TheRavenFeather
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Hi everyone! The Inheritance Cycle is one of my favorite fantasy series. I wondered what Alagaësia would look like with tickling in it and came up with the idea for this story. It will include alternate versions of events from Paolini’s actual series but will likely jump backwards and forwards in the canon timeline as different ideas strike me, though I will try to keep things in relatively chronological order.
Hope you like it! Please let me know what you think of the story!
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“Many a song and story have chronicled the magnificent deeds and histories of the Dragon Riders, an elite guild of humans and elves chosen by magic and fate to safeguard the whole of Alagaësia. But this ancient order contains secrets and traditions known only to the most learned, and of course those actually in the order itself. It is relatively common knowledge that Queen Tarmunora oversaw a great Joining between Dragons and Elves, a spell to which Humans were later added, and that this spell was the one that gave the elves their much vaunted grace and strength. Each race gained the strengths of the other: The dragons were granted the gift of speech and rationality, while the elves gained the dragons’ raw magical and physical strength. What is not so commonly known, is that the Elves and Humans joined together in this pact also gained a peculiar weakness of the dragons: Tickling.
After the Great Joining, the Elves found that they too desired tickling above nearly all other pursuits, traits that were only amplified in those elves that were chosen to become Riders. The elves developed tickling into an art-form and it became a cultural cornerstone. They, and the humans that followed them, used it for pleasure, punishment, and everything in between.”
- Excerpt from the Introduction of “A History of Tickling in Alagaësia”
A beautiful sunset dappled the sky as the small party comprised of four dwarves, an elf, a human, and a dragon set up camp for the night. Eragon Shadeslayer leaned against Saphira the dragon's lustrous scales as he polished his iridescent sword Zar’roc. Following the battle of Farthen Dur and the appearance of Togira Ikonoka (The Cripple Who is Whole), Eragon set off for Du Weldenvarden, the home of the elves, to begin his formal training as a Rider and get some answers as to the mysterious being that had helped him from afar. Eragon was roused from his musings as Arya, the elf accompanying him to Du Weldenvarden, approached. Eragon smiled up at his friend and rose to greet her.
“Eragon, we will reach the borders of Du Weldenvarden tomorrow evening and there are some things that you must know about the elven people,” she began without preamble. For the past several days, she had become more tense and brusque with them the closer the party came to the home of the elves.
“Very well then,” he replied. And so Arya began to tutor Eragon about the customs and courtesies of the Elves, of which there seemed to be no end. At last, after several hours, Arya called a halt and Eragon was allowed to rest and digest the information he had been given.
“It seems that in having all these rules, the Elves have only made it easier to offend someone,” Eragon joked.
“Perhaps so,” Arya replied with a smile. “There is one other thing that you should be aware of before our arrival in Du Weldenvarden. A lot of this must be taught to you by your formal teacher once we reach Ellesmera; however, I will make a small exception in this case. As a Rider, it would behoove you to appear at least somewhat competent in the oldest of the Riders’ traditions.”
“And what would that be?” Eragon questioned, curious as to what could be so important that Arya was willing to teach him herself.
“Tickling. Since days long lost to the mists of time, the Elves have held a fascination and love for tickling. It plays a fundamental role in our culture for this reason.” Eragon immediately felt a hundred questions fly to the front of his mind, but was quickly dissuaded from asking them when Arya raised her hand and said “I know you must have many questions, but I am not the right person to answer them. You will learn this and much more in Ellesmera. For now, you must be taught and allowed to practice.”
With that cryptic statement, Arya led a bewildered Eragon and a silent Saphira to a clearing and with a few words of the Ancient Language, cast a powerful privacy ward around the three of them. She stomped her foot once and a clean slab of stone shot out of the ground. It was around six feet in length and perhaps three to four feet in width and appeared to be made of pure white marble. Eragon gaped in awe at Arya’s casual display of raw power. “I’d like you to practice on me, if you are willing,” came the matter-of-fact statement.
“Y-you want me to practice tickling you?” he asked with some trepidation (and not a little excitement). In the short time he’d been bonded to Saphira, he’d developed a taste for tickling, not that he’d had the opportunity to explore it until now. “I didn’t think the Riders would have placed such importance on tickling, of all things.”
