"The Maid of Steel."

"The Iron King names the Maid of Steel," Talaitha intones. "May the spirits reveal the destiny which awaits him!"

Talaitha steps close to you, her eyes locked on yours, and her hands begin to touch your body. It is a strange sensation... her touches are pleasurable by their very nature, but it is obvious that they are not truly intended as such. Rather than seek out sensitive and intimate places, her fingertips brush over your temples, then press gently into your neck to feel your pulse through the strong blood vessels there... then her breasts press into your chest, but it seems that she does this only to breathe in the same time as you do; so that she inhales as you breathe out, and then again in the opposite manner. It may be your imagination, but it seems to you that she even somehow manages to match the rhythm of her heartbeat with your own. It is a strange intimacy, unlike that of a lover, more as if she seeks to become one with you than to share her body.

Her eyes close, and beneath the lids you can see them dart rapidly back and forth, as if she were suddenly asleep and dreaming. Her hands find your own, palm to palm, not lacing the fingers but aligning them with yours. Her lips are so close now that it is all you can do not to lean in just a hair's breadth further and kiss them... but you remember that Talaitha warned you to take no action without her instruction. Even if she has no true power or connection with the spirits, it feels unwise to disturb her trance again.

"The Maid of Steel," she breathes, almost too quietly to be heard even so close. "Speak the name with me." With those words, Talaitha moves that tiniest bit closer so that your lips just barely touch, like a fresh dewdrop upon a blade of grass.

"The Maid of Steel," you whisper, and her lips move in perfect unison with yours. Then she pulls away, and her brow furrows just slightly, concentrating hard, listening to whatever voices she alone can hear. Then she shivers, just slightly... and it may be your imagination, but it almost seems as thought the slight breeze which wafts around you forms the subtlest of sounds, which if you could only hear them a tiny bit more clearly, might be strange words in a tongue you have never heard before...

"Yes," Talaitha says, in a soft, melodious tone that drowns out the mysterious almost-sound. "Yes, I see her before me now. She is close to you, even now... her life is bound to you already, in loyalty though not in love. Though fair to look upon, she hides behind a metal mask, though her burning eyes see all."

An image of a woman's face comes unbidden to your mind, and you realize that she fits Talaitha's description - though it seems absurd that even a wayward spirit might name her as a potential Queen. You've never even considered Trina in that manner, and certainly she has shown no sign of any such interest in you! Of course, young Hanzi mistook her for the Queen, but surely Talaitha could not be basing her prophecies on such nonsense.

Talaitha's hands begin to roam over your body, up your arms and down your back, pressing both firmly and lightly as she goes. A memory comes into your head, a time when you spoke to Elyssia's most learned healer of his arts; one Master Sanjay Bhandari... he showed you his charts of what he called the Energy Streams, and described a **** called the Chi which moved through all people. His charts indicated the places at which this energy could be redirected and controlled. It is hard to recall exactly, especially under the circumstances, but it seems to you that Talaitha's fingertips press those same points as her hands come to them.

"Show me the future," she sings, "what will come to pass..."

Suddenly, you feel moist lips against your fully-hardened manhood, and you realize that Talaitha is spreading her legs around you to take you inside her. It is all you can do not to respond and thrust forward, take her in your arms, kiss the lips which remain so close - but through an iron effort of will, you remain still and allow her to continue. Ever so slowly, she slides down upon you, her warm and wet passage opening and allowing you to penetrate. An involuntary shiver runs through you, but otherwise you are able to remain still. Talaitha rolls her head back, her eyes closed and still flickering with the signs of dreaming.

"Yes, I see her in the sunlight, her shell of steel open, surrendering to forbidden lust... the danger is near, her eyes do not see - No!"

Talaitha suddenly stops, opens her eyes wide, stares through you as if you are not there - a strange and discomforting sensation, considering that your manhood remains plunged deep inside her. You hesitate to interrupt again, but as Talaitha remains rigid and unbreathing; you begin to fear that she has suffered some kind of stroke!

