"Pausing to sight see, Gerid? I thought that you were desperate to meet this girl, Tabitha," Catiya's voice teased from behind him.
Gerid turned to find the young woman clad in only a brief robe of silk. The thin material glistened with the bloody light of the middle moon. The length of the garment was much too short as if it were actually made more for a child, rather than the young woman before him. Her breasts seemed to strain against the material trying to win their way free from above the cinched belt. Following the line of the material, Gerid's roving eyes noticed the shadow between her thighs could still be seen revealed to the soft light of the moon. "Nice robe," he commented as he worriedly moved his eyes up again to her shadowed face. The fear that she was trying to seduce him again seemed to be bearing itself out.
Catiya sighed and tried to tug the garment lower to cover herself. The effort failed miserably and only served to draw more attention to her breasts as her nipples pressed against the material. "I am sorry. It is the best that I have," she complained. "I don't usually wear anything to bed in the summer. It's just too warm and muggy most of the time here. During the winter, I wear old shirts left over from Karma and they are all in even worse shape, I assure you." The girl grinned from one side of her mouth in embarrassment. "I am waiting for him to wear out some more before this winter hits or I may get kind of cold otherwise."
Gerid had returned his gaze to the terrace view of the small grove of trees, which served to separate the main house from the servants' quarters and barns. "I'm surprised that you just don't have a seamstress make something nice for you. Surely your father would rather have his daughter covered in something other than rags."
Catiya shrugged carefully as she held the robe tightly. "I never asked, besides Karma's shirts are actually better for sleeping anyway. I like them broken in and soft. He does a fair job of that, I think."
They heard a tapping from within the room only a moment later. "Oh, she's here!" the girl exclaimed happily and ran quickly to find the door. Gerid followed more slowly. As they entered, the door opened quietly as Tabitha let her self into the bedroom. Catiya lit a small lamp for them that only brightened a small portion of the room. The three could barely see any of the furniture and nothing of the walls, but at least they could find each other.
Seeing his beloved clad in a longer version of Catiya's robe with the lace of a nightgown peeking from within as well, Gerid found himself overcome by his love and quickly moved forward to kiss and embrace Tabitha. "Hi," he whispered quietly into her ear letting his breath tickle her slightly.
The woman's eyes sparkled in the dim lamp light as she looked up at him. His heart shook within his chest as if this were the first time that he had been with her. She seemed nearly as overwhelmed. "Hi," Tabitha whispered back shyly.
"Well, I can see that I'll only get in your way now," Catiya replied quietly from somewhere just within the shadows. Gerid thought that her voice broke slightly and wondered at her feelings about this reunion, but she continued bravely on, "There is a couch in my side room. You two are free to use my bed."
"We didn't mean for you to lose your own bed, Catiya. Are you sure about this? We could slip away to the fields otherwise," Gerid said looking worriedly at the girl, though she remained in the shadows.
With another shrug, Catiya gestured towards the large canopied bed occupying a fair portion of the bedroom. "Don't worry about me, Gerid. Take it as my gift, besides I've slept on the couch often enough. I actually like using my couch more in the summer anyway." Catiya started to leave the room before she added, "Have fun," though her voice didn't seem to truly mean it. With a quiet swoosh of wood moving in its track followed by a thud, the sliding door closed behind her fleeing form.
Upon Catiya's disappearance, Gerid caressed his beloved gently and steered the woman towards the canopied bed with little resistance. Tabitha slid off her robe and allowed herself to be led. She sat waiting for him as he pulled off his shirt and worked at his breeches. Gerid noticed that the woman made no effort to remove the lace nightgown.
Still wearing the pants, he sat beside Tabitha laying his arm around her. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
Refusing to look at him, she retaliated with another question, "What exactly did you have to do for Catiya to get these privileges, Gerid?" Her voice was calm and he thought that she withheld any accusations, but the demand for the truth was adamant.
