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Slave Warrior Chapter 32

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“...and bloody time, too...”  Orgia was directing the removal of most of the bedding from Laun’s sleeping chambers.  She had a few plans when it was to be put back in, a more traditional room, with chairs and a table.  But that would have to be done when Laun was not around.  One of the things Orgia had found about Laun was that the young Lady did know her mind, but sometimes her decisions were not the best.  At least from Orgia’s standpoint.

The tapestries were one thing that Laun had specificly asked to be taken down and aired.  Orgia wondered what had been taking place that may have led to that, but the chatelaine found that Laun was right to want them aired out.  They seemed musty, and with the cold coming soon, it was better to do it now.

Laun came from one of the harvesting houses and saw the tapestries laid out along the bushes by the road.  Some of them were being beaten with willow branches, the whippy sticks letting small puffs of dust into the air at each hit.  A few of the servants were inspecting the tapestries and making minor repairs as they found gaps and holes.  Laun picked up corners of the tapestries, looked at the repair work being done and noted the faded colors of the generations old hangings.

Laun finally found the two she wanted. The Orchard, with the apple trees, the road that seemed to encircle it and the little house.  And the Castle with the keep surrounding it, a road coming up to it’s gate.  The Lady went to turn the Orchard over and found that it was heavier than the other tapestries.  She had to enlist the help of several of the others to fold the Orchard in half.  She looked and did not see the holes that she had looked through as a child.  She did see some words.  They were picked out in slightly different colors from the backing material, odd little embroidered knots in sets of three and four after each word. »Read More

Slave Warrior Chapter 31

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Laun could not sleep.  The number of bodies did not matter.  There had been a few people who asked to come into the sleeping room that Laun welcomed that night.  She had then been invited to participate in their amorous pursuits.  Laun did not have to feign a headache, but asked them to continue.  She was fascinated with the different way people did the same things.  And that night, she was introduced to women going down on men.

It was educational and entertaining.  She knew she would have to try it out herself at some point.  Just not right then.  Others came in, some for sleep, some for something a little more active.  Laun welcomed all.

Close to mid night, most of the people around her seemed to be asleep.  The ones not were soon to be by the time it took them to answer the lover’s talk.  Laun could not sleep.  And Edgar had not come to bed.  And neither had Fount.

One or the other, not unusual as they had set up some sort of schedule.  Laun had not been able to talk to Edgar about the three who had been sent out yet.  He needed to know that night.

Laun got up and pulled on a tunic.  She was not sure it was the one she had been wearing before she went to bed.  It smelled like lavender and tallow, not the sweat and dust that she thought hers had.  She motioned to the privy to the wardsman standing outside the door and he nodded. »Read More

Slave Warrior Chapter 30

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Laun saw the banner as soon as she stepped into the Great Hall.  And she noticed the addition.

It was the symbol that had been on documents and chests and the official livery for the Salam-Dir household around her since she was born.  And now it was more.  Each layer meant something, but the blood meant more to her.  Laun’s hand went to the scar on her chest and she rubbed on it, remembering the bronze chest-piece that had made it back from the festival.  She would have to have that displayed somewhere, too.

Laun went and talked to Orgia, first thanking her for putting up the banner.  She thanked the chatelaine for the thoughtfulness of the red on the green.  Orgia curtsied.  Laun then asked if Geralk had talked to her that afternoon.

Orgia squinted her eyes and shook her head.  Laun put a finger under her bottom lip indicating a secret and said, “The three of us need to talk about some supplies he will need for trade.”

Orgia did not let the panic she felt show.  “Very good, Lady.”

“Before dinner, if possible.”  Orgia nodded and Laun excused herself. »Read More

Slave Warrior Chapter 29

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It was subtle, but there was a stained cloth that had been draped on the mantlepiece behind the head table.  It was still there several days later when Orgia decided that it was time to take down the proof that Laun had been a maiden and now a woman.

It was a damnedable tradition, and if Laun had been paying attention, she may have understood how to many people, it showed that she had been claimed.  It also made several people think that now she was free to pursue, the tacit agreement through the household gone.  She was no longer protected, and any innocence she had would not last.

To the chatelaine, the change in the household was immediate.  Some people avoided their Lady, though she still tried to treat everyone equally, touch everyone everyday.  It made an under-currant that was starting to disrupt the harvests and household running smoothly.

Orgia could not have that.

The day she took down the woman-cloth, Orgia rearranged the tables in the Great Hall again.  No more head table.  Dreng was not pleased, but he had learned that to go against the women of this household could be disastrous.  More importantly, Orgia took it upon herself to hang the banner of the household.  There is a tradition that she did hold to that the device of the head of the household changed slightly with each succession.

The people being directed by Orgia did not see a change in the banner they were hanging up.  Then again, if they paid attention to the banner and not to the scaffolding and poles they were using, there could have been an accident.  When it was up and the scaffolding was being taken down, several people stood back and saw what Orgia had done.

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Slave Warrior Chapter 28

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It was the same sleeping chamber.  The same anti-chamber.  The same hooks.

It was different as there were different garments on the hooks in the anti-chamber.  Laun had not really realized until that day that the breeches the men wore had been to keep them from being too forward.  Though, as Laun remembered a certain morning, it had saved him from her as much as her from him.

There were already women naked in the anti-chamber.  Edgar and Fount were on their knees, both of them washing the legs of the women standing in front of them.  Laun had seen some people leave the Great Hall, but had not expected as many there as there were.  She also was not expecting the other wardsmen who were standing to the side, watching.

