Back to the last chapter.
Laun thought of the last few days, and nights, as she went through the early morning of the keep of Salam-Dir. She had not slept in the chamber that held the recovering people for several nights. She had taken a nap in the sun the day before on Lady Hellon’s Hill after doing some preparations and had been awake most of the night on the top walkway on duty with a team of protectors. Laun had an energy that drew from the plans for the next few days, and the cascading lists of things that needed to be done that would not quit in her mind. She found she liked the air at the top of the keep, the pinpoints of light, and the thought of rolling something wet down the wall onto someone’s head. She finally gave up early in the morning and tagged off with a protector at the sleeping chamber door. She looked in and saw the patients were asleep, Lucaris looking haggard but awake in the chair.
Lucaris made a good motion three times and Laun backed out.
She went to the Great Hall and wrapped her cape around her. She was still bundled up, laying against the wall when Orgia tapped her toe inches from her head several hours later.
“Lady, missing something?”
Laun ran her tongue over her teeth and said, “A gargle?” She got up and followed Orgia into the kitchen. There was already tea and Laun held the mug between her hands to warm them. A fresh tunic was forced on the Lady and a piece of dried duck meat found it’s way into her hand.
Orgia was having a low level grumble until Laun said, “Orgia, is it possible to reappoint Lady Hellon’s room?” Orgia’s outlook was much different after that.
Dreng was in his full riding leathers that morning and was gathering his people to ride even before the morning meal. He made a show of trying to get Laun to come along with him and she tried to make a show of refusing him. He created chaos in his wake and was the focus she had hoped for as he left with his hunting escort.
The nobles made a ruckus and fuss about the day of the hunt that disturbed even the crows that were sleeping in the old orchard outside the walls as they passed by. The excuse was a sighting of a stag with reportedly sixteen points on his antlers. Dreng insisted that anyone who had any noble blood come with him, except for Neils, who stayed to play with the two children. Because they were noble, they needed attendants, which meant protector teams were pulled with the duty to escort and be bush-beaters for the men. With that many people up and gone early, there was barely any morning meeting.
When it came to morning announcements, Laun generally thanked everyone for being there, for being family. She asked that everyone take advantage of the sun because it looked like the next storm was just on the horizon. No one had anything pressing to bring up and people finished their food and left to their jobs for the day.
When Laun had seen Disa come into the Great Hall, she was both elated and concerned. Lucaris had a tired look on her face, but was smiling as she let her charge choose where to sit.
Disa was walking by herself and being grumpy at the attention she was getting from the kitchen staff every five minutes. Refilling her tea. Bringing another potcake. Checking to see if her quilt was enough, or perhaps too much. She took it, though, as she knew she really was not well enough to do for herself.
The Lady Salam-Dir had fun watching the swirl around the maid, reminding her of what had happened when she first ventured out of the sick room. And then telling Disa things that she had been holding in.
Laun sat next to her and as the flow of people around them changed, brought her up to current with what she had missed while being sick. Laun knew it was a bit much all at once, but she let it go. Disa was amazed with the amount of stuff that could happen in a few days, Laun understanding.
Disa finally begged tiredness and several of the staff escorted her back to the sleeping chamber. Laun watched her best friend and confidant get gingerly walked out of the room. A flash of Jeri, before the raid, gave Laun a melancholy flush, the need for someone like that to talk to making the potential loss of Disa to the sickness a small, hard bubble in amongst the other bubbles of doubt and sadness. She tried to shake it off, but it settled in with the rest as Laun had gone on with the day.
The sun was out again. It was good, but it concerned Laun that she had not seen Pillar, yet. She went out to the stable area and found that the smith was in process of not only making the hobbles she had asked for, but re-shoeing several of the remaining horses. Grace was not one of them so she led the palfrey out after saddling her and was about to mount when Ali put a shy hand on Laun’s hand.
“May... Can I ride with you?” Laun saw something in the eyes, the action that could not be denied.
Laun called over to the smith, asking, “Can I take Ali away from this for a while?” The smith waved with his hammer and kept pulling the old nails out of the hoof he was holding between his knees.
Ali held the reins of another horse and did not bother to put anything between her and the horse as she jumped up onto its back.
