Kwin

by Trudie Collins

  Luka laughed lightly, then took his hand. “Come on. Let’s go for a ride.”

  Kwin stopped outside the door to Luka’s suite and looked at it. Luka pulled on his arm. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

  “Pity,” Kwin said as she led him out of the house and to the stables.

  The ride was fun, racing each other in places and taking it more slowly in others. When they stopped for a rest beside a stream, Kwin looked around to make sure they truly were alone before taking her in his arms and kissing her.

  She reacted more strongly than either of them had been expecting and they ended up making love in the grass.

  Afterward, as they lay in each other’s arms, Luka’s mind travelled to a future they could never have. She pictured them lying together, many years later, watching their children playing in the stream. But it could never be, for a number of reasons. She banished the picture from her mind and vowed to just enjoy the present; the future could wait.

  Gareth was in the kitchen by the time they returned, eating a bread roll. He didn’t look much better.

  “Koal forced me out of bed,” he grumbled. “And apparently I’m only allowed to have bread and water for the rest of the day.”

  “Stop feeling sorry for yourself,” Kwin said.

  Koal placed bowls of soup in front of the two new arrivals and Luka couldn’t help smiling as Kwin ate deliberately slowly, as though savouring each mouthful. Gareth watched him in disgust.

  “Why do I stay friends with you?” he asked.

  “Because I know all your secrets, most of which you don’t want your mother to know.”

  That got Luka’s attention. “Really. Feel like revealing any?”

  The rest of the afternoon was spent with the two men trying to outdo each other by telling embarrassing stories about their exploits. Most of those Kwin told involved Gareth and a woman. Or two. Sometimes even three. Luka had not laughed so much in a long time.

  Kwin and Luka retired early that night. They claimed they were tired, but as soon as they were in bed, their energy returned. They didn’t get much sleep and when Canis walked into the room the next morning, he complained about being kicked out of the room again.

  “Get used to it,” Kwin told him. Canis jumped onto the bed and forced his way between the two lovers.

  “I think we’re being told to get up,” Luka said.

  Canis sighed when both of them got out of bed and left him in peace.

  Gareth was fully recovered, so the three of them went riding. Luka took them to her favourite lake, where she promptly undressed and stepped into the water.

  She could sense both men watching her, but didn’t feel any embarrassment about being naked. After all, she had seen both of their naked bodies and had her hands on them.

  She dived under the water. When she surfaced, she saw Kwin hit Gareth on the arm. “Keep your eyes to yourself,” he said. It was not a request.

  Eventually Luka managed to persuade the two men to strip off and join her in the water. It was cool and refreshing. Kwin surprised her by taking her in his arms and kissing her. When he let her go, she looked nervously toward Gareth.

  “Gareth and I don’t keep secrets,” he said and kissed her again.

  “You two need to get a room,” Gareth said. Kwin’s reply was to splash him.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  The days passed quickly. Everyone knew that Gareth would soon have to return to Ofar, but nobody spoke about it. One evening, a meal was being eaten in the kitchen when a sound echoed around the house, indicating that someone wanted to speak to Luka.

  “Do you want me to get that for you?” Drake asked, but Luka shook her head.

  “No, I’ll get it. It might be Ofar.” She hoped it wasn’t as she didn’t want to hand Gareth back to her. She liked having him around and liked even more the effect he had on Kwin. He seemed happier and more settled.

  She went to her room and activated her communication device, but it wasn’t Ofar’s face that appeared on the screen; it was one of her contacts.

  “I’ve found her,” the man said excitedly.

  It took Luka a moment to realise who he was talking about. “Where?” she asked. “Who owns her?”

  “I found someone who recognised your description of the auction house and went there for a visit. I bribed one of the guards who told me that a slave purchased her. He didn’t know who owned the slave, but a slave buying another slave is unusual enough that when I investigated further, I easily found out who provided the money.”

  Luka rolled her eyes. All she wanted was a name, not a detailed description of how it had been obtained.

  “Who?” she asked when the man stopped speaking.

  “Fillen Emerald.”

  Luka knew of him, but had never met the man himself. She had heard rumours about his sexuality, but she had been led to believe that they had been started by a Lady who had made advances toward him and had been rejected. The rumours had stopped once he had purchased a pleasure slave. She had never even considered the fact that it could be Shona.

  “Do you know if he still owns her?” Luka asked.

  Her contact grinned. “Yes. I have seen her with my own eyes, just two days ago. I had business in the area so I made an excuse to see Fillen.”

  Luka thanked the man for the information and switched off the communication device. Only then did the enormity of what this news meant hit her. Kwin would be leaving. He was going out of her life and she might never see him again.

  She threw herself onto her bed, quickly erected an aural shield around her room and started to scream.

  Chapter 39

  Kwin and Gareth were laughing and joking together when Luka returned to the kitchen. When Kwin glanced up at her, the smile dropped from his face. Her eyes were red and puffy, suggesting she had been crying.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. He stood up, but managed to stop himself running over to her and taking her in his arms.

  Luka sat down at the table and composed herself before replying. “We have to make plans for you both to leave in the morning.”

