Seren believed himself to be an expert in men. He himself was a man, what didn't he know? Not to mention, he'd been observing so many fantasies and fetishes over the years that he could have written a book on the subject. (In fact he tried as much once, but his mother found the draft and burned it before his father caught sight of it.) If you were looking for advice on the various ways to please a man, Seren was sure he could give you the answer. His theory was second to none. And yet, at the age of eighteen, as worldly as he was, Seren found himself asking a question he didn't know the answer to, "What is... pegging?"

Dal tried to hold back her laughter and Dao covered her mouth. "Well..." said Kaio, "it's like what that awful Mr Thatch does to me once a month... only, the other way around." Seren was stumped. It hadn't taken him long to discover the differences between a man and a woman, Seren was pretty clued up in that regard and had in fact seen more than he'd ever wanted to see. One thing he was sure of was that women lacked the vital equipment to fuck someone. Dal took pity on Seren's stupified look and went to her room to give him the answer, when she came out she was carrying something behind her back. Before she had the chance to throw it over to him, Mr Straw returned home from his errand and stepped into the parlor. "Maybe next time..." she mouthed to Seren, before returning the mysterious item to her room.

That night, Seren tried to find a time to ask Dal or the others some more questions, but it was a surprisingly busy evening at the inn, and by the time the last guests left, the women were all asleep. Seren was left wondering, picturing scenarios where fingers, feet and elbows were involved. The biggest question he had, the one that kept him awake, was why did the gentleman want... that? He'd heard from Dao and Kaio how uncomfortable it was. The one giving enjoyed it, men liked sticking it anywhere they could it seemed, but the one taking it just suffered the pain until it was over. What man in his right mind would ask for it willingly? Seren was desperate to find out.

At the lunch table the next day, Therobod cleared his throat. Adalina and Seren froze in their seats and stopped eating. "I've been to Mr Birch. At the farm, six miles east." Mother and son looked at each other, and Adalina grasped her son's hand beneath the table. "His daughter turns sixteen next year. She'll do for Seren." With that, Therobod stood up and exited the parlor. Adalina shook her head, "It's a ways off yet, dear one. We can take things as they come." For the next week, Seren completed his chores in a daze. To bring a wife he couldn't love into such a home seemed cruel. More and more he thought of heading into the barren wilds of the Cinder Vale and not looking back. But he could never leave his mother behind, and she would rarely leave the upstairs parlor these days, not even venturing into the yard as they had done when he was a boy. Seren remembered the days when he would find wild flowers some mornings, and his mother would tell him their names. Adalina's favorite flower was the biathia lily, but it didn't grow here. He'd seen pictures, and his mother often embroidered it onto his clothes and eyepatches. When he was little he thought he could find one in the vale to give to her, and made Adalina cross with worry when he once ran away for several hours to look before she found him crying alone in the dirt. "Never mind" she'd said, "we can look together next time."

The issue of his future had been weighing so heavily on Seren's mind, that hadn't had time to solve the 'pegging' conundrum. As he was mucking out the stable that afternoon and idly lost in his thoughts, an unexpected visitor arrived before he had time to notice. "Oh my! Is that the pretty little girl, all grown up?" asked Mr Thatch, as he led his horse into the stable. It was a hot day and Seren had loosened his clothes. As the old man approached he unconsciously fastened them closed before checking his eyepatch was firmly in place. Seren leaned on his rake and nodded in greeting. The man looked as though the skin on his face had shrunk since the last time he'd seen him, when he pulled his lips into a smile, his cheeks looked leathery and taut. "Young master, I fear you've been avoiding me. Is it because I mistook you for a girl all those years back? You know, if your hair were longer I might have made the same mistake again."

"Not at all, sir" said Seren, as he propped his rake against the stable wall and approached to take the horse's reins. Mr Thatch slowly passed the reins to Seren, drawing his fingers deliberately across the boy's hand as he did so. The rough and clammy skin made Seren pity Kaio even more. "You can call me Uncle Thatch like the others do. It's... Seren, isn't it?" asked Mr Thatch, leaning uncomfortably close to him, "Tell me Seren... do you ride? Would you like to learn..?" Seren led the horse to an empty stall and stood a little further away on his return. "I haven't the time, sir" he told him, "I'll be getting married next year so there's much still to organize."

