the Leathermines

Back to Chapter 16 - Just finding the Chronicles of the Midlands?  Start with Chapter one of The Slave Warrior.

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“I estimate the equivalent of six hundred gold, easy.”

Laun looked at the ring that was on her finger.  “This thing?  It is so gaudy.”

Geralk shrugged.  “I would send this with the next wagon from Markle and Marie.  The easiest to pawn as it is bright and shiny and does not have a maker’s mark on it.”

“Wow.  So the things I saw people wearing at the Palace...”

He nodded.  “The jewelry makers can charge whatever they wish.  And with the crystals we are collecting from the Grey, we have a bounty that can be quite profitable.”

Laun shook her hand over the casket and the ring dropped into it, bouncing off the other jewelry and coins within.  “Let’s hope that the first shipment got through.  Gyrip may be indentured to our friends, but he was forced into it.  I hate waiting for people to come back.”

The master of the lists put a hand on Laun’s arm.  “I understand.  It is also depending on them to keep your household together and fed.”  Laun nodded.  “If I need to, I will take a mule and make a run my self.  Orgia does not want you to know, but she has seen you denying yourself as you feed those around you.  She is concerned and knows you will do it until you starve yourself.”

Laun shrugged and then patted her belly.  “At least it is helping me fit back into more clothes again.”

“Vain woman,” he said, scowling for a moment before bursting into laughter at her pout.

Laun sighed and became serious again.  “Geralk...  It has been a week since the troupe left.  The scouting party left at the same time.  We haven’t seen anyone else at the wall since then.  I am wondering what has changed out there.”

He shook his head.  “Without going to see, it is impossible to know.”  One of his hands dipped into the casket with the found money.  “Without somewhere to spend this, it is worthless.”

Laun looked over at Silar who was rocking the cradle slightly to try to keep the girls asleep.  “Silar, do you think it would be useful to send out a person to try to find the people who went towards Nestwood?”

The dark man looked up and shook his head.  “They were going to sabotage.  If you have a lone person, they could root out the entire group.”

“Thank you.  I hadn’t thought of that.”  Laun picked up one copper piece and put it on the table between Geralk and herself.  “This all should be put away until it can be useful.  Silar, could you please?”

The casket was put into the wall and hidden with the rest of the chests and cases.  Laun looked out and through the window and scaffolding that was along the tower wall as there was activity in the room above her.  Lonn had taken some of his men, leaving some to work on the room above hers.  She could feel the weather changing and hoped that they would be able to put up canvass or something to keep the weather out.  If not, her own room was likely to get water from above.

“Laun, I will write up something for you about the value of the jewelry.  When we can get in contact with Markle and Marie...”

Laun nodded and turned to her merchant friend.  She held out a hand and smiled, saying, “Thank you for your knowledge.  I knew that you would be the one to ask about this.”

The balding man took Laun’s hand and kissed the back and then they hugged.  “My honor, and it is great fun pawing through such things.”

The door was opened and left open after the list master went back to the library.  Laun glanced at the stone wall that the treasures were kept behind.  More things were there than just the found coins, but they seemed to have more importance right then because of their potential.  Laun sighed and turned from that potential to another.

Walking to the bed and sitting behind Silar kneeling by the cradle, Laun looked at the man who had brought her joy and learning, but who had also frustrated and angered her.  He was just being there right then, a hand on the cradle, his face turned to watch the small sleeping forms within.

She had said earlier that she was tired.  She had not been at that point, but the day had started to catch up with her and she moved onto the bed, more centered, and laid down.  No covers, just herself in the tunic as she watched Silar’s head over the edge of the bedding.

“Laun?  Do you still need me?”

She sighed.  “No.  If you have other things to do, I do not want to keep you any longer.”  Laun reflexively closed her eyes when she saw Silar start to turn towards her.

Silar took a moment before saying, “I will let you sleep, then, Mistress.”

Laun opened her eyes and he was still looking at her.  She blinked a few times and said softly, “I would sleep better with someone with me.”  She saw his hesitation.  “But only if...”  Laun was not sure what she wanted to say.

The dark man’s head went down slightly, but he did not loose eye contact with her.  “I do have something to attend to, Mistress.  But, if I could come back later?”

Laun smiled.  Nodding her head in the pillow, she said, “Even if I am asleep, you are welcome, Silar.”

