Oskar and the Jeweled Collar (1/2)

Getting in was ridiculously easy, and felt like cheating. Edolie, my wonderful and capable fence, had traded a fine ale for a key to the servant’s entrance of the Weston estate. That the ale had fallen off a cart the night before, and wasn’t part of her Inn’s normal stores, was beside the matter. Edolie was fond of a well crafted plan, with multiple options and good information. It’s why we were so successful and free to continue our business.

Tonight’s target was a lovely jeweled collar that Lady Weston had worn in her recent wedding ceremony. It had been all the talk of the elites of Winterhaven, since it openly marked her subservience to her husband. The collar was encrusted with gems: diamonds as well as emeralds and blue sapphires chosen to match the colors of her House.

**

The collar was magical, or so Edolie told me. She had the ability to see magic in things and people; she wasn’t the only one, so it became an open secret that Lady Weston had a magic collar. Someone wanted it; someone willing to go through less than legal channels. Like myself.

Thankfully the Lord and Lady were on their honeymoon, which included a trip to the Lady’s home in Adhoven, where both magic and any deviation from standard sexuality was shunned. Thus we were quite certain that the collar lay within their estate. The Lord and Lady, and most of their retinue, were gone - leaving the estate mostly empty and ripe for the pickings.

And I had a key to the place.

The servant’s entrance was on an alley running behind the estate. It was primarily used for deliveries, and the basement it opened up onto was filled with crates and boxes. I knew from Edolie’s maps that there was a cold storage and a wine cellar off the entrance, neither of which I cared about. I also knew this was the servant’s primary entrance, so I knew there would be a fairly clear path into the house itself, which might be unguarded and completely open.

Not that I counted on that — I have a few tricks of my own.

Everyone has some connection to the seven spheres of magic. Unsurprisingly, my connection is primarily to agility — I can use my connection to help dodge blows or climb walls or lift coins out of purses. It helps make me what I am, but doesn’t fully account for my success. Edolie and good planning is a large part of that, but we both know I have other skills to draw on.

I have a small connection to the sphere of voice, as well. I can’t command with my voice, and my pitch is horrible, instead what I have is the most acute hearing I’ve ever encountered. If I know the sound I’m hearing, I can trace it’s echoes, through the space I’m in, and since sound carries through walls I can quickly “see” what is around me. I’ve spent months practicing it with my favorite soundmaker: the Gold Crown of Winterhaven.

I pulled a coin out of my own purse and with a flick of my thumb, spun it into the air. I closed my eyes and stood still, focusing my attention on the sound. The coin hit, sending off it’s metal sound, and filling the area with echoes. The coin’s sound would be inaudible upstairs to your average person, but I knew their shape, and could follow them up.

From that I was able to discern two things. First, the map Edolie had was fairly accurate. There was a secret passage to the second floor form the first that wasn’t on the map. There was no telling how that was trapped or used, so I stuck to the current plan of slipping up the servant’s stairs. Second, there were only five other people in the house. Two were on the first floor, and the remaining three were on the top floor. That was my destination so I’d have to keep an ear out for them.

I listened to their heartbeats, attuning myself to them for later. I can’t move and keep my hearing open — it’s too distracting and loud. Plus, if someone says something even in a slightly louder than normal tone, it would be deafening. So I clamped it down and headed for the door.

I put my hand on the door out of the Weston’s basement and felt the familiar hum of a magical ward. Most people don’t have the ability to sense and manipulate magic through Touch, and since it’s not channelled through the seven spheres, less is known about it. That’s a good thing for me, as I use it regularly to assess objects and bypass security. Most magical door alarms trigger when someone who is not attuned to them breaks their flow. The Weston’s door from the basement into their house proper was no different.

It is good basic security, but particularly easy for me to bypass. All I had to do was redirect the flow of magic through my body, that way it was never broken. I put my left hand on the door, and my right on the jamb and opened myself to the ward’s magic. It flowed through me and the alarm wouldn’t sound as long as I kept up the connection. I waited until the heartbeats I could hear moved into another room — one was in the kitchens and the other worked in what Edolie had marked as the library. I closed the door behind me and let the magic go back into it’s prescribed flow.

