Winlay's POV

Winlay was acutely aware of Adam's eyes on her as she stood in silence in the greenhouse basement. One thing she was sure of, Adam still found her desirable. More than a dozen times over the past two days she caught him watching her as she moved about the apartment. It was only fair Winlay admitted as she too often found her own gaze lingering on him as he spoke to the Oracle or did his daily sword exercises.

She had better get used to men's eyes sweeping over her body she decided as she smoothed the sarong over her hips in a motion that caused Adam to unconsciously lick his lips. Dressed as she was every man in Telnon would be staring at her, and if she was truly one of this city's waterfront whores she'd be eager to flaunt her beauty. Winlay knew she was pretty, but until recently she had never thought of herself as sexual. There was something liberating about the dark stain that covered the old Winlay's pale skin, she twisted away from Adam deliberately flicking the flowered sarong off her toned leg as she turned.

“Stop teasing the poor man.” Mika whispered in her ear, “You can punish him for whatever he did to you after we are safely out of Telnon.” Winlay had refused to talk about what had happened between her and Adam, but her friend was astute enough to get the general idea.

Just then they heard Sister Margaret's voice calling for them to come up quickly. Thankful for the distraction, Winlay gave Mika a quick kiss on the cheek.

“For luck.” She whispered and was rewarded by Mika's infectious smile, and then the four of them were climbing up the steps into the bright morning sunlight for the first time in days. A handcart loaded with baskets of greens, a pile of manure, some loose straw and several flats of seedlings sat next to the grey-haired Sister.

“Move quickly now.” Sister Margaret told them as she arranged the small party, “Adam you are drawing the wagon.” She said pointing to the leather harness “Winlay and Mychael, you'll walk on this side - let Madam Wanda do the talking.” Winlay practiced putting a little swing in her hips as she walked over to her place by Madam Wanda while Sister Margaret gave more instructions to Mika pressing a burlap bundle wrapped in a purple sash with a brass sigil clipped onto the sash. “You, young scamp, are carrying a bundle for one of the Beldan's personal guardsmen if anyone asks.” Winlay briefly wondered where Sister Margaret got the guardsman's sigil, but the Sister had already moved on to where Adam was standing.

“Take a bite of this Adam, chew it well then spit it out. Whatever you do don't swallow any more than you have to.” Winlay watched curiously as Adam bit into the hairy white root chewing on it quickly and spitting out the woody pieces. Almost immediately she could see his lips and cheeks swell and a endless stream of drool fell from his mouth.

Margaret looked over all of them once more with a critical eye kissed the Oracle softly on his cheek and adjusted the head scarf that covered his brow and cropped white hair. Winlay was close enough to hear the emotion in her voice as she wished him well.

“Good luck Mychael, and may the blessing of Xelta always go with you.”

Margaret led them around the greenhouse and pointed to a path that led towards the lower wall. “The gate's down there. Go now and may fair winds and smooth seas accompany you all.” Soon the wagon rounded the last wall and Winlay could see the garden gate just as Margaret promised guarded by three Templar, who were eying the group suspiciously as they approached.

“Halt.” The leader was a stocky young man in his early twenties; the other two soldiers were even younger with hair cropped as short as Adam's. Winlay could see the appreciative looks all three men gave her as she sauntered just besides 'Madam Wanda.'

“We'll need to search the wagon old lady, and maybe your pretty friend here too.” Winlay stopped by the wagon and tried not to look distressed at the young man's jest. Or was he serious? Thankfully the Oracle was the one who had to do the talking, because Winlay would have given the whole plan away if she had had to speak.

“Search away boys, but if you find something you like, you'll have to visit the Golden Hook to get the full sample.” Winlay could see Adam's fists turn white when he heard the Oracle's answer. Luckily no-one but Winlay was paying any attention to the drooling half-wit beast of burden. The two new recruits dutifully lifted the baskets of greens and the seedlings from the back of the cart but when they saw the pile of manure rich mulch they hesitated, but the leader had them continue as he stepped past Wanda without a second glance.

“Go ahead rookies, take your time. No one's going anywhere until they are cleared by someone with a much higher pay grade than us anyways.” The Templar soldier rubbed his hands together as he moved to where Winlay stood by the cart as he added. “Sir Werner's orders.” The guard waved up to the tower before resting his hands on Winlay's hips. Winlay could see Adam squirming in his harness as the stocky Templar stepped even closer to Winlay and moved his hands past her slender waist and towards her poorly covered breasts. He'd have to watch some other man feeling up her tits without a word of protest, and she'd have to pretend she liked it!

“And I thought morning duty was going to be boring.” The guard laughed good naturedly as his hands roamed ever higher on her body. Winlay was frozen like a tree-rat, was he really going to fondle her in front of everyone? The Templar's hands felt hot on her hips and he chuckled appreciatively when his fingers brushed the bare skin of her belly causing her to twitch in response. She resisted the impulse to slap his leering face instead she rested her hands lightly on his broad shoulders and smiled invitingly.

Winlay focused on her memory of Mika's description of the uninhibited sexual practices of the Barrington Islanders. She tried to imagine that she was an south-sea island maid eager for a chance to please this complete stranger and honor her family. This mind game helped a little but as the man's hands continued upwards towards her plump breasts she found it harder and harder to maintain the façade that she welcomed his touch.