The Beast of the North

by Alaric Longward

  ‘I have not! I’m very much yours! I’m just confused. You have me,’ I said with some panic. ‘I told you I am sorry.’ She got up—a glorious sight—and got us towels, and I could only stare at her. She threw one to me, and I grabbed it from the air, barely in time before it hit the water.

  I pleaded with her. ‘Can we start over? We can. Right?’ I asked her. She snorted, and there was a sound of dogged anger in her voice. ‘Forgive me. This evening is remarkable, and I am an ass. Let me make it up to you. I care for you. And we can go … riding the day when it is all over. I’m committed to that. My friend might think it is a good idea, as well. Start anew. Your father has promised a lot, but you did warn me not to—’

  ‘Riding?’ she asked me. ‘Why riding?’ She waved me down and took some deep breaths. Her sodden blonde hair was curling wetly across her back to her buttocks, and I stared at her, hoping she would forgive me and not take the future away from us. She had sounded cruel. She stood there for a long time. I had heard women can make a storm seem docile, and she was truly brewing with rage. Finally, almost visibly, she relaxed. ‘Yes,’ she said and nodded at me. ‘We can start anew. Forgive me my anger. But you ruined it, very nearly at least.’ She pulled me up and took the towel from my hand. I instinctively covered myself, but she giggled, her mood swinging fast. She slapped my hands aside and began to dry off my face and chest. She sang softly, and her voice was like silk on skin. ‘Shall I dress?’ I asked her weakly, not covered in the least, and I was also naturally interested in anything but dressing.

  ‘I’ll do it after all,’ she told me with a whisper. I nearly slipped on the wet floor, but she balanced me. She smiled at my clumsiness and rubbed the towel across my belly. Then she did the same with my neck and shoulders. She nodded at me and made me sit down on a desk. ‘Help me.’ She nodded at her towel, draped over her shoulder, and I hesitated, then took it. I wiped her belly and moved it gently across her hips. She stepped between my legs, a bit forcibly as I resisted and pressed her chest on my chest. She tiptoed, and her breasts were caressing my throat, and she looked down at me. I tried to kiss her, but she retreated. She looked puzzled but smiled. ‘No kisses. It solves nothing and leads to trouble. One day, perhaps, but I am happy with the rest. For now.’ Her words bothered me for some reason, but I forgot it as she moved herself so that her nipple brushed my cheek, then my face, and I opened my mouth to kiss it, gently, very gently, and she pressed it deeper. I put my hand on her hip, and slid it to her buttock, her firm flesh trembling under the touch. I pulled her to me as I kissed those breasts, her shoulders, and her neck. I was consumed with lust, and she climbed to sit over me. I felt her hands grope between my legs, and she smiled as she teased me for a moment. I begged gods for mercy, but they were not there, and then she finally slid it inside her. She sat on me with all her weight, slowly, and pushed me on my back to the desk. I let her move, tried to find a rhythm to make it better for her, managed it, as she seemed to enjoy a short, powerful thrust. It was all very wonderful, and I did not want it to end. She was patient as she guided me to our climax. ‘Don’t be a screamer, Maskan.’ She giggled over me as I came, right after her, and I bit my lip to keep silent. But she was not done so quickly and pulled me up, leaned on me and guided me to renew the pleasure.

  In the end, we were late for dinner, but no maid appeared to hurry us up.

  Soon after, she was dressed. She smiled coyly at me, and I smiled back at her though I was ashamed. ‘Remember, Maskan, what I just gave you.’

  ‘You are my first. Shaduril …’ I began but stopped as I stared at her.

  She wiped her hair into a bun. There was a moment of fury on her face, but it disappeared. She nodded, apparently having decided something. There was a soft glow as her earring changed to a simple silver thing. And so did her face. The blonde hair grew into red, the body a bit taller, and Lith smiled at me furiously. I stared back at her and looked away. ‘Funny,’ she said. ‘I thought you might have been more shocked.’

  ‘I am shocked,’ I said, and I was, but I did not wish to give her the satisfaction. ‘What artifact is this?’

  ‘I have my secrets, my love,’ she said but tapped her earring. ‘Father’s toy. But only useful for a female. He does not need it.’

  I opened my mouth to refute the claim she was laying on me, but could not. Love? Lies. I was a fool.

  She shook her head. ‘Let’s not upset poor Shaduril. She and I? We have past issues with men.’