Laun used a step to mount the palfrey and they went out the courtyard gate. The outer courtyard was full of wheelbarrows full of waste from the privy. They were being taken out only a few at a time to make sure they did not slop out on their way. Laun and Ali had to wait for the shipment in front of them to clear the gate before the horses could get through.
They finally were out on the road. The mud had mostly dried, though there was a crust over some of the deeper puddles. The horses were allowed to pick their way through, Laun and Ali lightly talking along the way from protector post to defense. Nothing unusual was reported, though several of the teams were looking forward to the ‘quail hunt’ as the exercise was being called.
They reached the road that led to the new trading post and the rest of the world. Laun started towards the post, Ali kicking the horse under her to keep pace.
“We should put the horses in one of the farmer’s huts before we get there,” Ali said.
“Have you been out to the post?”
Ali nodded, saying, “There was a call for a horse person when the last batch of refugees arrived. I was able to get there and deal with their horses.”
“That is good. Is...is this the last farmer’s huts?”
They came up to the huts that Laun had been in when she had seen Dougal’s men go by. They dismounted and led the two horses into the middle hut. Laun was looking down the road when she felt Ali behind her. A strong arm was around her, a hand on her breast through her tunic. Ali’s mouth was on her neck, licking and biting.
Laun was not expecting this and her legs almost gave out from the rush of feelings through her. Her arm went up and she grabbed at the back of Ali’s head, catching some hair before Ali’s teeth grabbed her and felt like they were going to rip her shoulder off. Laun felt herself being dragged backwards into one of the huts by Ali.
They were in the shadow in the hut that looked up the road away from the keep. Ali’s hands held Laun to her, Laun’s breasts being grabbed through the fabric, the nipples hardening and getting played with by rough fingers. One hand went down and found a gap between Laun’s belly and the breeches, reaching farther down and finding fur. Laun tried to wiggle away from the probing hand but Ali held firm and found Laun’s button. Laun tried very hard to not let her legs collapse out from under her, but she failed as Ali moved and was able to slide several fingers between her lower lips.
Laun was on her knees, Ali behind her still with arms around and holding, playing with her. There was part of Laun’s brain that was screaming at her that it was not safe to be caught out there like that, but another part of her was reveling in the danger, the sensations, being able to let someone else be in control.
The fingers came out of the breeches and were stuck into Laun’s mouth. She had tasted herself before, but usually with the taste of one of her lovers mixed in. Her own taste and smell was different and made her want more.
The fingers were gone from her mouth and she felt a hand behind her, fumbling with something. She went to turn, but she found that both of her arms were suddenly above her head, a thong expertly tying them together. Then she was on her back, her hands being tied to one of the posts in the hut.
“What-!” Laun was not able to continue as Ali’s mouth was on hers, probing with her tongue, pressing hard and not letting Laun breathe anything but an exchanged breath. Ali pulled on Laun’s breeches until they were down enough to get to her crotch and hobbling her with the fabric, then the tunic was up and exposing her breasts.
The stablehand went for Laun’s nipples, sucking and biting and licking. Laun wanted to cry out but as soon as she had a breath, Ali’s mouth would be on hers again and the probing tongue would be there to silence her. This happened several times until Laun just turned her head to the side and tried to keep Ali from kissing her. She pulled her arms against the restraint and pressed her face into her bicep. She could feel the thong bite into the skin of her wrists as it tightened every time she tried to move her arms.
Ali changed her own tactics and had a hand in Laun’s crotch. Laun could not help the gasp that came out, and closed her eyes as the thrill and sensations went through her. She felt her breeches pulled down further and tried to hold her legs together. Ali was not deterred and held Laun’s legs up and against her stomach. It made it hard to breathe, but she somehow was able to take in a gasp as the stablehands’ mouth found her lower lips.
Mouth and fingers probed and licked and manipulated and made Laun wiggle and arch and moan on the dirt floor of the farmer’s hut. She felt rushing in her ears, heard herself get loud as a wave of sensation washed over her, bringing her closer to a peak, but not quite there.
Ali let Laun’s legs down and she was able to breathe deeply for a moment. The short respite was enough for her to relax a little. Her arms fell to the side, her hands numb. She opened her eyes and looked at Ali out of the corner of her eye.
Ali had taken her tunic off and was backlit by the autumn sun. There was nothing feminine in that silhouette. The shoulders were broad, the neck wider than she remembered. The chest was heaving and Laun could hear Ali’s panting in the hut. Ali moved to next to Laun and laid down, her arm going next to Laun’s pinned ones. Laun could see the shape of Ali’s face and part of her cheek, but it was too dark to actually see her.
