Lord Amplevine's Revenge Pt. 02

Part 2! I'm gonna be completely honest with you: this part has pretty much no sexual content at all. It's here purely for people who want to see Synnøva's story resolved. I expect very few people to actually read it, but much love to you few folks who do. <3

-~o~-

"Fifty-two inches, my lady."

Synnøva threw her hands into the air. "Gods above! Two inches in two weeks. Did Halvar actually manage to curse me, or has fate simply decided that my tits will reach my knees in a few years?"

"It could be water weight. Have you gotten your blood this month?"

"I haven't had my blood in three years. I had the priests at the Temple of Faira rid me of that nonsense ages ago. Of course, they could do that, but they can't make my breasts stop growing."

"Ah..." Ædde rolled up her measuring tape. "Well, all I can do for you is continue making you clothes that fit, but I am happy to do it, my lady."

"Hopefully after today I will no longer need you to. Bjarna!" She called out his name, and he appeared at the door with a bow.

"Yes, my lady?"

"Has the priestess arrived yet? The one that Astrið sent for."

"As a matter of fact, my lady, I saw Ulv letting her in just moments ago."

"Excellent. Inform her that I will be with her shortly."

"At once, my lady." He bowed again, and didn't even stammer once. He'd been much more confident around her ever since his little tryst with Astrið in Amplevine Manor. She had come to visit him five times since then, and Synnøva was certain that he was spending all of his free time outside of the house with her. He was a decent enough servant, but what Astrið saw in him, Synnøva would never know.

She concluded her business with Ædde and clothed herself in a dress that was already feeling a little tight about the chest, despite the fact that it had been delivered to her just the day after the incident with Halvar. She stopped outside of the parlor, because she could hear two voices inside of it, chatting in rapid, fluent Shalian. She took a breath, and entered.

One of the two women sitting at the small table was human. Dark of skin and hair, green eyes. Probably from Vishanatar or Baribantar, or had parents from there. More importantly, she was wearing a suit of silvery mail, with a stylized image of a flower etched into the gorget. This was Naala, then. Astrið's friend. The other woman, her friend of a friend, had to be the priestess.

Astrið was Shalian in ancestry, but as soon as she opened her mouth you could tell just from her accent and the way that she spoke Norðmol that she was from Branturhem, born and raised. This woman, on the other hand, Synnøva could tell was absolutely, thoroughly Shalian, just from looking at her. Her skin was blue, the color of the sky, her hair white, her eyes yellow. The robe she wore was soft and had Shalian writing stitched along the trim. Underneath it she wore a pair of loose pants and leg-wrappings that went halfway up to her knees, along with a pair of soft woolen shoes, all cut and tailored in Shalian style. Her long hair was tied back in a loose braid, and woven into it were various fetishes and charms, which gently wobbled as she stood and smiled. And her teeth... Yes, there were the long, pointed canines. And when she said "Hello. You must be Synnøva. I am called Tula, and this is Naala," she said it in fluent but still distinctly accented Norðmol.

She introduced herself. Bade them to sit down. Braced herself for a lecture about the evils of wealth.

"Our friend Astrið says that you have a problem with your chest?"

"I do. It's too big." She stole a glance at Tula's chest as she said it. Astrið hadn't been exaggerating. She really was bigger than either of them. Of course, Astrið and Synnøva were both quite thin, so their enormous breasts looked out-of-place on them. Tula was heavyset, with wide hips and thick thighs, so hers looked...

Well, no. They were still immense. Gods above, how did she carry those things around?

"Hmm. Okay. You would like for me to make your breasts smaller?" Synnøva was listening for any hint of disdain or haughtiness, but there was none. Her tone was nothing but polite and matter-of-fact.

"I would. Is that something that you can do?"

"Yes."

She sighed in relief. Finally. "And what will your price be?"

Tula looked up at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It was covered in gold leaf. She looked at the wallpaper, which only the very wealthy in Branturhem could afford. She looked at the rich, dark wood lining the floor, and the fine porcelain teacups on the table, and the little silver spoons sitting next to them.

"Fifteen sovereigns."

Oh. Hmm. That was... not bad. Very expensive, but more than manageable for her. It was just that... "I was told that you wouldn't ask for money, but rather that you would take payment in some other way."

