the Leathermines

Back to Chapter 35

 

Music now was echoing through the halls.  Laughter and joy bounced around in voice and in bodies as the troupe ran and tumbled and sang in the long halls of the manor.

Laun had asked Del if there was some sort of a great hall or feast hall somewhere in the maze of the Hawkwell manor.  He nodded and, with the medic and healer and their people trailing behind discussing Laun’s pigheadedness, Dell escorted Laun and her people into a place close to the middle of the manor.

It was a space that was almost as big as the Great Hall back in Salam-Dir.  It had not been opened for over a year and the dust and cobwebs showed quite well in the afternoon light streaming through the high windows.  There were tables stacked on one side of the room, benches and a few chairs on the other.  The Midlands and Hawkwell banners hung at either end of the room above small fireplaces that had been large at one time.  There were remnants of fire-logs in the ash, evidence that the flue had not been pulled closed on one of the chimneys with the dried arc of ash and char on the polished stone floor, bird tracks in trails pointing towards the fireplace.

A bench was brought over for Laun and she sat, happy to be off her feet.  She sneezed, putting the too long sleeve over her nose and mouth.

“This is good.  I know I keep asking for more from you, but I am tired of not having a central place to meet people.”

Del nodded, his eye being caught by one of the young soldiers with the medic as he looked over the state of the great hall.  “I understand, Lady.  It has only really been used over the years for private gatherings for the Hawkwells.  When the manor is full, it can house over three thousand people with the manor and outlying guest houses.”

“Larger than the Palace by quite a bit.  Well,” Laun gestured to the banners, “I am not comfortable having those up while I am here.  Please take them down, have them cleaned and stored.”

“Yes, Lady.  I will see if I can get a crew in here and get it ready for tonight.”

Laun grinned and nodded.  “Thank you.  Now, about someplace other than the winter room to bed down in...”

Del dragged his eyes off of the young soldier who had looked up and had not looked away from his stare.  “Obviously, Bregnan’s suite will not work.  I think it will take about a month for the smell to come down, and, as the medics were talking, I thought of the amount of steps up and down.”

“That was concerning me, too.”  Laun adjusted herself and saw Gem coming in with a small bowl and a mug.  “I didn’t even know you had left!  Thank you.”

As Laun ate some of the gruel with roasted vegetables in it, Del talked.  “There is a small suite that I think may work for you, Lady.  It is near the library and also has not been used for quite some time.  It was Lady Tressa’s rooms and before that Queen Consort Colleen’s.  I have some people opening it up right now.”

Laun shook her head, but not against the idea.  “Falmir will not like that.  But it is appropriate.  Yes.  Sight unseen, I thank you for the new residence.”

Laun turned to Gem and said, “I brought a book into the room.  It holds some delicate pages and should not be opened.  Make sure it gets to the desk in the library.”

Gem was out the door before Laun had turned back to Del.  “I should leave you to direct the cleaning.  I want to...rewrite?  Yes.  Rewrite the pages we found upstairs.  It is an important piece of history that I do not want to loose.”

Del bowed and helped Laun off the bench.  She held his hand and drew him close to her, saying quietly, “The worst he can say is no.”  Laun backed up and tilted her head as a flush went over the cracked mask on the steward’s face.

Hazalam held her hand as she walked.  She shooed the medic and the healer away and walked to the Library.  Gem was disappearing into the thick walled room as they came to the door.

Gem lit several of the lanterns from the night lamp burning low near the door.  Hazalam looked around and went to one of the stacks after Laun dropped her hand from his.  Laun sat at the desk and started to pull on drawers and such looking for things.

The blonde found the paper Laun wanted and Laun found a pot of just black ink and some raven quills.  Laun carefully opened the book and pulled out the first of the documents she wanted.

Gem adjusted the water-lensed lamp for Laun and stepped back.  Laun tried to not touch the burnt parchment too much as she looked at it again.  She pushed the hate and sadness down as she started to transcribe the incomplete words.

