act, but Ilzo could toss me about, Va’lyndra could prance around and look pretty between acts, and Leopold could help with the rigging. Just like in Landfall.


Thoughts on March 21st

Nothing new happened today. We continued planning, and did some practice. Olivia squeezed in some study time.


Thoughts on March 22nd

I woke to the sound of Olivia’s screams. I sat up and tried to recall where I had put Scorchmark, while Olivia ripped away the bed cover and ran out. There was nobody else here; had she had a nightmare? But then why did she run away from me like I was a monster? My body sense was off, as if my hands weren’t exactly where I believed them to be. I looked down on myself and nearly fainted. My breasts were gone, and on my groin stood the reason for Olivia’s flight. It wilted under the stare of my disbelief. I was a man!

Realizing anyone could see me, I closed the door. How had this happened? How could I fix it? I startled when someone pounded on the door, and again when a man’s deep voice replied, “who is it?” I touched my throat in wonder while listening to Va’lyndra and Ilzo discussing what to do with a stow-away they had discovered.

The door opened, and Ilzo entered, cracking his fingers, eager for a fight, unless I completely misread the situation. Va’lyndra followed him inside and asked me what I was doing here. I told her I woke when Olivia began screaming, but why were they here? Shouldn’t they deal with the stow-away? Va’lyndra asked, “Mattea, is that you?” I struck a pose and replied, “Duh! Obviously! Who else should I be?”

Va’lyndra asked me to fetch my Sulla statuette. My fingers tingled when I pulled it out of the saddlebag. I didn’t see anything special about it, nor did it seem like Va’lyndra did. Blushing slightly, she asked me to put on some clothes, or at least remain here in the cabin, while she went to talk to Olivia. Ilzo stayed with me, so I decided to get dressed. It appeared I had grown around ten centimeters, and my shoulders had widened, so I barely got into the clothes, and I had to leave my jacket unbuttoned. I pulled out my mirror and studied myself. A remarkably handsome fellow looked back at me, but amazingly, I felt no attraction to my reflection. It felt as if I was looking at my twin brother. All my features were there, but with a masculine tint.

Olivia asked through the closed door if it really was me, and I said yes. She opened the door and looked at me, wide-eyed. She whispered something to Va’lyndra, who told Ilzo she had seen a giant fish with teeth on the outside, following behind the ship. Ilzo dashed out to look. “We need to catch it! Do you think we can eat it?”

Olivia asked why I had become a man. I confessed I didn’t know, but Va’lyndra said it was because I worshipped Sulla. I went over to the door and slammed it in her face, leaving me alone with Olivia. We stared at the statuette, the three-faced, two-sexed statuette. Oops.

Still wrapped only in the bed cover, Olivia dressed awkwardly, and I felt a stab of pain at the idea of her being afraid of me. Olivia thought I should remain here until this passed, and we agreed that she should move out and sleep with the others. I blinked back tears, and the hunger took over, but receded when Olivia rebuffed my flirting. In this shape, she wasn’t attracted to me anymore.

Unbidden thoughts of two of the sailors manifested in my head. I hadn’t thought much about it at the time, but I had registered that they were into men. Maybe I could get from them what Olivia denied me? No, no, no! I banished the idea and distracted myself with talk of the old days. Olivia joined me at the table, and after a while, she started to cry. I gathered her in an embrace, and as one thing led to another, we ended up in bed.

Our lovemaking was slow, clumsy and inelegant. I was completely inexperienced with this new body, and Olivia was wary of it and skittish. I stopped at every moan she gave, afraid that I was hurting her. “At least your tongue hasn’t changed,” Olivia exhaled when she slumped down on my chest, “I really needed that.” It was clear she didn’t find me attractive in my current shape, but she knew it truly was me hiding inside, and that was enough. There was no need for her to move out of our cabin.

Olivia remained inside with me, and buried herself in her books while I practiced acrobatics, trying to get used to this larger body. It was difficult. In the evening, I prayed to the statuette again, asking it to give me my own body back. Olivia asked what I had prayed for last night, and I told her I had given Sulla my usual request, to bless our love. “Oh, dear!” Olivia exclaimed, looking me in the eyes. “Oh, dear!” she repeated with a glance further down. If her first exclamation had another meaning, the hunger drove away any desire to talk.