“As I said, this is an important skill for a Rider to know, and is deeply ingrained in elvish culture as you will soon see. Fear not, it is considered a great honor among the elves to be tickled by a Rider. All the more reason that you appear competent” With that, she purposefully began to disrobe until she was left in nothing but a silken shift to cover her nakedness.
Eragon was transfixed by her porcelain skin and ethereal beauty, but quickly shook himself out of his stupor as Arya lay herself down on the marble slab, she shivered slightly at the touch of the cold stone against her exposed skin.
“Eragon, you must now restrain me so that I can be tickled most effectively. This, and many other things, you will have to learn,” she instructed.
He nodded and turned to Saphira, who had been watching the proceedings with a primal gleam in her eye. He touched her mind and asked, Are you alright? I’ve never seen you like this before.
Saphira lowered her head until Eragon was looking deep into one of her large-blue eye and replied, Yes little one. For some reason, the very mention of Tickling rouses something in my blood. There is something more at work here. Acquit yourself well, I feel that this will prove to be important.
Simple rope will not work to restrain her Eragon noted. And I am not nearly powerful enough to hold her limbs with raw magic alone. Arya watched him with a calculating gaze as Eragon thought through this dilemma. “I have an idea, please raise your arms and lay them against the stone,” he told Arya at last. She did as he asked and Eragon took a deep breath and reaching through the barrier in his mind, he called upon his reserves of magic and intoned “Stenr mor’amr.” He felt a disproportionate amount of energy rush out of him as the marble around Arya’s wrists seemed to flow like liquid over her hands, wrists, and ankles, effectively binding her in place.
Arya gave a few experimental tugs and was satisfied to find that the stone held against her attempts. “An effective solution, if a bit costly,” she commented, already growing a little nervous at the tickling she was to receive.
Eragon blushed at her praise and seated himself on the slab beside her bound body. “I-I’ve never done this before…” he sheepishly admitted.
“It is as I feared,” Arya said. “Brom would have been more concerned with keeping you alive after fleeing your home in Carvahall, than with teaching you of your heritage or culture. Very well then, you must meld your mind with Saphira’s and allow her instincts to guide your tickling. I will help if I can.”
“But, how would Saphira know about tickling?” He asked confusedly.
“Again Eragon, it is not my place to answer such questions. Do not presume to put them to me again. I will simply say that Dragons are instinctive ticklers, even of elves and other races, and leave it at that. Please begin when you’re ready. Take this as a learning experience. Understand what techniques work and which ones are best left avoided. Remember, what works for one person will not always work for another, you will have to adapt in the future, but this will serve as a good starting point.” With that, Arya lapsed back into silence and began to breathe deeply, as though in preparation.
Eragon opened his mind and heart to Saphira and in a rush of thoughts and feelings, they were one, Dragon and Rider acting in perfect concert. Eragon, with newfound confidence leaned over Arya’s prone form and took in the sight of the bound beauty.
“Tell me Arya, how ticklish are you?”
“I’m incredibly ticklish. My mother would often tickle me before I left Du Weldenvarden as the Elven Ambassador, though I’ve rarely gotten the chance to be tickled since leaving my homeland.”
With a non-committal “hmm” Eragon reached out and, with the help of Saphira’s well-tuned instincts, slowly ghosted his fingers over Arya’s exposed upper body. His teasing light touches caused Arya to yelp in surprise and attempt to twist away from his hands.
“You’re more skilled than I thought! Saphira’s instincts must be strong indeed!” she remarked, all the while attempting to escape Eragon’s roaming fingers which alternated between her armpits, belly, and hips at random.
After a few more minutes of light teases, Saphira directed Eragon to straddle her hips, effectively eliminating any chance of movement. Let’s see how ticklish those armpits are. He placed his fingers at the crook of Arya’s elbows and slowly dragged them towards her exposed underarms. Arya could do nothing but await the inevitable torture. She was beginning to think that she’d made a grave mistake in inviting Eragon to tickle her. As Eragon reached her lovely underarms, he suddenly dug all five fingers of each hand into them and began vibrating them with relish.
“AHAHAHAAHAH NOHOHOHO,” Arya screamed at the sudden tickling. Thrashing this way and that in an attempt to escape his vibrating digits to no avail. Eragon grinned as her musical laughs washed over him. Saphira too let out a deep, rumbling growl of satisfaction as Arya’s laughs escalated in pitch.