A gentler hand was on her. The strokes light down her skin gave her shivers, nipples were touched with tongue-wetted fingertips, Ali’s breath blowing cooly over them. Those fingertips went down her chest, down her stomach and thru her fur.
She felt how wet she was. She was slick and Ali was using that to go faster and faster over Laun’s sensitive spots. Laun had to close her eyes as the intensity grew.
Ali put her face next to Laun’s ear and started to make small sounds. Little gasps and then a growl. Breathy sounds... Ali was giving her back the sounds that she was making. The cycle was wonderful and she heard the way she sounded to Ali, pushing the sensations further in, heightening what she was feeling.
And then a gasp and her back started to arch and she heard the echoed, “Yesssss!!!” in her ear. She peaked and could not stop what her body was doing, not that she would want to. But the pleasure had a flash of fear as she saw a shadow at the entrance of the hut. Her body was taken over by a different part of Laun’s mind.
She kicked out and managed to move across the floor of the hut away from the doorway, and away from Ali. She felt something pop in her arm when she could not go any where else, but she was still moving. The fear she had in her, being restrained while in danger, not being in control and the pain she suddenly was in mixed with the energy of the orgasm. She became a wild, raving beast, screaming that there was someone there after her.
Ali had to grab Laun and almost lay on top of her to hold her still. Her voice had the quality that she used when trying to calm a horse that was bolting around the courtyard. “Lady... it is just your palfrey... You are safe... Come back to me, my Lady... It is just Grace... You are safe... Nothing is after you... no one is here to hurt you... you are safe... Laun... you are safe...”
Grace had other notions. There was not enough room for her to get into the hut, but she was pacing back and forth in front, rearing and using her hooves to pound on the hut’s walls. She tried to get in and bite at Ali, always just out of reach. Grace snorted and made loud challenging sounds that Ali had not heard from the horse before.
The thong was cut and off of Laun’s wrists, a bloody mark left to show the damage. Laun’s right arm did not move correctly and Ali knew she had to deal with the dislocation right then or else it would get worse. She knelt on Laun’s chest and pulled the arm out and back in, the pain overwhelming Laun and making her faint.
When Laun stopped moving and screaming, Grace stopped for a moment in her attacking of the hut, but when she saw that Laun was not moving at all, she tried to get into the hut again, going after Ali with hooves and bared teeth. Ali had to move out of the way more than once. Ali finally put Laun’s hand up and Grace went to bite it, but then smelled who it was. She mouthed the fingers and snorted. Grace swung her head sideways and almost got Ali with her teeth and backed out of the hut.
The tunic was easier to pull down than the breeches were to pull up. Ali was able to do both and was holding Laun in her lap, rocking her back and forth, telling her that she was safe and no one was after her and she was loved - anything that came to mind. Ali was scared, but tried not to let it come through as she tried to talk Laun awake by force of will.
A sob came from Laun. She was not in the terrible place she had gone, but she was very close to dipping back in there again. She had seen the shadow, felt the sudden pain that washed over her with the sexual peak. It changed into being cornered, being attacked, being raped. She struggled to get away, and saw Ali as one of the attackers. When she went under from the shoulder being put back in, she dropped into a landscape where she was being chased and there was no where to escape to, no place to defend herself from. Hands pulled at her, faces of people who she knew were not there, could not be there. She was running, falling, sliding.
And she heard Ali’s voice. It was just a background noise, a hiss, at first, but it made it’s way through. It brought her up through the layers of nightmare until she heard crying and felt the pain throbbing in her hands and shoulder.
Grace stopped pacing and went down on her knees, blocking the doorway and getting her head as far into the hut as possible. Her nose bumped Launs’ leg and Laun dropped her hand onto the bay’s nose. Grace nibbled at the hand and snorted.
Ali kept talking. “See? It was just Grace. She didn’t know what we were doing and wanted to come see. She wants to make sure you are well. Please come back to me, my Lady. You are safe. Please come back to me...”
Laun was still sobbing as she looked up into Ali’s face. She saw the concern, the worry. No tears from her stablehand, but the eyes that looked down at her were red.
