the Leathermines

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Many of the wardsman had lessons in the ways of women’s bodies over the next few days.  Laun was not the first woman in the household to start her bleed that month, but she was far from the last.

The combined protector teams found that they were hobbled by some of the requirements that the women were going through.  Many of the teams became closer, some were disbursed and others formed.  Bleed rags were washed and dried and used again to the point where many of the men just became immune to their shock and embarrassment from before.  Orgia started to worry that the amount of oil being used to help sooth the cramps of the women was going to deplete the supply before the onset of winter.  

Most of the men had very soft hands at the end of that week.

Orgia did have a point.  The traveling merchants that would stop in on a fairly set schedule had not been to the Salam-Dir keep.  Very few travelers passed by on the outmost road bordering the lands, all left to continue, never knowing that the protectors had seen them.  When a small wagon did come up the road leading to the keep, they almost turned around when they found the oak tree blocking the way.

The startled reaction of the man leading the old horse as two people came out of the underbrush almost made the horse bolt.  That is, if it hadn’t been older than most of the people living in the keep.  The woodland heather capes around the guards had blended so well that it was only after one had spoken that they could be seen.

“Good sir!” the merchant gasped.  “I am glad to know there are people here, but!”

The young girl in the wagon peeked over the trunk between her and the people on the road.  Her blonde hair was braided with colorful string and a brightly embroidered dress a size too big for her billowed around her.  The woman of the team smiled down at the child and saw the eyes smile back.

“May I ask your business here?”  Ben did not approach, but he did pull back his cape to show the sword on his belt.

The merchant nodded, taking a flat cap off his unruly red hair and, while holding onto the horse’s bridle, made a bow.  “I am here to see if I can sell my wares to the Master and Mistress of the house.  I was directed here by the Innkeepers Marie and Markle.”

The oak tree looked like it had been mired in the thunderstorm mud.  The carpenters and outdoors people of the household had come together and rigged it up so that there were smaller logs under it to move it out of the way and planks to go over the pit the logs rolled in.  The log took five or six people to move, but it was easier than trying to go around, or carry everything from the cart.  And the protection was needed.

Geralk made the man do some call and response codes to confirm that he was indeed sent from the Innkeepers.  Dreng was not too sure about having openly greyworlders coming into the keep, but he was a merchant who bowed to the King when he saw him without prompting.  The merchant did seem surprised to see the Master of the Kingdom within the walls of Salam-Dir.  This was taken well by his Majesty as the others he had split from had known where he was headed.  The merchant asked to talk and he was escorted to a set of benches around one of the big fires in the Great Hall.

The merchant was also surprised when the King would turn to a young woman seated next to him and await her word, nod or smile before continuing with the conversation.  She was quiet, subdued and dressed in a plain, if slightly short, tunic while seated next to the King who was in full riding leathers and bordering on gregarious.  The man standing behind her was not being intimidating, but seemed to be awaiting the woman’s next gesture.  A woman that must have been a hand maid sat on the other side of the woman on the bench, faced away from the merchant, seemingly embroidering, but would lean over and give one or two word comments to the young woman as the conversation went along, sometimes causing a smile or chortle.

“So, the Capitol City is truly under my son’s control.”  Dreng stood and paced in front of the fire.  “The port of Hamlis?”

The merchant made a partially negative, partially neutral motion with his hand.  “The nobles that were left are squabbling over who is in charge, but the piermaster is still taking coin and goods are still being shipped, if more in than out right now.”

“Does there seem to be a rallying point for Falmir’s men?”

The merchant shook his head.  “He lost many of the greyworlders, Sire, when there was more resistance at the Festival than expected.  And for some reason, many of the households he had tried to put his own people in charge of did not all roll over as he had planned.”

Dreng shot a look to the young woman that made them both smile.  The merchant saw the similarities in the way the eyes wrinkled and the, unfortunate for her, nose between the two of them.  The merchant continued, and Laun heard the lead in the question as Geralk had taught her to do herself.  “I am just Gyrip the Red, traveling merchant of oddities, Sire.  As I have given information to you and your daughter of things I have seen, may I ask that I show her some trinkets that may be pleasing to such a charming young lady?”

Laun spoke directly to the merchant, saying, “Thank you sir, for the information.  For it, I will be pleased to offer you and your daughter hospitality for the night.”  She saw a twitch she hoped she interpreted correctly.  “As for trinkets, I am a simple girl. But if there are things that my people may wish, I will be happy to have Geralk negotiate with you.”  Laun stood and held her hand out to the merchant who stood and bowed over it.  “And,” she continued, “you know very well that our Majesty had just one daughter, and she has been dead for years.”

Gyrip paused over her hand and stood, slightly red under his deep tan and seeing a glint in Laun’s eye, bowed his head.  “I did not intend to offend.”

The merchant was taken aback when the Lady’s hand went to his chin and lifted it.  “No offense was taken, as I have been taught that one slip is just that.”  Laun’s hand went down to her belt, resting on a blade at her hip he had not seen before.  She was still talking gently, calmly, but it was as terrifying as the merchant had ever heard.  “Be aware that too many slips and they turn into slits.”

Gyrip stopped his hand before it held his throat.  “I understand, Lady.”

She smiled.  “Now, what did you bring with you?”

Skittish would be a good word for how the merchant acted for the rest of the evening.  He had the little girl with him help him lay out items from the trunks and boxes he had over the Great Hall tables, her pale little fingers having problems with the larger items.  Most were baubles made to catch a young woman’s eye, or the man who she wore it for.  He did have a few things that Pillar had an eye for, and a few things Orgia asked about.  As trades and bartering and a few coins passed between them, Geralk and Pillar ganged up on the poor merchant until the prices were unreasonably low.  Gyrip complained bitterly, but with a smile on his face, as he accepted the coin and barter items for the things they had bought.

