the Leathermines

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It was odd seeing what amounted to two horizons as the sun set.  

One was the usual horizon, the far trees and perhaps a city in the distance silhouetted by the fading hot sun.  Then there was the unnatural up and down horizon of the cliff face, part of the sun being cut off and making a right angle to the usual horizon in the West.

Laun watched the sun and marveled at the difference in the way things could be seen.  Now that she had just a little bit of information, she saw other things in a different perspective, too.

Gems child had been calm and able to sleep on the last leg of the second day’s journey.  That allowed Edgar to mount and ride next to his Lady and Wife.  Gem needed to get out of the carriage, too, and not just because of her girl.  Everyone was cranky and everyone needed a scrub down from the heat sweat.  She was riding among the military, too, enjoying the fresher air, and the few handsome faces she saw under the helmets.

Laun remembered the look as she glanced back.  Gem’s face scowled fractionally before she dropped back in the pack.  Laun looked in the direction that Gem had and saw the Marquis riding up through the soldiers towards Edgar and Laun.

Laun thought over the last two days and saw that he had been trying to catch her alone, trying to get her attention.  She was now so used to people approaching her that she did not see patterns unless she was actively looking for them.  He had a pattern, and he was weaving another strand in right then.

There was a frustrated noise from Gem and Laun turned, almost seeing her assassin’s hands move.  It was blocked and the movement of the horses made it difficult.  She turned back to the front in the saddle and just let the horse go where he would.

“Highness.”  The Marquis rode up along side Laun, opposite to Edgar.  He was having some difficulty controlling the beast, but he seemed to be a good rider and even Laun had to use the reins with how unhappy her legs and back were.

“Marquis.”  Laun rode on for a little, letting the silence fall thick between them in the afternoon.  She did not know what this Rosemond noble wanted, other than what all men seemed to want.  She really didn’t care.  She had been informed at the last stop that the next inn would be the night time resting spot. By mid-morning the next day they would be on the flat and by noon they would be at the Rosemond Capitol City to present Lady Engrid to King Ifahyd.  She was concentrating on the next rise, the next rock to just keep going.

There was a sigh from the man and Laun twitched her head towards him.  “I thought that being out of the carriage would relieve the pain in my...well, in my body.  I seem to have just traded it for another set of pains.”

Laun knew he was trying to seem light hearted.  It just sounded...whiney.

“Marquis, soon, we will be in the last inn before the summit.  I hope that you are able to rest sufficiently there.  Watching after her excellency must be tiring without the travel.”

Edgar had fallen back because of the slight narrowing of the path, but Laun could hear a little snort from him.  The man riding beside her with the long, silver hair smiled, hearing but choosing to ignore the bite in Laun’s voice.

“Highness, She asked for my presence as we have known each other for quite some time.  It is a bittersweet honor and one that I could not have missed for many reasons.”

The worn-flat path had a bit of a wiggle in it, making the Marquis fall back, but Edgar was able to pull abreast of his Lady Wife.  He had caught what Gem had tried to tell Laun, his hands were open to be seen, but most did not understand that he was telling her, “Silver.”  Laun stretched up and back a little, turning and signing the “Silver” sign above her head.  She saw Gem in one of her turns and Gem nodded and signed it back.

Laun had a few minutes to think.  It explained somethings.  Gave her more questions.  Like why Gem hadn’t mentioned it before.

The Marquis pulled abreast of Laun again and shifted in his saddle.  She looked at him and noted his almost noble appearance again, and the obvious assassins scars.

“Highness.  I must say you are quite a good horse...woman.”

Laun’s eyebrow went up.  “Thank you, Marquis.”  Laun shifted in her saddle and looked more directly at him.  “I do prefer the Kell’s trained horses.  They are much easier to handle.”

He looked at his mount and back up to Laun.  “They are well trained, I would agree, Ma’am.  Training is not something that is obvious to most.”

Laun heard...something.  He was trying to play word games.  Trying...something.  She sighed.  “Thank you for trying to keep me amused.  Perhaps we can talk once our world is not swaying under us?”  She smiled and saw a smile on his face also.

“As you wish, Highness.”

Laun tried not to look relieved as he dropped back in the herd of horses.  She looked at the misshapen trees growing on the cliff face on one side of them as they passed, distracting her, but also telling her it was not her land.  A month of travel and Laun was tired of it.  Being on display was only a small part of it right then.  Having to be civil to people around her was getting to be more than a chore.  The realization that the man who had been trying to talk to her, tried to get her alone several times over the journey from the ship, was one of the Assassin Masters.  She almost, fleetingly remembered seeing him when she was a child.

