the Leathermines

Back to Chapter 28

 

They had only been on the road for an hour on this stretch and Laun was signaling that she needed to stop again.  The carriage was tossing her from side to side and her back was spasming.

It was not just the carriage that had to stop.  There was the cart with her few things and some of the Palace servants.  There were the military officers on horseback.  There was the company keeping pace behind.  Not just Laun.

It was late afternoon and they had stopped four times already.  They had left from the Rosemond Embassy estate directly into the flow of early morning street traffic.  The Capitol City did not rest for long in the night and even at dawn, there were merchants and townsfolk about.  It had been slow going in the city and Laun had asked for their first stop just a few minutes from the outer gate.  They had met the military escort while Laun paced within sight of the King’s City gate, a curt greeting before the carriage had lurched forward again. 

She tried to ride and grit her teeth in the carriage.  She asked if she could ride in the wagon.  She laid in the footwell of the carriage.  Nothing seemed to keep her back from hurting.

This time, they were by a small stream and Laun was trying to pace and stretch to get some relief.  Her feet and legs were fighting her, too.  Her ankles were swollen to the point where she was not sure where her calf really started.  Even with both Gem and Hazalam massaging her, the feet she had did not look like her own.

The officers that were sent with her were not the ones that she had seduced.  She could not just bat her eyelashes and have them slow the speed of the travel or just find an Inn to hunker down in for a while.  They let her rest for only a little and then pushed on.  She did not want to pull the pregnancy stick out too often, but it really did apply right then.  The baby had been pounding on her innards during the trip making her even more miserable.

Then he showed up.  Bregnan, on a horse with Falmir’s colors on the barding trotted up and talked with the superior officer.  Bregnan dismounted and went straight to Laun.

“I was sent to make sure you were well on your trip, Lady.”

Laun did not believe him, but said, loudly, “Thank you for your concern, wiseman.  It is good to know that one with your skills has been sent on your King’s behalf.”

Laun saw a little twitch and he bowed not too gracefully.  Laun saw that he had been riding hard to catch up.  His legs seemed a little bowlegged and he kept moving to get blood flow.

“You are having problems, Lady?”  She caught the look if not the tone.  He was trying to not show that he was glad she was having problems.

Laun was not going to lie.  It was obvious what she was going through.  “Yes.  The travel is being hard, and the baby weighs me down.”

“I have an elixir-”

“You come near me with anything and I will not hesitate to rip your balls off.”

Laun saw one of the officers turn away, his hand over his mouth.  Bregnan did the shrug thing with his hands out, palms open towards her.  “I am here to help, Lady.”

“I am sure you are.”  Laun stood with the help of her two assassins and walked past the wiseman.  “I am ready for the next part of the trip, Captain Leon.”

“Mount up!”

She had not wanted to move from the stream, but Bregnan forced the issue, stacking Sticks that were easily pushed in his favor.  Laun was in tears within minutes of the carriage lurching forward.  She had pulled the curtains over the window so that Bregnan could not see in.  It became hot and sweaty in the cabin.  Laun bit down on the leather of Hazalam’s belt when she could not keep herself from moaning at every jostle.

The sun was still in the sky but headed for it’s nightly bed behind the horizon when they stopped for the night.   The clouds were grey and reaching for the ground, hardly a sunset color on them.  They were at a small farmstead that at one point had a thriving household.  The frightened few people who stood in the door of the main building watched as the soldiers started to just sit where they were, their packs dropping to the ground but not to make camp.  One of the officers went to the farmers and tossed them a few coins before signaling for Laun and her servants to move into that building.

It was a low, open structure dug into the ground.  It could have housed over fifty people.  It looked like less than ten were living there.  Including several children.

One of the women saw that Laun was struggling to walk.  She dropped the toddler from her arms and helped to guide Laun to her own bed in one of the dug alcoves along the wall.

Servants from the Palace looked around and did not know what to do.  It was rougher than they had ever had to work with before.  It looked like they were just going to wander around poking at things.  Laun was tired and cranky and did not want to put up with it.

From the bed in the darkened longhouse, Laun found her command voice.  She pointed at the closest blue and grey servant and said, “You.  Ask three of the soldiers to help you find firewood for both in here and for the camp outside.  Good man,” pointing at the farmer, “Show them where the closest windfall is.”  The farmer moved before the servant did.

“You,” Laun pointed at the next servant.  “I saw a stream less than ten minutes back.  Ask the officers who in the company knows how to fish and take them there.”

“You.  Water from...”

