A Fair Trade

No characters depicted in the story below are under the age of 18.

*****

Leanne found herself biting her lip as she rode through the heavy wooden gates to the Ulani town of Roshunda, her long dark hair shimmering in the cool breeze of the plains as she drew her horse to a trot. The Ulani, a predominantly peaceful race, thank the gods, dominated the town and could be seen everywhere.

Leanne found herself glancing sidelong at such a pair of Ulani, haggling over some trinket or another in their low rough voices and caught the eye of one, the rugged Ulani man eying her over briefly, appraisingly before looking away, seemingly satisfied. He had been eye level, she noted. Which was in impressive feat, given that she was on a horse. The Ulani typically ranged from nine to even ten foot tall and despite their peaceful nature and reputation, put the fear of the gods into her.

She had seen them before, her home city had had a small Ulani district, the buildings and streets, by design, having to be tailor made to fit the larger than life comforts of the Ulani people, but she had only ever seen them in the minority, one or two here and there. She had never herself, been the lone human in a crowd. But such was her task initiative.

At eighteen, Leanne had finally come of age, having been apprenticed to the Traders Guild of the Twin Swans at the age of twelve she had spent her life learning the valued art of trading and had, for her eighteenth birthday, been set her apprentices task of passage by her Master. Profit. She had been issued with goods, and would return with currency or goods of which her Master would value. The higher her profit, the higher her initial standing within the guild as an initiate. While it was an unfortunate truth, those that profited poorly from their test could spend their lives trading grain with farmers. Vital work no doubt, but lacking prestige or recognition. Those that failed to profit at all were given over to the book keepers. A fate, in Leanne's eyes, worse than death.

The Ulani were by all accounts unparallelled craftsman, able to wield their strength in the creation of such fine and precise items, creating steels and alloys far superior to any the humans had yet to discover. However, due to their size, they struggled in the art of deep mining. While the Ulani were well known for their surface quarries, carving stones to be transported all across the kingdoms, when their mining efforts shifted below grounds, the size of the tunnels they created by necessity made the work slow, uncomfortable and dangerous, almost pointless, given the trading links with the Humans.

Leanne glanced back anxiously at the pack slung over her horse. Still there, the two bags each slung on each side rested, each holding three ingots of Dark Iron, an uncommon metal, though certainly not the rarest. The Guild wouldn't risk too much of a loss on each apprentices first solo test after all.

While many of her peers had set off with their task bags to trade and barter in markets across the lands in hope for a deal, or preferably, an idiot with a lot of coin, Leanne had set out with a single shop in mind.

In her six years as an apprentice she had fed her mind lists of people she could trade with, noting who was exceptionally keen for certain items at certain times, or who was exceptionally good at producing or procuring certain goods. In her thirteenth year of age she had accompanied her Master as he met a visiting Ulani from Roshunda, seeking to forge a trade contract with the Guild. While the contract had never been agreed upon, Leanne had stared in wonder at the brilliant items and wears the Ulani had offered. An event that had stuck in her mind. Tula. The Ulani Blacksmith of Roshunda.

Leanne pulled her horse up besides a shop front. It felt a little awkward, addressing the man while she was still on her horse, but she found herself looking up at him slightly. She swallowed, trying to quell her baseless anxieties.

"Excuse me, sir." she bit her lip, "I'm looking for the Blacksmith Tula, do you know where I might find her?.." she asked, trying to hide the quiver of nervousness in her voice, trying to sound as imperious as her Master did when talking to the lowly Guildless. Obviously by his bemused expression she hadn't yet mastered this tone.

"Aye, little lass. Tula calls the building opposite the feast hall her own. Scarce miss it, keepin on that street three over and cross the narrow bridge, y'hear?"

Leanne stared at the man. She heard, but she wasn't sure she followed. But it wouldn't do to seem as confused as she felt. Always appear to know what you're talking about, her Master had said. So she nodded assuredly!

"Thank you! Have a pleasant day!"

The man grunted and grinned as Leanne urged her horse into motion. "Aye n' watch your arse!" he laughed, his low rumbling laughter rolling after her.

Leanne felt herself flush a bit at that but didn't know what to make of it. She shook her head, dismissing it as some form of Ulani banter and tried her best to follow his directions.

She followed them poorly.

