Untouched Concubine

by Lisa Rusczyk

  The Untouched Concubine

  by Lisa Rusczyk

  Cover Art by Mikie Hazard

  Dedicated to lovers and dreamers.

  Mandia held her father’s hand as he condemned the Farna soldiers in front of them. Mandia’s father spoke softly for a king, saying, “Farna destroys everything in its path, takes over countries, forces women and children in ways unspeakable. Your tactics are known, even here in the West. You are all condemned to die by hanging in the morning.”

  But there was a small boy among them, and Mandia couldn’t see how her father would even consider taking this one to his death. She tugged his hand. “Father, but the child…”

  He glanced down at her and squeezed her hand. “He will grow into a monster.”

  “But he could be my friend. He could be a neighbor.”

  “He dies. You’ll understand when you are older, Mandia.”

  Mandia let go of her father’s hand and walked to the boy. He had his head down, shaggy, dark hair covering his face. He didn’t shake or show fear. She sensed shame. Shame at what, she wondered.

  “I don’t want you to die,” she whispered to him.

  He lifted his green eyes to hers. He spoke in another language, then bowed his head again.

  Mandia turned and begged, “Please, Father, don’t kill him, please. For me.”

  “Mandia, go back home. I brought you here to see what your enemies look like, their curly hair and green, glowing eyes. Like wild cats they are, and as viscous as wild beasts. I educate you. Now go.” He still spoke softly.

  Mandia left in tears.

  ~~~

  Eight years passed since the Farna soldiers had been hung. Her father had not let her watch that day, but she knew it happened.

  Mandia was now eighteen, with hips her mother said would pop out babies in a matter of minutes and a bust that balanced them well. It wasn’t fashionable to be so curvy, but being a princess was. Still, Mandia would have had her share of male companions had the war not been raging for two years. Her home city of Crona was at the edge of the sea, and the war between her homeland and the kingdom of Lenn to the south was encroaching on Crona. Lenn’s King Herean was deadly, bloodthirsty and terrifying the whole county, taking every society down in his vicious path. Any day, the city would be filled with sword fighting and pillaging. Her father had died on the battlefield a year ago, and Crona was falling apart without his wise leadership.

  Mandia was afraid. She twisted her straight, blond hair into knots and let the ends fray, not wanting to appear in any way attractive to the Lenn fighters who would most likely capture their city of Crona by the end of the week.

  It seemed like the city should be in madness. But it was quiet. Nobody left their houses. Most soldiers were dead; they had been protecting outlying posts of the kingdom. Lenn’s takeover was going to happen and there was nothing anyone could do, so they all stayed silent and prayed to the goddesses of the sky and light to make their deaths swift and to carry them into the clouds to rest for eternity.

  The men would be killed straight away.

  The women’s fates would be worse.

  ~~~

  The fires could be seen to the south. Lenn was coming for Crona. Mandia hid in her bed, scared, but assured something would happen, anything would happen to prevent the end so many were frightened of.

  A knock on her door.

  “Mandia,” whispered her mother. She opened the door and came in. She was carrying a blue cloth bag and wearing men's clothes. Her own blond hair was tucked into a baggy cap. In her other hand she carried clothes.

  “Mother, what are you doing?”

  “We’re leaving. Tonight. I will not let them hurt you. Or me. Put on these clothes.”

  Mandia got out of bed and took the clothing. They were Crona men’s clothes, brown pants made from cotton and a black, slip-over dock worker’s shirt.

  “And a hat to cover your hair,” her mother added, handing it to her. Mandia pushed her knotted hair into the hat and put on the clothes.

  “Don’t be scared,” her mother said. “I know a safe place we can go. Speak to no one. Let me do all the talking. You are my son now. You hear me?” She looked over Mandia. “Those breasts. We have to do something about them. Take off your shirt.”

  Mandia did. Her mother took a scarf from Mandia’s dresser and wrapped her breasts tightly against her body so she could hardly breathe.