All the Palace servants were out the door of the longhouse within minutes.  Many were angry, but they tried to do what they could at her direction.  The farmer wife was smiling as she saw the directions take the invaders out of her home, even for a moment.

“Lady, is there anything I can do for you?”

Laun shook her head.  “This bed and the fire are hospitality enough, good wife.  I hope that my escort does not take the little you have been able to provide for yourselves.”  Laun turned to Gem and quietly said, “Go and find one of the gifted perfumes.”

Gem started to leave and Captain Leon pushed his way into the longhouse.  He saw Laun laying on the rough bed and strode to her, the unpleasant look on his face made worse from the flickering light of the small fire.

“What do you mean by ordering my men about?”  He stood with one hand on his ebony handled sword and the other hand pointing at her with his riding gloves.

Laun took a breath and did not say the first thing that came to mind.  Her voice was soft and calm and she tried to have an open face as she said, “Captain.  These poor folk have very little and I know that the rations your men brought with them did not include meat.  If you kill the cow they have, there would be nothing for them.”

“I paid them.”  His hand went to his pouch and Laun heard the sound of many more coins rubbing together.

Laun pushed herself up off the bed.  She was not quite as tall as the Captain, but far deadlier.  “Crown plate does nothing to feed you if your milk cow is gone.  You have a hundred men to feed tonight and one cow cannot be slaughtered, butchered and cooked in the time you have.”  She put her arms on her hips to try to support her back.

He had a sour look on his face.  “Lady, I did not want this assignment.  I took it because somehow you turned some of our best officers.”  He looked down at her belly and said, “How a cow like you could think she could command-”

Launs voice did not rise in volume, but the edge she had in it was unsheathed and pointed at him.  “Captain Leon.  Do not go down that trail.”

“I do not take orders from you.”  It was a statement, but his posture had changed slightly.  Laun saw a chink and sliced into it.

“You, Captain, were put in charge of my escort.  By my Father.  As the superior officer of this company, you have the responsibility to keep your men as well as myself safe.”  He leaned back slightly and Laun stepped forward.  “I don’t care who bought your commission.  I don’t care who’s wife you slept with.  I do care that your men have an officer who is going to leave them in the rain tonight without enough shelter or fire.”

“Wha-?”  His eyes narrowed as he took a half step back.

Laun pressed her advantage and stepped forward.  “You city born half nobles have no concept of field duty.  I don’t care if you draw lots for them, but half of your men are going to have to shelter in here for the night and the rest in the harvest house and animal shelter.  You did not bring tents.  You did not bring a cook cart.  Your men do not have what they need and it is because of,” Laun pointed at his chest, “YOU!”

“Lady, you have no idea what you are-”

Her voice raised and she was certain that the men outside the longhouse could hear her clearly.  “I am the Lady of a household that your King cannot touch.  I led them until I was kidnapped and even without me, they hold more than their own.”  She stepped forward, her belly bumping him back almost into the firepit.  “If you want to finish your assignment without any more incident, you will follow my orders, Captain.  Your men will be fed.  Your men will be sheltered.  And you. Will. Not. Touch. Their. Cow.”

His ego would not let her call him out like that.  He stood his ground.  “No amount of words from you will make you anything but the peasant cow you are.”  His hand started to move towards her, to push her back.  To strike her so that she knew her place.

Laun saw it coming.  She could not dodge it.  Her arm came up and deflected most of the power behind his blow, but she still was pushed back and into the farmer wife.  She was still within his arm’s reach.  That meant he was within hers.

She dropped to one knee as his next blow came for her tender jaw.  He missed.  She didn’t.  Her knuckle went for a spot in his groin that brought him down onto the hard packed earthen floor.  She had not aimed for his manhood.  That would have been too easy.  She knew of spots just at the top of the thigh that worked as well, even through the heavy breeches he wore.

He clutched his groin and rolled over his own sword as the pain overwhelmed him.  Laun painfully stood and then sat on the alcove bed.  She was breathing hard and her back was not going to release it’s cramp any time soon.

Laun looked and saw several of the other officers gathered at the doorway of the longhouse.  And Bregnan.  She closed her eyes and breathed slowly until she knew her voice would be steady.

“Lieutenant Ostern, please take the Captain out for some fresh air.  Sergeant Gres, since Captain Leon is not in a mind to lead the men right now, would you please pick about fifty men to bunk in here tonight.  The rain may not be hard, but getting wet is bad when on the road.”

The lower ranked officers looked at each other and made small salutes to Laun before following her commands.  Laun directed the servants and officers from the bed as her back slowly unwound.  It took about twenty minutes, but she could hear Captain Leon swearing outside in a few bursts after he regained his feet.