She had hoped to arrive at Tula's late afternoon, work out an agreement and be able to catch an early night at the inn. With luck she would've been able to set off early and return to her Master in a timely fashion. As she finally arrived at Tula's, the shadows growing long and the sky shifting hue into dusk she feared however she would have to forgo any serious trading or bargaining until the following morn, afraid even that Tula may have already closed shop for the day.

She was grateful, as she finally found the feast hall and the narrow bridge straddling a small clear stream, to find the front of the blacksmith's stall open still, the forge fire lit and an Ulani moving about. Though with growing concern she noted the Ulani was tidying up her workshop as the forge fire was left to die out. She wasn't yet closed for the day, but she wasn't far off.

As Leanne approached the Ulani raised her head. It -was- Tula! A little older, perhaps, a little different, but the image of her had stuck in her head as clear as their first day. Tula showed no recognition in return, though why would she? Leanne had been but an apprentice. A child, practically.

Leanne drank in the view of the Ulani woman, standing at almost ten foot tall she was an imposing sight, her body was strong and lined with toned muscles, her hair cut short, spiked up and her whole form glistening slightly with sweat in the light of the fire pit. Despite the strength and muscles she maintained, she was in no doubt a feminine force to be reckoned with, Leanne noticed, hoping she wasn't blushing, that beneathe the blacksmith's apron her bust likely rivaled Leanne's head.

Tula casually cleared her throat and eyed Leanne plainly, setting down a massive hammer on her anvil with a clang, wiping her hands against the front of her apron. "Just eying my merchandise?" she asked with a low but smooth voice, devoid of any sarcasm or implications, other than those Leanne made herself.

Leanne started, quickly jumping to her own defense "W-what? No I wasn't staring at your-.." the merchandise. Leanne realised that the walls of the blacksmiths was covered in hanging tools and weapons, the tools mostly in Ulani sizes, the weapons mostly in human, though there were exceptions. "I, I was looking at the merchandise, yes." she blushed, gesturing towards the walls. A part of her wanted to compliment the Ulani on the quality of the wares she saw before her but she knew that to do so would be to weaker her own position. She couldn't seem too keen.

"Uhhuh." she responded, clearly not convinced, but continued regardless, "Looking to buy or just browsing?" Tula asked, turning her gaze from Leanne as she took a cloth and began to wipe down her work surfaces, the Ulani's eyes, a deep amber colour glancing out towards Leanne more often than not, appraising her much in the same way as the man had upon entering the city.

"Neither, actually." Leanne bit her lip and leaned back against the saddle, with some struggle she reached back with a hand and freed one of the ingots from the pouch and held it in her hand, her arm straining at the weight of it. "Ugh.. Looking to.. Uh.. Trade.." she grunted, letting the Ulani woman get a good look at it and it's Twin Swan stamp before placing it back in the saddle bag with a clunk, breathing a sigh of relief through her lips. It had been heavy, though not as heavy as she had made out.

"How many you got?"

Leanne shrugged. "Enough. Though I wasn't looking to relinquish them all here." a lie, but it wouldn't do to let on that Leanne was rather banking on a single good sale here to see her through.

The prospect of the dark iron had clearly caught the blacksmiths attention, her eyes flickered between Leanne at the saddle pack. She wasn't willing to let an opportunity to get some quality dark iron slip by, no matter the hour. "Give me half a sun beat to close shop and come back, if you're willing. You can come in and see if anything catches your eye, eh?"

Leanne had no idea how long a sun beat was but if she had a chance to make the trade tonight her swiftness in returning to her Master with her profits would not go unnoticed! Closing out a deal tonight was an opportunity she could under no circumstance pass on. "Mmm.. If I find myself passing by here in half a sun beat, I may just do that. Until then, then." she said, her voice holding a tone bordering on disinterest as she again, urged her horse onwards.

How long is a sunbeat? Leanne thought as she stood beside her horse, just around the corner, feeding him and idly brushing his coat. If I return too early I will seem too eager for sale, if I arrive too late it would be rude and inconsiderate, she may not even be willing to see me. Leanne idly patted down her horse, ignoring the Other Ulani as they passed, for the most part ignoring, or not even noticing, the waist high human girl.