  “You just had to get your grandmother’s form. Come now, we go out the servant’s door.”

  ~~~

  They traveled for three nights, sleeping in the day. Mandia tried to forget the sounds of the screams from Crona in the distance that first day, the smells of the burning city, and her heart wept for all her people’s terrible fates. What would her own be?

  On the fourth day, they travelled all day, too, and Mandia and her mother reached a brook in the forest. They had been following a deer path, and her mother hadn’t explained why she knew the way. They had run into a couple of bandits along the path, but not much was said. Her mother used a gruff, low voice and spoke with a Lenn accent. The bandits showed no interest in Mandia.

  They slept by the brook that night and near dawn, Mandia’s mother woke her. “We need to bathe. Must keep clean so we don’t get sick. We bathe by the last of the starlight.”

  “Where are we going, Mother?” Mandia had learned long ago to only speak to her mother when being spoken to. It was a Crona tradition that daughters respect their mothers above all else. It was a way of give homage to the goddesses. But she was scared and needed to know something, anything.

  “I know of a place. In Lenn. I know Lenn is responsible for the king’s death and the destruction of our whole society, but there is a haven there. It is hidden, but I have been given instructions. Trust me, lovely daughter. Now undress so we can bathe.”

  They stripped off their clothes. Mandia was glad to have the scarf off her chest and took a deep breath before slipping into the cool brook waters. She untied the greasy knots from her locks and used the soap her mother gave her to rinse all over her skin and hair. It felt wonderful and she spread out in the water and closed her eyes.

  She felt a hand grab her wrist. “Got you, you sneaky little girl.”

  She opened her eyes in terror. A man stood above her, holding her arm now, and grabbing at her hips with his other hand. She looked over his shoulder and saw her mother being dragged out of the water by another man with his hand over her mouth.

  Mandia fought her captor, but to no avail. He pulled her from the brook and laid her flat on her belly, tying her hands behind her back. She saw the other man doing the same to her mother.

  The man with her mother said, “Throw them in the cage with a blanket over them. Gag them. Do not dare touch them or I’ll kill you. This young one will get a very nice price.”

  Mandia still struggled as the man who caught her picked her up and loaded her twisting, naked body into a wooden cage. Her mother was put in after her. The men gagged them with foul-tasting rags.

  “Make a sound and you’re both dead, slowly dead.” They threw a blanket over them and Mandia felt the cage being lifted onto a cart.

  The men must have been some of the bandits they’d run into on the deer path. Her mother’s disguises hadn’t been good enough. Why didn’t they hear them coming? Had they come in the night? Who were these men? Who were they going to sell them to? And worse, what for?

  ~~~

  They were only ungagged to be fed, and only at night. Her mother whispered warm words of comfort, but her eyes betrayed her fear. Mandia was not shy about her nakedness, but she was cold. The blanket over then was nothing more than a wool tarp and a chill ate at Mandia at all times.

  How many days passed
this way? Mandia was more afraid for her mother than herself. The woman looked weaker every time they were fed. Most likely, she would become a slave and Mandia would become a man's plaything. She could find an escape, she had to. She knew she was clever, but if they were parted, she would never give up looking for her mother.

  It was late afternoon the first time the bandits stopped and lifted the tarp by daylight. Two men stood before them.

  They had long, curly brown hair and gleaming green eyes.

  One bandit said, "Look at their golden hair."

  One of the Farnans said, "They are dirty and underfed. How do you treat your slaves?"

  The other bandit said, "Do you want them or not? The young one is beautiful enough to be a concubine for a soldier. Look at her eyes and breasts."

  The same Farnan spoke again. "Wash them and bring them back here tomorrow. And for Goddess's sake, dress them." His accent was thick, but Mandia understood every word.

  The next day, Mandia and her mother walked, wrists tied, through a chilly forest. The landscape was so foreign to Mandia, who was used to the sea. The Farnans looked long upon them, and one nodded his curly-haired head.

  "You have done well. Seventy ginns, no more."

  "Surely we deserve more. We bought them new dresses. You must at least pay for the dresses."

  "Seventy-five. Do we have a deal?"

  Mandia and her mother were handed over to the Farnans. The bandits took their ginn and left without looking back.

  The leader of the group said, "You are from Crona. Only those with hair and accents like yours are from so far west."

  Mandia looked at her mother. Could she do any talking yet?

  Her mother said, "We are simple women of Crona, yes."

  "Crona has killed Farnan soldiers," said the leader.

  Her mother said, "I know nothing of it."

  "You look alike," he said. "Are you related?"

  Her mother said, "She is my daughter. Her father is dead. Take me, not her. She is spoiled. I am mature and know how to please a man. I will make it worth your loss. I can prove to you what I say."

  The Farnan looked her over with a slight smile. "Tempting, but the thieves were right. Your daughter will be a fine concubine for a soldier. We will make six times the ginn on her than we paid."

  ~~~

  Three weeks later, after riding in a caravan of Farnans and horses, Mandia was growing stronger as her mother weakened even more. The Farnans surprisingly treated the two women much better than the bandits had. They never looked upon them with lust or disgust, but rather treated them as valuables not to be tampered with. They were fed meat and bread and corn, drank juices and water. Mandia whispered to her mother often, asking if she was alright, and her mother always said, "I am so sorry. I thought we could escape. This is all my fault."

  Mandia would reply, "We are in this together, and nothing can stop us. We'll escape."

  But they were heavily guarded and no escape presented itself.

  They arrived in Farna four weeks after the exchange with the bandits. The land had gone from forest to jungle, and the city of Farna wove out before them in white buildings covered in lush green vines. The buildings were dome-shaped and brown bricks lined the curving roads. Everything looked so pristine, not at all what Mandia expected from the vicious Farnans.

  Once inside the city, the two women were led to a large bathhouse, washed, and dressed. Mandia's mother was clothed in a dark brown gown, and sandals were placed on her feet by silent women with long, dark curly hair and green eyes. Mandia tried to ask them questions, but they did not understand her language.

  Mandia was dressed quite differently. The adorned her in a velvety deep red, low cut dress with a slit up the side of her right leg. Her hips were emphasized with a satin wrap that fell over her left side. Her long, blonde hair was let loose and washed four times with sweet-smelling soaps until it shined like the sun itself. She had never looked so beautiful, she thought as she looked in the mirror as the Farnan women finished dressing her.

  She was to be sold for a high price, after all.

  There still had to be a way to escape, before she was separated from her mother.

  But Mandia realized as they finished dressing her, it was too late. They led her mother away from her at once, and her mother wailed. "Take me! Let her go, take me!"

  Mandia stayed strong for her mother, but she felt tears prick behind her lids. She called out, "I'll find you, Mother, I'll find you!"

