the Leathermines

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Back to Chapter 23      Beginning of the story in The Slave Warrior

She knew they would be able to not just survive but thrive without her.  Watching from the shadows of one of the empty rooms off the courtyard had confirmed that to her.

Laun turned and followed the Lost Nail back out of the room.  She was not used to the padding, but thought she moved convincingly as she followed the woman.  It was the loincloth with the extra weight that threw her, not the padding around her waist that caught her more than once.

“How do men walk with these things?” Laun whispered.  She heard the giggle of the dresser and kept following, going past several small groups of servants and guards who gave them little more than a glance.

They were inside the servant’s ways before Laun talked again, and even then in a low tone that only Velma could hear.  “Is it always that lax, or is it because most of the residents are gone?”

The dresser waited for a moment to make sure they were alone before leaning against the rough plaster wall and saying softly, “The servants never really have had anyone look at them.  The slaves are never seen by the nobles as they work in the pits and the gardens at night.  The concubines walk around at any hour, either going to or coming from the things they do.  The guards...  They hardly even look at each other most of the time.”

Laun went to scratch her chin and stopped herself, remembering the false whiskers that had been glued on.  “It is not right that the security is that bad.  With most of the people who had been here gone...”  Laun sighed and shifted, feeling her false testes bunch up on her inner thigh.  “I am obsessing, but my own life has been on the line for him ever since I arrived.”

Velma nodded.  “He does not know how many of the grey have been here, both with and against him.  I carry many messages, some that will not be delivered because your people are very good at what they do.”

Laun grimaced.  “I want to know, but I will not make you violate your oaths.”  She saw the nod and said, “Thank you again for taking me in and helping me.”

The lost nail smiled.  “Mistress, I serve my King, and I serve him through you.  I don’t know what you intend to accomplish, but I will help you as I can.”  She pushed herself from the wall and started towards another room.  “The information I travel with feathers away like flowing sand.  I know some things others do not, and I hold that until it is right.  I have made oaths, yes, Mistress.  I have also promised to use what I know when it is right.”

Laun squinted at the back of the woman, getting an uneasy feeling at the phrasing.  She could not back out of the direction she had started, her hair and life being left in the yurlodge.

The servants area within the rambling Royal Estate was as neglected as the underbelly of the Palace in the Midlands.  Laun had been on a campaign to fix the obvious problems within her own Palace, her brain started to itch seeing the same within Ifahyd’s home.  She saw walls that should have been torn down to repair them years ago.  She saw where water came in from the roof every time it rained, even though that was seldom.  She followed a crack along the wall they were passing to get to where the lost nail was bringing Laun, the distress of the sagging timbers slowing her pace.  It led her eyes to an opening that should not have had eyes on the other side.

Laun stopped.  She saw the eyes blink and then a sound behind the wall as the person moved through the wall.  They had been brown eyes in a lightly tanned face.  There had been dark purple accents drawn on the eyes, a small fleck of a gem placed on the cheek.  Eyes that Laun almost recognized.

Laun tapped on the wall below the opening, hearing the rotten hollowness behind.  Velma stopped at the sound and turned, seeing the direct way Laun was tapping along the bowed plaster until she found what she was looking for.  There was a gasp as Velma watched Laun ball herself up and slam her shoulder into the wall, a large indentation breaking the wall further.  The hit was all that was needed.  Laun stepped back and watched as the section of wall below and then above the crack collapsed and fell to the warped wood floor.

“You shouldn’t-”  Laun held up a hand and leaned into the hole and then back out again.  No one was there.  They could have gone any of three ways when the eyes had disappeared.

“How many of these wall ways are there?”

Velma seemed nervous and shook her head.  “I don’t know what-”

Laun turned and moved her shoulder, feeling the bruise that would be there soon.  “Don’t start lying now.  Keeping things from me because of your oaths is different from outright lying.”

The lost nail looked at the hole and stepped away from it slightly.  “I know of some.  The Estate has been built onto so often that they just happened.”  Velma turned away and wanted to leave, looking like the hole in the wall was a cave entrance into a beasts lair.

Laun took some pity on her.  She moved away from the wall and started following, but pushed with a rumble, “Where are the entrances to these-”

An intersection had a few guards and a servant just around the corner.  Laun stopped speaking but thought it was too late.  Velma wanted to go down the intersection’s corridor but the men were blocking the way.  Purposely blocking the way.

