the Leathermines

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Back to Chapter 17

 

The King had not been able to get away from some of the delayed business of the kingdom that morning, the Ambassador that had come to see him from Myrned had waited for almost a week before insisting that he needed the King’s attention.  It had taken almost an hour for the Ambassador’s presentation, and it was obvious thruout that Ifahyd wished to be somewhere else.  Then the petitioners started.

The visiting Midland royalty took the opportunity to use the bathing pool, and the red scarves.  Edgar was tended to by Aster, the gentle touch soothed and then aroused and then satiated.  Laun had several offers to have her back scrubbed by the concubines, which led to her tiring out several of the men on the tile.

Laun had messages from several people that caught up with her as she lay by the pool, glorying in the talents of the red scarves of the Royal Estate.  Her own red scarf was there, delivering the parchments, and a few messages from the Peaches.  Laun thanked her, and then deeply kissed her, feeling a need in her.  Laun had motioned to one of the others in the bathing courtyard and Tris was soon surrounded by the companions that had not had a chance with either Laun or Edgar.

The Lord and Lady Salam-Dir had dressed and had waited among some of the Rosemond nobles in the audience chamber.  Edgar found that several of the simpering women were trying to get his attention.  Laun saw that glances from both men and women were aimed at her like daggers, except for the steady look of Marquis Blaque, who bowed his silvered head to her and turned to watch the next petitioner at the feet of the King.

The desert beauty was breathtaking once they were able to leave the confines of the audience chamber.  The fleeting rain had brought seeds dormant for months or years awake and alive.  Laun was happy that she had good padding on the saddle, though she was not sitting well because of one the messages she had received.

For some reason, the rain had washed out several of the paths that King Ifahyd would normally take his horses.  The little indicators to warn people that there was a problem ahead were spread around, but it did not seem to be too much of a hassle.  The path that Ifahyd was on was beautiful.

Ifahyd did not know that his path had been chosen for him.  He avoided the markers and enjoyed the flowers, pointing out some that he really liked while they were riding.  He did not see the teams that were among the arbors they passed.  He had no knowledge of the work that had gone into making sure the land was secure for him.

Laun was caught looking at but not seeing a small dune that was turned green and gold by the still growing and opening desert poppies.  She smiled at Ifahyd and blushed.  “I am sorry, Iffy.  I think you wore me out last night.”

There was a wide grin on his face.  “I had help.”  He looked to his other side and Laun saw Edgar bow his head to the King, a different smile on his face than Laun usually saw.

“Perhaps we should dismount and look at the flowers up close for a while, my Lady.”

Laun nodded and Ifahyd agreed.  The horses did not have tethers or hobbles, but they started eating the flowers, making them stay close.

The flowers seemed too delicate to be in the desert.  A touch to one blue and white flower made it disappear in a smudge of color on a finger.  The stems on the poppies crushed instead of breaking.  There was a stand of the flowering sticks and they looked like the tall adults looking after the small children of the desert.

A blanket was put down on the shade side of a large bush that was starting to open little pinpoints of white flowers.  A glass flagon was uncovered from one of the horses and the three of them shared a fruit and honey wine as they watched the desert grow and change around them.

There was a constant low hiss from the wind across the desert plateau.  Hunting birds called in their carrying high-pitched cries as they flew through the skies.  A wisp of a cloud went above them, more decorative in the brilliant blue sky than offering shade.

It did not take long for Edgar to have Laun’s hand to his mouth, a look in his eye that she knew, and yet did not know.  Something had awakened in him and he was hunting for more.  Laun smiled and he took that as consent, leaning over her and pinning her down with his body to kiss her.

Ifahyd did not waste time and joined when Edgar came up for air.  The men’s mouths touched and then they were hungrily kissing, fighting to take control of the other’s tongue.  There was laughter when they pulled back, one of them having lightly bitten the other.

Laun was finding that she liked watching the men together.  Fount and Edgar did not show passion towards each other at home, but they loved each other and were together regularly, both with her and by themselves.  This was different.  There was playfulness, but it was also testing, exploring each other to find pleasure with each other.  She wanted to be part of that, but they needed to have their time together, to not taint the experience more than she already did.