The lantern light was bright, not allowing the haze of darkness to hide what was happening.  It was what Laun wanted.  She wanted to see as well as feel and hear as much as possible that evening.  What she was seeing were two men, still clothed themselves, tending to women as if they were thoroughbreds.  They had their own styles, but just by tenderly cleansing the women, Laun could see how their touch was already bringing desire.  Nan looked over and shyly smiled until a fingertip brushed her skin and she closed her eyes.

Perhaps Fount didn’t need the lessons, after all. »Read More

Slave Warrior Chapter 27

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Stylized white birds flying over a feat table with bowls and platters

The hunt makes a full feast

It was the first time there was a head table at any of the meals.  Laun noticed the change, but chose to ignore it as she came into the Great Hall.  She was flushed with excitement at the decision she had made.  Her internal happiness showed and it made many smile just to see it.

The three of them came in, Fount and Laun holding hands between them, Edgar with his hand interlaced with hers on her shoulder.

Laun did not intend to announce anything.  She knew that word would be spread fast and easily in the open household.  She was focusing more on the men who she had just kissed, letting them know her feelings and intentions.

The smell of roasting bird had drawn most of the people in the keep, early for evening meal.  The sun was not quite setting and the fires were being built up for the evening.  Laun was drifting towards one of the side tables with her newly professed lovers when Dreng motioned her to the head table.  There was a place on the bench next to him with their backs to the fire.  Edgar saw there was not enough room for the three of them.  He pulled Laun gently around and kissed her forehead, the first lover’s kiss in front of the household.

“Laun, I have something to attend to, with your permission.”  Laun smiled and let his hand go and watched as he went to talk to the guards who were about to go out for duty.

Fount would not be shaken from her side.  The benches were shuffled some so that he could sit beside her.  The nobles raised eyebrows but saw that Fount’s grey eyes saw nothing but his Lady. »Read More

Slave Warrior Chapter 26

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The men felt the change in the women when they came back from the day’s hunt.  Geese and ducks and turns hung from staves carried between men.  Cages with some live birds were in the back of a cart, the squawking and honking announcing the men’s approach for minutes before they were seen.  The kitchen staff was ready with pots of boiling water as the haul was brought in.

Orgia directed where the fowl were to go and then firmly took Geralk by the hand to lead him away to a corner to have a talk with him.  The kitchen staff left them alone, but kept an eye on them as Geralk’s face changed expression almost as fast as Orgia was talking.

A few words here and there between the women and men of the household is all it took for word to spread that Laun had decided that she may be ready to pair off, as much as she may protest the choosing.  Some of the men looked directly at Edgar as the news came to them.  A few had flashes of concern, some flashes of something else.

Laun herself asked that Fount and Edgar find her, and they did that as she was folding some of the linens that had been repaired.  She asked that they follow her and the three of them started to walk through the keep.

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Slave Warrior Chapter 25

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There had been a fairly full harvest so far.  Being forced to go afield to find replacements for that which had been destroyed made the household more aware of the land and what it produced.  It was not going to be a meagre winter, but it was going to be a slightly lopsided one.

The amount of drying herbs overflowed the usual places and staves with bundles of herbs drying on them were placed anywhere there was good airflow.  The laundry, which smelt of lemon balm.  The stairway in the tower which smelt of savory and rosemary.  And the Great Hall, which had heather and sweet grass drying for the fall bedding changeover.

The leaves had not started changing colors, but everyone knew that it was coming.  The nobles took charge one morning at meeting by announcing that the bird sounds in the night meant that the ducks and geese were starting to migrate.  That meant a hunt.  The best archers came forward, the nets used for fishing were brought out for repair and the energy of the nobles doubled at the prospect.  Orgia looked forward to something new for the season, and the feathers would be useful in many ways in the household.

Edgar and Fount paired up for the hunt and scouted out to a marshy area towards the old volcano. Yes, the nobles had heard right, the waterfowl had started to gather in the reeds, resting as they went south in front of the cold.

It seemed as though there was a gender split for the hunt.  Most of the women who were not active other places had declined the offer to assist and were sitting under trees, mending linens and clothes for the household.  A table and a few benches had been carried out for the project, easier than sitting on the ground.  The very domestic scene had the women chattering about many things to pass the time as the needles pulled thread through the cloth.

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Slave Warrior Chapter 24

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It was the hardest thing yet that Laun had to decide.  The merchant had completely killed any trust he may have had with his confession of his slavery plans.  He had broken an oath to Marie taken under the smuggler’s code.  If not been called out, his deception may have cost not just the child’s life if they had just let him go on his way the next morning, cart, horse and child with him.  Calling him out had not been the only option, but it was the expedient one that Laun had gone with.  And then she had to decide.

Dreng was astonished at her request.  Geralk had never heard of such a thing before.  And Laun saw it as a third option to the two that were obvious.

It took the smithy an hour to create what Laun wanted.  Geralk took longer with the scroll.  It was a moment for Dreng’s signature and the scream that went through the keep silenced all.

The brand on Gyrip’s arm sent him into a fever that night.  Laun sat next to him, cooling him and giving him elixirs that Pillar or Lucaris would bring her.  She cried when she thought no one would see, though some did and only a few understood.  Protectors stood just outside the firelight, watching their Lady as she watched over the merchant.  She did not sleep.

The morning was bright through the high windows into the Great Hall.  The household gathered, quiet.  The merchant was awake, had been fed and had a package with more food in it handed to him.  The scroll was wrapped in an oilcloth and was in Laun’s hand. »Read More

Slave Warrior Chapter 23

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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!”

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