"Ah!" said Thatch, "But you're much too young... a boy like you should be riding... wild and free." Mr Thatch drew his slimy tongue across his pale lips and looked Seren up and down. Dao wasn't here this time to stand between them and block his view. Mr Thatch stared openly and lewdly at the young and beautiful man before him, while Seren suppressed the urge to gag and vomit in the hay. "Weddings..." said Thatch, "are awfully expensive. Would you like to earn some extra money..?" That this was the man his father deemed an 'important guest' made Seren's skin crawl. He knew better than to openly offend him, but he couldn't stand much more of this provocation. It was better to play dumb and escape today. "If there's work to be done you'll have to arrange it with my father" he said earnestly, "if he can spare me. For now, please excuse me. I still have chores to finish before the other guests arrive." Seren nodded politely to Mr Thatch, and left as large a gap as possible between them as he exited the stable. As soon as he was out of sight, he ran to the inn to inform his father of the magistrate's arrival, and hid upstairs for the rest of the day. When Therobod didn't arrive to fetch him back, he could only imagine that Mr Thatch had stayed late into the evening. He didn't dare think what proposition might have been made to his father, or worse still, whether his father would accept it.

Adalina, on the other hand, was happy to spend an evening with her son. Even though it was summer, she was already knitting him a pair of wrist guards for when the cold weather returned. Seren would often go to buy wool and threads for his mother from the traveling merchant; she was unlikely to venture out herself but longed for things to occupy her time. If Dal or Dao asked him to sew something for them, he'd keep the leftover materials and gift them to his mother. Adalina never knew that so many of her projects had been financed by the ladies downstairs. She lived as though the world consisted of only her and Seren, that all the problems that existed were only make believe. It worried him that when the time came, he really would have to get married. 

A few days passed peacefully with no word of Mr Thatch or the farmer's daughter, six miles east. Seren came to visit Dal and return the shawl he'd mended. "Oh Seren, you've done a lovely job on this one, I can hardly see where it was torn." Dal put two copper coins into his hand and hung the shawl on a wooden peg by the door. Seren took a seat on the bed and made up his mind that today was the day, he would finally find out what he wanted to know. "Dal, if you're that pleased with me I want to ask you something in return." Dal turned and gave Seren an awkward smile. "Seren... I've known you since you were a boy. Maybe Kaio would be better to... help you." Seren sat bolt upright, "Dal, you mad old bat, I'm not asking for that! I just want you to tell me what pegging is!" Dal laughed heartily in relief and slapped Seren hard on the back. "I was worried," she laughed, "that you wanted some practice before the wedding." Seren shuddered and pushed her off balance. Once Dal had calmed down and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She went to fetch the mysterious object from beneath the bed.

Seren stared at the lacquered wooden phallus with leather straps dangling from its base. He tilted his head and reached out his hand to touch it. "This is what I use" she told him, "since I don't have the equipment to do the job myself." "So that's how!" cried Seren, as he marveled at its ingenuity. The wood was thick and carved into a bulbous shape at the end, similar to Seren's, only larger. When he remembered what it was used for he suddenly threw it on the bed and wiped his hands on his shirt. "Careful with it Seren! It wasn't cheap!" chided Dal, as she polished the wood with the hem of her dress. "If it gets a crack it's useless. No one wants a splinter in their intimate places..." Seren leaned in and observed it closely in Dal's hands. But a question still persisted in his mind. "Why?" he whispered, "Why do people ask for... that?" Dal gave a knowing smile and placed the phallus gently back beneath the bed.

"Before I came here I'd only used it with women." Seren's eyes widened. So it was possible for women to be together too? The thought had never crossed his mind before, but it made a lot of sense. To be honest, he'd never considered what women might want from a partner, and he felt a little guilty for it. "You know, Seren... about how differently women are made?" Seren nodded and Dal continued, "I mean, if you didn't know, you must have been working with your eye closed all these years... Some women want fingers, tongues, others want something... more substantial. Ah, there are all kinds of toys I wish I had the money for. But the guests here, as you know, they're all just men. Even a bored farmer's wife would help spice things up, but Mr Straw would never allow that." Seren looked away at the mention of his father. "Most men are here for one of two things," she pointed to her mouth and her crotch, "some men for the other" she said, as she slapped Seren's ass with a chuckle, "Mr Thatch is exclusively looking for the other... but every now and then, there comes a gentleman with unusual taste."

Seren was familiar with a lot of the 'special guests' as these were the ones the girls would talk about them the most; Mr Ash liked bondage, Mr Oat was interested in feet, and Mr Chaff wanted Dao to baby him while his wife raised three small children at home. "The bearded man never gives his name but he pays well. My hips get stiff from all the thrusting" she laughed, "but it's no surprise at my age! It's easy money at the end of the day and he likes it well enough to come back from time to time." This was the part that confused Seren the most. What was there to like about it? Dal could likely read the puzzled look on his face. "He should stop by this evening... if you really wanted to know."