Sighing, the man moved to kneel before her. Cupping her chin carefully, the man gently tilted her face to look at him. "If you're asking whether I had to sleep with her to get us back together or something, I think that you are completely out of line. I told you of her first and only advances towards me. We became friends instead, Tabitha, because I love only you."
"She was hardly wearing anything when she met us, Gerid," she stated firmly. "A towel could have covered her better than that silk. It's shameless and you refuse to believe it."
"Tabitha..." he started. Standing, the woman moved towards the terrace and away from him. "I think that she loves you, Gerid. Do you love her?"
He followed her slightly hunched with his worry. "She's my friend and the mistress of the house. She is close to me, but I am in love with you and you only. She cannot take my heart away from you, my love. You can trust me." Gerid rubbed her shoulders gently. He moved his hands slowly forward and found the string that tied the folds of the nightgown around her neck. With a twist he released the bond and his hands moved within the silk to slide the garment from her shoulders. He felt her shudder with tensely held excitement as he kissed her shoulders and neck as he knew she liked him to do.
"Good enough," she sighed with a nod. Tabitha's fingers deftly freed the buttons on the gown and opened the garment so that it could slide fully to the ground around her feet. The woman turned in his embrace and playfully bit into the skin of his chest. "Then you had better warn that girl that she'll never get you. If she does not like it, I will fight her with every ounce of my being."
Pushing him aggressively back to the bed, Gerid was pleasantly surprised by her determination. It was as if she were now using her passion to fight for him. The man couldn't understand her worry. After all, he had never given in to Catiya before though he had ample opportunity. Tabitha should have known by now that her lover would not fail her in his resolve. The North Continent's people were known for their bull headed determination and he had made up his mind long ago about this.
For the next few hours, they made love out of passion. Taking brief rests, Gerid found his lover nearly tireless this night. She had always had a healthy passion, but Catiya's nearness seemed to act like a new fuel for her strength.
Gelinas' moon began to rise in the east as Tabitha finally fell asleep. Dawn would not be far off, but Gerid could not sleep this night as he gazed at the woman beside him bathed in the moon's light. Lying atop the covers in the warm summer night, she glistened with a light sheen of perspiration. His eyes slowly measured every hill and valley committing to memory every last glorious piece of her.
He fell sound asleep with the image of her burned into his mind. Gerid felt a weight upon his arm and a gentle shaking of a hand shoving at the side of his chest. His dreams had been filled with troubling yet exciting images of both Tabitha and Catiya. Often they fought before him as his subconscious worried over his relationships with both women. The nudging finally forced his awakening. His eyes cracked open to look at Tabitha to his right. The sky was lightening beyond her at the terraced opening. Looking to the weight nudging him from his left, Gerid found Catiya leaning naked across his arm. This time was not a dream.
"Catiya?" he moaned still half asleep.
"Get up," she ordered demandingly. Her voice sounded anxious as her eyes strayed to the sky beyond. "You and Tabitha need to leave quickly. The sun is nearly up and the both of you are still not awake. You both need to get back where you belong before people notice your disappearance."
Waking Tabitha, they quickly dressed while Catiya sat anxiousl
y waiting in a stuffed chair. She refused to dress, though no one would ask her aloud, and Gerid could see that it bothered his lover. He had no time to worry over such things now though. With a hurried but passionate kiss for Tabitha, the three parted company to quickly return to their own rooms.
Gerid slipped back over the terrace railing while Tabitha quickly swept through the hallway to the room that she shared with the other maidens. Neither witnessed as Catiya slid into her bed. The girl pulled the pillow that Gerid had lain upon to her face and breathed in his scent. She soon fell asleep even as her tears ran down her cheeks.
Chapter 14- Gods, Love and War
It was only a few weeks later that the soldiers returned home from battle with Kloste. The Holtein mercenary company returned with Kolonus Holtein leading their remaining troops. Gerid had learned that, when they had first left for the war, there had been roughly two hundred men. The company once consisting of one hundred and fifty free men that had hired on for wages and forty-seven slaves, with ten of officer rank, now came limping back with less than a hundred men.
