Prisoner problems

With Patrick heading out to collect more women to transform it makes sense to change a few of the remaining nuns and mercenaries. You take the last two nuns plus two of the mercenaries and hit them with the usual truth spell and questions. That gets you another few names to add to the list of sisters for Patrick's next journey.

"Well, Miranda took to white fur really nicely," comments Sandra as she runs her fingers through the newly altered mercenary's thick coat.

"Yes, she's going to get a lot of attention," you reply, peering at the new catgirl's big emerald eyes and the long, thick tail that lazily sweeps from side to side.

"The Snowshoe breed are always hot," says Sandra. "One of my favorites."

"They're all your favorites."

She grins and gives you a hug. "True enough. Okay, now how many kittens can we give this cutie? Gotta convince her to swing her hips rather than a battleaxe."

"We could breed her with Willow," you say, nodding toward one of the nuns you've already transformed.

"Willow already got to breed Dianna," says Sandra, looking over at the other transformed nun who's currently half asleep, cuddled against Willow for warmth.

"You did say you wanted to breed more tall catgirls."

"Yeah, and Willow sure is tall. I'm just worried how chestnut fur will mix with white. Maybe we could change one of the noblewomen and breed Miranda with her?"

"A fifth girl? That might be a bit much, isn't it? And for the fur color, I told you, it won't mix. The children will end up with either one or the other."

"Okay, but I still want to transform a fifth. Oh, and can you give Miranda more kitties than Dianna? She's big enough to handle it."

You laugh and scratch her ears.

"I hope Willow and Dianna make for good examples of the Brandywine breed," says Sandra.

"You said you wanted loving, relaxed, lazy girls for that breed. I think these two former nuns fit the bill perfectly. The chestnut fur suits them too."

"Mmmm, hmmm," Sandra purrs, really getting into your ear scratches. "Oh, thank you, that was good. Now, which noble do we transform?" When she sees the look you're giving her she rubs up against you, wrapping her tail around your waist and pressing her chest against your side. "Aw, come on, we've done five a day before. And we need the room for when Patrick gets back..."

"You are such a persuasive... ah, why not?"

You both turn to head to the guest rooms, starting to discuss which noblewoman is the best choice. They've really proved to be model prisoners, which makes sense to you - noblewomen are going to be more familiar with the idea of ransoms, so as long as you treat them reasonably well they're likely to wait peacefully.

That's what you're thinking right up until a worried looking Sendrey skids around the corner, tail puffed up. "Something's up with miss Ekaterina," she tells you before spinning around and leading the way.

You and Sandra quickly follow her, heading for the guest room where you put the two noble daughters, Ekaterina and Siggra. Usually it's Siggra who's been the issue. She's the type who truly expects that she will always be the most important person in the room. Which is why you put countess Evendel's eldest daughter Ekaterina with her. A shy, quiet girl who's undeniably higher in rank than Siggra. The unlikely pair have actually got along surprisingly well.

When you arrive you find Ekaterina bawling her eyes out. Siggra has lost her usual cool, haughty demeanor and is pressed up against the far wall in a pose that looks quite a lot like a startled cat. There doesn't seem to be any reason for the tears, nothing spilled or broken, no evidence of a fight. As if she senses your line of thinking Siggra says, "I didn't do anything! She just started crying."

You reach out with your magic and inside her quiet shell Ekaterina is a wreck. A few more tendrils of magic confirm that Siggra isn't faking, she's stressed out and doesn't know what to do about this. Looking back to Ekaterina you gently touch her shoulder and ask her what's wrong. It takes a few attempts to get through to her, then finally she looks up, eyes all puffy, and says, "I can't go back now."

"What do you mean?"

She points at a small scrap of paper on her table. Some of the ink has run, but it's easy to see that it's a set of tally marks. Just over thirty of them. "I've been here for more than one month. My mother...", she sobs a few more times, "...she said if I didn't have word, if I wasn't ransomed by then, she would disown me."

That makes Sandra's jaw drop. She asks you, "Is that normal? For any kind of noble?"

"No. I wouldn't say normal. Some families have tried saying things like that to discourage kidnappers, but I don't think they say it to their own children."

"It looks like countess Evendel did," says Siggra, almost to herself.

"There hasn't been word, has there?" asks Ekaterina.

"No."

"What are you going to do with me?" she asks.

"Well... Why don't I show you?" For the next half hour you give the two young noblewomen the grand tour, more or less the same as the tour you gave lady Emira. Siggra tries to be indifferent, but the freshly transformed catgirls in the study are too interesting for her to maintain her airs. While you chat with them both she rubs their fur, feels their tails and scratches their ears, all accompanied by the happy purrs this generates from the resting catgirls.

Ekaterina remains quiet through most of the tour, but when you take them to the loophole that looks out over the main hall she has almost the same reaction lady Emira did a month ago. "This must have taken so much time."

"It did, but it's been well worth it," says Sandra.

Harmony, who joined you partway through the tour, says, "He's helped all of them."

"Oh?" asks Siggra. She points and asks, "What's going on with that one there, the blonde furred girl in the corner who seems to be holding court?"

Sandra peers through the loop and says, "That's Savine. She's been here longer than most. She was one of the first catgirls to have kittens, so she helps out girls who are going to have kittens soon."

