The Black Horseman

by Richard D. Parker

  “I don’t think he ever accepted the idea of my competing in any way with the rest of the students here…even running,” Gwaynn said then began to strip off his sweaty clothes. Vio suddenly turned pink, but said nothing. Gwaynn didn’t notice but Krys did and smiled, then moved up and after B’dall. Nudity, within the family structure was neither flaunted nor shunned, though in public it was naturally tempered. Mele quarter was considered family, so such displays were thought to be reasonable and was common even for those younger, at an age when they developed a natural shyness about their bodies. All of the students cooled down in the sea after the run, though some moved off a distance. Before coming to Noble Island, Gwaynn struggled with his own bashfulness, but after his recent experiences he now gave it little thought.

  Vio, on the other hand, was very aware of Gwaynn, and her awareness had been growing stronger the last few weeks. In the past, boys had never interested her, girls either for that matter. She just never paid any of them the slightest attention. She knew others who acted the fool, sometimes for more than one person at a time. Tam, for instance, never seemed to shut up about William, but it didn’t bother Vio, she just didn’t understand it, at least not until a couple of weeks ago.

  At first she thought it was the sparring and the fact that Gwaynn was so good at it that kept drawing her mind back to him, but then she had the dream. It was a dream like no other, intensely erotic, just her and him, both nude sitting close and touching, then kissing. She woke, panting hard, the dream still vivid in her mind. Even now, nearly two weeks later when she thought of it she could feel her face flush and her pulse quicken. She watched as Gwaynn swam and waded about in the waves, occasionally giving her brief glimpses of his young body. She knew she should just turn and head up to the quarters, but she found she couldn’t. She wanted to be here to see him, naked or otherwise she didn’t care. She wanted to talk with him and to spar with him. She couldn’t wait for Master Kostek to return.

  She lingered on the beach, trying not to seem obvious, urging him with her mind to hurry. He, however, seemed content to take his time. Vio glanced over and spotted Tam and William running in the distance, each pushing the other to greater speeds, though clearly both were near exhaustion. She groaned inwardly. Gwaynn would not be out of the water before they finished. She started to turn and leave, but then stopped again. If she left she would not get to see him again until tomorrow morning. She sat down hard in the sand, suddenly angry, but determined not to leave until she could speak with him. Finally, he swam toward the shore and rode the waves into an easy walk toward the beach. Vio watched him, while trying to appear not to watch. She glanced over as Tam and William finished, William just ahead, both were panting hard and bending at the waist in an attempt to catch their breath. Gwaynn slipped his loose fitting, white cotton trousers back on and was drying his hair with his shirt as he walked toward her.

  William and Tam walked by, Tam giving Vio a knowing little smile that only increased her anger.

  “I never thought I would enjoy the water again,” Gwaynn said standing over her, his bare chest glistening in the early morning sun.

  “Well you took your time,” Vio said, her irritation plain in her tone and smoothly got to her feet.

  Gwaynn’s brows furrowed a little, wondering at her anger, but he made no reply as they began to make their way up the sandy hill that led inland toward their quarter.

  They walked along the path in silence for a good distance. Vio hoping, praying that he would say something, anything, but he remained silent, which increased her frustration with him.

  “I want to spar again,” she finally blurted as they closed on the out buildings, which surrounded the Leek’s family home. She stopped a bit in front of him and turned to face him, forcing him to stop also or walk directly into her.

  Gwaynn gave another half frown. “Master Kostek will return…”

  “I want to spar tonight,” she cut him off, repeating her request because she couldn’t get herself to say what she truly wanted to do with him, even to herself. “Come on, haven’t you missed it?” she added trying to act nonchalant.

  Gwaynn smiled at that, but was still thrown off by her request. It was not like her to flaunt the rules. “Yes,” Gwaynn answered. “But I sparred a bit with Krys the other night…”

  “Krys!” She interrupted, angry once more. “So you will spar with him but not with me now.”