As the men leaned into each other, hands finding skin and uncovering more, Laun’s thoughts went to the messages that she had received while in the bathing courtyard. There was one that was a plain, vague welcoming message from one of the Council, with a small request to meet and discuss a few matters regarding the Midlands.  Laun had mentally shrugged at that and had gone to the next parchment.  One of the merchants wished to know if she would be able to help him petition the King about a trade matter.  Laun had no information about either the merchant or the trade and had put that matter to the side.

The one message that was handed to her that Laun’s mind was stuck on was one from someone who asked for an hour of her time, without her Peaches, and without his people.  He was straightforward in saying that he was claiming the title of Blue Master and wished to find a balance between them.  Laun was already tired of having to be on guard all the time, having to rely on the Peaches and the Royal Guard to keep the attempts from coming close enough to kill her or Ifahyd.  If this pretender to the title was real, it would make things much more stable.

Laun had a hand on her shoulder and was brought back to the desert and the men.  Edgar was used to her fading out, looking at nothing, her fingers tapping out rhythms as she thought.  Ifahyd did not have that experience and was concerned when he looked down from his new Love and saw her almost blank stare up at them.

“Laun?  Are you well?”  Ifahyd leaned down and looked into her eyes, searching for something amiss.

Laun smiled and put her hand to his cheek.  “I was just thinking of things.  Some important, some not.  I was thinking that I need to answer some of the messages that found their way to me this morning.”

There was a pained look on his face and he glanced up at Edgar.  “It never ends, does it?”  There were chuckles from all three of them.  He looked back to Laun and said, “A distraction before you have to be at the business of being a noble?”

A kiss.  Which led to another kiss.  Which led to a suckling which led to...

Ifahyd had been right.  Making love on the sand dune was much more comfortable than on the sand covered tile.

The Peaches that were closest had to keep watch, but wanted to watch at the same time.  Their Mistress and Lord never really hid their lovemaking, or outright sexual conquests.  The Tower room was always open to all when the door was open, the rebuilt burnt house more private, but still open to those who chose to be with them.  Seeing the two with the Rosemond King was different.

They could not join, and their duty kept them from fully concentrating on what the three were doing.  They saw when clothing started to come off.  They saw when Edgar kissed the King.  They saw when the King lay on top of their Mistress, her sighs carrying over the desert to them.  They saw when the three rearranged and Laun sat upon their Lord, bouncing on him as she took the King into her mouth as he lay on the sand next to their Lord.  They did not see when the Rosemond monarch gasped and peaked in their Mistress’ mouth, their Lord holding her to him and filling her with his seed.  They did not see the three hold each other and talk in low tones on the blanket in the moving shade because they were on duty.

When one has been trained as an assassin, it is predictable that you can spot an assassin.  The Peaches were wearing sand-colored garments, hair covered with veiling for both man and woman.  They saw the Royal Guard that had escorted the three standing by his mount, trying not to watch the nobles as they made love to each other over the flower-dotted mound he and his horse were behind.  The guard was obvious with his helmet under his arm as his eyes were on his King.

The Peach that was watching the rear saw movement.  There was a click of a warning to the other Peach and she kept still.  He made a bird call, the whistle sounding off in that land.  There wasn’t an answer.  The Royal Guard’s mount shied away just as the assassin came to the guard, the armor helping to keep him alive with a badly placed knife.

One Peach was up and running, thin blades from her leg sheathes in her hands as she went towards the assassin.  The other swept the other way, finding that there was another assassin crawling towards the three still in the glow of their tryst.  There was a short fight on either side of the sheltered dunes, red quietly falling onto the desert flowers and soaking into the sand.

Laun sighed and Edgar lightly kissed her shoulder.  Ifahyd watched as she pulled on her thin over tunic and stood, his hand trying to grasp at her to keep her with them.  She smiled at him, a weary and pained look on her face.  She stood a few steps from the two men and waited.