“Bregnan

“The word from our King is that you should try to

bring Uetoi, Salam-Dir and Jes (burned section) into the fold.  

With their backgrounds (burned section) the new Rosemond will be

poised to take the rest of (burned) the continent within ten years.

(burned and partially illegible)

Her Excellency wants Lady Salam-Dir for her coterie. (Burned section)

If they will not turn, dispose of the households in their entirety.

The (burned section) payment you have requested is in the 

form of the messenger.”

“Ithian Bedral”

Laun let the tears flow as she finished the writing.  Her head hurt from the words.  Her hands hurt from the writing.  Her eyes closed on the pain of the tears and focused on the job she had just finished.

“That is good for now.  I will do the others later.”  Laun put the burned original at the back of the book that had held it and closed the book.  Laun had a sneer as she saw the ironic title of the book for the first time, “Decomposition and Reclamation.”

Laun felt her shoulders tightening from the position of leaning over the desk as she had written.  She leaned back in the chair and stretched back, her arms above her back to try to relieve some of the stress.

Hazalam was looking at a book from the history section.  Gem was seated next to the storybooks looking at a colorfully illustrated loose page folio.  Laun stood and went to the shelf that Del had not wanted them to see.  There was dust along the edge of the shelf except on one book.  There were drag marks and a place where a hand had been put for leverage.  Laun pulled that book out and took it back to the desk.

It was an accounts book.  Laun started looking through, the entries starting about four years before.  There were names of farmers and what they sold.  The amounts went up in the spring and down in the fall.  And then it went way up at the festival the year before and then plummeted to almost nothing.  But... Laun noticed that there were payments for over fifty servants’ stipends that continued until the current date.  That, and the payments to several farms, including a delivery of feed for horses and other livestock, made Laun upset.

All of it seemed to add up to about one hundred gold a month that was being skimmed.

Laun put the accounting book back after writing in it, “accounts to be audited.  all payments suspended.  Lady Laun.”

At least she knew of two of his secrets, now.  He liked men and he was skimming the cream.  Laun was not one to use a sexual preference against someone, but the accounts were different.  It would be hard to know how long it was going on.  The festival and coup had made it very obvious.  Laun would have to keep that information until she could actually use it.  She had put Del on notice with the note if he found it before she could use the information.

Laun was hungry again.  And she wanted a nap.

“Shall we see what rooms we have been moved into?”

The two put their books away carefully, both blowing at the shelving to spread the dust back over where they had touched.  Laun liked that and was glad that Del had not done that.

Out in the hall, there were several doors that were open, sounds of work coming from within.  There were doors into the sitting room as well as into the bedroom from the hallway.  Laun stepped into the sitting room and was impressed.  There were floor to ceiling windows and a few matching doors that went out into a covered walkway.  Laun remembered that walkway as one that had a broken window somewhere in it.  Past the walkway there was green, the actual grass of the Hawkwell grounds flowing in from the partially enclosed courtyard.

Sheets and thin rugs were still being taken off of the furniture, but enough was uncovered and arranged to show leather and velvet in light and dark brown hues everywhere.  And purple.  Violet purple, in glass bouquets and the long curtains and on the woman in the painting above the white marble mantlepiece.

It was not Tressa.  It must have been Colleen.  She did not have the nose.  But she did look familiar.  Like a veiled picture in the back of her mind.

The room was larger than both the sitting area and the bed area of the winter room.  With all the seating uncovered, several groups could have been comfortable talking or playing chamber games in the room.

Laun looked into the bed area through the curtained archway and smiled.  It was not just a bedroom.  She could see a large bed, large enough for Laun’s needs, but beside that covered luxury was a small bed, a cradle.  There was also a small chest that was opened with small blankets and such being pulled out and shaken before being folded again.  Laun saw another door and more furniture being undraped.