Laun watched him get up and leave, a pause at the door as he turned and smiled at her.  And then he was gone.

It was better again.  At least Laun hoped it was.  Laun pulled a cloth over her legs and thought about how things could go wrong between Silar and herself.  It had already been taken to below rock and built back up, but their relationship was unsteady.  Laun hoped that she did not repulse him too much.

Laun closed her eyes and could hear all the creaks and groans of the tower from the work being done above.  The air was changing and she could feel that there was going to be a storm that night.  That would delay the naming again.  There weren’t any other babies to be born within another month, so Laun did have to go through the ceremony for the twins.

They were twins, born from her at the same time.  They were already so different, even past the hair and the eyes.  Laun smiled.  But she knew who the father was.  The black hair was Fount’s and the dark eyes were going to turn grey.  She and Fount were mixed in the babies.  If anyone had not seen that Fount was the father of them both, they were not looking close enough.

She turned and pulled the pillow from under her shrinking belly.  Laun had hoped that they were Edgars.  She missed him so much, and felt that if she would claim anyone as her Lord beside her that he would be it.  To choose such a thing was indescribably difficult.  Doing so would change so many things, not just in her life, but the household and the kingdom.

Laun thought about Dreng and Falmir and the Palace.  A little wave of sadness went through her as she remembered Ithian.  She wished she could talk with him, find out things about what was going on...or just be with him.  He had been a challenge.  He had also been a good lover, and a friend, even though Laun tried to keep him at arms length.  Her sexual drives had been too strong.  She had let her heat rule her, though she did not regret the time she had been with him.

Laun felt her face flush.  Her mind had drifted and had caught on Falmir.  The night he had tried to push himself on her.  Laun had tried to examine the situation from an outside, dispassionate perspective, but she still caught herself wondering what would have happened if her internal rock had not been as steady.  What would he have felt like?

Laun shook her head and rubbed her face into the bedding.  She was getting her drive back, but thinking about what her father, the King of the Midlands, would be like in bed was not where she wanted her mind to go.

She started thinking of the last night with Ithian in the Capitol City.  The Embassy and the low couch and the glass flower.  He had known how to make her feel good, to distraction and completely.  She missed him terribly.  Laun rolled to her back and tried to get comfortable.  It was easier than it had been, but her hips still had a dull ache going through them.  Laun knew something that could help that, but no one seemed interested.

She wanted the glass flower.  The clear glass rod with the open rose on the top had been the only thing that Ithian had truly shown her that was so very different.  She regretted not asking for it to be brought to her from the Embassy when they asked.  There was a growing need for such a...toy.  If she could not have anyone else to touch her, she would have to touch herself.

Laun ran her hands down her front, feeling the fullness of her breasts.  They were there to feed the babies, but they were heavy and sensitive and now that her nipples were used to the constant suckling, were no longer raw.  Her stomach was getting smaller and tightening up, though she knew she would always have the baby belly.  Her hands went down to her crotch and felt herself through the fabric of the tunic.  She pulled the fabric up and touched her fur and then below.

She had not really done that before.  She felt things, knew what the lips looked like, tasted like, on other women.  She closed her eyes and imagined what hers looked like.  She thought about the outer lips and she felt her fur that stopped and led her fingers to her smooth space around the inner lips.  They were dry.  Her fingers moved around and she sucked in a breath through her teeth when she rubbed against her clit.  It was good and bad and she felt a spark inside her and the dryness changed when her fingers went between the lower lips and her womanhood let loose a slickness that spread easily.

Her fingers flicked over her button and she thought about Ithian.  His beautiful and intense blue eyes.  Small laugh crinkles starting at the corners that were usually under the cosmetics that just made his eyes sparkle even more.  His laugh when he let himself, the sighs she brought out of him when they were together.  The breath on her skin...

She moved and spread her legs, the cover she had over them falling to the side.  Her knees went up and she felt herself heat up even as the thought of her dead lover brought sorrow and tears.  His face changed in her mind, the eyes closing and the skin changing.  He became more generic, but still brought the tears to her eyes as she slid her hands and fingers over sensitive places.  She remembered how Ithian touched her and made her feel.  She thought of the days and nights they had together, the tears leaving many wet stripes down her cheeks.  Under her closed lids, she saw times she had Ithian with her, sometimes by himself, sometimes with others.

