Chapter 8 #2
Trewoofe looked down at his front paws, both now occupied, one holding the basket and the other clutching the gift he had made for her. He did not want her to leave just yet, so he took the leap.
“Shall we have this together?” he asked, apprehension twitching his nose. “Your familiar…” He looked left and right. “…is welcome to join us too.”
Avice’s expression lit up. “Bramble is at home. He will fetch me if anyone comes calling for my services. They should not, as I have already completed my rounds this morning. If I am honest, I insisted he stay home. When I mentioned I was visiting you today, he started shaking like a leaf. He did not exactly enjoy his last visit here,” she explained quickly. “But I would love to stay, Lord.”
Trewoofe rumbled a chuckle. “I apologise for the way I handled him the last time.” He gestured his head over to the surrounding garden. “Once we have finished, I will fill those waterbags for you, as well.”
They settled onto the flowery moss, the soft green a canvas, and the rainbow of flowers a vibrant spectrum from a painter’s brush.
Trewoofe curled his body around Avice, who sat just behind his elbow, close but not touching his scales.
His tail whipped back and forth at her proximity, and he fought to keep down his crest.
Friends, Trewoofe, friends! he chided himself. “Before we eat and drink. I have a gift for you. I made it myself.”
Avice blinked in surprise. “A gift? For me?”
The Knucker opened his paw, and she shifted to her knees, leaning on his foreleg as she peered down into his grasp.
His heart hammered. She touched me. By herself. Of her own accord. He fumbled his tongue for a moment before he found it again. “It is carved from a crystal from the Underneath. If you touch it, call for me, I will hear it and come to you.”
Avice removed her gloves and stuffed them in the basket. Her bare fingers reached and brushed against him. His tail lashed again like a dog wagging his tail. She gently took the crystal pendant and held it up to her face to study it.
She dropped it from her gaze and looked up at Trewoofe. “You made this for me?” she asked, her eyes welling up with tears.
“Yes. Little witch, why are you crying? If you do not like it, I will not take offense.”
He would take offense, but seeing her cry made his chest ache.
“I am crying because no one has ever given me a gift before. You made it as well!” she cried, pressing the chiming, purple crystal to her heart.
“So, you do like it?” The Knucker had to know.
“I love it.”
She beamed up at him as she looped the pendant around her neck, pulling her hair free from the string. Trewoofe was mesmerised as her hair glinted and rippled in the Sun, looking like a river under the Moon. Emboldened by her gentle touches and reaction to his gift, Trewoofe had to ask.
“What happened to your head?”
The midwife brushed away the happy tears that had tracked down her cheeks, before gently touching her fingertips to the bump. She winced, the edges of her lips tugging downwards.
“A Pillywiggin from my garden threw a cup at my head,” she sighed, dropping her hand from her temple and resting it on the crystal pendant.
Trewoofe growled in his throat, lips peeling back and exposing his long, sharp fangs. “Want me to eat it?”
“Lord!” Avice’s mouth dropped open. “Bramble took care of it.”
“Excellent. He is a good familiar, and I am glad he is looking after you.” Trewoofe lowered his snout to her injured temple, close, but not touching. “May I lick you? I will heal the wound quickly, as it is a minor one.”
Avice’s face flushed with a rosy glow, her cheeks turning a charming red. “…Yes, please.”
Trewoofe’s crest flicked up, and he quickly folded it down by sheer willpower.
The midwife squinted up at him. “What was that?”
The Knucker dug his claws into the moss and cleared his throat. “Nothing to worry about. Shall I proceed?”
Avice nodded, closed her eyes, and offered her temple to him.
Trewoofe flicked his tongue experimentally, tasting the air that was saturated with her sweet scent.
He extended it and lightly caressed the bow of her cheek, before trailing it up to the bump on her temple.
It felt firm. The forks softly explored, and saliva gently pooled onto her skin.
The taste of her flooded his senses. The Knucker was grateful he had already pleasured himself to her image, otherwise, he was afraid his length would burst out then and there.