“Isn’t this a peculiar sight, the mighty elf warrior reduced to a laughing wreck,” Eragon teased and once again shifted the focus of his tickling to Arya’s sides, alternating from one to the other in order to see her squirm away before switching.
“MMMMPHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IT TICKLES!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” screamed Arya as Eragon continued his assault on her immobile sides and armpits.
“Koochie-koochie-koo! Just keep laughing!” Eragon taunted as he, with the aid of Saphira, sought out the exposed patch of skin just below the sides of Arya’s breasts and dug in. Who knew this could be so fun?, he asked over the sounds of Arya shrieking anew at the new technique. After several more minutes of tickling, Eragon gave her a breather. Driven nearly to hysterics, Arya sucked in several greedy breaths of air, her body heaving from the exertion of the past several minutes. It had been several decades since she had last been tickled like this, and it was beginning to show. Eragon slowly trailed a finger around her exposed abdomen causing Arya to squirm sexily in her bondage and let out small whimpers of anticipation.
“How’ve I been doing so far?” he asked with an uncharacteristic smirk, continuing his ticklish teasing.
“You have certainly surpassed my initial expectations; however, you must learn to develop sharper skills on your own, not just with the aid of Saphira. It’s considered a mark of honor among elves to display their independent tickling skills.” Arya said in between light giggles as Eragon picked up the pace of his teasing.
Eragon stopped straddling Arya and moved back until he was kneeling beside her. He looked down at the immobile elf-woman and began to slowly spider his fingers along the hem of her undergarments, eliciting louder giggles as he picked up the pace. He squeezed her waist, causing her to yelp and burst into frenzied laughter as he continued to squeeze her waist repeatedly. She screamed and bucked her sexy body in her stone bondage to no avail. The elf was well and truly immobilized and exposed to Eragon’s ticklish onslaught. Eragon quickly moved to her knees and inner thighs, squeezing her thighs as well, making the poor elf whoop with helpless laughter. He alternated between light pinches of her inner thighs and digging into the yielding flesh of her bikini-line and hips to devastating effect. Arya was sent into hysterics as he rapidly alternated between these different techniques.
“ENOUGH!” She screamed, and Eragon suddenly withdrew, scared that he’d hurt his friend in some way.
“Well done Eragon,” she said between panting breaths. “That was very enjoyable. I haven’t been tickled like that for a very long time. Saphira, try to remove yourself from Eragon's mind and let him tickle me without your keen instincts to guide him,” she instructed, still giggling somewhat from the merciless tickling she’d been subjected to.
With Saphira no-longer intimately linked to him, Eragon felt his initial insecurity come rushing back. What if he couldn’t become a good tickler? Pushing down these fears, Eragon drew his courage and once more reached out towards Arya’s stunning body. Her hair, once perfectly coiffed, was now in disarray around her head, her body covered with a slight sheen of sweat that almost made her glow in the moonlight. Already primed and squirming with anticipation, it didn’t take long for Arya to begin giggling and laughing again as Eragon dug his fingers into Arya’s exposed ribs and vibrated away with relish. It didn’t escape Eragon or Saphira’s notice, however, that he laughs were not as frenetic or as high-pitched as before. Eragon spread his fingers over each of her ribs while lowering his mouth to her lovely belly button, a perfect innie, and blowing a loud raspberry. Though undignified, it certainly did the job as the resulting yelp increased in volume. He spidered his fingers along her belly and underarms before suddenly swooping down and digging once more into her inner thighs. His claw-like grip on her legs giving him excellent purchase to elicit more ticklish reactions from the elf.
Though she squirmed and strained mightily against the marble, she couldn’t escape his tickling, diminished though it was without Saphira’s intervention. After several more minutes of frantic tickling, Arya once more called a halt to the exercise in between musical giggles and ticklish yelps. Eragon released the marble holding her arms and legs immobile and Arya sat up, rubbing her wrists.
“Your prowess is significantly diminished without Saphira’s influence, although it is expected. At Ellesmera, you will get a chance to hone your craft. Though I will admit I quite enjoyed being tickled by you,” she giggled uncharacteristically.
Eragon’s mood was buoyed by the fact that she’d enjoyed it, but he was disappointed that he hadn’t been up to par without Saphira’s help.