Laun could not understand most of what the rough men said.  She understood the shrinking way Velma stepped back towards where they had come, her head down and soft words from her to the men.  Laun tried to step away, but the servant went to block.

There was laughter from the men.  Velma shook her head and motioned past them, Laun hearing Ifahyd’s name in what she said.  They shook their heads with disbelief, either real or feigned.  Laun did not need the translation as the largest of the men grabbed his cock through his loose pants, his voice with a dangerous rumble.

They were outnumbered.  They were out massed.  Laun could not drop her facade to get past them, Velma starting to look both panicked and calm, the situation seemingly common for her.

Laun pushed her rumble as she said, “Damn the Envoy for not making me learn this fucking language.”

One of the Guards looked at Laun and stared at her for a moment.  Laun did not back down and looked him in the eye.  “You one of the Midlands whore’s troupe?”  The other men laughed.

Laun nodded her head and went to scratch her chin, finding the whiskers there.  She stroked along the fuzz and said, “She doesn’t pay well, but the benefits are good.”

Laun laughed along with the other men.  Laun put her arm around Velma’s shoulder, making her jump slightly.  The familiar way Laun’s hand went around the dresser brought a lewd eye from one of the men, the servant a slightly puzzled expression.

“Please, we need to get through.”

The servant raised an eyebrow and said in a thick accent, “Ya’ lookin for place ta be ‘lone?”

Laun shook her head and said, “I wish.  Been working on her since we were assigned together.  We are in search- well can’t get into that, but we are here because the King was attacked in his quarters.”

One of the guards blinked, the other men shrugged.  “From what we hear, it won’t be his quarters for very much longer.”  There were looks between the men, the guard who had blinked looking down and flushing slightly.

“Eh.  Not my concern.  If I don’t get through, the Princess will have my head.  You know what she did to the assassin last night.  That was quick for her.”

There was a shiver from one of the men, the servant looking confused.  He looked closer at Laun, his eyebrow going up again.

“We need to go-”  The lost nail didn’t have a chance to finish as one of the Guards stepped to her and put his hand on her breast, right below Laun’s hand.

Laun tried to push her rumble, feeling her voice try to crack as she said, “Hey!  None of that!  She was taking me to where I needed to go.”

“Just a few minutes won’t matter-”

Laun felt herself move before she could stop herself.  Her finger was pointed at the Guard, her arm pulling Velma to in back of her.  “A few minutes more could mean the life of your King.  You may not be concerned with that, but with assassins everywhere, your own life may be on the line before you know it.  Put your cock back in your pants and do your duty, cugino, before one of those assassins comes along and cuts it off!”

The Guard pulled himself up and started to say, “Little man, you have no right-”

There was a loud noise from the corridor that Laun and the lost nail had come from.  There was swearing and Laun recognized the voice of the Guard Captain.  So did one of the Guards.

Laun started to push through the men, saying, “Fuck it!  Now you got us all in trouble!”

There was just enough confusion to let Laun push and pull her way through, dragging Velma with her.  The women were almost to the next intersection when they heard a yell from behind, a call to halt.

Laun did not know the lay out of the place.  She had been depending on the lost nail.  They had been trying to get to one of the gathering places of the servants so that Laun could see them in their own space, without the nobles around.  That was not going to happen.  Velma looked around at the walls and doors they were passing as they ran, the heavy steps of the armored men behind them.

“Here.”  Laun swung herself into the space and put her hand over her mouth to keep the instant cough from the disturbed dust from coming out.  The footsteps went past and Laun didn’t feel safe, even with the darkness of the hidden way around her.

Minutes passed before Velma pushed on the wall slightly and looked out.  The corridor was clear.  The two moved out of the wall and down the corridor, towards where the guards had gone.  The lost nail looked at the walls again and found another place.  It was easy to open the wall, but it would not close completely from inside.

“It will have to do.  Through here and around, we can get to the servant’s quarters.  They may look for us there, though.”

Laun shrugged.  “I want to change my clothing so they don’t recognize me.”

