This is the serialization of a story I posted to Patreon last month. Click here to see all the sections I’ve posted so far.

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We were stopped by more guards when we approached the fortress. “Who
goes there?” they, or possibly narrative convention, demanded.

“Iason and Lemma,” said Iason. “We’re here to provide
entertainment for the troops.”

“Yeah?” said one of the guards. “What does an entertainer
need with heavy armor and a sword?”

Iason didn’t even blink. “She’s the entertainment. I’m her
bodyguard.”

“You know it can be dangerous out there for a woman alone,” I
said. “Without a big strong man to protect her.” I fluttered my
eyelashes at the guard, but he didn’t even notice. Too busy staring at my tits.

Dammit! Maybe there is a drawback to these puppies.

“Who hired you?” the guard asked. “Nobody here did, so how do
we know you’re not spies?”

“Yeah,” said another guard. “You look… foreign to
me. You were hired by some foreigner to learn our country’s secrets, weren’t
you!”

“No, no,” said Iason. “We’re good Munnish folk, just like
you! So’s our employer! We were hired by, uh…”

“Munnann,” I said, blurting out the first Munnish name I could
think of. Well… the only Munnish name I knew, honestly. At least, I hoped she
was Munnish.

Maaaaybe there’s a downside to having no inhibitions, too.

The guards looked at one another. “Maybe we should take them to
Commander Quayne,” murmured one.

“Yeah,” said another. “If they’re really from
Munnann…”

The first guard who’d spoken turned to us. “Right!” he said, with
a rather fake-looking smile. “If you’d just come with me…”

He led us into the fortress, across its courtyard, and toward the central
keep. “Your weapon, please,” he said to Iason.

“What!?” Iason’s hand moved automatically to his sword hilt.

“I can’t take an armed stranger to see Commander Quayne!”

“Fine,” Iason sighed, and handed it over.

The guard whistled. “Nice!”

“Thanks,” said Iason. “You better not get a scratch on it, I
expect to get it back in perfect condition!”

“Right,” said the guard as he led us deep into the keep, then
ushered us into a windowless, candlelit room where a middle-aged man in armor
hunched over a map. “Commander Quayne,” he said. “These people
say they’re entertainers sent here by Munnann.”

Quayne looked us over. “Leave us,” he ordered the guard.

Once the door was shut, he gestured at us to sit at the table where the map
was spread. He smiled at us, steepling his fingers in that way that says
“I am probably not going to burst into maniacal laughter, but I
could if I wanted to.”

“So,” he finally said. “What brings you here?”

“The book you’re keeping in that cabinet behind you,” I said
without thinking. Dammit! Stupid no inhibitions!

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To be continued tomorrow… but Patreon backers can read the whole thing right now, and the next Lemma story as well!

Lemma the Librarian: Tricks of the Trade | Midori Konton on Patreon