Liberator

by Jones, Loren K.

Robin received a few indecent proposals, and accepted one from a young man named Stuart. He was a stranger to Java, but Lord Ahern said he was a good man.

  Java did not receive any such proposals, so she waited until she was dancing with Ralf and made her own suggestion.

  “Java, you can’t be serious!” Ralf whispered when he stopped sputtering.

  “Of course I can. Unless you have someone special. I’m not a poacher.” She giggled, seeing him blush.

  “No, no one special. But, you’re a lady. A princess. You can’t…I mean…you shouldn’t…”

  “I can, Ralf. I’m a merc. Being a lady is nothing special.” She tilted her head to the side, smiling. “Don’t you want to? Or is it just me?”

  “Oh, Java, you know how I felt. I told you. But, I don’t, I haven’t, I mean…” Ralf sputtered a little, embarrassed.

  “Then it’s time you did,” she said softly.

  The party carried on late into the night, and Java didn’t see Ralf very much after she shocked him. When the partygoers started passing out from too much beer, she went looking for him.

  Ralf had his own space in the stable. He had bragged about it to Java, explaining that one of his duties was to stay by any mare in foal, just in case. Java located his room and eased in.

  Ralf was there, but not asleep. “Java? Oh, Java, are you sure?”

  “I’m sure, Ralf,” she whispered, easing down beside him. “Are you frightened? You’re shivering.”

  “I’m not sure what I am, Java. I don’t know how…I’ve never…”

  “Shhh, it’s all right,” Java said softly. “Let me show you.”

  *

  The morning sun found Ralf sleeping in Java’s arms as she caressed his hair. I wonder what it’s really like for a boy the first time. Jah’Moke and I never spoke about his feelings after our first time. I only know how I felt. I wonder how he’s doing? She grimaced. I wonder how he’d react to this? But I told him to be happy. I hope he hasn’t been lonely. Then her mode darkened. I hope he hasn’t fallen for someone else. Oh, why did I do this? Why did I write that letter?

  Ralf stirred, then jerked awake. “Java? It wasn’t a dream?”

  Java smiled and held him. “No, Ralf, it wasn’t a dream. Was it what you expected?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know what I expected.” He eased up on to his elbows, looking into her eyes, then at her bare breasts. Leaning slowly down, he kissed both of her nipples.

  “You seem to have the idea,” she murmured.

  “Java, what will they say if they find you here?” Ralf was wide-eyed with worry.

  “Don’t concern yourself, Ralf. I’m much too old to worry about my reputation with the men. And, to tell the truth, I don’t expect anyone to notice.” She grinned, and stepped out of his bed, smiling as his eyes devoured her. “The sun’s just rising. Not many will be up yet. The only way most will know is if you tell them.” She looked at him, studying his eyes.

  “I won’t, Java. They wouldn’t believe me anyway.” Ralf stepped carefully out of bed, covering his groin with the blanket.

  Java smiled at his bashfulness, then turned her back. A touch, just a finger tracing one of her whip scars, caused her to shiver. “Don’t ever forget this, Ralf. This is my gift to the woman you marry.” She turned back, her bare breasts glowing softly in the early light. Hanging her arms gently around his neck, she kissed him. “Remember to always touch, caress, love her whole body. There is significantly more to making love than the act of sex.”

  Ralf’s hands moved, caressing her back, sliding down and cupping her buttocks. He kissed her, following her lead. “I won’t, Java. This is something I’ll always remember,” he whispered into her ear, feeling her shiver. Kel’s voice shouting his name caused him to back quickly away from her, his eyes wide with panic.

  Java simply smiled and put on her pants, then slipped on her blouse, not bothering to button it. Sliding the door open, she walked out past a very surprised Kel with a two-finger-wide gap down her front advertising the fact that her breast-band was in her hand. “Morning,” was her only comment as she slipped past him, seeing his eyes widen as the implications of her being in Ralf’s room hit him.

  Kel looked after Java as she sauntered away, then looked in on Ralf. The boy was standing in the center of his room with a blanket clutched at his waist. Shaking his head, Kel began to chuckle.