Laun passed through the blue and gold room and peeked into the bathing room.  It was huge.  The windows were floor to ceiling there, too, but there were screens folded off to the side if privacy was needed.  Laun was sure that she could have entertained about ten people in that bathing room without much difficulty.  It was stone and tile and glass and gilt all over the room.  A small copper tub was next to a large carved stone thing that seemed to have a place to build a fire under it.

Laun had to sit.  Since she was in a proper place for it, Laun trotted, well, waddled, over to the screened off area that she assumed had a privy.  She stopped and looked around.  There was a shelving unit behind the screen with toweling and bathing things, but no privy.

A whim became necessary.  “Where is the privy?”

Gem shook her head as she looked around.  Hazalam went to the other room and a servant came in and opened a hidden door in the wall.

“Thank you!”

It was not the fanciest, but Laun was glad it was there.  It even still had some of the fancy paper flowers on a small shelf, but most of them were showing that it had been too damp in there at some point.  She used them anyway.

Laun went back to the shelf and found some oil.  It had a bit of a scent to it, but it was not heady.  She handed it to Hazalam and she said to Gem, “If they finally have a cow that is producing more than crap, I would like some milk.”  Gem left and Laun led her other assassin into the bedroom.

Laun saw that there was a large upright chest, a wardrobe, that was opened and was being aired out.  There were tunics and dresses in it that caught Laun’s eye, but that was not what she wanted right then.  There were household servants in the room and Laun did not want to chase them out.

“Keep working.  I am going to have at the bed and you may see skin.  If you have a problem with that, leave.”

The servants looked at each other and one bowed and the other shrugged.  They went back to their work and Laun unconcernedly pulled the tunic off showing the knife strapped to her leg and the thong on her wrist as her only coverings.  The hair sticks were taken out and her tangled hair fell, covering her back almost to her waist.

She climbed into the slightly musty bedding and laid down on her side.  Hazalam climbed in after her and undid the knife from around her thigh.  There were red stripes from under the straps and Laun felt some pain go away.  Oil was on his hands and he started to massage and stroke Laun’s back and hip.

“I missed this.  Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Mistress.”

It helped with the tension and with the pain.  Laun thought about the entertainers.  Laun thought about the Hawkwell estate and how Del had been taking money not earned.  Laun thought of the soldiers.  Laun thought of the letter she had transcribed.  She looked like she was asleep, but she was not.

Gem came in with a small tray with a few things from the kitchen.  The Corporal was trying to apologize with more delicate things than the gruel.  There were a few slices of a fruited biscuit and preserves and a few shredded leaves with an oily dressing.  And some milk.

The milk was drained and Laun loved the feeling of the warm stuff going down her throat and calming the minor heartburn and feeding her hunger immediately.

Laun had sat up for the milk, Hazalam waiting until she had drained the mug before rubbing her shoulders with more of the oil.  Her shoulders relaxed under his hands even with pressure points hot and screaming when he barely touched them.  Laun held onto her knees to keep upright around her belly.  Gem pushed the tray further onto the bed so Laun could reach it and went to the open wardrobe.

The pain was going down and Laun felt tired.  She was almost ready to sleep.  Her man lightly pulled and she laid on her back.  His oiled hands went to her stomach and breasts, pushing the slickness around while enjoying himself, too.  Laun saw his eyes change slightly as he saw a drop form on her nipple as he gently massaged her swollen breasts.

He looked around and then quietly asked, “May I taste, Mistress?”

She nodded and he carefully leaned over her.  His tongue licked and then he sucked lightly.  Laun’s eyes closed and she sighed.

“Mistress, it’s sweet.”  He kept his voice low and he continued to massage and spread the oil on her skin.  He focused on her breasts, bringing more of the clear-white liquid out and then licking it off.

“I think that is enough for now.  I don’t want you to get so focused you don’t see people coming into the room...” Laun said in a low tone.

Hazalam did not look up, but he moved his hands to the top of her chest and shoulders, a flash of red on his cheeks.  There was movement in the room and Laun had heard the footsteps before they had entered.

