the Leathermines

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There were storms on the Western horizon when the gathered people woke.  Everyone on the grounds saw it coming and brought what could be into the keep and tied down everything else.

The first night had only one major thing that happened within the gathered people.  The two soldiers who had found a small stash of ale and had drained it were now regretting starting a fight, as they were hauling wheel barrows full of human waste to one of the far crap pits under the eye of a protector team.

The winds started to pick up, cooling the land and the people but telling everyone that it was going to be a hard storm.  It was cool enough that the archers still stationed on the walkway at the top of the keep were wearing capes against the weather.  They could hear the swearing of the soldiers as they were being loaded with their third load of crap from the privy in the keep.

Laun was walking through the paths in Hellon’s Hill to make sure nothing was left behind from the revelries the night before.  She could hear the swearing of the soldiers as they were being led down the road and smiled.  She had held the usual morning gathering in the Great Hall, more people pushed into the room than she had ever seen.  The fight was brought up, the soldiers standing at parade rest in the moving mass of the meeting.  Falmir was going to break their rank.  The Captain was just going to have them work in the mess kitchen.  Laun leaned over and whispered to Dreng who smiled and nodded.  Those of the household waited for Laun to speak, seeing the slightly wicked look, and when Falmir heard of the punishment, he roared with laughter.

He had been told about the pits in some of the reports over the last few months.  He asked what else did the Salam-Dir household have lying in wait and Laun had to just smile at him.  Some things could not be discussed until Falmir had been in serious talks with Dreng.  The two men had been talking about light things, but the real reason they were there had not really been touched on.  Laun was hoping that being stuck inside would force the issue to the surface and make them agree to something.

Laun picked up a multicolored ribbon from off a low tree limb and continued on down the path.  All the mats had been taken up and inside, Laun assuming that many of them to be used that night in the Great Hall for the overflow of people.  Laun leaned against one of the larger trees and thought of all the people there.  The largest gathering that she had ever seen at the Salam-Dir lands was perhaps an extra fifty people.  Having another building to put people in might need to be considered in the future.

The future was looking a little more stable in many ways.  Though, even with her internal conflict the night before being thought about and almost resolved, her mind was unsettled when it came to how much she depended on so many people to keep herself stable.  The ghosts were not always there any more, except for Ithian.  That was good, but there were other things, and reactions she was having that she was not liking.

She was at the bower.  The mat was gone but as Laun looked around, she saw that several of the fabric walls had been left up.  A tug on each one showed her that they had been tacked to the trees and were not coming down without ripping the fabric or help from someone with a ladder and tools.

Either it would survive or it would not.  Soon, they may be able to trade with the outside again and get replacements.  Orgia had mentioned that some supplies were getting low.  Nothing critical, but with the amount of people they had with them, everything they had was going to be strained and run out sooner.  The seemingly unlimited supply of cloth and clothing seemed to have a bottom and Orgia was concerned.

Nothing she could do right then.  Laun turned from the fabric she was looking at and almost screamed out of fright.  Hunter was standing there and she had not heard him come up behind her with the impending storm hissing through the trees.  She was not sure how to read the look in his eye and she suddenly felt naked as she stood there.  She was cornered and did not have any weapons on her at all under her tunic.  She stepped back on the moss and felt her back begin to tense.

He stepped forward, matching her step back.  She saw he was not wearing his leather uniform jerkin and there were dirt smears on his tunic and breeches.  The look in his eye got darker as he looked at her.  She had the ribbon in her hand and she found the ends as she looked at Hunter, winding it through her fingers and between her hands.  She set her feet and waited.

His eye flicked down and saw how she was readying herself.  There was a step forward by him but Laun did not move.  He stood within his arm’s length of her for a few moments as they stared at each other.

Laun watched as he reached up and pulled his tunic up off his body.  He tossed the soiled garment to the ground and held his hands out to her palm up.  Laun tucked in her chin to her chest and looked at him with a squint.

“I resigned.”

Laun blinked and found that her arms were falling to her sides.  She shook her head and straightened from her ready position.  “No.  No?”

He nodded.  “You made me choose.”

Laun was shaking her head, at him and at the things going through her mind.  “Your pledge to the Kingdom-”

“If I am near you, I will still be serving the Kingdom, Princess Laun.”

“You can’t...not for me...”  Laun’s voice started to fade.

“I have.  And, yes, for you.”  He started to go down to one knee.

“No!”  Laun yelled at him.  “Throwing your career away for me is stupid!  Stop thinking with your cock and-”

“Your father thought it would be best.”

The flash of anger was gone.  She was just annoyed.  Her voice was calmer and quieter as she said, “Well, since he thought so...”  The sarcasm was dripping from her tone.

“I’m getting Nestwood back.”

That stopped the emotions from cascading in her and made her rational mind start working.  She unwound the ribbon from her fingers and wrapped it around her braid.  There were several questions that had to be answered, once she knew how to ask them.  But, first and foremost, Laun needed to know one thing.

“What do you expect from me?”

He looked at her from his kneeling position, his head topping out just below her nose.  “Only that which you are willing to give, Highness.”