Now that she had been able to stand in one place, looking at the setting sun, letting her body readjust to the stillness, Laun was loathe to go into the Inn.  She knew that he was going to be lying in wait.  Her people could only protect her so much, and she was not as observant as she could have been.  At least Gem had recognized him, and had been able to warn her, even in that little way.  It still concerned Laun that Gem had taken several days to come up with this information, if the Marquis was one of Blues former companions.

Laun turned and looked at the little town that was around the inn.  The way-stop was more than just a place to rest and drink.  A trading post and a blacksmith was on one side of the widened road, the Inn and a few private homes on the other.  They had passed several small shops on the incoming curve to the stopping point, one Laun was told was a tailor.  This was snidely mentioned by one of the Rosemond nobles as he dismounted.  “They may have something more appropriate to a Royal, unless you are truly a eunuch.”

It had confused her.  She still needed to talk to Silar or Gem or even Daffyd about what the man meant.  She was a woman.  She thought eunuchs were men who had their manhoods cut off.  Or at least their balls.

Laun smiled at the thought and then frowned.  She had almost done that to one of her own while she was testing him.  It had been play of a sort, but it had almost turned deadly when her knife went into him further than she had intended.  He still was very careful to sit on a horse just so when forced to ride, and it had been half a year.

There was one of her Peaches seemingly just lazing against a post by the stablehouse of the inn.  He was a sentry and Laun nodded to him as she passed by.  He seemed to make a sloppy salute to her still in her military Blacks, but Laun saw the subtle signs as his hand went up and back down.

Half the Peaches had settled into the rooms already, the first shift to sleep was to be the next shift on duty.  She wanted to be of their number, but she had nagging questions coming up, making her need to move as if seeing other things would make the perspective in her mind change, too.  Laun looked at the dead-tired soldiers standing and sitting along the walls without bothering to take any of the armor off as they rested against something not moving.  Her own legs and bottom were not pleased with her and she knew that as soon as she sat down, she was not moving for a while.

She walked down past the tailor shop and back, not going inside, but looking at what had been brought out for display when the group had stopped at the inn.  Laun was more interested in the blacksmith, the small forge in the open-sided shelter being stoked so that he could deal with a thrown shoe from one of the soldier’s horses.  She watched for a while until the sound started to make her nerves go over the edge.

Inside the Inn, Laun sat near one of the walls, the bench at the table moved slightly on her end so that she could lean back without falling off.  The wood in the place was well worn by years of use, an almost silky feel to the surface from the hands and butts that had been on the furniture.  A young woman brought her a mug filled with a warm liquid and Laun smiled, even though she wasn’t sure her stomach would hold anything down for a while yet.

It was a remnant of Colby’s time inside her.  She couldn’t eat first thing in the morning without having to concentrate on not throwing up.  The travel had not been kind, but the last few days on the horses had been made worse with the altitude change, keeping her stomach unsettled far past even nooning meal.  She had to have something, though.  She was not denying herself for the sake of her family on this trip.  She had to keep her energy up so that she could bring Engrid...

The Marquis had interesting timing.  He tiredly sat across from her at the table, his own tankard needing to be filled from the sound it made as it was carelessly set down.  He looked tired, but he also looked like he was going to try to talk with her.  Again.

“The last time I saw you, Highness, you were at your mother’s knee at Salam-Dir.”

Laun was not sure how to react.  She smiled and said, “I do not remember you, though I had been wondering why you seemed familiar.”

His eyes narrowed.  “It has been about ten years.  Perhaps you would be kind enough to tell me of Lady Hellon.”

Laun’s own eyes narrowed but she did not pause before saying, “I assume from before Lady Engrid had her killed.”

His head went down slightly and he nodded, but his eyes never left hers.  “Yes.  Knowing she is no longer with us hurts.”

Laun’s eye flicked to the marks on his neck she could see, two overlaying each other where the standard assassin mark her household looked for was.  “I am surprised that you would be concerned, as you might have had the contract if it had been offered.”

His hand went to his neck.  He straightened and slightly shook his head, his long hair moving in it’s braid down his back.  “Never for her.  I was the one who gave ‘er her last knife and I know she had not used it since before the last time we saw each other.”

Laun’s eyebrow went up.  She smiled, but not entirely warmly.  “Perhaps we do have things to talk about, Silver.”