“Well, Lady at least you are in bed, if not resting,” Corporal Aloen said.  Laun heard boots hit the floor and felt bed movement.

“Welcome, Aloen.  Here to make sure about the resting part?”  Laun had her eyes half closed and saw him looking at the various marks on her body.

He rubbed his hands together and then started to touch the scars that were on her belly and hips.  He traced the lines up and down and stroked a little harder on the scar on her hip from the bandit’s cave.  “Lady, each one is a story, but you really shouldn’t have this kind of battle scarring, even with the coup.”

Laun saw the medic motion for the oil as she said, “I was not in a position to have a medic looking after me for every hangnail as I defended my home.”

He stopped for a moment before working oil into the skin around her hip scar.  “Taken, Lady.  The stitches on this wound are amazingly tight.”  He ran his hand over the scar she had received from the scout.

“That one was tough.  I think the shamen said I could have gotten sheepsis?
Laun had purposely miss-said the word and saw a smile on the medic’s lips.

“Sepsis, Lady.  And they were right.  Cut into the guts and you can die a horrible death.”  He stopped talking and put his hand over the side of her belly that had a shape being pushed out from the inside.

Hazalam started working on Laun’s arm but was keeping an eye on the medic.  Laun felt the heat of jealousy from him and clicked her tongue.  She looked at him and he bowed his head, but continued to massage her shoulder.  The medic had looked up at the click and Laun saw a raised eyebrow as she looked back down.

“Lady, there were a few things that I was not able to determine while we were outside.  It is of a delicate nature, but you do not seem to have much modesty...”

“I usually get dinner before such things, Aloen.”  Laun smiled and saw a slight blush under his light tan.

“Um...  Yes, I would like to see how your insides are doing, Lady.  Most women don’t like to be touched when they are pregnant, so I will try to be gentle-”

Laun could not suppress the laugh.  It came out strong and the Corporal had a stricken look on his face.  “Oh!  You are so sweet.  Corporal, you need to believe the rumors about me.  I am sure that things have been said.”  Laun looked for Gem and said, “Bring some of the toweling from the bathing chamber, please.”

Gem put down the belt she was holding and brought some towels from the other room.  Laun motioned to the end of the bed and the curtain was dropped, giving them a little privacy.  “Thank you.”

The Corporal took that as a sign and gently raised Laun’s leg so that he could kneel between her legs.  He raised her knees evenly and then put his hands on either side of her belly at her hips.  He pressed down slightly, moving his hands a little bit and doing it again.  Laun felt something under one of his hands and winced.

She brought her legs together and stopped him with her leg strength.  Hazalam and Gem focused on him and he raised his hands as much as he could, palm up showing nothing in his hands.  “Lady, I was just checking to see where your hip bones were and you have some stressed muscles down here.  I think I can see why.  You have the legs of a runner, Lady.”

“Thank you.  At least I used to...  I will try to not do that again.”  Laun released the medic and he gently started his touching again.  Hazalam went back to stroking Laun’s arm, but it really wasn’t a massage any more.  He was focused on the Corporal and looked like he was going to jump on him if he hurt Laun again.

Corporal Aloen pushed on her hip bones more and then started to push on her belly making a big circle on the outside and then moving towards her belly button a little and making another circle.

“I’m not sure if that is good or not.  It sort of tickles on the top and hurts on the bottom.”

He nodded.  “It is the muscles and the strain they are under.  I don’t feel any tears and the muscles are rebounding well.”  He continued until he was at her belly button and he started to slide his hands down towards her fur.

He backed up slightly on the bed and looked at her womanhood before he touched.  “Thank you for the towels, Lady.  May I touch you?”

Laun smiled.  “Yes, Corporal.”

He lifted her butt up, Laun doing most of the work, and placed one of the cloths under her.  He put a little more oil on his hands and ran his fingers lightly down her womanhood, spreading the oil and feeling the flesh.

