Bridled Lust

by Faith Eden

  ‘I see,’ Halit replied. ‘What a foolish fellow that master must have been. You are far more beautiful now, princess, don’t you think?’

  ‘If you find me so, master, it must be true,’ Corinna replied, tilting her head coquettishly.

  Halit grinned. ‘You little tease,’ he said, reaching out and stroking her right breast. ‘Perhaps I should leather your bottom for you and see if you are still as flighty after that, eh?’

  ‘Then my bottom will be darker than my head,’ Corinna reposted.

  ‘Except that inside that fair head I think lurk many dark things,’ Halit replied sombrely. ‘You are no air headed slave wench, that is for certain, though you strive to hide the fact well.’

  ‘I think that is a compliment, master?’ Corinna tried her best to look confused, but she realised the slave handler had seen through her and had been seeing through her for some time now. He chuckled and pinched her nipple, tugging at the ring that held the small bell to it.

  ‘And I think you are well used to compliments,’ he said. ‘Is that not so, Lady Corinna?’

  ‘I know she’s told you about me.’ Jekka stood, leaning against the sapling tree, chewing lazily on a long grass stem. At her feet the sack lay, shapeless, dark, but carrying in it half a lifetime of pain and perhaps another half a lifetime of...

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said simply, seeing Savatch’s indecision. ‘Perhaps it would have been better if I could have said these things for myself, but there is so much I cannot begin to understand, let alone explain.’

  ‘There is no need to explain, Marisjekka,’ Savatch replied solemnly. ‘And understanding is, well, something that few of us ever reach.’ Jekka stared back at him for several seconds and then a smile began to spread slowly across her lips.

  ‘I like the way you say that, my lord,’ she said. ‘Please, say it again.’ For a moment or so, Savatch’s face registered his confusion, but then he understood.

  ‘Dear, sweet Marisjekka,’ he said softly, ‘you do not have to do this, you know that.’ Jekka half closed her eyes and Savatch stared in astonishment as she began to tremble, the half chewed straw falling from her grasp.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I think that I must. But it must be started properly, sweet lord, or else my strength might fail me.’ Savatch shook his head and looked away, words failing him for perhaps only the second time in his life.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ he mumbled. ‘This doesn’t seem right at all.’

  Jekka laughed, her fingers fumbling at the clasp of her over-robe. ‘I think maybe we spend too much of our lives worrying about what is right and what is wrong,’ she said. ‘What we feel inside, what we sense, that is what we must do and I know I must do this now, as surely as if I sense I was born for this moment.’ The black robe dropped to the floor behind her.

  ‘There is nothing to prove, Marisjekka,’ Savatch said. ‘You are the bravest woman - the bravest person - that I have ever known, but there is a difference between bravery and...’ He held up his hands and shrugged. Jekka began to giggle, like a young girl, but the light in her eyes was eons old.

  ‘Enough of words, you silly man,’ she said. ‘Unless, that is, you find me so repulsive. Maybe this hair colour?’

  Savatch leaned back on his staff and smiled. ‘Jekka, you would be beautiful even without hair,’ he assured her.

  Jekka laughed again and shook her head in turn. ‘Well, my lord Savatch,’ she said, smirking, ‘very soon now I shall be halfway towards testing that, I think. Unless you think... no, I am sure you don’t.’

  ‘I’m not sure what I think,’ Savatch admitted.

  Jekka’s smile remained fixed. ‘Then don’t think. Come tomorrow I will be entering the realms of the unknown, except that I think you can at least give me a glimpse of what to expect.’

  ‘A glimpse?’ Savatch turned away and walked slowly towards the bushes. ‘I’m not sure what you mean.’

  ‘Then, if I must set it out for you, it is this.’ Jekka stood, hands on hips, and for a moment Savatch saw only the warrior. But then, as he continued to stare, he saw something else.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Now perhaps you understand. Despite what you think, I do know what I am risking and I am happy enough to accept that risk, but with one proviso.’ She paused, looking down at her feet. ‘You know,’ she continued, ‘that I have never been with a man, not in the real sense.’

  ‘That much I suspected,’ Savatch said.