The household had all seen their return and also witnessed an explosion of anger from Kolonus when his brother Carter met him at the road. The king's generals had apparently put the various mercenary divisions into the forefront of the battles. If not for Kolonus' abilities to lead them to less vicious battles, there might not have been any left to lead back this time, he insisted to Carter.
"That General Globus," he fumed, "he ordered us to the center in the battle for the plain of Ylatus, Carter. I thought that you said that you had the king's favor! I mean, don't get me wrong, I know that we're perhaps his best company, but to sacrifice my men over such a worthless piece of land!" Kolonus bellowed angrily. Gerid could hear the words well enough from where he had come to watch the reunion. The slave moved a bit closer, however, in the effort to hear something that might be said that he could turn to his best advantage.
Carter had listened calmly to his brother's ranting along with Karma at his side. The look of steel from the master's eyes proved that he disliked his younger brother's words. In a flat voice that seemed made of stone, the elder brother answered, "Perhaps you have grown too soft, Kolonus. Years ago you would have relished the chance to lead the attack. As long as you survive, you should have no complaints. I am glad that the king has seen the quality of my troops. If we continue to prove that our methods work, perhaps he'll see fit to pay us for even more soldiers."
"But, Carter, we lost nearly half the men. Many of them were from our best ever..." Kolonus protested.
The cords in Carter's jaw stiffened significantly with each word. "No more. Give the survivors their pay and have the families of the dead informed. We'll begin paying the assured amounts that their soldiers signed on for immediately. At the end of the month, I think that we'll need to rehire and train the next company for next year. The king's current treaty will be over this spring and we both know that he'll try to conquer Kloste once again as he does every year."
Carter turned abruptly followed by a pair of his personal guards and left Kolonus behind to stare after him stunned. Karma shook his head at his uncle sadly. "You've begun to grow overly attached to your men, uncle. You have warned me against that since I was a boy. A single battle could bring a quick end to them as you said."
The older man nodded shame facedly. "I guess that's it, boy. That and I hate to risk their lives and my own for no real reason at the same time. There were some truly great soldiers that died for our king this year, Karma. I hope that we can find a way to replace so many."
"Don't worry, uncle," Karma replied casually shooing the words away from him, "the king always conscripts enough free men to cover our losses. In the meantime, I think that we can give you at least a few, good, strong, warriors from our current group of slaves already. In fact, let me introduce you to perhaps the best warrior that I've ever come across. Gerid..." he beckoned surprising the said warrior by the abrupt change in focus.
Gerid had never heard any good word from Karma before let alone one of praise. The words stunned him truly, but still he came forward.
"Uncle, this is Gerid."
Kolonus had to look up significantly to stare up into Gerid's face, but he was smiling. "He's big. Powerful too, I'd reckon. Can he fight?"
The singing of metal being drawn from its sheath drew their attention to Karma's sword. It glimmered in the mid-day light as he handed the blade to Gerid. "Why don't you see for yourself, uncle? That is if you are not too tired from the long march, of course."
Kolonus scowled at his nephew severely, "I am not so old that I cannot fight any man who dares after a march like this. In fact, I ought to teach you a lesson first, young man." Instead, he turned to face Gerid. "Don't worry I'll try to go easy on you, boy."
Moving quickly into a swordsman’s posture, Gerid prepared to counter the first attack while Karma backed away smiling. "Don't bother, sir. I'm better than I look even," he laughed.
Chuckling, Kolonus thrust forward testing Gerid. Countering effortlessly, the younger man returned the attack with a half hearted one of his own. They weren't fighting for real, after all, and he didn't wish to kill someone who could help him one day. The older man still smiled as he attacked aggressively. Gerid was forced to step back slightly as he fended off blow after blow.
