the Leathermines

Back to Chapter 14 - Tribute always accepted.

 

The first baby did not want to suckle.  The second...  She would not stop until a finger was pushed between her lips and Laun’s nipple.

Laun was still having problems with the second baby out of her not being the second baby in her arms.  She did not love the child any less, but it was still a shock to Laun’s system that she was expecting two babies and had two, though she had given birth to three.

Laun was helped to nurse for the first time by some of the old hands in the household, Nan showing her by example with the huge baby she had.  Sable and Ash together did not make up even a half of what Tiss was.

Sable would nurse, but it was tenuous at best if Laun did not keep attention on her.  Ash would nurse even if Laun fell asleep with the baby in her arms, making it easy to nod off until Sable’s little cry would wake Laun for her feeding.

Laun felt very tired all the time.  She could not truly sleep.  She caught some rest here and there between feedings and changing the cloths on the babies, but she would start awake at the smallest sound, even if it was not from one of the babies.  The healers had been right, she did not want to move and walk, but she had to.  When she was awake, her back and legs needed to have motion to keep the pain at bay.  She paced when she was not nursing or trying to sleep herself.

Edgar came back from his patrol to the news.  He was still covered with mud and streaks of green when he came into the room, Laun nursing both babies at once while propped up on the bed.  Disa hugged Edgar and left them alone.

“Would you like to meet them?”  Laun unlatched Sable from her, a protesting cry coming from the baby for a moment.

The head wardsman sat on the edge of the bed and held out his hands.  Sable could be cradled in just one of his hands, her thick black hair contrasting with the pale skin showing from her swaddling.  She settled down as Edgar drew her to his chest.  Her eyes were squinted, but the light color was deceptive when they were open.  They looked like they could be blue, but they could be brown.

“She’s beautiful.”  Edgar’s voice was soft.

Laun unlatched the sleeping Ash and handed her over to Edgar.  “This one isn’t as fussy.”  Laun took Sable and put the baby on her shoulder, patting the small back to help her burp.

Edgar smiled and said, “Bigger, too.”  Ash’s hands went up at the sound of his voice, her eyes opening briefly before she relaxed back into sleep again.  Edgar’s smile changed and Laun saw it.

“Sable and Ash.  I did not name the other one.”

Edgar’s head came up and looked around to the cradle next to the bed.  “Other...?”

Laun’s hand went out to Edgar’s arm.  “The second baby was dead.  The healers told me that it could have been from anything, and she was probably the reason I was having such a problem with my back.”  She closed her eyes for a moment.

He reflexively put the baby to his chest in a protective action.  “I’m so sorry, my Love.”

There were tears, as there had been off and on for the last few days.  She turned away slightly and began more stroking Sable than patting her.  “I failed somehow.”

Edgar’s hand was on Laun’s arm.  “You did not fail.  They are beautiful, just like their mother.”

Laun smiled and kissed the top of Sable’s head.  “Thank you, my Love.  I hope to feel it and not just hear it at some point.  It has been a while.”  She looked up at her first sworn, her Love, and said, “I am sorry I pushed you away.”

Edgar had a flash of anger on his face.  “No.  Never you.  I just...  Needed to get out and see what was going on beyond the barricade.”  Edgar lifted Ash and looked at the squirming baby in his hands.  “I am glad I did, but I am sorry I was not there for you.”

Laun wiped a little spit-up off her bare shoulder with a cloth and put Sable on the bed next to her.  She reached for Ash and started to pat on the larger girl’s back.  “I was found in time.  The whole household was there, I think.  Then again, most of them had been between my legs and wanted to see if it was theirs.”  Laun flushed and could not look at Edgar.

Edgar looked away for a moment.  “They are your girls.  They will be raised by the whole household.  They-”  He swallowed hard.  “It does not matter who sired them.  I will love them as if they were my own.”

Laun’s tears kept flowing. She felt the baby burp and put a cloth under her to catch the delayed wet that Ash would throw up.  Through her tears and over the head of Ash, Laun looked at Edgar.  “Thank you.  You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Edgar’s hand on Laun tightened its’ grip.  “I wish we could just talk of love and family.  I went to ground at Nestwood and watched them.  They are not harvesting.  In fact, I doubt that any of the mercs there know how to use a sickle for anything but destruction.”

There was a gaspy breath from Laun and her mind pushed her self loathing and doubts to the side.  “What did you see?”

Edgar gave a reasonably complete report, leaving out his argument with Fount and Hunter that had made him leave before he came to blows with the two self-centered idiots.  The roads were eerily clear of travelers.  Edgar was able to ford the river across from the Hawkwell lands with the use of a new bridge that was being built.  The rocks were piled above the flood stage the river could have in the spring and after thunderstorms, but it was not complete, yet.