  Jekka raised her eyes to him again. ‘You know also that it is possible... well, you know what is possible, I think?’

  ‘Yes, I know.’

  ‘The choice then will not be mine, other than that the quest must succeed, whatever.’

  ‘I understand that, too.’

  ‘Then understand this also,’ Jekka said. ‘If tomorrow I must submit to some man without choice, then this night, for my first time, I shall submit to the man of my choice. Alanna knows this and she understands. Your Corinna need never know.’

  ‘You know that I love Corinna?’ Savatch said.

  Jekka shrugged. ‘And you know I shall do everything within my power to bring her back for you,’ she replied. ‘In return, I ask only that you prepare me for what I may need to do. Make me your slave this night,’ she finished, simply.

  ‘But—’

  Jekka held up her hand. ‘There is a time for words and a time for actions,’ she said firmly. ‘Everything you need is in this sack here. Everything except me, and I give myself now to you, freely and without reservation. It is my choice. I need to become a slave girl, one of their pony women.’ She giggled again. ‘Make me a pony slave, my lord, and make me a real woman too. I need to understand and there is none I could think of better fitted to teach me.’

  ‘Your secret is safe enough with me, princess,’ Halit whispered, stroking Corinna’s cheek. ‘Whether you look like Corinna through some chance, or whether you look like her because you are her, it will make no difference to Fulgrim’s scheme and, when it is all over, he has promised you to me, which promise he would hardly keep if he learned that you were really the Protector’s daughter.’

  Corinna agreed. Her pulse was slowly returning to normal now that she realised Halit was not about to betray her secret. ‘And my father would reward you handsomely for my safe return,’ she added. Halit guided her down onto the furs and sat beside her.

  ‘Your father may well not be in any position to reward anyone soon,’ he said. ‘Fulgrim intends to oust him from power and turn Illeum into another Vorsan state and he will almost certainly succeed.’

  ‘Only if he captures Garassotta,’ Corinna asserted. ‘If Garassotta stands, then it will be a constant thorn in his side and a threat to all his movements.’

  ‘But Garassotta will not stand,’ Halit said. ‘Not when they see you displayed before the walls as you were the other evening.’

  ‘But if Fulgrim no longer has me, he cannot display me, surely?’ Corinna pointed out.

  Halit smiled at her, but shook his head. ‘If you think I would help you escape,’ he said, ‘then you are very much mistaken. Fulgrim would hunt us both down and I shudder to think of the sort of death I would have at his hands. He has many men here and more coming from both the west and the south. I hear that his force will number more than two thousand within a matter of days and we cannot hope to avoid capture against that sort of number.’

  ‘We could ride west ourselves, through the mountains and into Illeum,’ Corinna suggested. ‘I am not entirely sure where we are, but I know that the mountains are all that separate us from my own country and safety.’

  ‘And I do know exactly where we are,’ Halit said, ‘and I also know that there are few ways over the mountains, even at this time of the year. We would need a guide, warm clothing, lots of food and more luck than any man has reason to expect. It would be suicide to even try it.’

&nb
sp; ‘Then you would rather I sat Fulgrim’s throne before the walls of Garassotta for all men to see?’ Corinna pouted. ‘I have been wicked, it is true and I know that I am merely being punished by the gods, but surely that is too much punishment for one poor girl to endure? I will gladly accept servitude with you if you help me and for as long as you do not tire of me, but not that, please.’

  ‘Tire of you, you say?’ Halit grinned. ‘The hells will first freeze, I think, but to help you would mean I was tired of life itself. It cannot be done, princess, but I think you have courage enough to face whatever ordeal Fulgrim might inflict and then afterwards, when he has achieved his ambitions, I shall take you away safe and sound, back to the peace and quiet of my own lands.

  ‘Meanwhile,’ he said, pressing her back against the furs and gently prising her thighs apart, ‘I think you should remind me just why I am keeping your little secret, don’t you?’

  Corinna sighed. ‘Yes,’ she replied sweetly, ‘I think maybe it is, for I am growing very warm and very wet and I think I have a leak that will shortly be in need of a tight plug, my master.’