  “Put your pants on, boy. Or young man, seeing who just walked out of here.” He shook his head, starting to really laugh. “I guess that puts an end to any doubt, doesn’t it, Ralf?”

  Ralf simply nodded, then fell back on his bed. His head hit the wall with an audible thud, and he leaned forward clasping both hands to the back of his head and cursing.

  Kel laughed again, and slid the door closed. He shook his head slowly as a grin split his face. If there’s still any doubts as to Java’s preferences, this should settle them. She obviously isn’t trying to keep it a secret.

  Java and Robin spent six days with Lord Ahern, getting acquainted with the new people and catching up with her old friends. Java knocked gently at the door of Lord Ahern’s study the morning after the party, and eased in when he said her name.

  “Well, Java, you look none the worse for wear this morning. Half the estate is spending the morning with their heads in a bucket.” He smiled and laughed as she shook her head.

  “I learned that lesson years ago, Lord Ahern. Lord Ahern, can I, um, may I ride Northstar? I missed him more than Mom and Dad when I ran away.”

  Lord Ahern smiled gently. “Yes, Java. Go see Kel and tell him I said it was all right. But keep it slow. The Old Man can still run, but I worry about him.”

  Java blushed and ducked her head, but her smile threated to split her face. “Thank you, sir.”

  Java found Kel and Ralf in the stable, and told them her errand. Kel gave her a fatherly smile and went to saddle Northstar while Ralf and Java whispered.

  “Java, last night was so special. Thank you. You made my fondest dream come true.”

  Java’s answer was interrupted by Northstar. Kel had put his tack on, and had intended to lead him over, but he had other ideas. Slipping free, he trotted over to Java and nuzzled her. Without a word she scrambled up into the saddle, and Northstar carried her out of the stables.

  True to Lord Ahern’s instructions, she kept him from running. But her hands never touched the reins. She simply spoke to her old friend, slowing him a little when he tried to take off. Northstar took her on a long tour of the pastures, out where they had run in years past, and slowed to a walk on his own.

  Java caressed both sides of his neck as she spoke, telling him of her adventures. Her loves. Her triumphs. Her failures. And her joy at finding him still here, waiting for her.

  Northstar returned to the stables on his own. Ralf met them, and was shocked when Java started currying the old stallion.

  “Java, you shouldn’t do that.”

  Java looked at his sideways. “Why not?”

  “That’s my job.”

  Java shook her head and continued currying Northstar. “Taking care of my old friend is no job, Ralf. It is an act of love no less than what we did last night.” She smiled at his blush.

  “All right, Java. If you insist.”

  Not all their time was spent idly.

  Java asked Lord Ahern to help them understand some of what a lord was supposed to do. “We need to learn, Lord Ahern. We need to know,” Robin explained, and he nodded.

  “So you come to me? I thought Duke Arten was seeing to your education?” he asked, studying the two young women in front of him.

  Java looked at the floor. “He is, but, he’s so busy. And so much of it is things he’s known from childhood, things we don’t know, and he doesn’t have the time to teach us.”

  Robin sighed. “Sometimes he simply forgets that we’re not nobles by birth. We weren’t raised that way.”

  Lord Ahern simply nodded, flattered that Java would seek him out. Seating
the girls in his study, he questioned them as to what they had already been taught, and what they were having trouble understanding.

  “The hardest part, the part we don’t really understand, is precedence. There are so many layers of the aristocracy, so many rules of behavior. We just don’t see the difference between some of them.”

  Lord Ahern nodded. “Beaumont had trouble with this as well, Java. Come with me. I think the same demonstration I used with him will work for you.” Standing quickly, he led the girls out to the stable.

  Stopping beside the stairs to the hayloft, he patted the ground with his foot. “Starting here on the ground, there are fifteen levels of the aristocracy. Java, you started here on the ground as a bond servant.” He paused to receive nods from both women. “Robin, you started here on the third step.”

  “What about the first two steps?” Java interrupted, receiving a quick scowl from Lord Ahern in reply.