“What-”  Edgar put a finger on his lover’s lips to quiet him, reaching for a garment to cover them just enough.

The Guard, assisted by the woman, came around the dune.  Another sand colored person came to Laun from behind the two men laying in the shade.  There were hand movements and two blades handed to Laun.  The guard knelt to his King and bowed his head.

He spoke after Ifahyd waived his hand, saying, “My King, I did not see him coming.”

Laun turned and looked at Ifahyd, the bliss he had seen just moments before was gone, the stone of her core showing through.  “It looks like they were a team.  The Red scar was on both of them.”

Edgar sat up.  “Red?  But her people-”  He looked at Ifahyd, knowing he had just said too much.  “They made a pact.  This goes against the pact.”

Laun nodded.  She held out the hand with the blades and the male Peach took them from her.  “Wrap those.  I will make a message to go with them.”  There was contained fury within Laun that Edgar saw, Ifahyd getting a hint when she said, “I am fucking tired of this.”

Laun dressed, the woman of the Peach team helping.  Laun did not do things as well as the concubines had done, but she was covered, and that was what mattered at that moment.  She did not ask leave of Ifahyd, she did not kiss or touch them before she left.  Laun mounted her charger and rode towards the yurlodge, plans to stop the cascade of assassins in her mind.

The guard was helped to his horse, another guard and a Peach team coming to the nobles in moments after they had been left alone.  The Royal Guard blinked at the nakedness of the men, but saluted and turned away, scanning the desert, and giving the men some privacy.

Ifahyd was thinking.  He looked at the man with him and brought his hand up to the slightly stubbly cheek.  “My Love, you are well?”

Edgar nodded and heard by the tone Ifahyd was not.  He leaned in and dryly kissed the King on the cheek.  He looked into the blue eyes and smiled, saying, “What can I do for you?”

Ifahyd was shaken.  Not by the assassination attempt.  Not by the smell of blood that was now coming to them over the light fragrance of the desert flowers.  Not even by the knowledge that the assassins had gotten that close.  He was shaken by the way the Princess switched from Lover to Warrior, the leader of the Peaches living up to the reputation he had heard, and now knew first hand.

The Mistress Peach in the greyworld was known for her directness, and the way she gave chances to both her targets and the people who hired her.  Once that choice was made, she was ruthless, she and her Peaches carrying out assassinations and thefts and kidnappings with little trace of who had done it, other than the flowered mark left behind.  She was not of the Sword and Crow.  She was not of the Broken Locks or the Broken Keys.  She was not of the Rope and Chain.  She was known to be on the Clapperless Bell council, but not one of them.  She was Rogue, all her people trained in many disciplines.

He should have known before it had been pointed out to him who she was.  He had not heard of Mistress Peach when he had met her in the Midlands.  It was close to a year later that the rumor of a new Rogue Mistress was in the grey, notable enough to become something to discuss even in the Rosemond court.  His missives back and forth with her had been trying to entice her to visit, to stay with him.  He should have seen, with mentions of small trips and some adventures, that she had a very full life, and not just with the children.

The King of Rosemond looked over the desert blooming around them.  It was peaceful as it had been before the attempt.  That was deceptive for Ifahyd knew how deadly the desert could be, even without assassins.  He sighed and rubbed is eyes, trying to focus on the bright colored flowers but having a nagging feeling that he should be looking at things, people, his life in a different way.  Just as the sand seemed soft and covered the sharp rock and traps below, he had a life like that, people around him...

Ifahyd looked into the patient eyes of Edgar, appreciating the support of the man as he waited, the presence without pushing calming to Ifahyd.  Yes, he was in love with the man.  Not just a lover, Edgar separate from Laun was now part of Ifahyd’s heart, a Love that did not seem to ask for any more than the monarch could give.

“Have I shown you my aviary?”  Edgar shook his head and smiled.  “My falcons are a breeding pair and they are nesting right now.  Would you like to see?”

Edgar nodded and rumbled, “As you wish, your Majesty.”

It took them a while to find clothes and ride to the birds.

Onto Chapter 19 Where Laun meets a pretender to Blue Masters title