  ‘You took a man of hers before?’ I asked her, enraged inside, but I forced myself to stay calm. Shaduril had told me to be careful. To be faithful to her.

  ‘We had a conflicting interest,’ she murmured. ‘Don’t judge me. She is not a perfect angel nor am I the incarnation of evil. I gave you something to think about and you are safe and sated. For now. But you won’t forget this. I was set on having you because you are ravenously handsome. And because Shaduril wants you. Now I have a foot inside the door.’

  ‘If you can change your face,’ I said with budding rage, ‘then why do you need me?’

  She touched her earring. ‘It can only take the face of a female and a female must use it. You are still irreplaceable. Valkai could not find a woman that got close to the queen. Not one. She hates women, you see. We could use it to kill the king, but the queen would still be making trouble for us. So, we had to try to find a man. And we did. Better than a doppelganger. A real man.’ She smiled lecherously, and I shook my head.

  ‘Why don’t you take her place with the king? You can fight, no?’ I asked her darkly.

  She hesitated. ‘You would rather risk me than her? She can fight as well.’

  ‘You are more …’ I told her and hesitated. ‘You are dangerous. She is not.’

  ‘You are wrong,’ she said with a smile. ‘Wait. And if you still insist on being with her, I shall keep this a secret. But I will ask for something later. And you will be mine when I ask for you. For Shaduril.’ Bitch, I thought. She looked at me carefully and saw my struggle and relished it. ‘Say yes.’

  ‘Yes,’ I hissed.

  She slapped her hip. ‘Good boy. Let us be careful, love, and enjoy the dinner,’ she stated, and we dressed. She pulled on her shoes and got up. She walked to me and kissed my cheek, and I struggled to remain still. ‘Time will make our heads clear, and our problems will disappear like fog in the morning. Wait. Forgive me for this, and what I will ask of you later on.’

  I escorted Lith to the main hall.

  Shaduril was not there. Lith was wearing a black gown; no jewelry save the earring, and her hair was silky and set with red ribbons. Red ribbons on thick red hair, she looked stunning. She smiled demurely at the crowd, and I fell behind her in step. Gods, I thought, she had made a mess of things. Or I had. I should have known better. I felt awkward in the beautiful clothing, now complemented by tall leather boots. We reached the middle of the hall, lit by the usual fire in the fireplace, and the lords got up as we arrived.

  Both were apparently high lords. They wore house colors, yellow and silver for Crec, who was the Lord Commander of the Mad Watch and also wore dark pauldrons with the Watch insignia of skull and sword. He was a balding, hard man of the second house and in his eyes, there was definite interest as he eyed us. He bowed his head at Lith, who curtsied at him, and her smile was one to turn a dead man into an amorous youth. It worked for the dour Crec quickly enough. The man the thieves called the Butcher was smiling widely and not brooding like Lith had predicted. Then I gazed at the man that was bound to be Gal. He looked the same as he had on the day of Alrik’s hanging. He was tall and gaunt and dark, but now with a recent short beard, and he wore an expensive red silk rope. I saw Balan swirling a mug of wine as he looked at us, and he gave Gal a nod towards me. ‘Your nephew, Lord of Trade,’ Balan said with small satisfaction as the man shuddered with surprise. ‘He was in some serious trouble, but we managed to fish him out of it. The king killed your brother’s wife not long ago.’

  ‘Why,’ said
Gal, staring at my ring, ‘did not your mother bring you to us? Why did she not flee to us?’

  I stopped as Lith slid to a seat next to Crec, who was all smiles. It was clear his face was unused to such smiles, but he was trying. ‘She was pregnant with me. She did not trust anyone? I know not, Uncle. You knew her, undoubtedly.’

  He considered it. ‘You have Tal’s eyes. His bearing. And his speech. And our house ring.’ He could not take his eyes off the ring. The eyes were glazed. Was it greed? Or suspicion? Did he desire it? Finally, he went on. ‘It’s been twenty years since I last saw it. The ring. I had forgotten what it looks like, I think. But I believe Balan now. Do you know what happened to Tal? Did your mother tell you? And yes, she likely did not trust us. She had not even met the family, well, only briefly. Your father lived in the Temple, not with our household in the Second Ring. He had married her the year past. For not taking the effort to know your mother, I am to blame.’ He bowed his head slightly, and I mirrored him. ‘We did not get along with Tal.’

  ‘Uncle. He tried to take my mother by force.’