She smiled. "Astrið told you that, did she? She was close. I do not need your money, nor do I want it. The fifteen sovereigns will be donated to fifteen different orphanages, public kitchens, and shelters throughout the city."

Ah, there it was. Very Shalian. Still, it was a price she was willing to pay, and what did it matter where exactly the money went after it left her pockets?

"And I want you to deliver these donations to them yourself."

That made Synnøva furrow her brow. "Surely it won't make a difference if I send runners to do it? I have plenty. I could have it done within the hour."

Tula shook her head. "This is my price. We will come with you if you like, Naala and I, but you must give the money to them yourself, in person."

"But... Why does that matter?"

"I have a reason for it." Her smile was cheerful, and frustratingly unreadable.

"Well, can I at least know what I am getting first? How much smaller can you make my breasts, and how long will it take?"

"I can make them any size you want them to be, and seconds. Unless you want it to take longer. It can be easier to adjust if you make it slow rather than all at once."

Synnøva looked down, and saw nothing but chest. "I don't want to get rid of them entirely, and I don't even mind if they are big. I just don't want them to be..." She was about to say 'ridiculous', but then she took another look at Tula's chest. It was actually resting on the table. "As big as they are now." She looked at the knight, Naala. She was large-chested as well, but proportionally so. The curves that they made in her mail were big, but not to the point of excess. "If you could make me the same size as her, I would be happy."

Naala raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I'm wearing a tight band and the armor presses them down even more. My chest is actually much bigger than it appears right now." Her voice was striking. Deep, for a woman. Commanding.

"Well, if I could be as big as you look then I'd be happy. Is that doable? Oh, and I want to make sure that once they are a size that I like, they won't just grow larger again!"

"Without a doubt," said Tula. "I can do that as well. After you make your donations."

It wasn't that terrible of a price to pay, really. It would probably take most of the day to visit fifteen different places around the city, but Synnøva had been searching for the means to do this for years. What was a few more hours?

And so it went that she found herself standing, along with Tula and Naala, in front of an orphanage in one of the poorer neighborhoods of the city. She had been hesitant about carrying such a large sum of money with her as they simply wandered through the streets, but it turned out that the two of them had planned for that. It was for that reason that Naala was wearing her armor, and carrying a sword. Ulv had not allowed her to take it inside the manor, but she had it now, and despite being the shortest of the three of them she cut a striking figure through the crowds. The city watch was one thing, but nobody would dare to cross a Chrysanthemum Knight in full regalia.

"I have never much liked Tarja, as a deity," said Tula as they stepped inside the orphanage, "but they do good work here."

The place was... Dirty. There were holes in the walls, patched roughly with plaster in some spots, boards and nails in others. To the left and right were two hallways, and at the end of one was a room full of bunks with tattered sheets. Synnøva saw a little boy peek his head out from behind a bed and look at her shyly.

An old woman in the robes of the Temple of Tarja bustled up to them, smiling brilliantly, arms wide. "Hello! Hello, hello! Goodness, a Knight of the Chrysanthemum! Welcome! How may I help you? Are you here to adopt?"

"Er, not as such..." muttered Synnøva. She found herself suddenly tongue-tied. Odd. That rarely happened to her.

"Actually," said Naala, "Lady Silvercreek has come to make a donation."

The old woman's face changed visibly at the mention of her family name. She clearly recognized it, as her father was quite well-known around the city. "Lady Silvercreek!" she said, sound almost in awe. "Mercy, you should have said so!"

Synnøva recognized that tone. She had heard it before. This old woman had never spoken to anyone who owned a family name in her life.

"Goodness, of course, we are willing to accept any donation that you can spare, Lady Silvercreek! If only we had known you were coming, we could have prepared something for this occasion! Would you like to stay for lunch? We do not have much, but-"

Tula held up a hand. "Thank you, grandmother, but we have lots of places to visit today. We do not mean to be rude, but Lady Silvercreek must be off as soon as she makes her donation."

"Of course, of course! I apologize, my lady! Allow me to fetch our coffer, then you may be on your way!" She disappeared down a hallway.