On the other side, he found a thicket near one of the fields that should have been growing a good sized crop of grain, but instead was seemingly growing tents.  Edgar estimated that there were about four hundred Rosemond mercs at Nestwood.  All seemed to have red and black uniforms and were in the middle of training, not harvesting.

On the way back out, Edgar had been able to grab some of the livery that one of the Rosemond soldiers had taken off and hung over some of the bushes Edgar had been hiding behind.  Edgar still had it bundled with him and he showed it to Laun.

Her head tilted slightly and she said, “Will you let me send Gem to Nestwood, now?”

Edgar looked away for a moment.  “It may be too late, Lady.  I overheard that there are plans to start a march soon.”

Laun smiled.  “But not before the bridge is complete.”

He paused and nodded.  “I had a look at it when I was crossing.  They are putting it together without a good footing.  Some of the rocks had slid in the day or so that I was hiding.”

“Talk to Lonn about how to best sabotage it.  We need to tell the household about Nestwood.  And get messages to the Capitol City.”  Her hand went to the light and fluffy patch of brown hair that was being rubbed down to nothing on Ash’s head.  “This is not something to wait for tomorrow’s morning meeting.”

Word was sent out for the gathering.  Laun strapped the babies to her and walked, with assistance, down to the Great Hall.  It was mid afternoon. Many people were ready for a rest from their day’s work and readily came in from the summer sun.

Edgar made another report to the household.  The officers that had come in seemed to be itching to go and tell the rest of the squads about the news as soon as Edgar had said Nestwood.  Several options were put forth, the Mason coming forward to offer his opinion on the bridge.  Many people offered to go to the Capitol City to carry a message to the King and Council.

The meeting was broken up into different jobs that needed to be done because of the news.  Edgar, after cleaning up and getting food by the insistence of Orgia, was to lead a small scouting party back to the bridge for the Mason to see.  The soldiers and protectors were heading out to check the perimeter to see if there had been more than a sow and her piglets intruding on the Salam-Dir land.  Hunter and several of the entertainers were around Laun, Geralk making notes on several of the messages that Hunter was going to carry while being escorted to the Capitol City by the troupe.  There were others doing other things and all knew their role in the defense of the household.

“Do these need to be separate, Lady?”

Laun nodded at her master of Lists.  “The announcement of more Hawkwell women should be kept apart from the intelligence of Nestwood.  If anything, the birth of the girls should be kept out of the enemies hands more than the knowledge they already know about the Rosemond mercs.”

Geralk nodded.  “And the wording?  Are you sure?”  There was a bemused smile on the bald man’s face as he looked over the notes.

Laun nodded.  She turned to the troupe members that were there.  “I am not kicking you out.  It seems to me that you need to get on the road and make money, and this is a mission that the protectors and soldiers would take far too seriously.  And we need to get the noble cuckoo back to her mother.”

Verna nodded.  “I understand, Laun.  We have been sucking off your tit for far too long and I hope this will repay some of your hospitality.”  Laun laughed and put a hand on the troupe’s secondary leader and on one of the babies that had reacted to the laughter.  “I’ll go find Adi and get his ass moving.”

“And find Wanda.  She needs to know.”  Laun was given several nods and bows as the entertainers moved out of the Great Hall.

Hunter was sitting next to Laun on the bench, one of his hands under the butt of one of the babies, holding her through the cloth that strapped the small wiggly beings to Laun.  “Will you be well while I am gone?”

Laun put a hand over Hunter’s and said, “I will try.  I hope you are safe on the road there and back.  Just think of me on occasion.”

Hunter looked from the baby to Laun’s face.  “I won’t be thinking of anything else.”

They leaned into each other and kissed, though one of the babies fussed, breaking the tender moment to pieces.  Laun pulled one baby from the sling and handed it to Hunter, his hands awkwardly supporting the baby but calming Sable down with the slight rocking motion.

“You should be able to get in to see Falmir immediately.  The letter should get you through the gates into the city, if you can’t get through with just your charm.”

Hunter cradled the baby to his chest and said softly, “I think I know most of the gate guards.  I should be able to bluff my way through.  The letter is a good fallback, though.”

Orgia came from the kitchen, a plate with some things on it in one hand, a few tankards in the other.  “I don’t think you had anything at morning meeting, Lady.”

Laun looked at the plate of small breads and pork slices and tried not to drool.  She took the tankards from her chatelaine’s hands and said, “I am fine.  My appetite is not quite up yet.  I’ll just have the cider for now.  Find someone else who is hungry...  Hunter?”

