the Leathermines

Lost?  The Beginning of the Chronicles begins with chapter one of The Slave Warrior.  The Chapter before this is Chapter 24 of The Slave Lady.

 

There had been odd looks and a few rumors that even Laun had heard.  Something was happening inside and outside the Palace and it was starting to get Falmir in a very bad mood.

Ithian had stayed the night and was in the bed with Gem sleepily draped over him as Laun practiced one of the dance katas with Hazalam at her side.  He had taken it up and was very smooth with his movements.  She was starting to have to take it in chunks with the pressure the baby was putting on her back, but she made it through.  They had started the routine again when the door opened and Falmir stormed in.

Laun had only her halter on, Hazalam, nothing.  The assassin knelt and put his head down as Falmir paced the room.  Laun sat on the bench and waited for Falmir to calm down enough to be able to start a sentence.  It took him a few more minutes before he was able to complete a thought.

“If I hadn’t accepted you as my Daughter...  That fucking bitch...  You fucking whore!  Keep me from getting the Kingdom-  How the fuck did-”  He stopped and rounded on Laun with a fist threatening her.  “And we can’t even get close!”

Laun had learned to be very patient.  She sat, looking at Falmir, not saying a word and just a slight tilt to her head.  She knew the tilt to her head did something to him and usually set him off again.  This time it did and he approached her with hatred and venom.

Her arms went protectively around the baby as he struck her.  It was the same place Helmic the Black had struck her and it had the same effect.  Laun was out cold.

When she woke, her eyes had flashes of light behind them and there was a ringing in her ears.  She was laying on the rug where she had fallen, her head in Gem’s lap.  Hazalam was kneeling next to her, but facing Falmir.  Ithian was talking up a storm.  Laun hurt, but kept her eyes closed as she listened to the two men arguing.

“...been here for a month with no contact with anyone from her household.  You know that!”

Falmir’s footsteps were loud even on the rug as he paced.  “Do you think I have been keeping her secluded for my own pleasure?  Oh, no-it has been for yours, ambassador.”

“I was trying to turn her to your side at first, your Majesty, but she is strong willed-”

“Strong enough to run her forces from here?  How the hell did she have enough provisions to last the winter, let alone fortify her entire lands?”  Falmir stopped pacing and was at full voice when he said, “And would you please!  Get some clothes on!”

Laun could not help but smile.  Gem had a hand to her forehead and Laun could feel warm drops falling onto her face.  “Mistress?”

The small voice caught the men’s attention.  Falmir roared, “Get out of my way!”  Laun felt Hazalam pushed bodily to the side.  Gem was also pushed away, Falmir’s large hand was suddenly under Laun’s head as he held her up against his chest.

The motion was very unpleasant, but she did not let her stomach let it’s self go.  She groaned and did not have to play on it to make it real.  She hurt and could not get anything else out without throwing up.  The touch was comforting, if a little strong.

He held her and was rocking back and forth, the fingers on her back digging in as he held her.  She could feel hot tears flowing from his eyes and onto her shoulder.

“I’m not going to loose you, too!” he cried into her hair.

Her head was spinning.  It felt as though bees were trying to dig their way out of her skull.  But, she moved her face from his shoulder and tried to open her eyes.  He was blurry and she saw him in several colors and layers at the same time.  His eyes were bloodshot and worried as they looked into hers.

Her mouth opened but all she could get out was a small gasp of pain.  She moved her jaw a little and there was pain, but not a broken jaw.  Even laying in her enemy father’s arms, what she was able to say before she blacked out was, “...forgive you.”

She sort-of heard Falmir’s voice as she sunk back down into the darkness.  Calling to her, calling her Tressa.  Then just the Darkness.

The Darkness.  It had been waiting.  She had been too busy, too focused to let it creep in for more than a second or two.  But it had her.  It was telling her that she had just killed everyone in the household.  It was calling to her to stay in the darkness and never leave.  The Darkness was showing her everyone she had betrayed by living.  The darkness was singing her a death tune for her and her babies.

Babies?  Laun caught onto that thought and crawled out of the hole the darkness was trying to keep her in.  She came up from the darkness into pain and an unsteady world.  She moved without moving and she felt sick to her stomach.  The lights behind her eyes were flashing a dull yellow and then a bright red.  She tried to open her eyes but it felt like something was holding them down.