Both combatants quickly realized the other was worthy of their true attention. Kolonus stepped in with even more intricate maneuvers trying to find Gerid's weaknesses or to perhaps overwhelm him in the process of looking.
A strange feeling began to possess Gerid as they struggled. His patience began to wane as the act of battle renewed a bloodlust that he had felt off and on for over a month after the bandit attack. The young warrior had prayed that it had disappeared forever, but he started reacting to Kolonus’s movements more determinedly. The youth refused to back down now that it was getting interesting. Solidifying his resistance even further, Gerid began to change his tactics in mid stride. Moving from his defensive posture, he began to strike back strongly. Drawing upon his nearly inexhaustible strength, the warrior began to rain blow after thunderous blow on the other's sword.
Not slowing his efforts or yielding any openings, Gerid began to drive the older man back. Kolonus's eyes began to widen in fear. "Enough!" he exclaimed breathlessly.
A final powerful stroke from Gerid's sword sent the man staggering backwards.
"Giving up already?" Gerid asked breathing only slightly harder. "You were the best test that I've had yet. Perhaps you can teach me a few of those maneuvers that you used on me one of these days. It'll give me that much more of an edge aside from my strength and speed." He flipped the sword in his hand to grab the blade and handed it back to its owner.
Kolonus looked up at him breathing hard. "Incredible. You are hardly winded. How did such a warrior become a slave? Where did you earn such skill?"
"I was a shepherd in Marshalla on the North Continent before our lord proved to be too evil to stay there. My brother and I had been given some training from a retired soldier before we left there. Pirates left us little recourse but to surrender when we sailed for a new home. Unlike the land, there is nowhere to run when you are outnumbered and when you're a long way from land survival sometimes means surrender."
"A shepherd," Kolonus said shaking his head. "Was your brother brought here as well? Two such warriors would indeed be a quick start towards an undefeatable force."
"My brother wasn't a fighter like myself and your family doesn't own him either."
"That’s too bad. I was beginning to think great thoughts of glory for us. Ah well, like Karma said, it’s a start."
"Hold on a moment," Gerid interrupted and held up a hand to give Kolonus pause. "Before you start counting on me, I want to ask for a condition to my fighting."
Kolonus looked at him angrily. "You are a slave. You will do as you are told."
With a harsh glare that made even the grizzled veteran flinch from its intensity, Gerid
growled, "That is what I want changed. I will gladly fight for you for a time, but with the condition that I can earn my freedom in the process."
"What?" both Kolonus and Karma echoed each other's cry?
"You heard me. I want a contract that guarantees my freedom after two years' service as your warrior. After that time, I want the right to continue on as a free man, if I desire. Otherwise, I may just as well remain here."
"What if I give you no choice?" Kolonus demanded angrily.
Gerid's eyes narrowed in reply, "You'd be better off with my loyalty guaranteed than to fear a sword in the back from your own soldier."
Kolonus face darkened, but he replied evenly, "Three seasons."
"Uncle!" Karma shouted astonished.
"Two and I'll remain the following winter to train new men for you. Remember, that I may remain as a free man anyway for a time."
"Agreed."
"Uncle, you can't make that decision without my father's permission," Karma insisted.
The older man glared at his nephew, "I'll get it."
"I want it written into a contract and signed properly," Gerid added as the older man started to stalk away to the main house.
Kolonus turned and stated angrily, "You'll get your contract, boy. Who knows? You may not live to fulfill it anyway. Two years is a long time fighting in this country."
Over the next few weeks, Gerid soon had little time or opportunity to visit Tabitha. Catiya tried to watch some of his training as the new recruits began arriving, but between her uncle's wishes for no interruptions and her increasing boredom with the soldiers' activities, she returned only seldom. Without the women to distract him, Gerid dedicated his mind and body to the rigors of the Holtein battle training.
The High King: A Tale of Alus Page 11