I paused, shut my eyes, and felt out for the other heartbeats. One was upstairs by itself, in the master bedroom. Hopefully they’d move before I got there. The other two were both in a guest bedroom, and very,very close together. I chuckled at that. While the lord’s away, the servants

play. That’s when I heard the shrill ringing, it was so loud it almost knocked me over. I let out a grunt, realized anyone could have heard me, and slid into a nearby closet to hide.

Had I set off the alarm? What was the noise?

I shut down my hearing before I got a headache, and realized that the sound was too high pitched for anyone to hear it. I breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at myself. Adrenaline rushed through me, and I started feeling good. A lot of what I do, I admit, is to get that thrill — the one that comes with potential for discovery. It’s thrilling and not just for the danger, it’s a sexual high. Some part of all the money I get goes to filling my bed after a good run; the rush I was feeling right then aroused me, and I grew hard with anticipation.

I couldn’t tell where anyone was without my Hearing, so I opened the closet door to peer out and see what was going on. A female form moved from the kitchen area into the receiving room. “Landon, are you around?” she called out.

“I’m coming, Ember,” a deep male voice replied.

I watched as the two came together, right in view from the closet. The woman, Ember, wore a simple peasant dress that came down to below ankles; over it was a white apron. She’d already pulled off and dropped her bonnet, revealing long, dark black hair that was pulled back into a tight bun. Landon was obviously a manservant of some kind, probably head of the household. He wore a black jacket and dark pants. His hair was short, dark brown, and beginning to turn grey around his temples.

From my vantage point, they stood between me and the back of a chaise lounge. As they approached each other, they embraced. The maid turned her face up and Landon leaned down and kissed her, first tentativ ely then with more passion. She moaned into the kiss. “Oh, Landon,” she said. “Why have we never done this?”

I was enrapt in what was going on, but wondered that myself. I was hard, and stroked myself as the two made out.

“There was never time, Ember,” he said. “But now we don’t need to wait.” Her hands went to the laces of his pants, untying them, and pulling out his cock. She knelt before him, and he worked her hair out of its bun while she licked the tip of his member. When it was free, she shook her head, letting the hair cascade across his cock before she took him wholly into her mouth. He let out a deep sigh and she slid up and down him looking up at him as she did.

He swallowed. “Ember,” he said, almost stuttering. “You know that I am normally a very patient man.” She nodded on his cock, only stopping from her rhythm for a moment. “Not today, Ember.” She smiled around his cock, and he reached down to her, helping her up.

He bent her over the chaise then, her ass pointed right at me. He lifted her skirts up over her head, and tore at her undergarments until I could see her wet lips, and smell her arousal. He stood behind her, and slid into her with a single thrust. She let out a happy yell, and I stayed there, hidden in the closet watching them and stroking my cock. I bumped the door carelessly so that it was wide enough I could see more of the view. I wished they’d taken the time to get more naked, but it didn’t matter — their cries and wet sounds of fucking were enough.

It was also the ideal moment to leave the closet. I was stealthy enough; they were engaged in their own activity enough. I could have slipped out and escaped the room. Logically, I could say that I didn’t because they were facing the way the plan had me going. I had to pass in front of them to reach the stairs that would take me to the second floor. But the truth is I could have gone another way, the route to the secret passageway I’d found was clear, and there were other routes — the Weston estate was huge. No, I stayed because I was transfixed; I was as enraptured by what was going on as these two, and my hand was tight around my cock, jerking in time to the butler’s thrusts.

I wasn’t going to make it out of here as long as they were fucking, and I was sure that they’d find me as soon as they were done. It was a stupid risk, but one I didn’t even consider not taking. I didn’t even think about it, I just stood there, stroking my cock.

It was only a matter of time.**
This story is in the same world as Kadja: Gaining Power. All four links to that story can be found on the More Stories page.