Laun could not help but react to the touch.  Her breath went in and her head went back.  Her man held her hand as she tried to stay still.  The Corporal’s fingers gently spread her lower lips apart and she gasped as a finger went into her.

“Did I hurt you?”  There was concern in his voice as he stopped.

Laun shook her head.  “I may like the exam a little too much, Corporal.”

“That would be a first, Lady.”  He pushed further in with the one finger and ran it around the inside.  He pulled it out and made a slight grunting noise.

“Please use words...”

“Yes, Lady.  The mucus isn’t quite right.  There is quite a bit of it, but it is a consistency that reminds me of...”  He looked up at Laun and said, “Do you have a lover?”

“Several.”  Laun did not have to say any more.

“That is a first for me.  I mean, pregnant women don’t like sex.”

Laun laughed and was glad the towel was under her as a little pee squeezed out.  “If they don’t like sex, how did they get pregnant?”  Laun heard a giggle from outside the bed.

Laun could hear something in his voice that sounded like he was trying to be professional as he said, “Most women either have pain or just loose desire when pregnant.  That is what I meant, Lady.”

“I understand.  It’s just a slightly bizarre position I am in and I am trying to find humor in it.”

He nodded and placed his hand on her thigh.  “Lady, I am going to do a few things down here that may not be pleasant.  If anything hurts, tell me.”

“Yes, Corporal.”

The medic pushed the red sleeve up slightly, more of a nervous habit than needing to keep it out of the way.  Two fingers went into her and Laun again tried to not react.  He may have been checking for things potentially wrong, but Laun’s body did not know that.  It felt good.

The Corporal said as he moved the fingers inside of her, “Your cervix is good and it feels solid in there.”  He put his other hand on her belly and pressed down.

Something in the movement sent a shock through her system and her hips jerked.  She moaned and her eyes closed.  Her grip on Hazalam tightened.

Corporal Aloen slowed the movements but did not stop.  He pushed in little circles on her stomach and pulled up with his fingers inside of her.  He felt little contractions and ripples of tightness as she reacted.  He did not warn her as he pulled his fingers out and pushed one down and into her rectum.

Her eyes opened and another moan came out.  She was pretty sure that was not how the babies would come out, but it sent sensations through her she was not expecting.  She felt his thumb go into her oiled slit and he ran finger and thumb in and out of her, just a few layers of skin between them.

She breathed in as he slowly pulled his finger and thumb out of her and wiped his hand on the cloth below her.  “Everything seems to be good down there, Lady.  Thank you-”

Laun could hear that he was about to leave and said, “Oh no, you don’t!  You are not leaving me like this!”  It was an inappropriate heat, flaring even as she looked at the Medic.

“Lady?”  He heard the doors in the suite being closed by Gem outside the bed and saw the intense look on the face of the naked woman he was kneeling at.

Laun went up on her elbows and looked at the Corporal.  “You can just leave, as I like to give choices, but-you have put a fire to me and I am now in need.  Medic or not-”

He sat back on his heels, the look on his face conflicted.  His head shook slightly and he said, “The oath does not allow me to do things like that...”

“Then why didn’t you bring Kell?  Your exam may have been partially professional, but you wanted something else.  You haven’t touched my breasts, you went straight for my groin.”  She saw him swallow.  She surprised herself by saying, “Do you want to fuck me?”

He turned bright red.  He shook his head but did not move.

Laun thought fast and listened to her body.  She raised one leg up and swung it over his head, turning to the side.  A quick flip, and she was on her knees, her ass in the air, presented to the Corporal.  “Or is it you like your mares like this?”  She looked back through her hair and saw the complete embarrassment of the soldier.  She did not know why she was pushing this, but there was something in the professional mask that was against some of what Aloen was doing that made the part of her that wanted to know more follow through.  She wiggled her ass at him and she watched his face.