The dresser nodded.  She motioned and they went away from the light from the crack in the wall.  Laun could smell the disuse of the place, a web catching on her face as they passed another crack in the wall.  She tried to brush it off of her whiskers as they went, not knowing if she had been able to move it.  They were heading towards a slightly red light growing in the wall way, the smell of people and work sweat heavy in the air.

There were voices, speaking various languages.  Velma paused, until the closest of the voices moved away, and pushed on the wall.  It opened into an alcove partially obscured by a timber column.  They moved into the alcove, closed the door and brushed each other off.  Laun knew that if Velma looked like she had crawled through a cemetery, she would look the same.  It could not be helped.

The lost nail motioned and Laun followed her into the midst of the servant’s quarters.  It seemed like it was a hodge-podge of walls and curtains and discarded things with various levels of servants moving and lounging among the sections.  Laun looked around and saw that it used to be a courtyard, a large one that had been roofed in at some point.  Few of the servants glanced towards the two, none followed with their eyes.  Laun could not see any differentiation between the servants in rank, even though there was a regimented feeling when they were in service to the nobles and their King.

Many of the alcoves seemed bare.  Many of the servants had left, taking their few possessions with them.  Some of the servants that were left were scouting the newly available areas and were moving themselves into better places.  Velma pulled back a curtain and seemed relieved that it revealed a fairly full almost-room.

“Afraid your stuff was going to disappear?”  The lost nail nodded as a few things were moved from the cot.  Velma motioned to the only seating which was also her bed before starting to pull on a stack of formless fabric.  Laun still had the Guard’s treatment of them on her mind and had to ask, “How often do you get raped?”

That stopped Velma.  She seemed to twitch before lowering her arms and squatting on the worn wooden floor.  Her head went down and there was a big sigh.  “Too often.  I am just a servant.  I do not have the luxury of saying no as you do.”

Laun smirked.  “Very few have heard me say no.”

It was supposed to be a joke, but it just made the frown on the woman’s face deepen.  “You do have a reputation.  It still isn’t the same.”  Velma looked up into the disguised face of Laun and shook her head.  “Almost every day I have to submit to them.  If it wasn’t for my training, I don’t think I would be able to endure.”

Laun did and didn’t understand.  She had been sheltered, protected for most of her life.  She had been forced several times, but never violently by complete strangers. Well, there were the Rosemond bandits, but she had been able to get her own out of them.  She could not imagine what Velma had to go through just to exist in the Royal Estate.  “I am glad for your training.  I promise I and mine would never force you to have sex if you do not want.”

There was a twitch in the older woman’s lip.  “That is kind of you.”

Laun heard the hurt and sarcasm.  She leaned back and did not press the issue.  “How many servants used to be on the Estate?”

Velma took a moment before she stood, turning to the clothing she had in her little area.  She draped a few things over her shoulder and then turned to Laun.  “It changes with how many nobles are here.  Before they all left, I would say about 300 servants, most having been brought in by others.”

Laun looked at the white and beige thing being held out to her.  She stood and took it, the lost nail’s hands going to what Laun was wearing to take it off.  “It feels like there are maybe fifty servants left.  Is that the core to the Estate?”

Velma nodded.  She concentrated on quickly taking the male clothing off of Laun so that the new outfit could go on.  The dirty stuff was used to wipe dust and cobwebs off of Laun and Velma before it was pushed under the cot.  The headwrap came off and Laun felt a chill on the back of her neck, a lightness of her head that made her smile.  She had always had long hair.  It was trimmed when she was a dancer to just below shoulder length and after the coup, she had let it grow.  Her fingers went into her helmet length hair and felt it barely touch her second knuckle as she scratched her scalp.

The dresser changed Laun’s disguise efficiently.  The breasts were strapped down harder, Laun’s nipples protesting even with the cotton fluff that had been put around the rings.  The borrowed manhood was strapped better into place, the roll of fabric and the two small lemons being pushed forward in the secondary loincloth.  The new pants and tunic went over the padding that made Laun look less feminine, reminding her of a few of the pudgier wards back in Salam-Dir.  A flatter cap was on her head, not a wrap, her hair showing around the edges.

Velma stepped a little back in the small space and nodded.  Her head went up, the small smile she had disappearing.  Laun heard the footsteps, too.  It was the heavy, booted footsteps of the guards.

“I am sorry for this.”