  Kwin sat back down. “We knew this couldn’t last forever and that Ofar would want Gareth back soon.” Then her words hit him. “Hang on. What do you mean both of us?”

  “Shona has been located.”

  The comment grabbed Gareth’s attention. “Where?”

  “She was purchased by Fillen Emerald, or should I say by one of his slaves. As of a few days ago, she was living on his property. Of course, I can’t guarantee that she is still there, but it is highly likely.”

  “Can you show us where on a map?” Kwin asked. He could see how much the news that he and Gareth would be leaving was upsetting Luka, but he had to get the information from her; it couldn’t wait until she had her emotions under control.

  Unexpected feelings surged through him, but he buried them deep. All that mattered was rescuing Shona and finding a way to keep Gareth by his side. Whatever he had with Luka could only ever have been a temporary thing, they both knew that, but that didn’t make knowing it would end the next day any easier to handle. It was something he would have to deal with later.

  “I’ll get one,” Drake said and left the room. While he was gone, the kitchen table was cleared, making space for him to spread the map out when he returned.

  Kwin kept looking over at Luka, but she wouldn’t meet his eye.

  “We are here,” Drake said, indicating a part of the map with his hand once it was laid flat on the table. Kwin marked it with an empty mug.

  “Fillen lives here,” Luka said. This too was marked.

  Gareth whistled. “That’s a long way. Any suggestions how we get there?”

  “Take two horses,” Luka said. “It will be quicker than a carriage. It will mean one of you will have to share with Shona on the way back, but it will look suspicious if two slaves are travelling with a spare horse.”

  “Won�
�t it look suspicious anyway, slaves travelling without their owner?”

  “It happens occasionally,” Drake said. “I can draw up an official travel document for you, in case you are stopped.”

  “I’ll be back in a moment,” Luka said and walked out of the room. Kwin followed her with his eyes, wishing he could go with her, but he needed to find out all he could about the route between Luka’s estate and Fillen’s.

  Drake told him and Gareth all he knew about the area, pointing out places to avoid if possible. When Luka returned, she was carrying shackles. She handed them to Kwin.

  “You will need these.”

  “Fake I presume.” She nodded. “How do we get the real ones off Shona? I can’t imagine Fillen handing her over to us just because we ask nicely.”

  “That’s your problem. I can’t help. You have magic, figure out how to use it.” The sharpness of her reply was understandable.

  Kwin had a few ideas and would discuss them with Gareth later.

  They talked about the route a while longer then Kwin quizzed Luka on all she knew about Fillen. Knowing what sort of man he was might prove to be advantageous. Unfortunately there wasn’t a lot she could tell him.

  “There’s one other thing we need to think about,” Gareth said once they had gleaned all of the information from Luka and Drake that they could think of. “How are you going to deal with Ofar when she comes to collect me?”

  Luka smiled at Gareth’s concern. “Don’t worry. I’ll give you a few days head start then tell her you have escaped. I will say you somehow both managed to remove your shackles, so if she reports it and the authorities start to look for you, they will be looking for two unshackled Tippetian males. They will also be wary of approaching anyone who matches your description as they won’t want to confront one magic user who is in full control of his power, let alone two.”

  “May I suggest you both dye your hair before you leave,” Drake said. He then frowned at Kwin. “Your scar is quite distinctive. Do you know a way to hide it?” Kwin shook his head.

  “Don’t concern yourself,” Luka said. “Ofar won’t remember it and, if she does, I’ll provide a detailed but inaccurate description.”

  “Is there anything else we need to discuss?” Kwin asked. He was desperate to be alone with Luka.

  “I’ll pack up a couple of travelling bags for you with enough food and water to last a week,” Koal said.

  Kwin thanked him then, when nobody else had anything to say, he asked Luka one last question, one he wasn’t expecting her to answer.

  “How do we cross the border? Can we get into Tippet without falling unconscious before we make it there?”

  He was hoping that whatever affected him and Gareth and every other person from Tippet who had crossed over into Wayvern only worked in that direction, but he wasn’t confident that that would be the case.

  Luka looked at Kwin. He could see the conflict in her eyes. She wanted to help him, but was afraid of what it would mean to her people if she did.

  He said nothing, waiting for her to make a decision. He would not try to change her mind, whatever she decided to do.

  “No,” she finally said. “Unless you take action to prevent it, the thing that caused you to lose consciousness when you first came to Wayvern will do the same to you before you get to Tippet.”

  “Shit,” Gareth said. He spoke in his own language, but Luka understood what it meant; it was one of the first words that Kwin had taught her.

  Kwin didn’t let his eyes leave Luka’s. “What action do we need to take? What causes it?”

  Kwin and Luka gazed at each other for a long time. Nobody in the room spoke, nobody moved, they hardly breathed, until eventually Luka spoke.

  “Flowers. I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s a type of flower that’s only found in Wayvern and only near the border. They are bright red and have a wonderful fragrance. They were magically created and they emit some sort of pollen that affects only those from Tippet.”

