Page 29 of Vows of Sacrifice

“If I don’t have the right, you certainly don’t!” I mumbled, before tossing him into the air.

The tiny man twirled in a mass of luminous dust and jingling bells before giving me an outraged look. Nevertheless, after locking eyes with me for a moment, he understood ‘who’ I was and hid behind the leaf of a nearby tree, where Ashana and I stood.

“If you don’t have the right to what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Her hands rested on her hips, while the little creatures continued to play around her as if my wife were the attraction of the day.

“To slip between your breasts.”

The words flew out of my mouth without me even giving it a moment’s thought. I bit my tongue in retaliation.

“Unlike them, you’re too big to manage that.”

I narrowly refrained from telling her that there was a part of me that could undoubtedly fit in there, with great enthusiasm, in fact.

This time, I had made the effort to think before I spoke. My wife’s innocence was damn dangerous for our conversations.

“Of course,” I merely replied, with a dreamy smile.

What my wife’s cleavage revealed left little room for speculation as to the size of her breasts. Her chest was of a beautiful and most tempting generosity. An image sprung up in my fertile mind—an image both wildly imaginative and downright realistic—and I had to chase it away quickly or I’d risk finding myself cramped in my pants.

“Dovah! Dovah, please!”

“Mmh?” I said, trying to bring myself back to the present moment.

Ah, yes. Fairies and goblins. I shooed them away, gently scolding them.

“Who are they? Why are they so small?” asked Ashana.

I did notice one thing, however. It was obviously the first time she’d seen magical beings, yet she didn’t seem frightened by them. The truth of blood cannot lie. Magic flows in her veins.

“They’re the little people, my lady. See the ones with wings? Those are little fairies. The others, the ones with the funny hats, they’re goblins. They’re playful and mischievous, but not really dangerous. Watch out for the elves, or the big fairies.”

“Elves? Big Fairies?” she repeated.

“They’re as tall as humans, distinguished by their ethereal beauty and long, pointed ears. They are ambivalent, hating and loving humans at the same time. Sometimes they kidnap them for love.”

“What?”

I nodded and held out a hand to help her over a dead tree trunk.

“They take them into their hidden world and . . . well, fornicate. With them. Against their will, if their victim doesn’t succumb to their advances.”

A horrified expression immediately appeared on Ashana’s face.

“But that’s horrible!” she whispered, genuinely disgusted.

I looked her straight in the eyes.

“You didn’t know? They’re not demons, strictly speaking.”

She shook her head in the negative.

“My father created a rational world. Now I understand that I’ve been living outside our reality.”

“I’d have thought you’d be more surprised to find yourself confronted with this ‘reality,’ as you so call it.”

Ashana’s eyes widened.

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