It only took a moment for him to decide.  He half-stood on the bed, his lower leathers dropping and being kicked off to the side.  His hand went to his shaft and he stroked a few times until he was hard.  Aloen did not kneel back down but stood with his knees bent as he guided himself into her.  He went fully into her and she saw him close his eyes, something she read as guilt going through the Corporal.

His knees were on either side of her hips, his hands on her lower back as he started to thrust into her.  Laun’s head was down on the bedding and she curled around slightly to be able to see him.  His eyes were closed and he was concentrating hard as he thrust in and slowly drew back out.  Laun felt every inch of him and as he almost drew out, he thrust back in, making her gasp and moan.

Her concentration to read him had brought down her reactions, and she knew it.  But at the next thrust, she could only react as one of this thumbs went around and then into her asshole.  Her hips moved with him and she felt him stroke in both holes and then out again.  He was deliberate, cautious with his actions.

Laun was not.  She felt her body and concentrated on the pleasure.  She started to move against him as he thrust in, her hips going side to side as he was going in and out.  She felt herself tighten around him and heard him take in a sudden breath.  She knew it was going to be a race to see who would peak first.

Laun reached under herself and found her button and started to play with herself.  She felt a hand on one of her breasts and knew Hazalam was going to want to have some of her once the medic was done.  She was suddenly very close to her peak, knowing that she was still wanted, that someone who had known her when she was beautiful would still want her.

Aloen felt the change as the Lady played with herself.  He had not been close, but as she tightened and moaned, he could not hold back the rush that had started.  He kept his eyes closed until he heard her softly cry out.  He saw her under him and could not hold back.

He leaned into her, pounded into her, put his thumb up her ass as far as he could as he watched her face through her bay-brown hair.  There was nothing but pleasure in her face.  Then her head went up and he could not see her as he felt her orgasm through his manhood.

He almost came in her, but he pulled out and rubbed himself along her ass.  He pulled his thumb out and held her buttocks together around him as the last few strokes brought him up and over.  He felt and watched his come as it went over her ass and down her back, glistening on her skin and scars.

His energy was gone and he had to kneel.  Laun turned and felt his seed slide on her skin.  She moved the towel to under her and she was on her side, looking at the medic.  His eyes were closed and his head was forward as he tried to catch his breath.

Laun felt a slight chill.  But her back did not hurt any longer.  Laun stretched and rubbed the towel on her back to clean some of the cold fluid from her.

“Thank you, Lady.”  He had regained his breath and most of his composure, if not his pants.

“Thank you, Corporal.”  She reached for him but he was just out of reach.

Aloen moved forward, one hand going to support him, one to her hand.  He kissed her hand and then dropped it as he went back on his heels.  “I should not...have done that.”

“But you did.  I hope you enjoyed yourself.”

His eyes went to hers and he said, “More than I should have.  Lady Laun, I just broke a vow to do that.”

Laun had a pang of remorse go through her.  “I did not know.  Married?”

He shook his head.  “I pledged my chastity to my God two years ago.”  His hand went to his forehead and he wiped some beads of sweat off.  “Fuck.”

Laun was conflicted.  “If your God had not wanted you to change your vow, I would not have been here like this.  You wouldn’t have been here like this.  I don’t believe in omens, but I do believe in destiny.”  She pushed herself up to look at him levelly.  “I was temptation.”

He had a pained look on his face.  “Yes, Lady.  It’s just... You just...”  He looked down at himself in the afternoon light.  “I failed.”

Laun closed her eyes and sighed.  She moved slightly until she was up closer to the head of the bed.  She motioned Hazalam off with a hand on his cheek and a swipe of her thumb on his lips.  Laun pulled down the bedding to find silky sheets under the thick brown quilt.  She put her legs under and pulled the covers up until only the top of her breasts showed.

Her voice was low and she said, “Aloen, please come to me.”  She reached for him as he looked up.