  “I remember,” Kwin said. “How do we counteract them?”

  “I don’t know. You will have to find a way to prevent yourselves breathing in the pollen.”

  “We can do that,” Gareth said.

  Unable to stop himself, Kwin walked up to Luka and kissed her on the forehead. “Thank you. I know how hard that was for you to tell us.”

  When she lifted her head to look at him, he could see she was struggling to keep herself under control. “Then you had better make good use of the information,” she said. “If you get captured again, don’t expect me to come to your rescue.”

  “We leave at first light,” Kwin said, turning to look at Gareth. “Make sure you get plenty of sleep.”

  Kwin was under no illusion that he would be getting any sleep that night so he was relying on Gareth to do so. Not caring what anyone thought, he said goodnight, then took Luka’s hand and led her from the room, up the stairs and into her suite. They didn’t speak until they were alone in her bedroom.

  Kwin turned Luka to face him. “Kwin−” she began to say, but he put his fingers on her lips.

  “No,” he said gently. “No words. Not tonight.” Then he took her head in his hands and kissed her softly. A tear formed in her eye and trickled down her face. He wiped it away with his hand.

  He undressed her slowly, touching, kissing and caressing each new bit of flesh that was revealed as though he was seeing it for the first time. When he made love to her, he didn’t rush it; he took his time, savouring every moment.

  It was the early hours of the morning before they finally both fell into an exhausted sleep.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  Luka felt groggy when she awoke. She hadn’t expected to sleep well, but she felt so warm and protected in Kwin’s arms that she didn’t wake until the first rays of light filtered into the room.

  She was alone. Kwin must have somehow managed to get up without waking her.

  She hadn’t told him how she felt about him. What would have been the point? It would only confuse him. He had a duty to perform and they both knew it. He wouldn’t be the man she had fallen in love with if he was prepared to turn his back on Shona just so he could stay with her.

  Wanting nothing more than to stay in bed and let the day pass by without her noticing, she forced herself to get up and shower.

  It seemed like the entire household was up when she entered the kitchen. Most of them were eating breakfast. Whatever it was that Koal was cooking smelled delicious, but she couldn’t face food.

  Neither Kwin nor Gareth were there. A momentary fear flowed through her that they had already left. Before she could ask about them, the back door of the kitchen opened and the two men walked in. She hardly recognised them. Kwin’s dark hair was now a light brown. She didn’t like it; it didn’t suit him. Gareth’s hair had been dyed grey. Kwin stopped dead when he saw her. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. Instead he turned to Koal.

  “The bags are secured on the horses. Thank you for everything.” He then held out his hand. The chef ignored it and grabbed him in a big bear hug.

  “Take care of yourself,” Koal said. “And of that rascal.” He indicated toward Gareth with his head.

  Luka could only watch as the two men said goodbye to all of her servants. She didn’t know if Kwin was deliberately avoiding looking at her, but it felt like he was.

  When Gareth approached, she expected him to shake her hand, but instead he hugged her tight.

  “I know how you feel about him,” he whispered in her ear. “I promise I will take care of him.”

  Luka could only nod her head. The plan was that they would return once Shona had been rescued, before heading for the border, but anything might happen that would cause them to have to go straight to Tippet.

  If they rescued Shona. Nothing was guaranteed. It might not be as easy as they thought, or pretended to think, she corrected herself. Both men were realists. Though
they made out that nothing could go wrong, she didn’t believe they really thought that. They were just putting on an act so nobody would worry about them. Either of them could be captured, injured or killed.

  She forced that thought from her mind before she started to cry. She was close to breaking down but would not let herself do so until she was alone in her room.

  “Thank you,” she said, then stepped out of his arms. Kwin was glaring at them, as though he didn’t like his friend having his arms around her.

  “Let’s go,” he said sternly.

  She didn’t move. She couldn’t watch Kwin ride away, knowing she might never see him again. Even if he did return, he would not remain for long. He had to go to Tippet to get married.

  Everyone filed out of the kitchen, wanting to spend a few moments more with the two men. The door closed and Luka was all alone. She was suddenly cold and put her arms around herself. It didn’t help.

  Then the door opened again and Kwin strode in. A single tear escaped from her eye as they looked at each other. Kwin wiped it away.

  “I seem to be making a habit of this.”

  Luka tried to smile, but couldn’t.

  “I will see you again,” he said. Luka had never heard him speak with such conviction.

  Then he was gone again. No goodbye kiss, no last words of endearment. She was glad. She would not have been able to cope if he had said anything more.

  She wasn’t a religious person; nobody in Wayvern was any more, but she found herself putting her hands together and praying. “Hellan, Petra, I don’t know if you can hear me, or if you even exist, but if you can, please keep them safe. They are both good men. Let them rescue Shona and return to their homeland. It’s what they deserve.”

  Then she went to her bedroom. By the time she got there tears were flowing down her face.

  Chapter 40

  The two men rode in silence. Kwin could feel Gareth’s eyes on him, but he didn’t want to talk. He felt like he was leaving part of himself behind and the hole that was inside him was getting bigger with each step of his horse.