The lost nail looked confused and then yelped as Laun turned the woman around and pushed her into the wooden column that was part of one of the walls of the small space.  Laun pulled up the skirts on the woman and positioned herself behind as if she was having a push and sigh.  Laun held Velma against the wall with her body, her arm up and leaning against the wood to block her face.  Velma was not sure what was happening and struggled, gasping and making Laun have to press harder to get her to stay against the wall.

The Guard Captain pulled back the curtain and said something Laun almost could translate.  Laun grunted and brokenly got out, “Vaffan, uh, culo!  Merda testa-ahhh!”  The sleeve of the beige tunic started to slip and Laun moved her other arm to hold the sleeve up to cover her scars.

There was a laugh and the Guard Captain dropped the curtain, the men going on to search the mostly empty servants quarters.  Velma had stopped struggling when she realized that Laun was creating a diversion, turning her own head away from the curtain as if she was embarrassed being caught.  The women held still for a moment, the things thrown over Velma’s shoulder slipping off and to the floor.  Laun kissed Velma on the cheek and pulled away, letting the woman go.  The Princess in disguise stayed by the wall and let out as good of an imitation of Edgar as she could, pounding on the wall with her fist for emphasis.

They could hear another round of laughter from further down the randomly built and claimed space.  Velma held her hand over her mouth and giggled as she watched Laun rearrange the borrowed men’s garb, a flip of a finger towards the guards making them both smile.

“You think quick.”

Laun bowed, sweeping her hand in an arc as she had seen several of the envoys in the various courts do.  “Thank you, Sister.”  Laun stood and smiled lopsidedly as she said, “I just wish I really knew what he said.”

Velma motioned with her head towards the curtain and Laun looked out, making sure no one was there.  They were alone, a nod from Laun before the lost nail would speak.

“He wanted to know where we had been.  Calling him a shit head might have been a bit much.”

Laun looked confused.  “I was trying to call him a dirt bag.  At least it got it across.”  Laun leaned against the wall and started thinking.  She watched the other woman clean up the things that had been moved and dropped.

It was not going to be as easy to blend in as she had thought, even with the help of the lost nail.  She did not know the languages and that was becoming a problem.  She smiled at the thought that she had become more of a eunuch in taking even the semblance of manhood between her legs, ineffectively using it to help keep her from being discovered.  Liam had offered to have a harness with one of the glass phalluses made for her, Laun declining at the time.  She would have to seek it out, now.  The thought of her being the holder of the cock while having sex...

Velma was looking at her with an odd expression.  Laun looked around, listening to see if there was anyone around.  “What were you thinking about?  You...  You had such a wistful and far away expression just now.”

Laun shrugged.  “Velma, my mind wanders.  I was just thinking I need one of those Rosemond glass cocks in a harness.”

The lost nail looked away and did not look back before she said, “So you can rape as you will, too.”

Laun wanted to hold the woman, take her and let he know that she was safe, that whatever had happened in the past would not happen while Laun was around her.  Laun crossed her arms over her strapped down chest and shook her head.  Laun’s voice naturally dropped as she said, “I use sex to break people when I need information.  I use sex to reward those with me, as they wish it.  I use sex as a tool and for pleasure.  I would not use such a tool without...consent of the person I was with.  I have no reason to force myself on you.  Do not put that label on me.”

Velma sobbed and still would not look up.  She sat on the edge of her cot, looking at the floor.  “Highness, I apologize.  I am feeling raw with everything that has been happening since you have been here.  Almost being caught in the corridor-”  She looked up and Laun nodded, encouraging her to continue.  “At least I am not a slave.  They can’t even make excuses to try to get away.”

That hit Laun hard.  “I have been a slave.  Not as a disguise.”

Velma looked away again.  “I had heard, but I thought it was just the nobles trying to bring you down.  You have so many conflicting reputations, I don’t know what to believe.”

Laun pulled the cuff of the tunic up.  “Is this the pale, soft skin of a noble-grown woman?”

Valma looked.  She had seen the scars, had heard that the Princess had fought in battles, had heard the Mistress had been on missions.  “Pechere, no.”

“Pech...  What?”

Velma smiled.  “Peach in my native language.”

Laun relaxed and dropped her arms to her sides.  “Great, another language to learn.”

The women quietly laughed.

 

Chapter 25 awaits, where intrigue comes to a peak