Do not fret little one. We’re here to learn and grow stronger after all. There’s no shame in not having performed particularly well before even getting the chance to be trained, Saphira counselled.
What I don’t understand is how exactly you knew all those things about where and how to tickle her! It was amazing! Arya seems to know, though she refuses to tell us!
Patience little one, we’ll find out soon enough.
Arya, oblivious to their mental discussion, began clothing herself once again in her forest-green travelling attire.
“Was there aught-else you wished to discuss Eragon? We made a good start here, and I am confident you will acquit yourself well when we reach Ellesmera tomorrow morn. I will drop the privacy wards otherwise,” she stated in a light tone. It seemed that the tickling had relieved her tension and she smiled a little more freely now.
“W-will I be able to tickle you again?” Eragon asked somewhat uncertainly, his shyness returning in full force.
Arya laughed, a beautiful sound that seemed to echo in the deserted clearing. “Perhaps after we reach Ellesmera, we will have another opportunity. You have your studies to look forward to after all.”
As she turned her back to dismantle the privacy ward, Eragon darted forward and suddenly dug his fingers into Arya’s sides. Arya yelped in surprise and shook off his tickling hands before turning and heading back to the campsite, though not before favoring Eragon with a coy smile.
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“Since the time of Queen Tarmunora, the sovereigns of the Elven Kingdom kept different court traditions. King Evandar would bring in an elf maiden to be tickled by the entire council of High Lords and Ladies at each session, Queen Islanzadi instituted the famous ‘Throne’s Feet,’ and Queen Tarmunora, in an unprecedented move, allowed the Council of Lords and Ladies to tickle her all at once. This ceremony became known as the ‘Royal Summons’ and would occur at the end of every full-council session to bolster inter-house unity.
Beyond their traditions at court, the Kings and Queens of Du Weldenvarden often amused themselves in other ways. During his reign, King Evandar was fond of strapping his mate, Islanzadi, to the ancient trunk of the Menoa tree and tickling her there for long hours. It was an event that many elves from Ellesmera enjoyed watching. Queen Islanzadi had grown to love both being tickled as well as tickling others. During her reign, and when time permitted, she would gather three of her favored servants in a room. These servants would be allowed to restrain and tickle their queen in any way they wished. It was a startling display of humility and instantly endeared her to her subjects...”
- Excerpt from “A History of TIckling in Alagaesia,” Chapter 5: The Elven Rulers
Eragon and Saphira entered the throne room of Tialdari hall with unconcealed awe clear on their faces. In the enormous hall of trees, hundreds of branches melded together to form a honeycombed ceiling. Below, arrayed in a semi-circle, sat the lords and ladies of the great elven houses, but Eragon’s attention was immediately drawn to the figure at the apex of the semi-circle. Queen Islanzadi sat upon a great throne of knotted roots as though born to it. She was richly garbed and beautiful beyond belief. To her left, her familiar Blagden the albino raven was perched and watching the proceedings.
To her right, however, a pair of feet seemed to be tied to the arm of her throne. A young elf was tied in an L-shape to the throne with the elf’s back placed against the floor with legs facing straight up along the side of the throne itself. The elfling’s feet appeared to be tied, not by rope, but by the roots of the throne itself and their hands were secured to the floor by more roots that snaked out of the ground. She, for they had arrived close enough to discern her sex, was young, even by the reckoning of humans, and had barely reached the age of ten and eight years. Indeed, to the elves, eighteen years was a nearly negligible span of time.
The elf in question was a Page to the Queen and had been selected by the Queen to serve as the ‘Throne’s Feet’ for the day. Pages and servants at the court of Queen Islanzadi vied for this position beside her throne. Each day, the Queen selected a new Page to be placed at the side of her throne during court. The Queen stroked Blagden’s brilliant plumage with her left hand and slowly ran the fingers of her right along the elf’s exposed soles, eliciting musical giggles that seemed to fill the grand hall. Islanzadi turned her Regal head to regard her restrained servant and a small smile broke out on her face at the sight of the page’s ticklish reactions. She shifted from teasing her toy’s soles to tickling in-between her toes, relishing the shift in pitch of the laughter and yelps her expert fingers elicited. As she continued her tickling, she was vaguely aware of the other Lords and Ladies of the elven council watching her tickle her servant. It was an intoxicating power.