  ‘I thought these things were for Alanna and that you were going to wait until—’ Savatch began.

  ‘They are,’ Jekka interrupted him, ‘but first I need to...’

  ‘Yes, I understand,’ Savatch said. ‘I think I understand.’

  ‘There are things...’ Jekka bit her lip and looked down at the ground between them. ‘Some things, I think,’ she whispered, ‘are best learned in what people might call the hard way and some in an easier schoolroom. Except that the hard way, if chosen properly, well, it could be the easier way.’

  ‘Now you have me,’ Savatch confessed. He wanted to smile again, but there was something about the redheaded Valkyr’s expression that stopped him. ‘Is it something you can explain?’ The lantern, swinging from an overhanging branch, cast their shadows starkly upon the canvas of the wagon.

  ‘Not in words, Savatch, not in words,’ Jekka snapped, turning away from him. ‘If it needs words, then it cannot be explained anyway.’

  ‘Ah.’ Savatch scratched his nose and pursed his lips ‘Then if not in words, perhaps in deeds.’

  ‘Perhaps, aye,’ Jekka said. ‘The deeds, however, must be yours in this case.’ She turned again and stabbed a booted toe at the collection of leather on the ground. ‘You know well enough what these are for.’

  ‘Yes,’ Savatch returned. ‘I know well enough and you explained just how you have worked on them. Very clever, as usual.’

  ‘They will not hold a girl now, it is true,’ Jekka said. ‘Unless the girl wishes them to, that is.’

  ‘I see.’ Savatch nodded and Jekka mirrored his action.

  ‘I thought you might,’ she said. The silence hung like a leaden weight between them. Savatch looked again at her face and then down to the pony girl paraphernalia.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Yes indeed.’ There was another pause and then, ‘Where are the others?’

  ‘The men are in their blankets and Alanna has gone to keep watch on the ridge. She will not return until I relieve her.’

  ‘In that case, madam,’ Savatch said, ‘I think you had best remove the rest of your clothing.’

  ‘But shouldn’t you—?’

  Savatch snapped his fingers. ‘Do you question your master?’ he said tersely. Jekka’s eyebrows rose, but she said nothing. Savatch nodded. ‘Better,’ he continued evenly. ‘The first lesson a slave girl must learn is never to question her master, no matter what he says. So now, remove your clothes, Marisjekka. Your master wishes to see you naked.’

  Savatch turned his back on her and walked a few paces away, taking himself out of the immediate pool of lantern light. He stood at the end of the wagon, peering into the darkness, his eyes seeking the slumbering forms he knew circled the dull red glow that was all that remained of their campfire. His ears listened to the silence, in which the sudden rustle of cloth sounded unnaturally loud and Jekka’s suddenly harsh breathing louder still. He wanted to turn, but forced himself to keep looking away.

  ‘I am ready, my master.’ Her voice sounded distant, even in the still night air, and Savatch waited just a few more seconds.

  ‘Are you naked, as ordered?’

  ‘Yes, master. As ordered.’

  Slowly Savatch turned and it was all he could do to suppress a sigh, for the pale body shone like silver in the guttering light, the deep red of her hair forming a stark contrast that was matched only by the twin circlets of her nipples. Jekka stared levelly at him, her eyes unblinking in their usual unnerving way.

  ‘Very nice, Marisjekka Marisalannasdottir,’ Savatch said.

  Jekka’s mouth twitched and her eyes flared momentarily. ‘None may use that name,’ she hissed fiercely.

  ‘A master may call his slave by whatever name he chooses, Marisjekka Marisalannasdottir,’ Savatch countered. He stepped towards her and reached out to touch her firm breasts with the tips of his fingers. He saw her stiffen, but she made no move to withdraw.

  ‘Pretty, Marisjekka,’ he whispered. ‘You have very pretty breasts.’

  ‘Thank you, master.’ Her voice was halting, mechanical. Savatch leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

  ‘A slave may not speak until her master instructs her to,’ he said, ‘but your master forgives you this one time.’ He stooped and brushed another kiss, this time on her right nipple and this time she gave a small gasp. ‘Pick up the girth, slave Marisjekka,’ he said quietly, stepping back again. ‘Pick it up and give it to your master.’