The people of the farm tried to not look at the soldiers as they helped bring wood and supplies into the longhouse.  Laun motioned for the farmer wife and handed her the little fabric covered box Gem had brought to her.

“It is not much, but it is what I have.  I hope that you can wear it.”

The farmer wife smiled broadly, showing a gap in her teeth, as she opened the little box and found a ceramic pot of a flowery perfumed ointment inside.  “Thank you, Lady!”  She made a curtsey and looked around for a place to hide it.

Laun laid back down on the rough bed and put her legs up.  She was in pain, but she had ways of dealing with it.  Not well, but she was dealing with it.  She breathed and closed her eyes.  She listened to the people around her as the soldiers started to come in and find places along the cold firepit in the longhouse.  She could hear the wind outside starting to pick up, a low sound coming through cracks in the walls of the longhouse.  Then she could hear an angry footstep with just a little limp to it.  It stopped and seemed to be waiting.

She did not have to open her eyes.  “Yes, Captain?”

She heard a small shuffle of his feet and he said, “It looks like it will be raining within the hour, Lady.”  He paused and Laun waited.  “What do you suggest, Lady?”

She heard his flat tone, the almost emotionless way he talked.  She opened her eyes and saw that his face still had a sour look on it.  “Thank you, Captain.”

He looked confused.  “For what?”

“Not fighting any harder against me.  I know you are doing what you are ordered, but it is in how orders are carried out that a true leader shows his merit.”  She smiled and saw he was even more confused.

He made a slight bow.  “Lady.”

“Captain Leon, I hear the men were able to catch quite a few fish, and brought back some greens, too.  If you ask our host, I am sure the firepit here can be used quite well for cooking the fish for your men.”  Laun motioned to the farmer and the farmer wife.

There was very little negotiation needed and the firepit in the longhouse was blazing within a few minutes to make cooking coals.  The smoke was thick as the wood caught and smoldered before true flames showed.  The wind that came through the rafters cleared it away, but there was still the smoke oder on everything.  Laun could not stand the thought of fish once it was brought into the building, the smell worse than most of the perfumes and bath oils she had banned from her room in the Palace.

The night was wet, but it was warm and companionable within the longhouse.  Some of the soldiers had flasks and bottles with them and after the small amount of food was passed, a measured round of drinks was shared.  Several of the soldiers tried to hand Laun their flasks.  She would accept it, smell it and then hand it back, a smile on her face.

Laun stuck with the slightly muddy water she was given and some rolls that had been packed by Ithian’s servants.  She shared the bread with the farmers who talked to her under their breaths about how the men who followed Falmir usually took everything they could.  They thanked her for her kindness and tried to give her some of their meagre belongings.

She thanked them, but refused.  They needed everything they had more than Laun could accept any as gifts.

The wind was calming down, only a few leaks in the roof had found the soldiers heads.  The fire was being banked by those who had been called to sentry duty.  Most of the people in the longhouse were trying to fall asleep, some already snoring.  Laun was still on the bed, floating above true sleep.  She felt a few insect riders biting her in places, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle with just a pinch through the tunic.  Gem was behind her in the alcove bed under the blanket.

There was a slightly cold drop on Laun’s face, just above her lips.  She grumbled, went to wipe it away and she smelled something off.  The cold turned painful on her skin and she opened her eyes.

She screamed.  Bregnan was pushed back not just from the sudden noise, but from Hazalam standing from his rough bed on the floor.

Captain Leon was in the next alcove and was on his feet, stepping on one of his corporals to face the commotion.   He looked at the men standing and faced the servant.  “What are you doing?”

Bregnan’s hand was covered with the poison he had been trying to carefully drip into Laun’s mouth.  He had pulled back, his hand cracking the glass phial from the jerk.  He stepped back more, but was caught on yet another body coming awake.  He started to rub the hand on his tunic to try to get it off of him as he looked at the soldiers waking around him.

Laun was trying to scrape off whatever it was that was on her, the acid burning her wherever she touched.  “He tried to kill me!”

The wiseman tried to run.  The soldiers at the door stopped him, holding his arms to his sides.  “She will ruin everything!  The King cannot have an heir!”

He twisted out of the soldier’s hands and stumbled towards Laun, his hands reaching for her neck.  Hazalam reached up and took Bregnan’s head and neck in his hands, turning and making a sound that sickly echoed through the longhouse.

The body fell to the floor, an arm going into the fire until it was dragged out, the smell of burning hair and linen hanging in the thick air.  The Captain looked at the dead man and reached behind him for his sword.