As Arya, Eragon, and Saphira approached, the Queen coolly regarded them but did not stop teasing the pair of feet tied to her throne until they had knelt in front of her. Queen Islanzadi rose, raised her arms, and spoke.
[TO BE CONTINUED]
Hope you like it! Please let me know what you think of the story!
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“Many a song and story have chronicled the magnificent deeds and histories of the Dragon Riders, an elite guild of humans and elves chosen by magic and fate to safeguard the whole of Alagaësia. But this ancient order contains secrets and traditions known only to the most learned, and of course those actually in the order itself. It is relatively common knowledge that Queen Tarmunora oversaw a great Joining between Dragons and Elves, a spell to which Humans were later added, and that this spell was the one that gave the elves their much vaunted grace and strength. Each race gained the strengths of the other: The dragons were granted the gift of speech and rationality, while the elves gained the dragons’ raw magical and physical strength. What is not so commonly known, is that the Elves and Humans joined together in this pact also gained a peculiar weakness of the dragons: Tickling.
After the Great Joining, the Elves found that they too desired tickling above nearly all other pursuits, traits that were only amplified in those elves that were chosen to become Riders. The elves developed tickling into an art-form and it became a cultural cornerstone. They, and the humans that followed them, used it for pleasure, punishment, and everything in between.”
- Excerpt from the Introduction of “A History of Tickling in Alagaësia”
A beautiful sunset dappled the sky as the small party comprised of four dwarves, an elf, a human, and a dragon set up camp for the night. Eragon Shadeslayer leaned against Saphira the dragon's lustrous scales as he polished his iridescent sword Zar’roc. Following the battle of Farthen Dur and the appearance of Togira Ikonoka (The Cripple Who is Whole), Eragon set off for Du Weldenvarden, the home of the elves, to begin his formal training as a Rider and get some answers as to the mysterious being that had helped him from afar. Eragon was roused from his musings as Arya, the elf accompanying him to Du Weldenvarden, approached. Eragon smiled up at his friend and rose to greet her.
“Eragon, we will reach the borders of Du Weldenvarden tomorrow evening and there are some things that you must know about the elven people,” she began without preamble. For the past several days, she had become more tense and brusque with them the closer the party came to the home of the elves.
“Very well then,” he replied. And so Arya began to tutor Eragon about the customs and courtesies of the Elves, of which there seemed to be no end. At last, after several hours, Arya called a halt and Eragon was allowed to rest and digest the information he had been given.
“It seems that in having all these rules, the Elves have only made it easier to offend someone,” Eragon joked.
“Perhaps so,” Arya replied with a smile. “There is one other thing that you should be aware of before our arrival in Du Weldenvarden. A lot of this must be taught to you by your formal teacher once we reach Ellesmera; however, I will make a small exception in this case. As a Rider, it would behoove you to appear at least somewhat competent in the oldest of the Riders’ traditions.”
“And what would that be?” Eragon questioned, curious as to what could be so important that Arya was willing to teach him herself.
“Tickling. Since days long lost to the mists of time, the Elves have held a fascination and love for tickling. It plays a fundamental role in our culture for this reason.” Eragon immediately felt a hundred questions fly to the front of his mind, but was quickly dissuaded from asking them when Arya raised her hand and said “I know you must have many questions, but I am not the right person to answer them. You will learn this and much more in Ellesmera. For now, you must be taught and allowed to practice.”
With that cryptic statement, Arya led a bewildered Eragon and a silent Saphira to a clearing and with a few words of the Ancient Language, cast a powerful privacy ward around the three of them. She stomped her foot once and a clean slab of stone shot out of the ground. It was around six feet in length and perhaps three to four feet in width and appeared to be made of pure white marble. Eragon gaped in awe at Arya’s casual display of raw power. “I’d like you to practice on me, if you are willing,” came the matter-of-fact statement.
“Y-you want me to practice tickling you?” he asked with some trepidation (and not a little excitement). In the short time he’d been bonded to Saphira, he’d developed a taste for tickling, not that he’d had the opportunity to explore it until now. “I didn’t think the Riders would have placed such importance on tickling, of all things.”
“As I said, this is an important skill for a Rider to know, and is deeply ingrained in elvish culture as you will soon see. Fear not, it is considered a great honor among the elves to be tickled by a Rider. All the more reason that you appear competent” With that, she purposefully began to disrobe until she was left in nothing but a silken shift to cover her nakedness.