  ~~~

  Mandia was led to a large room filled with soldiers. Stairs flowed up into a balcony. The white walls seemed to suffocate her.

  Mandia was lined up with seven other women, all dressed as she was. Skin powdered and hair shined, dresses showed skin and accented bodily features.

  A group of Farnan soldiers stood before them, examining them. None of them laid a finger on the women, they just looked. The Farnan women who had dressed Mandia were to be the sellers. How could women do this to their own kind, Mandia wondered.

  All of the soldiers pondered over her and her golden hair. They acted as though they'd never seen a blonde. One man reached up to touch her hair, but a Farnan seller woman slapped his hand down and said something.

  He chuckled and reached in his pack, pulling out a large amount of gold coins.

  The woman shook her head.

  Another man who had been admiring Mandia took out more gold coins than the first, and still the woman shook her head. A third man brought out bag so full of gold coins that the threads of the bag strained.

  The woman's eyebrow lifted.

  A man's voice called from the balcony above. Mandia looked up and saw him. He had curly brown hair falling over his cheekbones, green flashing eyes, and daggers at his hips.

  Everyone fell silent. Why, Mandia wondered, had this man stopped everything? She sensed he commanded some sort of high respect from the men and women in the room. Even the other concubine women were still, as though something dreadful had happened.

  The man was about her age, from what she could tell. The other soldiers were older than her by ten years, at least. Why did such a young Farnan soldier garner this reaction?

  He walked down the stairs slowly, cat-like. His footfalls made no sounds. He came up to Mandia and stared into her blue eyes. His own eyes had no flecks of gold or brown, just emerald green. His lips parted, moist and full. He was a handsome man, but Mandia felt afraid of him. Was it because of the stillness in the room?

  Without taking his eyes off hers, he said something to the seller woman. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a diamond necklace that had to be more valuable than Mandia's home.

  The seller woman snatched it up and said something with a wide grin. The other men shuffled away, glancing back at Mandia with lustful longing.

  The man who had bought her with such great wealth took a red ribbon from the seller woman. He walked to Mandia's side, where her leg stood exposed, and gently tugged her hair. She realized he was braiding the red ribbon into a thread of her hair. Was this some sign that she was his? That she was now officially a Farnan soldier's concubine?

  He said in her language, "Come with me. I am taking you home now. You live with me."

  She hid her shaking hands behind her back and followed him, eying the daggers at his hips.

  The man walked with a straight back, yet somehow prowled at the same time. He led her through the streets and almost everyone turned to stare at them. She heard whispering. Surely this couldn't be so uncommon as to draw this much attention. Who was this mysterious man? He only stopped once to speak in Farnan to a shopkeeper, then they continued through the city.

  They stopped at a silver-lined wooden door of a large, dome-shaped white house. He opened the door and gestured for her to go inside. Now that she was there, she was terrified of what he was going to do to her behind that door. She had never been so much as kissed by a man, or even had her hand held. Her father had said she was to be sheltered until she was of marriagea
ble age, then she would accept suitors in a respectable manner with her mother always at her side until the wedding night.

  She was to be queen of Crona, after all. But Crona was no more, her father was dead, and her mother was a slave. Reality was hitting her.

  What would this man, this gorgeous, yet obviously dangerous, young man going to do with her?

  He touched her back. She flinched. "Go on in."

  Her legs shook as she crossed the threshold. He closed the door behind them.

  "Have a seat." His Crona language was near-flawless. This man had traveled a good bit in his life.

  The room was full of stark furniture, none of which looked comfortable. She obediently sat on a hard, wooden chair, unable to hide her shaking now.

  He said, "It's growing dark. You will sleep with me. But first, we eat."

  He opened a cabinet and brought out some dried meats and fruit. She was too nervous to take a bite, but his green, glowing eyes ate her alive until she slipped a piece of jerky into her pink mouth.

  It was delicious. The fruit was even better. He may be able to provide well for her, but at what cost?

  She had to escape before something happened, she had to find her mother. But how?

  "Come," he said when they finished eating. "It is time for bed. I have had a gown sent for you, and tomorrow you will go shopping for some clothes."

  He opened the front door and retrieved a package. He unwrapped it and took out a white, satin gown and handed it to her. He left the room.

  She shook as she undressed from the velvet red dress. She could slip out the front door now, he wasn't looking. But he had locked the front door with a heavy key. How could she get through that?

  She pulled the soft fabric over her body. The sensation was delightful in the jungle air, and the red dress had been constricting.

  She inched slowly into the room the man, whose name she still didn't know, had gone into.

  He lay in a large bed covered with furs. He gestured for her to join him.