"That old woman is going to carry the orphanage's coffer here? By herself?" Synnøva muttered.

"I think you'll find that it is different from the coffers you are used to seeing."

Indeed, it was. Synnøva had been expecting a small chest, at the very least. The tiny, wooden box that the old woman emerged with was scarcely big enough to hold a hundred coins. She brought it before them and opened it. Synnøva took a peek inside and furrowed her brow. "There are only two øre in here."

"Oh yes! Donations have been especially good as of late, so we're doing quite well! These two øre will last us through the rest of the month, I think. Still, I promise you, Lady Silvercreek, anything you are willing to give will be put to good use!"

Two øre. Synnøva paid Ædde four crowns per dress. A crown was worth twenty øre. One dress cost forty times the entire contents of this whole orphanage's coffers. And this would last them the rest of the month?

"Right. Er... Well, here you go." She unceremoniously pulled one of the fifteen sovereigns from her purse and placed it in the coffer, next to the two øre.

The old woman looked at it. "Er... My lady, surely you did not mean... This is a preposterous amount of money! You must have meant to put an øre in here, yes?"

"No. One sovereign. That is my donation."

"My... My lady, I..." She put a hand to her chest. "My goodness! I... I don't know what to say! Thank you! Thank you! A sovereign! This will last us years! And we will finally be able to two meals a day, instead of one, and get them proper clothes, and... and..." There were tears streaming down her face now, and suddenly, she was embracing her. "Thank you, my lady! Thank you!" Her robes smelled musty, and her old arms were thin and frail. Synnøva stood there for a moment, looking between Naala and Tula, unsure of what to do. Bewildered, she gingerly wrapped her arms around the old woman and hugged her back.

By the time that the three of them left the old woman was weeping openly, crying tears of joy, telling them about all the things that they would be able to do with the money that they had been given. Mostly this consisted of things that Synnøva found absurdly trivial, like fixing the shutters on the windows so that drafts wouldn't get in, and buying firewood. Firewood! How could they possibly not have firewood, she wondered, and when she had said this aloud to Tula, she answered her.

"How could they? You saw the coffer. They barely had enough money to feed the children. Anything that isn't essential to their survival has to be foregone."

"But... Can't they go and cut down some trees outside of the city or something?"

"Who? They were all old women and little children. They have no servants, and no money to pay anyone to do it for them. And even if they did, which trees would they cut down? Every tree within twenty miles of the city that isn't on private property is owned by the Crown. Cutting down either carries a sentence of... what is it, Naala?"

"Five years of servitude."

Synnøva shifted uncomfortably at that. Some of her house staff were there because they had received servitude sentences. Could any of them been consigned to her household for something as simple as cutting down a tree? "Alright," she said. "I am starting to understand why you're making me do this. Couldn't you have just given me a lecture on the morality of wealth instead? It would have been a lot faster."

"I could have. But nobody likes to be lectured, and nobody will open their heart to the words of someone who is lecturing them."

"If you think that I'm evil because I have money you could just say it, you know."

"I don't think that you're evil. Truly, I don't. But I think that you have benefited from a system that is designed to keep the rich rich at the expense of the poor, and you have never examined the workings of this system because, well. You've never had to. You've likely never had any reason to spend all that much time around poor folks, have you?"

"What a strange question. No, I suppose I haven't."

"That's all I'm trying to do, give you a glimpse into the lives of these folks. What you take away from the experience is up to you." She shrugged. "Next up is Torvald's Soup Kitchen."

Torvald, as it turned out, was a young man, not much older than Synnøva herself. He too was moved to tears by her donation. As was the proprietor of the Arnesson Shelter, and the Dockside Orphanage, and the headmaster of Alder's School for Underprivileged Youths. None of the other ten wept openly, but they were all quick to express their gratitude in a number of ways. The owner of one of the soup kitchens they visited actually passed out on the spot when he realized how much Synnøva was giving him. Tula had revived him by unstoppering a vial full of a strange, green liquid that she pulled from her bosom and waving it under his nose. And finally, on their very last stop, a very poor, very run-down orphanage on the edge of town, one of the children had even given her a doll as a present. It was a filthy, tattered little thing, with one wooden button for an eye (the other had fallen off), and bits of fraying yarn for hair. Synnøva was hesitant to even touch it for how dirty it was, but the way that little girl had offered it to her, as if she was bequeathing unto her her most precious possession, and the way that she had insisted... "This is Vigga, and she'll be happy with you, 'cause you're a nice lady." How could she have said no?

