More Travelling

At some point near the morning both twins finally succumbed to sleep. Only a few hours later they were awoken by the sounds of the camp waking up, cooking breakfast, starting up conversations. Julia lay on Marcus chest, when she opened her eyes and met his she blushed deeply and quickly climbed out of bed.

"Erm... Goodmorning..." She said shyly, any confidence of the night before fading quickly but her stomach was jumping with excitement at spending a night in his bed.

"Morning Julia." Marcus replied, a lot more calmly. "I hope you slept well."

"Perfectly, thanks bro." She lied. She'd been too excited to sleep.

"Can I do it again..?" She asks sheepishly.

Marcus hesitated. Truthfully, he hoped to test his blessing to see if he could get Aine to bed on this trip. As his sister fluttered her eyelids though he couldn't resist. He never could say no to her.

"Of course." He replies with a smile. "Hopefully no one thinks too much about why you're leaving so early."

The last thing he needed were **** rumors, causing the men to gossip about him. That kind of thing chips away at their respect for him and, in turn, morale.

Sure enough, for the next few days, Julia would come after most others had gone to sleep and join him. After a few nights, the excitement faded and it became much easier to sleep. She did 'slip up' and 'accidentally' kiss his lips once more. Mostly though, they just enjoyed the closeness during the cold nights. Each night, Julia got more comfortable and needy. She held him tightly in the night, watched him as he slept and kissed him as he slept. When she slept, she dreamt pleasant dreams of her brother confessing his love for her. She'd always felt a pull to him, which she never wanted to admit to herself, but now... it was getting too much. Her heart ached with desire.

Marcus, for his part, shared her feelings but without the pull of the blessing, is able to keep a much more level head. The consequences would be too great. His relationship with his sister and family would be changed forever. They'd be scorned by the empire if it was found out, their titles stripped and likely arrested or banished. He couldn't allow that to happen for either of their sakes.

He wakes up early one morning, wanting some space to clear his head. He heads to a nearby lake to wash.

The weather is sunny and crisp, the water is cold but refreshing, a perfect start to a day.

He decides to take a swim across the lake. When he returns he's met with a view that makes the morning all the better.

Aine also had woken early and was bathing in the lake. Before approaching he takes a second to fully appreciate her flawless pale body. Her red hair shines in the morning sun. Her nipples stand erect from the cold water.

"Good morning." He says as he swims closer behind her.

With a start, she turns about to slap whoever was creeping on her, until she sees it's Marcus. Instead she blushes and holds her hands to cover herself.

"Marcus! I... didn't know anyone else was up..." She says.

"It was just such a nice morning, I decided to go for a swim." He explains as he stands in the shallows.

Aine gasps as she takes in his toned body and, from what she can see just below the water, his huge cock.

"Gods, I heard men liked to blame the cold water on their cocks shrinking." She laughs, feeling less bashful now that they were both just as exposed. "Guess that's just excuses."

Marcus raises an eyebrow before laughing. "Well... I guess that's fair, I did see your tits afterall. They were telling the truth though, mines shrunk too."

"That's what you call shrunk? I was told cocks were smaller..." She says, not taking her eyes off it.

"Eyes up here Aine." He teases. "What can I say, guess I got lucky. Although, you have nothing to complain about, yourself..." He replies, openly oggling her body in response to her shameless staring.

She blushes and looks up, finally making eye contact. "Right, sorry... So... We're making good progress, it shouldn't be too much longer before we're there." She says, trying to return to a normal conversation.

"Right, I have to admit, I'm worried." He says. "I'm no diplomat and we need the dwarves. If we fail... Well, we can't. Too much is resting on our success."

"Exactly, we can't. We have to promise whatever they want, we'll deal with the consequences later."

"Right, but lets not start with that." He replies with a chuckle. "I know I'm no diplomat but I know we shouldn't start from our weakest position."

She smirks. "That's all you need to know as far as I'm concerned. The dwarves prefer honesty and action over flowery words. They'll like you more than some imperial diplomat."

"Do you think they'll be happy with our offer to aid against the goblins?" He asks. Aine, afterall lived closest to the hold and had a family history with them. She knew more about them than him.

"Oh, definitely. But..." She stops to think for a moment with a sigh. "I'll be honest, she might want something else..." She seemed nervous to say it.

"Something bad..?"

"Yes. No. Maybe. It depends on how you see it..." She musters her courage. "She might want you to marry someone. Dwarves can't use magic, half-dwarves can. Having a mage in their family is a massive boon. From what your sisters have said, you're a powerful mage, any child of yours will also be powerful. You're also of the imperial family, it'd solidify ties to the empire."

"I see..." He replied thoughtfully. He didn't mind leaving a bastard or two but marriage? That was a card he didn't want to throw away.

"They might not though. Despite the power of mages being useful, non-dwarves are second-class in the dwarven holds. Only visitors are treated with respect. Plus any marriage would mean sending one of their own to live above ground permenantly."

"I hope it doesn't come to that." He replies. "Marriage is something I'd rather organise on my own terms."

"I get that. I'll always be grateful that my pa never **** me into anything before he... passed." She replies.

"So, you get the choice, it's a good freedom to have. But now I'm wondering, what is your type..?" Marcus asks.

"Oh! Erm, well they'd have to be brave and strong, willing and capable of defending his family and home. Someone I can laugh with and also share honest moments. Someone who doesn't look down on me or my family just because we're not imperials. Someone who respects my opinions."

Marcus realises how close they'd gotten while talking.

"Someone like you..." She says. The subtle pull of the blessing had been chipping away at her willpower since he'd revealed himself.

He placed a hand under her chin, tilting her face up and kissed her. They hold it for a while before letting their tongues explore, before it deepens too much she pulls back.

"Don't go thinking that means we're engaged or that you're getting in my pants." She says, teasingly as she turns towards the shore. "You need to work harder than that."

Marcus smirks and he watches her ass as she walks away to gather her clothes up from the shore.