He flushed and glanced at the people around them.  They were not too close, but the man had an outward flash of nervousness.  “You live up to your reputation, Highness.”

She nodded once and said, “You might as well call me Peach, then.”

Laun was right and he had not put her as Mistress Peach as the flash of concern and then recognition went across his face.

“I like Highness.”

“Of course, Marquis.”

They raised their tankards to each other and drank.

It was too close, in many ways, for any real conversation.  Laun did not have the patience for the word-play Silver seemed to want to do and told him outright that he was best to say things plainly right then.  He nodded and seemed to relax, but only slightly.  Between quiet stretches, minor things would be brought up or someone else would painfully come up to say something to one or the other of them.

The Marquis was the ostensible leader of Lady Engrid’s escort.  He was not at her side, but the people who were, all men, would come to quietly have one or two words with the Marquis before ambling back to the private room they had been installed in.

Laun had her own people wander up and past, sometimes stopping, sometimes not.  Laun wondered if the Marquis was getting reports of her people as she was of his.  That made her smile as she watched him across the table being briefed on yet something else as she was having the same thing happen with her.

The Marquis finally had to give into his fatigue.  He made a somewhat courtly reverence to Laun before he turned and limped to the stairs to the private rooms.  He paused and Laun knew she would be openly crying if she had to take those stairs without assistance even after sitting still for over an hour.

Another small group of her people came to her, this time staying as the noble had left.  Laun motioned and Daffyd gave her Girl’s leash, making the collared assassin wedge in on the floor at Laun’s back.  Everyone was tired and Laun could tell that she was not the only one who was feeling cranky. 

They went through the rolls and duties for the next few hours.  It had to be done.  The Peaches knew their roles, knew what needed to be done.  It was still form that Laun be the final voice before she went to bed.

The road had been open and had not had any other travelers on it.  Daffyd brought this up and was concerned.  Laun pointed out that the King’s men probably were keeping the road ahead clear to keep the journey quick.  He paused and nodded, not even enough energy in him to make a good sigh come through his broken nose.

Other things were brought up, things were discussed in a cursory manner.  Laun waved a dismissal to the group and had touches and a few kisses as they went off to bed and duties.

Laun kept ahold of Girl’s leash and sat against the wall watching the common room of the inn empty as much as it was going to.  She kept thinking and felt she had come to a good decision.  Laun moved, slowly getting to her feet while leaning heavily on the table.  Girl roused and was kneeling attentively at the end of the bench.  Laun motioned and Girl was on her feet, supporting Laun as her Mistress found her equilibrium.

Girl expected Laun to head up the stairs to the suite of rooms the household had been afforded.  She followed and felt slightly disappointed as Laun went to the outside door, leading Girl to the darkened night.  Girl looked at the stablehouse and sighed, knowing she had done something wrong and that she was to sleep in with the animals, again.

Laun kept walking past the stablehouse.  It was a slow walk, the tired and stiff nature of the pace telling Girl that her Mistress was in extreme pain.  Girl had seen Laun endure much, even as Girl had been broken to where she was now.

Girl’s head bent reflexively as she remembered the months Laun had spent breaking her and then putting her back together.  Blue Master had taught that torture was to be expected and to be endured.  That was why Blue Master had beaten her and the others-to toughen them up.  Mistress Peach had found the limits, had pushed past them, had let Girl rebuild them, and then had pushed past them again.  Each time, Girl thought she had been completely broken, would never be anything ever again, and then Mistress Peach would show her what could be, and broke her again.

Girl looked at her hand.  What was left of her left hand.  She was missing her pinky entirely and most of the next finger over.  That had not been the worst of it.  Mistress Peach had said that she did not want to cut, to hurt, Girl.  If Girl asked for it to stop, it would.  Every day for most of a week, Laun had come into the Chamber of Death.  The jeweled assassin’s blade would be pulled from her boot.  Laun would ask, “Am I going to bring you pain today?”  Girl would nod, and after the first day, would offer her hand.

Girl hooked her remaining fingers through her loose metal collar and followed Laun as she walked in the darkness.  Girl remembered the last day Laun had asked if she was going to bring pain.  Girl had almost offered her hand again, but had withdrawn it.  She didn’t want the pain any more.  Laun had smiled and had brought Girl out of the Chamber of Death and into the sunshine for the first time in a month.  It had been wonderful, and terrifying.

And had been the start of her change to Girl.

Girl had stopped walking when Laun had.  She saw that Laun had stopped at the blacksmith, the man still working on something for one of the travelers at the inn.  Girl went to her knees and waited, her ears now open to listen to the conversation, as her Mistress had asked of her to do whenever she was at Mistress Peach’s side.