Trewoofe watched as her eyes fluttered open, her gaze soft as she looked up his snout.
He rumbled, his heart pounding at her flushed expression.
He was sure he saw it pass over her pretty face: desire.
He allowed his tongue to linger a moment more, imagining where else he could explore on her body with it.
As he retracted it, Trewoofe ran it over the roof of his mouth, over his fangs, saturating the taste of her over his senses.
“Thank you, Lord.” She beamed up at him.
The Knucker loved the way the fine lines at the corners of her eyes creased as she smiled. He pictured her smiling down at new younglings, offsprings with scraped knees, and elderly patients who needed her witching to comfort them.
“You are most welcome.” He paused before speaking again. “Avice?”
“Hmmm?” she replied distractedly, pulling a filled water bag and food wrapped in linens from her basket.
“I like it when you smile. It reminds me of when I have been underground too long, and I feel the Sun on my scales again.”
Avice looked at him curiously. “Thank you, King Trewoofe. I appreciate the kind words.”
“Not just kind words. I mean them.”
She rewarded him with another dazzling smile.
There was a small gap between her two front teeth, and somehow it made her grin all the wider.
He watched as she poured the still-hot tea into a large wooden bowl she had also stashed in the basket.
Trewoofe snuffed contentedly at the scent: elderflower and chamomile.
He lapped at the liquid, the sweetness spreading through him all the way to his toes.
The Knucker had not realised he had a sweet tooth until Avice started bringing the treats as offerings, but now the thought of honey cakes and tea made him drool with anticipation.
“Delicious as always,” he complimented, before drinking more.
Avice gave a satisfied nod before spreading out a cloth and placing honey cakes and cold, fried bread on them.
“Please eat,” she beckoned, gesturing a hand over the display.
“Not before you have poured yourself a cup and had one or two yourself. I am a large Knucker, and my appetite matches my size.”
“Of course.”
She settled herself next to him, steaming cup in one hand and two cakes in the other. Between bites and sips, she enquired about Hope.
“I am happy to report…” Trewoofe paused as his tongue reached out and chomped down a tiny cake in one bite. “…the Piskies took her; they are confident that she could be saved with their magic.”
Avice let out breath. “I am relieved to hear that.”
“If you would like, between now and your next visit, I can check in on her,” Trewoofe offered.
“That would be wonderful.” Avice grinned up at him, and the Knucker swished his tail in response. She looked up at the Sun, the light catching her face in a way Trewoofe would not forget, before turning her gaze back to the King. “I should not delay too long here.”
Trewoofe’s tongue swept out for the last honey cake and lapped the dregs of his delicious tea. He savoured the flavour, letting it melt in his mouth in a sticky sweetness.
“You are under no obligation to stay,” he replied, already feeling the loss of her presence.
Then, Avice did something the Knucker did not expect. She had been sitting by his elbow while they ate, drank, and spoke together. She leaned her now-healed temple against his bicep, her skin warm against his cool scales. His tail curled, and claws dug into the moss beneath his paws.
“I want to stay, but… duty,” she yawned, eyes closing.
“Yes, duty,” he replied, drowsy in the Sunshine.
Trewoofe curled his head around and brushed his tongue over her, gently licking the point of touch between skin and scale. She whimpered at his caress. The sweet noises sent a bolt of desire through his long, sinuous body. He admired her as she drifted off into a nap.
He yawned and settled his head next to her sprawling legs.
The Knucker noticed her skirt had folded up to just above her knees as she had settled against his scales.
He could not help but ogle the pretty, red ribbons that were elaborately tied to hold her stockings in place.
His crest fluttered behind his horns when he noticed the tiniest sliver of thigh exposed to the cool air, goosebumps on her skin.
Trewoofe’s tongue flicked, and he wondered what she would taste like there.
As he retracted it back into his mouth, he clamped his jaw shut with a snap so it could not escape again.
Instead, he used the point of his chin to tug the skirt down, so Avice was covered once again.
With a chuff, he resettled his head next to the midwife and basked in the sunshine while she napped.