  “The first step is a freeman, such as a mercenary. The second step is a tenant landholder, such as the farmers on my lands. The third step, as I was about to explain, is the owner of a business, such as your parent’s mill or a store.” He looked at Robin and received a nod. “The fourth step is a skilled craftsman, such as a seamstress, who does not own her shop. The fifth is a skilled craftsman who does own his shop, such as a blacksmith.”

  “The sixth step is a tricky one. It includes traders and people who own large stores and inns. Innkeepers, however, vary in power and prestige. Depending on the inn, the innkeeper may be sixth, seventh, or in rare cases, eighth step. Seventh step is usually minor officials, such as members of a town council. Eighth step is almost exclusively the mayors or headmen of the towns and villages. The exception to that are people like your mercenary captains. Now, we get the nobility.” Lord Ahern paused to ensure he had the complete attention of his students.

  “The ninth step is a minor lord with a title, but no lands. This includes lords such as the Lord High Chamberlain. Tenth step is a minor landholding lord, such as myself.” He smiled and bowed. “Eleventh step is lords who hold more land, but are not of the peerage. Twelfth step is members of the peerage who, for one reason or another, do not hold lands. Your friend Lord Corban is such a lord. Then we get to the thirteenth step, the county lords, or ladies,” he added, smiling at Java, “who are among the highest in the duchy. Fourteenth step is, of course, the royal family. The duke, the duchess, and their children. So you see, Java, you have made your way from the very bottom of the social order to the very top. Running up stairs has always been a bad habit of yours,” he commented dryly, eliciting laughter from both Java and Robin.

  On the seventh day Java and Robin rode out of Equintain on the road to Linkville that Java had walked years before. The entire population of the estate was turned out for their farewell. Robin kissed several men, inciting laughter from others. Java’s passionate parting kiss with Ralf left a number of people speechless. Neither Ralf nor Kel had told anyone. Only one set of eyes narrowed that Java noticed. Glori, Java’s baby sister, glared at Java with such venom that she was sure Ralf was spoken for, even if he didn’t know it yet.

  Java hugged her family, saving Glori for last. She whispered, “Don’t make him guess how you feel, Glo.” Glori growled and tried to bite Java’s ear, but Java pulled away, laughing. “Good luck,” she whispered, seeing the anger in Glori’s eyes.

  The trip to Linkville was uneventful. Java reminisced about her previous trip, and had Robin laughing at her naiveté. “Well, when you grow up on an estate like that, the outside world looks exciting. It really never occurred to me that five day’s ride was fifteen day’s walk. Oh, you should have seen me dragging into Linkville that last day. If Captain Freeholm hadn’t accepted me, I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “You would have carried on, trying to make it on your own rather than slinking back to your parents with your tail between your legs. I know you too well to believe anything else, Java.” Robin laughed, grinning.

  Java laughed back. “Well, I want to do like Lord Ahern suggested. No one in Linkville knows what I look like, so I want to be your escort. You returning home shouldn’t cause a major stir. I want to see what my people are really like. After all, I’ve never really been anywhere except Equintain or with the Firewalkers.” Robin nodded and adjusted her dress. She was dressed in one of her best robes for her homecoming.

  The road dipped ahead, and Robin signaled Java to slow down. “Trouble,” was all she needed to say.

  Java strung her bow and nocked an arrow. She could faintly hear a scuffle, and rode forward cautiously until she could see the disturbance. Three men fought in the road, two against one. The one was holding his own, but there was little chance of him winning against the odds. A woman held a child off to the side, crying as she watched the fight.

  Java kicked Sugar into a run and charged the men, screaming at the top of her lungs. The men saw her, and the two broke away as she rode through. Turning in her saddle, she put an arrow in the ground between one of the men’s feet. Sugar spun in the road and stamped, waiting for instructions.

  “Stand where you are!” Java shouted as the men began to move again. A second arrow on her string made the men hold their hands out to their sides.

  “This ain’t your fight. Just go about your business, and no one gets hurt,” one man said, facing Java directly.

  “It’s my business now. What are you doing to that man?” Java nodded to the side, indicating where the man sat with the woman and child.