  ‘Did he?’ Gal wondered. ‘There are rumors of the man. Beast of the North is truly just a beast.’ His voice was calculating as he still stared at the ring.

  ‘He is an honest boy, a good boy,’ Balan said, nodding at me. ‘And yes, Shaduril knows the Beast. Too well. She suffers for all of us. She will do this deed, brave girl that she is. And he?’ Balan nodded at me. ‘He will marry Shaduril if they both survive. Our houses will be allied through the marriage, Lord Gal.’ Lith looked at me and raised her eyebrows as she was nodding at something Crec was whispering.

  ‘If she survives this attempt,’ Gal said glumly. ‘In fact, I still have grave misgivings about the whole matter,’ he stammered, his brow lathered in sweat as if he were struggling with something. Balan scowled at him and nodded at him to go on, but he shrugged.

  Crec snorted and toasted Gal. ‘You know Balan is right. The Fringe is alienated from us. You have seen the king. The Pearl Terrace, every morning. He stares over to the north, seeing enemies where there used to be allies. He is making us look weak. All four brigades are less than enthusiastic about the king. Hawk’s Talon had twenty men deserting last year. Unheard of. I am not one for rebellion or breaking thousands of years of tradition, but the past two decades have changed us. Both the High King and ours have been going mad for years and years. You know this. We need a sane king, nothing less.’

  Gal mulled his wine and nodded. ‘And the Brothers? His uncle and relatives and the Ministry? Lord of Light? Everyone in power?’

  ‘They will be shut in the Tower of the Temple by Crec’s men,’ Balan said softly, and Gal was nodding slowly. Balan went on. ‘And you will give us a way to get inside. Through the mint. You will lead them there personally or appoint a Master of Coin you can trust. Then, once the battle rages, they will all have to choose. They will choose. Everyone has to choose. Except for the Brothers. Formidable as they are, they cannot beat a determined attack by our men, and I don’t want them. And you know the guards do not trust them, no. They are strange. They have … magic.’ They all looked at my ring.

  ‘The Four Armies will not bother us,’ Crec said calmly, apparently hoping to see my face change. ‘The Mad Watch has three thousand men. Granted, they are not soldiers like the Hawk’s Talon outside the city, but they will be enough to defend the Temple after the business is concluded. They will slaughter the king’s relatives and men out of the Temple and yes, even the Brothers they will find. And your money, Gal, will buy us allies in the Houses. We need you for more than the mint and the Tower business. You will make sure the trade goes on, and food gets sold and distributed and people will remain happy.’

  ‘A question,’ I whispered.

  ‘Yes?’ Balan asked, worried I should have one.

  ‘If Lord Gal,’ I said and could not entirely hide the hate in my voice, ‘has a way to the Tower, then why don’t Lord Crec’s men just use it and throw the king off the Pearl Terrace? Now? And kill the queen at the same time?’

  The Lord Commander sat back in his seat. ‘Because that is treason, young Maskan. Because I do not wish to stain my honor with the shame. Because a king must be seen as a good man, not a tyrant. Because,’ he said coldly as he leaned closer, ‘it is a filthy thing to do. And risky. The Mad Watch is mine, but the king might make them theirs easily. He must be dead before we kill the rest of his family.’

  ‘But Lord Balan will carry the shame?’ I asked. ‘And as for the honor you are so concerned about, condemning people to hang without a trial is not dishonorable? You do that, Lord.’

  His eyes flickered with annoyance. ‘Balan’s daughter will take the blame,’ Crec said mulishly. ‘Did he not mention it? Your wife will bear the shame. And what comes to criminals, the Elder Judges are not efficient. It takes them ages to condemn a thief to hang. The king does not care as long as they die, and the judges are grateful they don’t have to hear every sorry tale. So yes, I am called the Butcher by the vermin for a reason. Don’t lecture me, boy.’

  ‘Shaduril is to be blamed,’ Balan told me cautiously, hoping to calm me down. ‘She will retire. As I said, Maskan,’ Balan said. ‘She will disappear. And someone less important will … take her place in the scaffold. Few know Shaduril’s face. We will find someone suitable.’

  Crec laughed. ‘Balan is as much a butcher as I am.’

  ‘I see,’ I said coldly. They would hang some poor fool girl in her stead.

  ‘Shaduril will take the blame, and ultimately we shall blame the Brothers for the coup,’ Crec said happily. ‘They had her do it. Problem solved. People will believe it. I will be legitimate. A right great king.’