As a show of fellowship, Geralk finished the negotiations with, “For being such a good sport, I shall buy you an ale!”

Orgia was behind him and pinched his ear, making him squeal.  “You haven’t paid for anything on your plate since you got here, scoundrel!”

“Unhand me, woman!  Can’t you see this is men’s talk!”  Geralk had made the mistake of saying it while Orgia still had his ear in her fingers.  She twisted and he went to one knee, begging for mercy.  She smiled, and lightly slapped him across the face.

The playfulness between the two gave away one of the household secrets.

There were plenty more secrets within the household.  It was just wonderful fodder for the household as the relationship between the two was uncovered.  They were both teased unmercifully that night as the food was being served.  Orgia was even pulled out of the kitchens and forced to sit at a table next to Geralk to sup.  She hardly ever sat with the household.  It was a good distraction for the people of Salam-Dir.

The merchant did not push away the food, though he was cautious with it.  The girl on the other hand, was obviously famished and ate just about everything that was handed to her.  She had started seated next to Gyrip, but when she finished the bowl set in front of her, she went to find the person who had given it to her.  A wardsman saw her and found she was still hungry.  They gave her a bite from their own bowl and she made her way through much of the household being given bites from bowls and trenchers along the way.  She wound up on the noble Niles’ lap being told stories of far off adventures, a loving cup grasped between her hands filled with milk straight from the Guernsey in the paddock.

He had finally found his role in the household.  The man who almost cut his own hand off and was banned from the kitchens had the child, and then many of the younger people, enraptured with his fantasy tales as they sat by one of the fires.  He would talk with anyone who came close, but now he let loose and kept the younger people entertained.  He tried to not think of his grandchildren as he had the child cuddled on his lap.

Laun looked down the table at Gyrip.  He was being slightly jumpy and glancing over at the child too often.  He fingered something under the bright colored vest between bites.  There were a few minutes of looking from the nervous merchant to the child and back again.  Laun got up and went to the merchant, touching shoulders of her people as she went.  When she came to Gyrip’s back, she put hands on both of his shoulders and leaned down to his ear.  He had jumped at her touch but was still as she said, “If you want her to stay here, we will welcome her.”

He stammered, “L-Lady?”  His hands clasped and unclasped on the eating utensils.

“At least I look like Dreng.  What do you have hidden there?”  She tapped on the shoulder above where he had been fondling.

His shoulders came in and his neck shrank.  One of his hands went to inside his colorful vest and pulled out a small pouch tied with a grey cord.  A small broken lock was tied to one end of the cord.  He held it up for Laun and she took it.

“Geralk!  Up!”  Laun tossed the bag to the man and he ripped the bag open, revealing a signet ring and a coded message from Marie.  Geralk read the message and his face dropped.

The merchant under Laun’s hand was cringing.  He saw all the faces towards him at the table.  Under his eyebrows, he looked around him and saw hatred, calmness, alertness, disinterest.  And several hands on blades, all waiting.  They were all waiting.

“Marie sent her to us through Gyrip.  She is the last of the Killar family from the-”

“Capitol City.”  Dreng had his hand over his eyes and was bent over the table.

Laun put her hand back on the merchants’ shoulder.  She did not say anything.  She stood and looked at the child who was playing with a buckle on Niles’ jerkin.  She could not have been more than four years old.  

Geralk passed the ring down until it came to Dreng.  “Her name is Emmy, according to the letter.”

Laun could not wait the merchant out.  “She is staying here.”  Laun tightened her grip on the man’s shoulders.  “You are gone in the morning.”    She moved her hands closer to his neck and leaned very close to his ear to say, “With your head, or without it is up to you.”

Laun did not see the terror in the man’s face.  She did not see him swallow with a dry throat.  She did not see him close his eyes tightly.  She did feel a twitch in his neck as he tried to withdraw into himself.

Edgar, close enough to Gyrip to feel his fear, said in his deepest voice, “Shall I find the rope, My Lady?”

“Aaya!”  The merchant’s hands flew up and he suddenly could not stop talking.  “Do you not see how she is?  I could have sold her for five times what the crap in my cart is worth!  And the ring alone is worth passage to the far continent!  How was I to know that you actually were here?  Marie found me in the Oak and Bale and knew I was getting out of the Capitol City as fast as I could.  I have no love for Falmir and he was already hunting me before he took over!  I promised I would bring her here, but no one had seen anyone from Salam-Dir for a month and as I passed the black marked huts, I figured I would come and see what I could take from the castle.  You are all supposed to be dead!  No one from Salam-Dir survived!”  Edgar snorted.

The merchant turned on the bench and grabbed Laun’s arms, a beseeching look on his face.  “Please, My Lady!  Don’t kill me!  I didn’t know who she was!  I don’t know who you are!  Please!  Nooooo!”  He started to claw at Laun, wailing and thrashing, though no one had taken a step towards him.

Laun pulled away from the hysterical man as far as she could in the crowd of benches and people.  Gyrip lunged for her, still wailing for his life.  Wardsmen around him grabbed him, pinning him down.  Edgar took off his belt and had it wrapped around the merchant’s arms before he looked up at Laun and said, “With your permission...?”

Laun’s facade cracked and her wide eyes showed her own panic.  “Yes.  Anything.”  Five men wrestled Gyrip from the tables and out the Great Hall door, Geralk following with a cold look on his face.

 

Chapter 24   The traveling merchant is dealt with, to the surprise of many in the household