There were tears on his cheeks.  Wet spots had appeared on his uniform tunic and leather jerkin.  His hand went up towards hers, but he had to crawl up the bed to her.  Laun pulled the covers over and he lay next to her as she put her arm around him to comfort him.

His head lay on her breast, his eyes closed as he cried.  She stroked his head, his almost too long helmet length hair and slight stubble on his cheek smoothing under her hand.  “Aloen, you feel guilty for not following your vow.  I do not know why you took the vow, but your reasons were good and valid at the time.  What we just did does not make your vow wrong, just as the act it’s self was not wrong.  You have changed since you went before your God and sacrificed that part of yourself in honor and faith.”

She felt sobs coming from him and he curled up slightly around her.  One of his hands went to under her breast and she could feel him reflexively clasping and stretching his fingers.  Laun kissed his forehead and a gaspy sob came out.

“You are not a bad person.  You have healing hands and a wish to do good for the men in your company.  You may have slipped from a path, but there is always another path waiting to be followed.  You have more in front of you on the new path than you had on your old one.  You need to explore and embrace what destiny has put before you to know what direction the path will lead you.”

“But I failed...”  A series of sobs came out.  He turned his face into her flesh, covering his eyes and muffling his emotions.  She could feel the weeping become louder through her chest more than actually hear it.

“Let your grief out.  You may have failed, but two years is amazing.  The will power to not do something as wonderful as making love for two years...  I cannot imagine how strong you must have been in that time.  I feel honored that I caught your eye enough to even have you think of going against your vow.  To have you actually break it with me...  That is indescribably wonderful.”

He moved his face away from the curve of her breast to get a good breath of air.  His breath was hot against her skin and then chilled as he breathed in.  She felt a slight shiver go through her and she pulled his head closer.  She gasped as his mouth found her nipple and he started to suckle.  His hand went up, kneading her flesh and pushing a few drops of her thin milk to the surface.

Aloen stopped sobbing, though there were still tears coming down his cheek and along his nose.  Laun cradled his head against her and started to hum lightly at the top of his head.  He was calming down and relaxing.  Laun had to put the reactions she was having to the side and concentrated on making him feel better.

“Shhhh.  You are well.”  She wiped tears from his face and stroked the side of his face.  He had his eyes half open and he had stopped actively suckling, but his tongue slowly ran around her nipple.  Laun felt it through her as he licked, but she tried to ignore the return of the heat in her groin.

He glanced up and he let go of her nipple.  Laun smiled at him and stroked his head.  “Lady...”  His voice was uncertain.

“Yes?”  Laun waited for him to gather himself.

She felt him swallow.  “I should go.  I should have reported in by now.”  He did not move.  His eyes were on hers and then he let his eyes drift down to the breast he had been latched onto.  A tear appeared again at the corner of his eye.

“No.  You will have to make reparations to your God, but do not regret what has happened.  It was a choice that you made.”  Laun gently prodded his face to look at her again.  “Yes, you should go for your duty calls.  Thank you for your time and your talents.”  She strained to get to his forehead but she planted a kiss there.

He closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss.  “Thank you, Lady.”

He slowly rolled away from her under the covers.  He sat on the edge of the curtained bed, an air of loss in the slope of his shoulders.  Hazalam stood a pace from the bed holding the leathers and boots that had been discarded.  Corporal Aloen was helped to dress before he just stood for a moment.

The Corporal straightened up and turned.  He made a formal salute and said, “Lady, thank you.”

Laun saluted back.  Aloen turned and left, quietly closing the door behind him.  Laun leaned back into the pillows and thought.

Hazalam was at the side of the bed.  Gem walked around to the other side.  Laun brought herself to the present and looked at the assassins.

“Any maker’s marks on the pants?”  Laun had a procedure and she had to follow it.

Hazalam spoke.  “Standard issue midlands uniform leathers.  There was a small trinket sewn into the inside.  I think it was a Sclepi figure.”

Laun nodded.  “God of medicine.  Anything else?”