When Leanne freed herself from her inner anxieties about time she noticed, with some panic just how dark her surroundings had gotten! She let out a soft squeak of worry as she took her horse by the bridle and led it back around to the blacksmiths. The shop front was clear of wares and tools, the fire pit naught but glowing embers, the only light coming from behind a door to the rest of the building. Leanne tied her horse to a post besides the house, trusting in the honour code of these Ulani that her goods, or her horse for that matter would not be stolen from her and approached the door, knocking on it as a cool wind swept up on her, causing her to shiver.

Tula opened the door, looking forward, appearing confused for a moment, then looking down and eying the human, now much shorter without her horse. Tula had cleaned herself, her hair glistening with moisture, she wore a broad white sleeveless shirt that clung to her damp skin and a long pair of dark, loose trousers, a thick towel slung about her shoulders.

"You know our times well, littlelin." Tula observed, "Still looking to trade?"

"I just happened to be passing by again, thought I would take you up on your offer." she offered by way of an explanation. "I'm looking for human weapons, I seek quality over quantity, something worth a couple of my ingots, maybe. High quality stuff you know." she hinted, adjusting her jacket to ensure the pin displaying her as being from the Guild was on show. It was well known that Guild representatives dealt only in the best quality goods.

Tula nodded some, arms folded across her stomache, below her sizable breasts. The bronzed skin of her arms proudly displaying the muscles of a skilled smithy. "Aye I reckon I got something might intrest y'. Come on in." Tula stepped aside, inviting the girl in.

Leanne stepped inside and felt like a doll out of it's house, everything was oversized, save for a table near the front of the shop, low and equipped with weapons sized for humans. Leanne bit her lip as her eyes gleamed with the greed of a trader, the items were crafted to a level beyond that any human could forge. How a woman of Tula's size could enact such delicate work was beyond her.

Tula stood some ways off, leaning on a counter. As Leanne inspected her wares, so Tula inspected the human. She was such a small thing! Her head just a little over Tulas crotch level in height. Leanne was simply gorgeous, young and supple, her slender shoulders and modest chest slimming into a narrow waist that all but blossomed into wide womanly hips and a thick, delicious rear. Tula found her mind straying to the fantasies that often kept her awake at night as she imagined the humans full inviting lips working her, or the sort of things she might do with that thick, yielding ass.

Leanne turned then, breaking the Ulani's reverie, a sword in her hand, which Tula noted with a wince she was holding incorrectly. She looked up at the Ulani, pursing her lips. This sword was the finest craftsmanship she had ever seen in her life, made from a metal she had never in her life come across. If she could return with this sword she would doubtless be highly praised.

"Mm.. This one seems interesting. It wouldn't sell too well, a little too flashy, but it could be worth maybe one of my ingots?" Leanne asked, undervaluing the weapon in her hand would, she thought, be a good way to get a better deal. The storm that became Tula's expression told her otherwise. She had gone too far in her undervaluing, she had insulted the blacksmiths workmanship.

She turned the blade in her hand, and feigned surprise, as if noticing some new aspect of it for the first time, "Ah! Ooh.. Well perhaps two?.."

"Ten. And your horse." Tula said, arms crossed, tone less than impressed.

Leanne did her best not to drop the sword on her foot. How many?! And her horse!? She looked down at the sword in her hand and felt a pit begin to form in her stomache. No doubt the sword might just be worth it too. Though it was more than she had to spend.

"Three's the highest I could possibly go.." she said, voice wavering. The more she looked at the weapon the more she knew she had to have it.

"Ten. And your horse. "Tula again said, standing to cross the room to stand in front of the small human, her broad strong hands resting on her hips, her bizarre amber eyes and on her strongly featured face looking down at Leanne with disapproval.

"...Four?.." Leanne extended, voice meek.

Tula chuckled and tilted her head, eying her with amusement as her disapproval waned. She was not dealing with a master trader. "I thought three was the highest you could possibly go little girl. You are new to this, aren't you?.."

Leanne flushed with embarrassment, her pale cheeks blossoming with crimson as she bit her full soft lip anxiously. She let out a sigh and deflated, nodding meekly. This wasn't going well at all.

Tula shook her head, taking pity on the girl. "Tell you what, why don't you tell me exactly what you do have to trade?"