“I’sn almost done ‘ere, Doma.”  The blacksmith looked tired, but still had a good strike on the chestplate he was riveting back together.

“Please, do what you need to.  I enjoy watching when people know what they are doing.”

He paused and smiled, a gap in his teeth showing in the glow of the coals.  He glanced down and saw Girl with her hand through the loose neck of the collar.  “Nee’ it tightened?”

Laun looked down at Girl and shook her head.  She pulled on the leash and Girl stood.  Laun handed the leash to Girl, something that had been done often in the last year so Girl could keep track of herself.

“Cut it off.”

Girl’s eyes went wide and she almost turned to her Mistress.  She was stunned.

The Blacksmith looked between them and shrugged.  He made a few more strikes on the rivet and then put it to the side.  “Here.”  He pointed at the anvil.

Girl positioned herself as commanded by the blacksmith and the collar was cut in two pieces with little fuss from Girl.  The pieces fell to the ground, Girl looking at them as she stood back up, rubbing her neck.

Laun took the metal from the hands of the blacksmith and looked at them.  There was a smile on her face as she handed the pieces to Girl without saying anything.  Laun turned and left the smith after handing a large Rosemond coin to him, the gapped smile wide from him.

Laun saw the shadows she had waiting for her in the darkened road.  Daffyd was not as obvious as a large blond might have been in the Midlands, but he was there.  There was also Wanda, the fourteen year old in the darkness of a doorway until Laun passed by.  Laun did not say anything, did not sign anything.  They went back to the inn, to the rooms afforded them and she sat, reading one of the books she had brought along on the trip, her mind still wanting to be working even as her body was screaming at her.

The growth spurt that had Wanda taller than Laun made it almost comical as the girl sat on the floor next to Laun.  She waited until Laun looked up and smiled before asking what was foremost on her mind.

“Mistress...  Why...?”  Laun blinked and closed the book with her finger to mark her place.  She waited until her ward could form a complete sentence.  “Have you just freed Girl?”

Laun nodded slightly.  The adults were all wondering the same thing, but had not the courage, or the need for knowing that Wanda did.  “She is in her home kingdom.  Her last Master is in this building, though on a deathbed.  I freed her from her collar and have let her choose what she is to do next.”  Laun was not going to say that there had been times since the middle of winter when Girl had knives in her hand and had not even looked like she was going to try to use them against anyone in the household that Laun wanted to free Girl from her bonds.  There had always been a small doubt, and Girl seemed to want to be punished for having been one of Blue’s girls even past being broken.

Seeing Girl bring dignity to herself around Lady Engrid, not to show that Girl was still hers, but that Girl had survived without Lady Engrid, had been the last pebble scraped from Laun’s flow.

Wanda looked at her hands, picking at a small scab on the heel of one hand.  “You trust her?”

Laun reached out and touched Wanda on her head, feeling the push into her from the ward.  “I will answer that tomorrow.”

Their eyes met and Wanda nodded.  She moved her head and caught Laun’s palm with her lips before unfolding herself and bouncing up off the floor.  The adults around them smiled at the energy, and the forwardness of the girl, and all had doubts about freeing the broken assassin, but would not say anything to Laun about it.

“Love, perhaps it is time for you to be taken to bed,” Edgar rumbled into the top of Laun’s head.

Laun looked up and back and into her Husband’s eyes.  “We do have to be on the road too early, don’t we.”  Her voice was tired and everyone could see that she was trying to stay as still as possible to keep her body from calling out it’s pains too loudly.

Those who were awake helped Laun to the shared bed, stripping her down as the familiar closeness and ritual let Laun start to fall into sleep even as she was standing up.  She was given a pain draught as the covers were pulled up around her, Edgar needing to rumble a few small things into her neck to get her to stop trying to get back up as the back of her mind came up with things she thought she needed to do.

The next morning, Girl was at the end of the bed, sleeping on the floor as usual.  She still had the lead that had been on her collar loose in her hand by her head.  Laun smiled to see that Girl had stayed and had the smith make the sections of collar into vangraves, the iron tighter on her wrists than the collar had been around her neck.  The ring was still on the metal around her left wrist, empty of the lead and said much to Laun.  A small blanket was pulled over the scantily clad form before Laun moved through the others sleeping in the room and out to greet the day.

 

The long journey finally ends in Chapter 5 where the King of Rosemond greet the travelers