  “He’s a thief!” the second man shouted. “Him and that slut of his. They been stealing from the people here for years.”

  “We are not thieves!” the woman shouted back. “You’re the thieves! You stole everything from us! Everything we brought, everything we had. You stole it all, saying we had a home here.”

  “You people think just because you came out of Lender’s Dale you have a right to be here. But you don’t!” the second man shouted, ignoring Java to scream at the woman.

  “Enough!” Robin shouted as she rode up. “That’s enough from all of you. We’ll let Mayor Grendalstone decide this. You,” she pointed to the man on the side of the road, “can you walk?”

  The man nodded and climbed painfully to his feet. “Yes, lady,” he said in a subdued tone of voice.

  Robin focused fiery eyes on the other two men. “March, and keep your hands in plain sight. My guard is a Firewalker Scout. If you live here, then you know what that means.” Both men blanched, finally seeing Java’s Scout standard uniform for what it really was.

  Robin made all of them walk ahead of her and Java as they made their way toward town. Both of the attackers grumbled, but Java’s presence kept them obedient. The man and woman, along with their child, walked head down in dejection. They seemed resigned to something, though Robin couldn’t sense what.

  Linkville sat at the convergence of the Link River and the Lost River, with hills on either side. Riding down into that valley, Robin was taken with the sight. Home, no matter where it was, always looked good.

  A crowd formed as Robin and Java marched the men into town. Several of the onlookers recognized the attackers and shouted questions, asking what was going on, but Robin’s glare kept them from answering. Java’s uniform kept the people from pestering her. In the center of town, Robin called for Mayor Grendalstone.

  “Yes? How may I help you, lady?” Kellem Grendalstone asked from the porch of his store.

  “We found these two pummeling that man in the road outside of town. They called him a thief, saying that he and his wife had been stealing from the locals for years. What do you know of this?” Robin kept her voice even, but her eyes flashed as she spoke.

  Mayor Grendalstone’s face twisted into a frown. “Well, I know these men. They’re local farmers. As to the other man and the woman, they’re refugees and have been here for several years,” Mayor Grendalstone said, looking at Robin. “As to any charges of theft, I haven’t heard anything. There isn’t much
work here, and they’ve been living with the assistance of Duke Arten, same as many of the refugees.” Turning to the men, he looked carefully at them. “Cahl, Eris, what’ve you got to say for yourselves?”

  Cahl, the elder of the men, remained mute, but Eris spoke out. “They been stealing our food, living off us. We pays taxes, but them, they lives off ‘em. They doesn’t work! They doesn’t help! All they do is eat our hard-earned bread.”

  “That’s a lie!” the woman shouted back. “We came here to settle, to build a new life. But what did we find? We’re not wanted! Oh, you wanted what silver and copper we had, but once you got that, you threw us away! No one will let us work for our bread. Gordal’s a blacksmith, but will you let him ply his trade? No! I’m a seamstress. Will any of you come to me? No! What are we to do, see our daughter starve because we weren’t born here?” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she confronted the men.

  Mayor Grendalstone stepped forward, his hands up. “That’s enough. Cahl, Eris, you two have caused enough trouble. Get out of here.” Turning to Gordal, he shrugged his shoulders. “What can I say? You know there’s a great deal of resentment against the refugees lately. All I can do is apologize on behalf of the town.” Turning back to Robin, he bowed. “Lady, thank you. If it’s not too impertinent, just who are you?”

  “I am Master Mage Robin Cartwright. Don’t you recognize me, Kellem?” Robin grinned as her name registered with the mayor.

  Mayor Grendalstone blinked several times and stepped forward, looking closely at Robin. “Little Robin? But, I heard you were out with the Firewalkers. What are you doing here?” He began smiling broadly and walked forward, clasping Robin familiarly on the leg.

  “Coming home for a visit.” She looked about, seeing familiar faces at every turn. “Where are Mama and Papa?”

  “At the mill, I suppose. Robin, are you really a Master Mage now?” Mayor Grendalstone was looking up at Robin with a very respectful expression on his face. The last time he’d seen her, she had just made Journeyman. That it had been four years since then had slipped his mind.