She felt things bubbling out that she had not admitted were there before, but she could not voice them other than in the sobbing she could not stop. The doubt, the fear. That was the feeling, but there was more. Always having the ghosts of the household that went before right behind her closed eyes. Always feeling like she had to run, was being chased, but never knowing from what or whom. It all had forced together in that one horrible moment and had been fueled by the one pure thing she had been able to have. Now, even the wonderful gift she had been freely given of her bodies’ womanhood was tainted.
Ali’s arms were around Laun, holding her to Ali’s chest. She stopped rocking, but was still talking. A taint of fear had started to creep into the tone of her voice, an edge of hysteria as she thought she had damaged her Lady more than Ali could pull her back from.
“You are loved. I love you. You are precious to so many people. I cannot loose you now that I have you. Please forgive me!” The first tear fell from Ali’s eye and hit Laun’s cheek.
Laun weakly reached up with her numb hand and tried to stroke Ali’s cheek. The side of the hand touched and slid down, not responding to what Laun wanted to do. She saw the blood and started to cry.
“No! You are safe. Please!”
Through the tears, Laun stammered out, “I- I don’t w-want to hurt any m-more...” Laun felt tears come out that she had been holding back for weeks, not just tears created from the pain she was in. She put her arm over Ali’s shoulder and just let everything out.
Ali’s hand was holding Laun’s head to her, her own head bowed and in her Lady’s hair. She was letting her own tears out, Laun’s hair taking them in.
They were like that for quite some time until they were both emotionally spent. Ali pulled away first and ran her hand down Laun’s face, wiping some of the tears away. Laun could feel the pain of bloodflow in her hands, the tingle and overly warm sensations. She lifted her arm from Ali’s shoulder and was able to wiggle her fingers as she looked at them. A few brushed Ali’s ear and the stablehand had a brief odd look on her face.
“Lady... Are you better?”
“I don’t... I don’t know. But I am here. And I am with you.” Laun turned her face up towards Ali’s and pressed the back of her hand to the back of her stablehands head. They kissed, a tentative, tender kiss.
“You were-I was so scared that-If you hadn’t come back...” Ali had a tear rolling down her cheek.
Laun tried to smile. “I am damaged. I will be for the rest of my life. You have just seen the...inside scars. Most people have just seen the outer ones.” Laun felt her self relax somewhere inside. “I hope that hasn’t scared you from me.”
Ali shook her head. “As you will-” Laun tried to stop the oath with a kiss, but this time, Ali used her strength and pulled her mouth away just enough, “I will do.” The kiss was still tender, but there was a passion restrained behind it.
Ali let Laun dictate how long they kissed and pulled back when she felt a slight tug away. “Ali... I think there is a stone in my breeches.” Ali smiled, a chortle deep in her chest that bounced Laun slightly.
It took a few minutes to get up from the dirt in the hut. Laun’s right arm would not support any weight and Grace kept butting her nose out to have sniffs and nibbles of Laun. The stone that had made it’s self known was indeed inside Laun’s breeches. Ali gently pulled the breeches down and found the object, and brushed a bunch of dirt off Launs butt. Ali’s fingers went through Laun’s hair to get some straw and leaves out. The action was thoughtful, but Laun pulled away unintentionally at first as the sensations were nice, but suddenly turned bad. Laun let the fingers back through her hair when she turned to Ali and looked into her face as the stablehand finger-combed it.
“You seem presentable... Do you still want to go to the trading post?”
Laun thought briefly. She shook her head once and said, “That will have to be for another time. I am tired, and though I don’t want to, I need to get the shoulder looked at.” She flexed her hands. “At least my hands are better.”
Ali looked stricken and started to say, “I am so sorry! I wanted to try some…”
Laun put her left hand up to Ali’s mouth. “Thank you for the experience. It is sad what my mind turned it, but you had good intentions. Randy intentions, but good intentions.”
Grace was up and outside the hut. Laun clicked and lowered her hand and Grace went down on her knees again. Laun mounted and pressed her feet in after locking her legs around the knobs in the saddle. Laun rubbed the horses’ neck as Ali went for the other horse.
“She pulled the lead out of the harness.” Ali was holding out the strap that had been left behind in the hut with the other horse.
“The tack needs work. I haven’t-”
“My job, Lady. You do not have to do everything.” Ali jumped up onto her horse and they turned to go back to the Keep.
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