Eragon was transfixed by her porcelain skin and ethereal beauty, but quickly shook himself out of his stupor as Arya lay herself down on the marble slab, she shivered slightly at the touch of the cold stone against her exposed skin.
“Eragon, you must now restrain me so that I can be tickled most effectively. This, and many other things, you will have to learn,” she instructed.
He nodded and turned to Saphira, who had been watching the proceedings with a primal gleam in her eye. He touched her mind and asked, Are you alright? I’ve never seen you like this before.
Saphira lowered her head until Eragon was looking deep into one of her large-blue eye and replied, Yes little one. For some reason, the very mention of Tickling rouses something in my blood. There is something more at work here. Acquit yourself well, I feel that this will prove to be important.
Simple rope will not work to restrain her Eragon noted. And I am not nearly powerful enough to hold her limbs with raw magic alone. Arya watched him with a calculating gaze as Eragon thought through this dilemma. “I have an idea, please raise your arms and lay them against the stone,” he told Arya at last. She did as he asked and Eragon took a deep breath and reaching through the barrier in his mind, he called upon his reserves of magic and intoned “Stenr mor’amr.” He felt a disproportionate amount of energy rush out of him as the marble around Arya’s wrists seemed to flow like liquid over her hands, wrists, and ankles, effectively binding her in place.
Arya gave a few experimental tugs and was satisfied to find that the stone held against her attempts. “An effective solution, if a bit costly,” she commented, already growing a little nervous at the tickling she was to receive.
Eragon blushed at her praise and seated himself on the slab beside her bound body. “I-I’ve never done this before…” he sheepishly admitted.
“It is as I feared,” Arya said. “Brom would have been more concerned with keeping you alive after fleeing your home in Carvahall, than with teaching you of your heritage or culture. Very well then, you must meld your mind with Saphira’s and allow her instincts to guide your tickling. I will help if I can.”
“But, how would Saphira know about tickling?” He asked confusedly.
“Again Eragon, it is not my place to answer such questions. Do not presume to put them to me again. I will simply say that Dragons are instinctive ticklers, even of elves and other races, and leave it at that. Please begin when you’re ready. Take this as a learning experience. Understand what techniques work and which ones are best left avoided. Remember, what works for one person will not always work for another, you will have to adapt in the future, but this will serve as a good starting point.” With that, Arya lapsed back into silence and began to breathe deeply, as though in preparation.
Eragon opened his mind and heart to Saphira and in a rush of thoughts and feelings, they were one, Dragon and Rider acting in perfect concert. Eragon, with newfound confidence leaned over Arya’s prone form and took in the sight of the bound beauty.
“Tell me Arya, how ticklish are you?”
“I’m incredibly ticklish. My mother would often tickle me before I left Du Weldenvarden as the Elven Ambassador, though I’ve rarely gotten the chance to be tickled since leaving my homeland.”
With a non-committal “hmm” Eragon reached out and, with the help of Saphira’s well-tuned instincts, slowly ghosted his fingers over Arya’s exposed upper body. His teasing light touches caused Arya to yelp in surprise and attempt to twist away from his hands.
“You’re more skilled than I thought! Saphira’s instincts must be strong indeed!” she remarked, all the while attempting to escape Eragon’s roaming fingers which alternated between her armpits, belly, and hips at random.
After a few more minutes of light teases, Saphira directed Eragon to straddle her hips, effectively eliminating any chance of movement. Let’s see how ticklish those armpits are. He placed his fingers at the crook of Arya’s elbows and slowly dragged them towards her exposed underarms. Arya could do nothing but await the inevitable torture. She was beginning to think that she’d made a grave mistake in inviting Eragon to tickle her. As Eragon reached her lovely underarms, he suddenly dug all five fingers of each hand into them and began vibrating them with relish.
“AHAHAHAAHAH NOHOHOHO,” Arya screamed at the sudden tickling. Thrashing this way and that in an attempt to escape his vibrating digits to no avail. Eragon grinned as her musical laughs washed over him. Saphira too let out a deep, rumbling growl of satisfaction as Arya’s laughs escalated in pitch.
“Isn’t this a peculiar sight, the mighty elf warrior reduced to a laughing wreck,” Eragon teased and once again shifted the focus of his tickling to Arya’s sides, alternating from one to the other in order to see her squirm away before switching.
“MMMMPHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IT TICKLES!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” screamed Arya as Eragon continued his assault on her immobile sides and armpits.
“Koochie-koochie-koo! Just keep laughing!” Eragon taunted as he, with the aid of Saphira, sought out the exposed patch of skin just below the sides of Arya’s breasts and dug in. Who knew this could be so fun?, he asked over the sounds of Arya shrieking anew at the new technique. After several more minutes of tickling, Eragon gave her a breather. Driven nearly to hysterics, Arya sucked in several greedy breaths of air, her body heaving from the exertion of the past several minutes. It had been several decades since she had last been tickled like this, and it was beginning to show. Eragon slowly trailed a finger around her exposed abdomen causing Arya to squirm sexily in her bondage and let out small whimpers of anticipation.
“How’ve I been doing so far?” he asked with an uncharacteristic smirk, continuing his ticklish teasing.
“You have certainly surpassed my initial expectations; however, you must learn to develop sharper skills on your own, not just with the aid of Saphira. It’s considered a mark of honor among elves to display their independent tickling skills.” Arya said in between light giggles as Eragon picked up the pace of his teasing.
Eragon stopped straddling Arya and moved back until he was kneeling beside her. He looked down at the immobile elf-woman and began to slowly spider his fingers along the hem of her undergarments, eliciting louder giggles as he picked up the pace. He squeezed her waist, causing her to yelp and burst into frenzied laughter as he continued to squeeze her waist repeatedly. She screamed and bucked her sexy body in her stone bondage to no avail. The elf was well and truly immobilized and exposed to Eragon’s ticklish onslaught. Eragon quickly moved to her knees and inner thighs, squeezing her thighs as well, making the poor elf whoop with helpless laughter. He alternated between light pinches of her inner thighs and digging into the yielding flesh of her bikini-line and hips to devastating effect. Arya was sent into hysterics as he rapidly alternated between these different techniques.
“ENOUGH!” She screamed, and Eragon suddenly withdrew, scared that he’d hurt his friend in some way.
“Well done Eragon,” she said between panting breaths. “That was very enjoyable. I haven’t been tickled like that for a very long time. Saphira, try to remove yourself from Eragon's mind and let him tickle me without your keen instincts to guide him,” she instructed, still giggling somewhat from the merciless tickling she’d been subjected to.
With Saphira no-longer intimately linked to him, Eragon felt his initial insecurity come rushing back. What if he couldn’t become a good tickler? Pushing down these fears, Eragon drew his courage and once more reached out towards Arya’s stunning body. Her hair, once perfectly coiffed, was now in disarray around her head, her body covered with a slight sheen of sweat that almost made her glow in the moonlight. Already primed and squirming with anticipation, it didn’t take long for Arya to begin giggling and laughing again as Eragon dug his fingers into Arya’s exposed ribs and vibrated away with relish. It didn’t escape Eragon or Saphira’s notice, however, that he laughs were not as frenetic or as high-pitched as before. Eragon spread his fingers over each of her ribs while lowering his mouth to her lovely belly button, a perfect innie, and blowing a loud raspberry. Though undignified, it certainly did the job as the resulting yelp increased in volume. He spidered his fingers along her belly and underarms before suddenly swooping down and digging once more into her inner thighs. His claw-like grip on her legs giving him excellent purchase to elicit more ticklish reactions from the elf.
Though she squirmed and strained mightily against the marble, she couldn’t escape his tickling, diminished though it was without Saphira’s intervention. After several more minutes of frantic tickling, Arya once more called a halt to the exercise in between musical giggles and ticklish yelps. Eragon released the marble holding her arms and legs immobile and Arya sat up, rubbing her wrists.
“Your prowess is significantly diminished without Saphira’s influence, although it is expected. At Ellesmera, you will get a chance to hone your craft. Though I will admit I quite enjoyed being tickled by you,” she giggled uncharacteristically.
Eragon’s mood was buoyed by the fact that she’d enjoyed it, but he was disappointed that he hadn’t been up to par without Saphira’s help.
Do not fret little one. We’re here to learn and grow stronger after all. There’s no shame in not having performed particularly well before even getting the chance to be trained, Saphira counselled.
What I don’t understand is how exactly you knew all those things about where and how to tickle her! It was amazing! Arya seems to know, though she refuses to tell us!