Leanne looked at the sword in her hand, the metal so pure, so perfect, the balance so elegant. "I have six ingots.. And I can't sell the horse.. I need it to get home." she said, her voice small and more than a little defeated.

Tula drew in a breathe between her lips as she eyed the girl. Taking pity on her was one thing, but six ingots would, if she was lucky, break her even on the sword.

There was a long silence as Tula thought to herself, standing before the human girl, admiring her form, the smoothness of her pale skin. She was likely close to half Tulas age.

"Six ingots." she said.

Leannes head snapped up, her eyes almost wet with tears at the shock of what she heard, she parted her lips to speak but found one of the Ulani's thick fingers pressed to her plush lips, those lips so soft.. The finger so rough.

"Six ingots and three nights."

Leanne stared at her, pulling back, away from the finger, what had she said? Three nights?.. She must have misunderstood. "A-and what?.. Three.. Nights?"

Tula nodded, stepping forward. She plucked the little sword from the human's hands and placed it back down on the counter, letting her hand slip around behind to cusp the back of the human's head, strong fingers lacing through the humans long silky hair. "Three nights of your company."

Leanne stared up at her, eyes wide like a frightened doe. Oh how Tula fell for that gaze.. So young, so pure, so naive, she wanted to see it corrupted.

"Y-you mean.." Leanne asked, voice almost a quavering whisper, she was trapped between the hard muscled form of the Ulani and the strong hand holding the back of her head, gentle, yet firm.

"Mmhm."

Leanne swallowed. "S-six ingots.. And one night?.."

Tula frowned some and tilted her head. "Six ingots, one night and three sun beats past dawnbreak."

Leanne blinked up at her, her mind reeling as to what she was bargaining with now. How had she so quickly gone from bartering goods to bartering her body? Her thoughts raced, how long had she been stood out there waiting for half a sunbeat? It couldn't have been anymore than half an hour. An hour and a half after dawn break would give her enough time to return to her master to not be considered tardy in her task.

"Deal. Six ingots. One night. Three sun beats past dawn break." she said, feeling her heart race. She had in her time fooled around with some of the other girls her age, it was pretty common place, and she had certainly enjoyed it but.. Well, a few tipsy nights of kissing other girls her age was hardly comparable to this. This towering woman built of muscle and strength, nigh twice her age and height. This would be something new.

Perhaps she will be tired from her long day. Perhaps she won't want to do much? Leanne found she was breathing fast, afraid, her anxieties bubbling over, but she again saw the sword on the counter besides her and she remembered what she was doing this for. She would not trade grain or keep the ledgers. She let out a deep breath, nodding, more to herself than to Tula.

Tula nodded some and smiled then, for perhaps the first time since Leanne had seen her. "You must be hungry. Come, let us eat. Drink."

They talked little while they ate, Tula seemingly jovial, pleased with the outcome of the trade, Leanne more conservative, despite financially making the better deal. Tula served her bread and butter with meat and cheeses, a good meal by all accounts and Tula did as much as she could to pry information from Tula. Her age. Her background. How a human from a far away city had heard of Tula. She found it very amusing that they had met before. When Leanne gave her age the Ulani's expression briefly became very predatory, before she herself divulged that she was in her thirty second year. Not quite old enough to be Leanne's mother, but the gap was still prominent.

After they had eaten and shared between them a cup of an alcoholic minted drink that fuzzed Leanne's thoughts, Tula took Leanne by the wrist and without a further word pulled her through a doorway. The room they stepped into was dominated by a bed far in excess of any Leanne had seen, high and thick with mattresses and sheets. A luxury, she thought for out here.

She swallowed as she looked around, the room being dimly lit by a single thick wicked candle she followed meekly as Tula led her to the bed. The giantess turned and sat down on the edge with a creak, pulling the human close. With Leanne standing and the Ulani sitting, it brought them to eye level. Leanne could make out the flushed cheeks of the Ulani woman, could see the heated desire in her eyes and knew that she, here and now, belonged to this woman.

"Mine.." The ulani growled, as her demeanor shifted, she again laced her hand behind Leanne's head into her fine silken hair but this time pulled her close.

Leanne let out a half gasp, putting her hands out before her instinctively, her hands coming to rest on the plush pillows of Tulas breasts, sinking into the soft flesh.