  ‘But only on the surface,’ I whispered though loud enough to be heard. Crec was about to comment, but Gal raised his hand.

  ‘If the king does not die,’ Gal said coldly to Balan, ‘and it might very well go like that, if your girl fails, my house must survive. Mine. As we discussed. If I have a man show your army the way inside,’ he said, apparently having decided not to do it personally, ‘I will want assurances.’

  ‘Come, Gal!’ Balan cried. ‘Not one of us will survive the war with the north and the south both. Be brave!’

  ‘Stop being a fool,’ Gal breathed, waving his hand around. ‘No house will die willingly for Red Midgard that yet stands firm. You see phantoms.’

  ‘No—’ Balan said, for his would die willingly.

  ‘Yes,’ Gal interrupted Balan. ‘If she fails,’ Gal said empathetically, ‘if that happens, we will purge you. I want your son, Taram,’ he pointed a finger at the Blacktower, ‘to stay with me during the coup. If it succeeds, we will go to the Temple together. If not? I will hand him over to the king myself. He will be released when we are all happy.’

  ‘Yes,’ Balan said tiredly. ‘As we agreed.’ He gave me a warning look, and I shrugged. As we had planned. I’d be delivered to Gal next, but I was not supposed to know that.

  Gal opened his voice and spoke. ‘And you.’ He nodded at Balan, who stiffened. Gal flashed a small, evil smile at Balan. ‘You will come to my house with Taram. Should he,’ he nodded at me, ‘fail in his job, I will alert the king.’

  Balan smiled and nodded at him carefully. ‘We had not agreed thus.’

  Crec was nodding, eyeing Gal with no surprise at all. Lith looked down, and I realized the two guests had already decided on this. The Lord Commander drawled an explanation. ‘We do have to be careful, Balan. Many things can go wrong, and I agree with Gal. My house comes before the land.’ Balan was looking at them, smiling thinly and finally nodded.

  ‘If you and Taram do not come to visit the day after tomorrow, my lord,’ Gal said sternly, ‘the Brothers will be warned, and they will stop your king killing. Your house will fall. We have to have this assurance, heavier than you might have expected. And if we do, we have a deal.’

  ‘Deal?’ Balan chortled, fiddling with his rings. ‘I said yes. Your Highness,’ he bowed to Crec, who
grinned. ‘The Beast of the North,’ Balan saluted them with a rough voice and Lith smiled wildly, grasping Crec’s bicep, which pleased him immensely.

  Gal raised his glass. ‘The alliance of the three,’ he said softly, his eyes never leaving me. ‘You will have a home with the family, nephew. It will take time, but we will figure out a place for you.’ Or rather, where the grave shall be, I thought. I nodded at him, and we did not speak again that evening. He was a relative, but I felt no kinship with him. I would not survive his hospitality, but I was committed. Would Balan and Taram? I doubted it. So did Balan, by the look on his face.

  Balan got up. ‘Rooms have been prepared for you in the inn of a village beyond the wood. It’s just ten minutes away from here. You will be comfortable there.’

  Lith grinned. ‘I will accompany you there,’ she said and gave Crec a smile to melt an iceberg. They ate and drank and finally got up and went out with a gay mood. Gal nodded at me and I to him. His eyes never left the ring.

  Balan was sitting still on his seat. He turned his eyes on me. ‘Yes, Maskan. We must be very careful. And we will be. As I said, you will get your heritance. Though perhaps not as Gal planned it. Greed and lack of trust were ever the banes of lords. That he asked for me? That changes things a bit. Do not worry. We can deal with it.’

  ‘Lith has an artifact, then,’ I told him.

  He raised his eyebrows and stammered. ‘You … seen it?’

  ‘I’ve seen it,’ I told him. ‘Not going to go into details.’

  ‘She showed it to you?’ he asked me. ‘She is reckless.’

  ‘Female faces only, it seems,’ I said. ‘But we appear to have things in common.’

  ‘It is true.’ He smiled. ‘It’s been very useful for us, that artifact. For spying. What face did she take?’

  ‘Doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘So, some innocent will die, wearing Shaduril’s face?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said heavily. ‘We have time aplenty, later, to restore law to the land. There will be sacrifices, Maskan, to reach that goal. Perhaps we shall hang a real female criminal in her stead. I am sure we will find one.’