Laun had a hand on her womanhood, one on a breast as the feelings she had with Ithian before came to her and she felt their echo go through her.  She heard herself gasp and loved the feelings she was giving herself.  She moved and reached for the pillow that had been under her belly earlier.  It did not come to hand and she turned her head and opened her eyes to see where it had gotten to.

She felt herself flush.  “Please, Mistress, don’t stop.”

Silar had come back, quietly, and was kneeling at the side of the bed.  He did not turn away, he did not back off.  The dark man just was looking at her.

Laun covered her face with a hand and turned away.  The tears were still there, but now more of embarrassment than of sorrow.  She had forgotten about the open door and for one of the only times she could remember, she had actually wanted to be alone.

There was a hand on her arm.  Silar gently pulled her hand away from her face.  He did not try to turn her towards him.  His lips started to kiss on her fingers, lightly.  His breath was warm on her skin and cool as a little wet line from his tongue found it’s way along her knuckles.  He blew on her hand in his and Laun felt a gentle wave of shivers go through her.

Laun moved her hand from her groin and one of Silar’s hands was on her hand.  It was not heavy or hurting, but it kept her from moving her hand from herself.  He did not go for her womanhood, but encouraged her to continue to touch herself.

She thought of Silar as he was patiently at the side of the bed.  He had a strength that she had liked, had needed.  He had also betrayed her, pushing her into things that had changed her into something she did not always like.  But he was still there, supporting her, teaching the assassins and being very patient with her.

The thought of his blood on her tongue brought another flush to her and she moved her fingers along her sensitive places.  She did not see the smile on his face as her hand moved under his to please herself.  The wetness seemed to have spread as she thought of how she had been able to bind and scar the dark man in the past.  He had given her himself on so many levels and she wanted more of him.

She thought of impossible things she would like to do to him, both loving and cruel.  Having the riggers from the troupe to create a rope suspension that could hold her dark prince as she cut and hit him swirled in her mind.  Having him inside of her with his large piercing in his cock, thrusting and filling her flashed through her and she felt her insides pulse, remembering what had been and thinking of what she could have him do.  She thought of having him bind her, the rope holding her so she could not move as he did what he wished with her.  It fanned the heat to flames within her, but also scared her that she would think of it.

Silar was sucking on one of her fingers, his teeth lightly scraping along the length and then back again.  She pulled her fingers from his talented mouth and put them to her slickness, pushing fingers into herself and then out again.  She turned her head and looked at Silar as she brought her hand back up again, offering her wetness to him.

Her back arched as her fingers were in his mouth, his tongue cleaning her fluids off her fingers.  The sensation went through her and she felt that she was getting close to her peak.  She pulled her hand from his wonderful tongue and cupped her breast.  She pressed in on her nipple, feeling the wetness of her milk spreading on the tunic’s linen.  She pressed and flicked and pleasured herself until her breath caught in the back of her throat.

Tears were again running down from her eyes, but of joy, not sorrow or embarrassment.  She closed her eyes and felt and heard and breathed as she brought herself to and over the edge of her peak.  It was a small orgasm, but it was the first since she had given birth, the first since a while before that.  She had been given some pleasure, some attention, from Silar, but she had brought herself up and over.

Laun breathed heavily as she felt the waves going through her, washing some of her sorrow and doubt away with the flow of sensation.  She opened her eyes and looked through her tear-wetted eyelashes to Silar.  He was smiling and he tightened his grip on her hand on her crotch.  She smiled.

His voice was soft as he asked, “Are you still in need of someone at your back to sleep?”

Laun nodded.  He rose and kissed her lightly, her taste on his lips, but his own taste familiar and comforting to her.  She rolled onto her side and he slid in behind her, his arm going around her waist and his leg going between hers.

More tears.  She was becoming emotionally drained.  Sorrow and joy and now... Laun was not sure why there were tears and sobbing as she was being held, but she did not hold it in.  She felt the complex emotions going through her, bringing up flashes of things that had happened to her in the past, seeing some hoped for things for the future.  Silar’s breath turned to low, almost too low to hear, murmurs into her ear, telling her that she was safe, that she was loved.

 

Onto Chapter 18, where Laun meets an envoy from Rosemond