As they made their way back to Silvercreek Manor, Synnøva stared at the doll.

"Tula."

"Hmm?"

"You didn't tell any of the places that we visited today that we were coming, did you?"

"I didn't." It was believable, given the surprise that every single one of them had expressed at seeing them. And most of them had clearly never met either Tula or Naala before.

"All of them, every single one, tried to offer me something in return for my donation."

"They did, didn't they?"

"Some of those people had hardly anything at all, no more than a few penigs."

"A sovereign is an incredible amount of money to these folks. You probably noticed that I chose some of the poorest places in the city for this."

"I suppose that's the lesson you're trying to teach me, isn't it? I could do this every week if I wanted to. Maybe not fifteen sovereigns, but I could spend two or three a week, if I budgeted it properly. Is that what you want me to do?"

"That would be incredibly kind of you, but..." Tula shrugged. "It would bring me overwhelming joy to return here a year or two from now and hear that you have been providing for the folks here who need it most, and I could certainly ask you to do it, but once our business has concluded I really have no way to make sure that you will. All I wanted to do was to show you how incredibly easy it is for you to make, well... An enormous difference, in lots of peoples' lives. You have an amazing amount of power to help people." She grinned. "Well, I've started to get a bit preachy, haven't I?"

"A little," said Synnøva. "But it's alright."

—

She stared at that doll all the way back to the manor, and when she arrived there, she handed it off to one of the servants. "Please wash this, and then bring it to my bedchambers. Be careful not to damage it."

"Of course, my lady." As the servant- Synnøva didn't even know her name- carried it off to the laundry, she couldn't help but notice the brand on her right hand: the letter Þ, for þjof. Thief. What had she stolen, she wondered? It couldn't have been much, otherwise Father would never have purchased her contract. And how long had she worked here? She could remember seeing her face around the house for a few years, at least, and she had never once thought to ask her about herself, or even what her name was...

By the time that she had returned to the parlor, Tula had produced a tiny statue, very similar in form to the figurine that had made Astrið so overwhelmingly bosomy, except this one had a little hole in the base in which there was a cone of sweet-smelling incense burning. In front of it, there was a cup full of white liquid. Milk.

"God-magic is different from sorcery," said Tula. "Sorcery is dangerous, both to its caster and those around them, but it is very easy to move and center in other places. God-magic, on the other hand, is no danger at all, unless the god granting it wants it to be, but it is very difficult to transfer it from one mortal body to another. In order for me to do it, a physical link has to be formed. This can be done in one of three ways."

"Name them."

"The first way is to have sex."

Synnøva raised an eyebrow. "Typically folks at least make an attempt to court me before proposing that. And I'm not all that interested in women, to tell the truth." She thought again, suddenly, about Astrið's pussy, dripping with cum, wrapped around Bjarna's cock. Why couldn't she get that image out of her head?

Tula smiled. "I understand. The second way is to drink my blood. Or for me to drink yours. Either way would work."

"Gruesome."

"I agree. Not many folks choose that option. The third is for you to drink this." She gestured at the cup of milk on the table. "It is pleasant to drink and not nearly as personal as having sex, but I would be remiss if I did not make it clear that it did come out of my body."

She peered at it. "And those are the only ways?"

"Unless you happen to be lactating."

"You'd think I would be, but no. They are just enormous, not full of milk. What about the figurine that made Astrið's chest bigger? She didn't have to drink anything, or have sex with anyone."

"If I had the power to imbue magic into an object like that I could just as easily put the magic directly into you, but alas, I am not that skilled."

"Right. Okay, well, whenever you're ready." She put her hand around the cup, and noticed that it was shaking.

"As big as Naala appears to be while wearing her armor, and you don't want them to grow anymore, and you want it to happen in just a few moments, yes? Think about it carefully. If you change your mind you might not be able to do this again until the next time I am in Branturhem, and that could be years from now."