  Opal found Pecon at the edge of the campsite, leaning against what had once been a tree and staring out into the darkness. She moved quietly, but made no attempt to conceal her approach and he turned as she came up to him.

  ‘Don’t worry, young lady,’ he grinned, ‘I wasn’t about to sneak off into the night.’

  ‘I know,’ she replied, returning his smile. ‘You gave your word, remember?’

  ‘Indeed I did,’ Pecon said, ‘as you gave yours to me. And I thank you for putting in a word for me as you did, or I fear your redhead friend would have shot me through on the spot.’

  ‘And I thank you for saving me from those men as you did.’ Opal sighed and turned to look out into the same black void. ‘I find men so strange,’ she said, after a brief silence.

  ‘Just men?’

  ‘Mostly men, yes,’ Opal said. ‘I really don’t understand most of you at all.’

  ‘Why is this so?’

  ‘Well, you for instance. You quite happily abducted this Corinna woman and sold her on without a thought for her fate and yet, the moment you find out she was not a simple slave wench, you are filled with remorse.’

  ‘That’s only natural, surely?’

  ‘And did you lay with her, when you thought she was just a simple slave?’

  ‘Does that really matter?’

  ‘Probably not,’ Opal retorted, ‘at least, not to you. But would you do the same with her now that you know who she really is?’

  ‘I doubt I’d get the chance,’ Pecon guffawed. ‘She’s the daughter of the Protector of Illeum, for the heavens sake!’

  ‘Does that mean that she now has bigger breasts or...’ Opal broke off, shaking her head. ‘I think you know what I mean.’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ Pecon said. ‘But there are many things you cannot understand. There is an order in this world and it will only ever change slowly, if at all. Slaves are slaves, free men and women are free men and women and the nobles are whatever nobles choose to be. Lady Corinna chose to play at being a slave and now she truly is one. I cannot be blamed for that, or for treating her as she apparently sought to be treated, albeit only by her lover. Who is right now playing similar games with your redhead friend, in case you didn’t know.’

  ‘He is?’ Opal paused to consider this. ‘Strange,’ she eventually s
aid. ‘I thought there was something between Savatch and Alanna.’

  ‘And I think you are right,’ Pecon said, ‘but whatever is between them is far deeper than the mere physical and it goes back some little time, I suspect. But Jekka also has feelings towards his lordship and I saw it immediately in her eyes when we first arrived here. Whether his feelings for her are the same, I could not say, but I fancy he’s giving himself a good opportunity to find out right now.’

  ‘And what of your feelings, Master Pecon?’ Opal demanded. ‘Do you have any at all. The girl, Demila, for instance, is very much in love with you. Even I could see that.’

  ‘Yes, she probably is,’ Pecon sighed, ‘or at least she imagines herself so.’

  ‘But you will still sell her when you tire of her and if the price is right, yes?’

  ‘Possibly,’ Pecon admitted. ‘But probably not for a good long while yet. I do like her and she has a rare loyalty, though my life is not an easy one to share, as she will find out in time.’

  ‘Not easy to share?’ Opal echoed angrily. ‘You keep her bald, hooded, in chains and you worry about an uneasy future for her. Damn you, Master Pecon, if that doesn’t take the bottom card from the deck!’

  ‘I only said my own life was not easy,’ Pecon retorted. ‘I never said a slave’s life was, but she would be better off sleeping in some great house, where she would get hot meals, warm baths and would only be expected to open her pretty legs for her master once in a while, whenever her turn came.’

  ‘And that’s good, is it? That’s an easy life, to just put up with being treated as a plaything and fucked occasionally until your looks go and be grateful that your master feeds and waters you?’

  ‘There are worse lives,’ Pecon said. ‘The one you have chosen will be far harder, assuming you survive this crazy plan our new friends have hatched. You don’t truly mean to go in there with the other two, do you?’

  ‘And why not?’ Opal demanded indignantly. ‘I can wield a sword with the best and shoot straight as any. Besides, it is my duty to serve and the Lady Alanna is second only now to our Queen. I must go where she goes.’