Hazalam shook his head.  Laun turned and looked at Gem.  Gem seemed to have an odd, disturbed look on her face.  “Lady, he didn’t look good when he left.  I’ve seen that look before and they usually took their own life-”

Laun pointed and said, “Follow and protect.”  Gem ran.

Laun put her hands over her face and rubbed a little.  The thoughts swirling through her head did not all line up.  He had been good.  She did not know what she had seen to push, but she had pushed and made the medic break vows to a God, and himself.  What had happened that he had denied himself?

She shook her head.  Without looking, she motioned and her man was in the bed with her.  He waited for another motion and he started to take his clothes off.  Laun pulled the covers back and he was there, hands and mouth on her breasts, his body over hers as he knelt between her legs.

Laun was mostly thinking as Hazalam gently made love to her.  She looked into his eyes and smiled as he took time for himself and her.  His hands were good, his cock better.  But she was still thinking.

Laun closed her eyes and felt her body reacting to him.  Her thoughts were on the skimmed money from the household as a gasp came from her.  Hazalam’s hands pulled her legs up to reposition them and her mind was on the troupe that had brought him to her.  

Hazalam pulled out and rubbed himself up and down on her nub and slit, making Laun cry out slightly, though her mind had gone to the letter Ithian had sent to Bregnan.  She thought of the snippets of the other burned documents as her man thrust back in her, her hips starting to match his strokes.  He moved one of her legs and she was on her side still being stroked.  He leaned over her hip and fingered her moist nipple, Laun holding his hand to her there.

She ground into him and she thought of the soldiers on the Hawkwell lands.  How many more damaged and secretive men were there in the company?  How repressed and horny were they?  Would they break as easily as the Corporal...  Laun’s head went back as Hazalam sped up his strokes, not because of his need to finish, but he knew she was not fully with him.

He drew his fingernails down her side and back, making her writhe under him and keeping her from falling back to her planning thoughts.  He started a different rhythm in his strokes, stopping and starting to music in his head as Laun had taught him to do and that brought a smile to her face and a sigh to her throat.  He was trying all sorts of tricks he had picked up while with Laun to keep her in the present, to keep his Mistress from thinking of anything but her pleasure.

Hazalam was doing a good job with it, too.  Laun would start to think of something and she would gasp or moan and be brought back to what he was doing to her.  She felt his hand go between her legs and her body started to peak as his fingers rolled and rubbed on her button.

His voice was low but Hazalam started to speak to her, encouraging her, praising her.  “Please Mistress...  let me bring you pleasure... release your troubles as you come on me...  feel me in you... I am all yours and always will be...  You are magnificent, Mistress...”

They both knew she was close.  He stroked harder, trying to get as deep as possible as her body tried to meet each of his thrusts.  Her back arched and a low growl came from her, her hands gripping one of the pillows.  And then she peaked, her quiet moans getting louder.  He wanted to come in her, to feel his orgasm as she squeezed around him, tightening almost painfully on him.  But she hadn’t said he could.

She started to calm and she looked at him, a relaxed smile on her face.  “Now.”

There was something about her voice.  It was soft, but the command rang through him and he found his relaxation techniques were smashed with that one word.  His balls tightened and his butt clenched and he was thrusting wildly into her.  He heard himself as he voiced his orgasm and he felt every spurt as it came out and into her.  He had troubles catching his breath as his body finished and he found he had to lay down.

Hazalam spooned in behind Laun, their juices running over their thighs and the sheets.  His breath was heavy as he lay behind Laun, her hair warming before his breath reached her shoulders.

It was comfortable.  It had taken much of an hour for him to have brought her out of her thoughts and into an orgasm.  His arm was around her as they lay under the covers, the bedding perhaps a little heavy for summer, but good right then.  Laun was smiling and feeling how relaxed she was.  She was tempted to let her body have it’s way and go to sleep, but her brain had started up again and her lists and plans had started up in earnest.

 

The day is not yet over in Chapter 37 .