Holding them down.  Holding her down.  She had to move.  She had to escape-

Laun found she was sitting up and was against the headboard of the bed.  A wet cloth fell from her face and she could see.  Her head spun and she went sideways, sliding down onto the pillows there.

There were hands on her and she was being pulled and pushed back under the covers.  The heartburn was strong and she felt like she would throw up if she was not careful.  She wasn’t.  

There wasn’t much in her stomach, mostly bile.  It came up and she could not stop it.

Another wet cloth was on her face and it felt good.  She relaxed and kept her eyes closed and her head still.  She could hear many people around her and a few on the bed with her.

“The concussion will take time to heal, your Majesty.”

She could hear Bregnan.  She wanted to yell for him to get out of her room.  She couldn’t even think of talking without the world spinning around her.

Falmir’s voice was low but had an edge of rage to it still.  “What can be done for her without hurting either her or the baby?”

Laun didn’t have to see the hand motions the wiseman used when he did not want to tell someone the truth.  “There are a few elixirs I have that can speed her recovery.  But the best thing right now is for her own body to heal it’s self.”

Laun agreed with the wiseman, for once.  The pulses of light were still there, the sound of insects in her ears.  But she could think, and the world’s movement was not as harsh on her as it was just a moment ago.

The men moved away from the bed and it was hard to hear them through the rushing in her ears.  She tried to concentrate on what was immediately around her.  She was in the bed.  She felt at least one person next to her, perhaps two.  The curtains were up and she could feel air movement over her damp skin.  There were footfalls, hushed on the rug and slightly louder on the painted wood.

Laun slitted open one eye and saw what was in front of it.  Gem was sitting next to her, her green tabard her only clothing.  There was another servant further down on the bed that she could not focus on.  There were dried tear trails on Gem’s face and she seemed to be talking to herself.  Hazalam would do that sometimes, too.  Catras.  They were used to calm the mind, to focus, to remind of something.

It was dark outside.  She had been out cold for the day.  Falmir had finally let Bregnan in out of desperation.  He was evil, but he was still a wiseman.  

Laun smelled flowers.  Fresh cut flowers.  She moved a little and saw vases and baskets of flowers.  They were bright against the dark of the night.

She opened her eyes and blinked.  The motion made her feel as though sand was caught under her eyelids.  She slowly reached up and rubbed her eyelids.  She brushed against her jaw and the familiar feeling of pain there made her suck in her breath.  Gem opened her eyes and had a worried look.  She replaced the cloth on Laun’s forehead with a cooler one.

Laun put her hand to her head and felt that her skin was warm.  Her head hurt far worse than when Helmic had hit her, though she remembered having a headache and fuzziness of mind then, too.  She moved her head to the side slightly and the world spun off it’s axis for a moment.  She stopped moving and so did the world.

Laun smiled at Gem.  She licked her lips and whispered, “I learned something today.”

Gem leaned over.  “What?”

“Duck.”

Laun giggled slightly and Gem couldn’t help but join in.  Falmir heard and was at the edge of the bed in a step.

“Little thorn, how are you doing?”

Laun smiled slightly and said, “I feel as though a bull trampled me.  Oh, wait, you did.”  She reached for him and he put her hand to his forehead.

“I was so angry.  And you do that head thing Tressa used to when she knew I was being an ass.  I wanted to...”  He looked up at Laun.  “I am so sorry.”

Laun blinked.  “I have already forgiven you.  Just...don’t do it again?”  Laun turned slightly and felt the world spin, but her back was happier.

“Is there any thing I can do to make you more comfortable?”

Laun did not move her head.  “I can think of several, most you would not do for me.”

“Ask and if it-”

“No, sire.  I will not use my frailties against you.”  Laun closed her eyes.  “Right now, I think more sleep.  Thank you for attending me, Father.”  Laun let her voice trail off and loosened her hand’s grip on his.  She was truly close to passing out again, but she wanted to hear what may happen next.

“Attend my Lady and do it well.  Tell me if there is any change.”

Falmir left.  His footfall was easy to hear.  And then there were just the quiet footfalls.  And then darkness.

 

Chapter 26, wherein Laun has dreams, and starts to recover