She tilted her head.  What was she willing to give him?  Before the night previous, just about anything.  Until a few minutes ago, that had changed to nothing.  Now...  She looked at him, his dark grey eyes pleading with her.  He was partially stripped in front of her, physically as well as otherwise.

“Hunter, was Dreng in on the decision to restore your home?”

He looked surprised.  “No...”

Her eyebrow went up.  “I hope you did not resign just to have what was promised taken away again.  Remember that we have two kings in this household at the moment.  What one says may not work with the other.”

Hunter’s face had lost the hopeful expression.  “I had not thought of that.”  He sat back on his heels and looked like he was thinking very hard.

Laun sighed.  She had a perspective that seemed to make people do that.  She stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder.  “If it does not work out for you with Nestwood, we may be able to find you a place here.”  There was nothing but concern in her voice.

It took him a second to respond.  “I watched you last night.  I am not sure there is much room for me.”

Laun put her hand under his chin.  “Last night, I was not sure there was for myself.  I felt...unwelcome in my own skin because of what happened.  I had to think about it and had written you off.”

One of his hands went up to her waist, at least where her hip met her bulging belly.  “I’m an idiot.  I never was good with women.  I mean, talking and keeping them from being angry with me.”

Laun’s lips pulled to a half-smile, saying, “Helmic was not one to have too many kind words and was your example.  But I think, other than last night, you have been good with me.”

“It’s easy to talk to you.  You are more like a man than most women...”  His eyebrows went together.  “I just did it again, didn’t I.”

Laun nodded and smiled fully.  “I would suggest saying that you feel comfortable around me.”

He put his other hand up to her belly and nodded.  “I hope you forgive me for what I said last night.  It took me until finding Falmir in the stables before I could talk to anyone.  He didn’t pull any punches about how he felt about us.”  He shifted one of his shoulders, a dirt smear turning out to be a starting bruise as Laun saw the subconscious movement.

“And...what did he say?”

Laun felt Hunter pull her towards him and she let him.  He supported her and she knelt into his arms.  She was on the moss with him, in his arms and feeling more of the secure comfort from before.  “He was angry at me for breaking your heart.  He also was glad I knew what I had done to you...though I guess since I did not sleep it was obvious.  He also warned me that you are...  Not to be pinned down.”

Laun nodded.  “It is complicated in some ways, but I cannot see having just one person beside me for the rest of my life, and I cannot make someone else go through that, either.”

Hunter laughed a little.  “As I watched last night, I saw you and Fount.  You love him so much and he loves you.  When you were not together, it was still...  I don’t know how to describe what I saw.  You seemed to look at him and still smile.”

The wind through the trees was starting to pick up, a slight moisture carried with it.  “It makes me happy to know others are happy.”

He took one of her hands and put it on his cheek.  “I thought I would be happy seeing you with the escort squad.  It was not quite what I had expected and there were times...”  He turned and kissed her palm.  “And then the Private...”

“I thought he was a Corporal.”

Hunter’s lips pursed and kissed her palm again before he turned to look her in the eye.  “I had not known that there were other allegations against him about...similar incidents.  There was a marshal council held and he was broken back to Private.  He is lucky that he was not kicked out.”

Laun saw the sadness in Hunter.  “You cannot be responsible for his actions.  I think he will think quite hard about trying that again, especially on my lands.  Most of the women here might not be as kind.”

Hunter’s eyes glanced up as a gust of wind went through the trees.  “I know you made me scared.  I hadn’t known you were that quick.”  They smiled at each other.

Laun found she was leaning into him, her face close to his, breathing his breath and wanting more of him.  Her voice was low as she said, “Think well on this, but... What do you want?”

Rain coming through the woods in Hellon’s Hill sounded like a full battalion of soldiers on the move.  Louder and closer, the rain told Hunter and Laun that the weather was upon them.

“I want to be in your life, if you would have me,” Hunter whispered as the rain started to drown out his voice.

Laun looked concerned and as her mouth opened to speak, the rain was on them through the leaves of the trees above.  It was loud, cold and refreshing.  They were both soaked through what clothing they had, the moss beneath them becoming slightly spongy and then slick.

They could not hear anything but the rain.  In the cloudy darkness, they held each other, Hunter’s heat keeping Laun warm as the cold storm rain washed the summer heat out of her.

Their lips hesitantly touched as Hunter cradled Laun in his arms and lap.  Laun could feel that he did not want to push, and right then, she was glad.  Her back still hurt from the rush of adrenaline and just simply walking through the paths in the woods of Hellon’s HIll.  She felt his arms and lips and felt comfortable again with him.

Though...  Laun blinked at him through the rain falling on them.  It was too loud to ask him anything.  She wanted to know.  What was he getting out of being with her?  Even after the prospect of his lands not being given back to him, and through him Fount, he still seemed to want her.  Laun shook some of the water from her face as she continued to blink at the large man holding her.  His head was over hers, his stubble hardly any block to the rain flowing down and dripping from his face onto hers.

He looked into her face and wiped some of the rain from her, just to have it replaced with more.  His hand was warm on her skin.  Laun smiled and he smiled back.

Next, in Chapter 4