"Oh," says Ekaterina as she gets a better look at the trio sitting in front of Savine. It's hard to tell from behind, but as the catgirls shift and change position it's possible to see that each of them does indeed have a big belly.

"But what was she doing before this?" asks Siggra.

"Oh, she was a ****, a captive from our most recent war. I'd have to check my notes for more specific details, but I'm sure being here beats being sold to a brothel."

"That one? Also blonde furred, the one who's walking across the room right now?" Siggra says, pointing again.

"Hmmm, that would be Laurna. She was actually the captain of the mercenary company that was guarding you before Patrick grabbed you," Sandra tells her.

"A female mercenary captain?" asks Ekaterina, sounding amazed that such a thing is possible.

"Yes, and one who was quite happy to sell a group of nuns and nobles onto a ship headed for Jalsenn, so quite a piece of work."

Both nobles shudder at the mention of the slaver's isle. Ekaterina asks, "And now she remembers nothing of that?"

"No," says Sendrey, "just like we said before. A clean slate, except for little bits of her personality."

Sandra tells her, "I think the life she lead probably twisted her outlook quite a bit. Since she's been here she's been jovial and relaxed. She loves playing games with other catgirls, both strategic games like card games or board games and also athletic games like archery or spear throwing."

"These girls play board games?" asks Siggra.

"Sure," says Sandra. "They may not remember the rules at first, but some of them are really good at them. They've beaten me from time to time."

"I'm just surprised - those are normally games only nobles play."

"Well..." Sandra says, drawing out the word in a teasing way, "not just nobles. A lot of higher class courtesans are masters of those games. Noblemen love a good match with a pretty girl. They love it even more if they only just win."

That seems to surprise Siggra. With her attitude it's quite possible she never considered that there was a reason for any commoner to learn a complicated game like that.

"Also," Harmony chimes in, "there aren't any rules for how catgirls should behave. I think maybe that's part of why Laurna is so happy now. No one would question a catgirl who wants to lead a mercenary company or anything similar. There are so many more catgirls than catboys that they have to be able to do all kinds of jobs."

At that moment Yvonne, Kyelle, Andrea and Lydia come strolling into view, all of them carrying training swords and shields. All of them looking tired yet pleased. Siggra takes an interest in the tall, muscular and obviously combative catgirls. "Who are they?"

"The two in front are our wives," Sandra tells her proudly. "The two shorter ones in the back are both former mercenaries from Laurna's group."

"Your wives?" Ekaterina asks with a gulp. "What does that mean?" Her ears start to turn pink. Sandra eagerly explains your living arrangements and Ekaterina's ears darken to crimson while her eyes work on looking elsewhere.

Siggra, on the other hand, seems to be enjoying this. She puts an arm around Ekaterina and asks, "How else would things work with eight catgirls to the catboy?"

"Well, yes..." mumbles Ekaterina.

"You certainly live an interesting life," Siggra says, "ten wives, one of them a princess. And you still found time to kidnap a bunch of nobles and nuns?"

"They weren't all my wives at the time," you tell her. "And the main reason for capturing you was not to find more girls to transform. If I wanted that it would have been better to acquire girls in small numbers, as we have since this began. It was to deal with a particularly aggravating nobleman."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," says Sandra, bristling, "That asshole Velcorrin."

"Count Velcorrin?" they both ask in unison. Then they look at each other, shocked, and ask, "You know him too?"

"Yes, him," you tell them. Then you and Sandra explain the whole plot. Ekaterina looks quite shocked, though she develops a satisfied smile when you tell her he killed himself. Siggra looks quite interested throughout. You think she's rather impressed with the audaciousness of it all.

When you're done Ekaterina sighs and says, "If my family believes I was taken to Jalsenn then they would have written me off weeks ago."

"They can't hate you that much," says Siggra.

"They can. I'm the fourth daughter. And the doctor advised my mother to have no more children after me, so I was also blamed for the lack of a son."

Siggra once again puts an arm around Ekaterina and says, "With family like that, maybe you're better off here. No title, but no expectations either. I know I'm better off with that cretinous bastard Velcorrin dead. I would have killed myself before I married his son."

After that you lead the noblewomen back to their room. They're in higher spirits now, with much to talk about. You make excuses about having to do various things, then head back to the study.

Sandra is grinning. "So, how long do you think until they fuck?"

"Not everything is about sex," says Harmony.

"I don't know about that," Sendrey laughs, "I think Siggra has been wound up this whole time cause she likes shy girls."

"Oh yeah," Sandra says, "no question she goes for girls. Maybe someday soon we can convince her to help breed some kittens into our catgirls."

"As far as that goes, I think we can just leave those two alone and see," you say. Quietly you weave a small spell that should leave Ekaterina just a little bit hornier than normal - an old mage's trick - and make a mental note to send wine with their dinner tonight. You'll leave them alone, but you might as well tip the odds in your favor. If they do get together because of this it might well play into your hand.

Sandra sweeps in behind you and wraps her arms around your waist. "Soooo," she asks, "how about we find a mercenary who we can cross Miranda with? One of the archers?"

"You still haven't given up on that?"

"Do I ever?" How about the tall archer, Yasmin? I was thinking we could rename her Samantha. And Samantha would make some lovely, tall babies with Miranda, wouldn't she?

Harmony gives Sendrey a hug and says, "Yeah, they should be a good match."

You laugh. As usual, there's no point in arguing.