“Run.  Your mission is not over.”

Hazalam jumped over the firepit and evaded the soldiers.  He was out and into the wet night.

The Captain glared at Laun.  “He will not be able to get far.  Killing the King’s wiseman... Lady?  Lady?”

Laun did not want to, but she was feeling faint.  There was a nausea that was washing through her and she barely had time to roll to the edge of the bed before what she had eaten was on the floor.

Gem’s assassins training kicked in.  “That’s a fast acting poison.  Only a little went into her mouth, but she needs to get washed and we need some charcoal to get into her.”

The blonde pushed past her mistress and took charge.  Laun’s mouth and face were flushed with water.  Clear or muddy, it didn’t matter.  A slurry was made of some of the char and dirt from the firepit and was forced into Laun’s mouth.  She swallowed and coughed and felt lightheaded.

“Get that out of here.”  The body was dragged out on the Captains’ order.  Laun could focus a little and saw that the Captain was furious.

Her face felt like it was on fire.  It started at her lips and spread to her ears and down her neck.  It felt better while the water was being splashed on her, but would start up again when it dried.

At least he was now dead.  And it was done in front of witnesses who should say about the same thing.  Laun hoped they all would tell the truth.  Two of the men she had marked for death were dead.  Falmir, his status had changed as she had grown to know him and his situation.  He still had to suffer.

Laun spread some green goo on her face handed to her by the farmer wife.  It made some of the pain go down and Laun was sure that she looked like she had contracted green rabies.

The Captain was outside.  Laun could hear him pacing in the light drizzle, swearing.  He would step in the same puddle and curse and then turn and step in it again.  Laun wished she could see him, but imagined he was just about as miserable as he was.

The pain was tolerable and Laun was now very worried about the baby.  She couldn’t feel any movement.  She put her hand on her belly and felt.  She tapped on her skin, but there wasn’t a response.

Her internal pain was now turning into panic.  She looked at Gem and tears were welling in her eyes, blurring all that she saw.  The hands of the assassin went to her Mistress’ stomach and the farmer wife also pressed in.  The farmer wife put her head close to Laun’s belly.  Her hands went under the linen skirt and pulled it up, exposing her.

Several of the soldiers turned and were suddenly interested in the firepit or something in their packs.  The Captain came in and was about to yell something when he saw the dread that was on Laun’s face, along with the green stuff.  He did not turn, but he stayed near the stepped doorway of the longhouse.

Gem saw the smile of the farmer wife and put her own ear to Laun’s belly.  They moved hands around and Laun was feeling left out of something.  She wasn’t quite sure what.

The farmer wife looked up at Laun and said, “They are doing well.”

“They?”  Laun’s voice was loud enough to wake some of the soldiers who had slept through the attempt on her life.  “What do you mean, they?”

Gem looked up and nodded.  “I think I can hear two heartbeats below yours.”  She smiled.

Laun started to mumble to herself, saying, “I’m going to kill him.  Whoever it is, I’m going to kill him.  I’m going to rip his balls off and feed them to him.  Or is it both?  Oh, if it is...”  Laun realized that there were too many people around who did not know, and would not understand, about her relationships back in Salam-Dir.

The skirt was pulled back down and Laun held her belly.  She laid back down but was not sleepy.  The adrenaline from Bregnan’s attempt was nothing compared to what was flowing through her veins after she was told she was not carrying just one, but two babies.  It made sense.  Her belly was big and she was having all sorts of problems with her back.  She had been able to feel the movements early.

How was she going to handle two babies?  Or... Her eyes went wide in the darkness.  Were there more than two?  She hoped not.  She wished not.

Laun finally was able to sleep, but she dropped into a restless place.  Gem tried to stay awake to keep a wet cloth on Laun’s mouth, the cool keeping Laun from tossing and softly moaning in the night.  It was not the type of moan that Gem was used to.

She missed having her question of the night, and hopefully getting it right.  She had gotten to the point where she could have the pleasure that her Mistress gave her, but still think about what was going on around her.  It was not the same as the pain she had endured in the training with Master Blue.  Being able to withstand pain, that was one of those things that was expected of an assassin.  Being caught and not being allowed to kill yourself, you knew you were going to be tortured.

Gem shivered even though the fire and many bodies were keeping the longhouse uncomfortably warm.  The things that Master Blue would make her do, would do to her...  It was nothing like her current Mistress.  Lady Laun was such an odd combination of so many disciplines, it was hard to know where her training came from.  Gem was not even sure what she was learning from her Mistress, but she was happy to be with her.

 

Onto Chapter 30 .