Suddenly, she relaxes, and seems to realize you are there. "I said before that the spirits lie," she says to you. "They lie for a purpose, just as we all do. This one lied so that you would hear the warning. The Maid of Steel will not be Queen... to seek her as such may lead to catastrophe and ****. And yet, to not do so may lead there as well! King Xavier, no one comes to me wishing to hear such things, but I beg of you to heed the warnings of the spirits, and be on your guard. If you have questions, you may speak, and I will give what answers I can."

"You say that you see ****," you ask her. "Is it my own, or someone else's?"

"The sprits show me images of blood," Talaitha says, her face contorting as if she is in pain. "Some of it spills from you, some from the maid, some from another. It is the other who threatens all. It is the other who strikes to kill."

"Who is this other?"

"I... I cannot see," Talaitha says. "The soul is twisted, the mind is unsound. I cannot, I cannot!"

Suddenly Talaitha pushes away from you, standing upright, turning her back. She draws in a deep breath and lets out a sob, then drops to her knees.

"I beg forgiveness, King Xavier," she says, still not looking at you. "I had hoped to tell you of love and light, not darkness and ****. I swear, I spoke only what the spirits revealed. You may doubt my power, but I beg of you, do not think me a witch who foretells your doom." She draws in a shuddering breath, then whispers, "Please... I do not want to burn."

You approach her slowly, laying a hand upon her shoulder. "You will not burn, Talaitha, nor will any other ill befall you at my hand," you tell her. "Perhaps I do not believe in the spirits, but I also do not believe that you would invent lies about my violent ****. I know that whatever I might think of the spirits, you believe that you are hearing them, and you have told me only what you have heard them say. You remain welcome here in Elyssia as my guest, without fear of me or any other within my power to command. This, I swear to you upon my honor."

She breathes in again, and this time she is able to let it out slowly and evenly. "Thank you, King Xavier," she says. "I have seen my kin die by the swords and torches of lesser men than you, men who thought them witches and sorcerers, who punished them for not telling the prophecies they wished to hear. I did not think you were that sort of man, but I feared nonetheless."

"I can certainly understand why you might be afraid," you tell her.

"As a child, I saw my father's mother hung by the neck because a Lord claimed she caused his horse to fall from underneath him, which broke his leg; he blamed her because she had dared to prophecy misfortune. I confess that since that day, I have taken care to ensure that men of power have only heard glowing and hopeful futures from my lips... but what I saw for you of what is yet to come was so vivid, I could not hold back the truth. And if I had not told you, and the worst came to be, then it would be upon my head. I could not live with that. The King of Iron is a righteous man."

"Is that what the spirits call me?" you ask.

"It is," she says, bringing her voice back under control. "They have spoken to me of you before, when I have meditated. Of course I know of your past, it is well-known in these parts that you were a worker of iron at the forge, but the name means more than that. Iron is the strongest of metals, and yet it also yields to become what it must be. It will bend to fire, but when it is quenched it becomes stronger still. It is the metal of the common people, in the form of a hammer or plow; it is also the metal of a knight's armor and shield, and the sword of a King like the one you carry at your side. The King of Iron is a king of all the people, both noble and common, a king who wields his power in service and not in domination. The spirits know you well, King Xavier."

"I am honored," you say. "And I appreciate that you have spoken the truth as you see it, even if it is not so pleasant to hear. I value honesty in my advisors above all, and although your methods are more... exotic than theirs, I have essentially asked for your service as an advisor and am pleased that you have given me honest advice."

"There is one other thing," Talaitha says. "Now that you have been connected to the Spirits, you may find that they visit you again. Since you do not have my power, they will appear to you in the only way they can - in your dreams. The dreams will be vivid and potent in nature, but do not fear; these dreams can no more do you harm than any other dream. If the spirits speak to you in this manner, remember that they cannot always be trusted, and it is always best to use your own judgement rather than follow them blindly." She smiles slightly. "Consider them as you would your advisors; wise and helpful, but not always right."