Patience little one, we’ll find out soon enough.
Arya, oblivious to their mental discussion, began clothing herself once again in her forest-green travelling attire.
“Was there aught-else you wished to discuss Eragon? We made a good start here, and I am confident you will acquit yourself well when we reach Ellesmera tomorrow morn. I will drop the privacy wards otherwise,” she stated in a light tone. It seemed that the tickling had relieved her tension and she smiled a little more freely now.
“W-will I be able to tickle you again?” Eragon asked somewhat uncertainly, his shyness returning in full force.
Arya laughed, a beautiful sound that seemed to echo in the deserted clearing. “Perhaps after we reach Ellesmera, we will have another opportunity. You have your studies to look forward to after all.”
As she turned her back to dismantle the privacy ward, Eragon darted forward and suddenly dug his fingers into Arya’s sides. Arya yelped in surprise and shook off his tickling hands before turning and heading back to the campsite, though not before favoring Eragon with a coy smile.
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“Since the time of Queen Tarmunora, the sovereigns of the Elven Kingdom kept different court traditions. King Evandar would bring in an elf maiden to be tickled by the entire council of High Lords and Ladies at each session, Queen Islanzadi instituted the famous ‘Throne’s Feet,’ and Queen Tarmunora, in an unprecedented move, allowed the Council of Lords and Ladies to tickle her all at once. This ceremony became known as the ‘Royal Summons’ and would occur at the end of every full-council session to bolster inter-house unity.
Beyond their traditions at court, the Kings and Queens of Du Weldenvarden often amused themselves in other ways. During his reign, King Evandar was fond of strapping his mate, Islanzadi, to the ancient trunk of the Menoa tree and tickling her there for long hours. It was an event that many elves from Ellesmera enjoyed watching. Queen Islanzadi had grown to love both being tickled as well as tickling others. During her reign, and when time permitted, she would gather three of her favored servants in a room. These servants would be allowed to restrain and tickle their queen in any way they wished. It was a startling display of humility and instantly endeared her to her subjects...”
- Excerpt from “A History of TIckling in Alagaesia,” Chapter 5: The Elven Rulers
Eragon and Saphira entered the throne room of Tialdari hall with unconcealed awe clear on their faces. In the enormous hall of trees, hundreds of branches melded together to form a honeycombed ceiling. Below, arrayed in a semi-circle, sat the lords and ladies of the great elven houses, but Eragon’s attention was immediately drawn to the figure at the apex of the semi-circle. Queen Islanzadi sat upon a great throne of knotted roots as though born to it. She was richly garbed and beautiful beyond belief. To her left, her familiar Blagden the albino raven was perched and watching the proceedings.
To her right, however, a pair of feet seemed to be tied to the arm of her throne. A young elf was tied in an L-shape to the throne with the elf’s back placed against the floor with legs facing straight up along the side of the throne itself. The elfling’s feet appeared to be tied, not by rope, but by the roots of the throne itself and their hands were secured to the floor by more roots that snaked out of the ground. She, for they had arrived close enough to discern her sex, was young, even by the reckoning of humans, and had barely reached the age of ten and eight years. Indeed, to the elves, eighteen years was a nearly negligible span of time.
The elf in question was a Page to the Queen and had been selected by the Queen to serve as the ‘Throne’s Feet’ for the day. Pages and servants at the court of Queen Islanzadi vied for this position beside her throne. Each day, the Queen selected a new Page to be placed at the side of her throne during court. The Queen stroked Blagden’s brilliant plumage with her left hand and slowly ran the fingers of her right along the elf’s exposed soles, eliciting musical giggles that seemed to fill the grand hall. Islanzadi turned her Regal head to regard her restrained servant and a small smile broke out on her face at the sight of the page’s ticklish reactions. She shifted from teasing her toy’s soles to tickling in-between her toes, relishing the shift in pitch of the laughter and yelps her expert fingers elicited. As she continued her tickling, she was vaguely aware of the other Lords and Ladies of the elven council watching her tickle her servant. It was an intoxicating power.
As Arya, Eragon, and Saphira approached, the Queen coolly regarded them but did not stop teasing the pair of feet tied to her throne until they had knelt in front of her. Queen Islanzadi rose, raised her arms, and spoke.
[TO BE CONTINUED]