He took the plate and put it on the bench next to him.  “Thank you, Orgia, Laun.  I am hungry.”  He tore into one of the small breads with his teeth while still holding the child against him with the other hand.

Orgia narrowed her eyes at Laun but did not say anything before turning back to the kitchen.  Laun was hungry.  She also knew how much they did not have as far as supplies went.  It would be better if the one message got through in Hunter’s hand to Falmir, and he understood that they were going to be starving before Hunter was back from the Capitol City.  Laun still had her baby fat and thought that she could keep herself and the babies going for a while with having mostly liquid.

Hunter handed her a smallbread with a torn piece of the pork.  “I haven’t seen you eat at all since you had the babies.  Please, have something.”  The look on his face was stern.

Laun took the food and tried not to eat it too fast.  Her stomach grumbled at having something solid in it for the first time in days.  It did make Laun feel some better.  “Thank you.  I hope I didn’t just eat something that someone else needed.”

Hunter pulled the meat from his mouth before he bit into it.  “If you starve yourself, who will feed the babies?  And without you...”  He looked around at the different groups still at tables around the Great Hall.  “I know I would give up my trencher to keep you fed and comfortable.”  He held out the meat in his hand to her.

Laun smiled.  “Thank you, Hunter.  Eat.  You need your strength for the journey to the Palace.”

“Yes, your Highness.”

Laun slapped his arm and took the baby from him.  Ash woke up as her sister was put into the cloth next to her.  She made a small cry and her fists went up until Laun put a finger in the baby’s mouth and found that she indeed was ready to nurse, yet again.

Laun untied the cloth she was using as a sling and put Sable on the table, her blinking eyes pointed at Laun and Hunter.  A few layers were moved around and Ash was latched onto Laun.

Hunter pulled the meat apart and fed Laun as she was nursing, a companionable silence over the chewing and sucking sounds.  Ash fell asleep, Laun having to pry the baby off her nipple with a finger to break the suction.  She strapped the babies back on her and leaned over to Hunter.

“You should go and talk to the troupe.  Arrange things for the trip.  The messages won’t be ready for a while, so rest up.”

His arm went around her and he gently kissed her forehead.  “Yes, Highness.  As long as you go and get some more rest.  You look like you could use a nap.”

“That obvious?”  Laun stood with Hunter’s help and started towards her room again.

A waddled detour to the privy showed Laun that her legs were doing some better.  The stairs back up to the room were not as bad as she had feared, though the slight strain she had in peeing was uncomfortable.  Everything was still raw but getting better.

The babies were laid in the cradle, Laun laying down on the bed when Lonn came to the open door.

“Highness?  I know I am disturbing you.”

Laun motioned the Mason in.  “What can I do for you?”

He came in and held out a parchment to Laun.  “It is a message to Falmir and my guild.  I was hoping that your messenger would be able to take it for me.”

Laun rolled and her legs went over the side of the bed.  She took the sealed roll and bowed her head slightly.  “I will make sure that it is delivered.”

“Thank you.”  He bowed slightly and went to turn to go.

“Wait!  I would like to give you something.”  Laun put the missive on the table in the corner and turned to the Mason.

“I know Falmir sent for you and is paying you, but I feel I need to at least give you something.”  Laun went to the latch in the wall and opened the stone panel to the secret compartment.  Laun smiled at thinking it was secret.  Most everyone in the household knew, and now the Mason did, too.  She looked and saw the chest she wanted.  It was not on the bottom, which was what she had feared.  She opened the chest with some of the crystals and picked the most perfect one she could find.

“This is all I have to give.  We are poor right now, but you deserve more than our gruel for your work.”  Laun held the crystal out to him and she saw his eyes blink several times before he approached and took it.

He carefully lifted the crystal from her scarred palm and looked at the milky green facets.  The end still had some of the darker basalt around it making it look like a sprouting seed of crystal.

“Highness?  Are you sure you want to give me this?  I’m no gem cutter, but this is worth...  More than your Father is paying me.”

Laun shrugged.  “It is worth as much as you wish it to be, Lonn.  To me, it is pretty and I wish to share it with you.”  She put her hand on the man before restacking the chests in the nook.

His eye went to the latch and moveable wall.  “More and more in this place intrigues me, Highness.”

Laun smiled and looked at the wall.  “If you wish to check out the latch and such, please do.  Just don’t move things out.  I have it piled so I can find things.”

The Mason bowed and said, “At your pleasure.”

 

Chapter 16, where Laun fights her darkness and finds she is not alone