  Gwaynn took a step backward as if he was afraid she might attack him, but Vio stepped forward and poked a finger at him.

  “Master Kostek would not like to hear of it. He does not want anyone to know about your training, your skills,” she argued her voice rising.

  “But…” Gwaynn tried to answer, knowing anyone within fifty paces would now know about his training.

  “Fine then, you just spar with Krys,” Vio stammered and spun on her heels and marched away leaving a thoroughly bewildered Gwaynn in her wake.

  ǂ

  Gwaynn’s encounter with Vio was still on his mind that afternoon as he, Lane and the rest of the family worked in the gardens on the eastern part of the main house. Today they were harvesting carrots, and though Gwaynn and Lane worked quietly, Shari and her girls chatted continuously, subjects seemingly changing with every row they finished. Lane stayed on the far side working with Mari, his youngest, while Shari worked with both Karin and Deirdre, and that left Gwaynn and Mille, which was just what Mille wanted. They were both on their knees digging and pulling at the buried vegetables, and Mille was always very close to Gwaynn. She accidentally brushed up against him several times before Gwaynn became aware of his surroundings. He looked up at the girl, who was near the same age as Vio, though she could not look or be any more different.

  Mille was thin and fair with long, white blond hair, a trait that ran through her entire family. All the girls had long blond hair, as did their mother Shari, and even Lane, though his was cropped so short it was hard to tell if his hair was blond, or even there at all. Originally they came from the Kotas, the northern lands that eventually came under the control of the Palmerrio family. Blond hair and blue eyes was a common trait of the people of the north. Mille looked up at Gwaynn and smiled shyly and he noticed for the first time just how wonderful she looked. Indeed, all the Leek women were exceedingly attractive. He heard Deirdre snicker and looked over, both she and Karin were watching him closely and again his forehead furrowed in confusion. Deirdre batted her eyes at him until Shari elbowed her, though she was smiling also. Gwaynn looked back at Mille, who was blushing and he wondered just what was going on.

  Mille looked as if she was about to say something but instead turned her face down and began working on the carrots once more. Gwaynn studied her profile, her long hair was pulled back and out of her face, he noticed the soft blond hairs that grew at the nape of her neck, then thought again of Vio.

  Mille’s features were in sharp contrast with Vio’s, who was dark. Her ink black hair was cropped short just below her ears. She had tanned skin and large dark eyes. And where Vio was very fit, athletic and tough, Mille, even with her short life of hard work and service, was all softness, like new grass in springtime. Mille continued to work, but she was aware that Gwaynn was looking at her and kept her face turned slightly toward him.

  “You will catch Krys soon,” she said, as he finally resumed his duties. Gwaynn stopped again. He was not surprised that she knew of his running, for that was common knowledge among the Leek family. It was a source of pride that one among them would be so included even if Gwaynn was not a true son. He was surprised however, that she was following his progress.

  “You’ve been watching?” Gwaynn asked, curious, flattered, and a little concerned.

  Mille looked up and blushed again. “Yes…well we all get up and watch the finish some days,” she answered, not mentioning the fact that she was the one who watched most days.

  “Father was especially proud the day you beat Stephen. We all watched, though father told us not to celebrat
e, but it was all we could do to keep from cheering,” she said her words coming out in a gush. “Surely you noticed the smile on father’s face. It was there all day.”

  Gwaynn shrugged. He had not noticed, in fact, he was not sure he could remember Lane smiling…ever.

  They continued to work, Gwaynn in silence and Mille chatting away about her new horse, the kittens their cat Sunshine gave birth to the previous week, and food. Mille was apparently very hungry and was making Gwaynn so. The family stopped about an hour before sundown and headed back to the house to clean up before Shari and Karin began preparing supper.

  The evening was spent eating, talking, telling stories and laughing. It was a typical night in the household with Gwaynn sitting on the floor close to the fire and Mille sitting close by, though not close enough to touch. They both spent the rest of the night stealing glances at one another.

  That night, though his body was very tired his mind was awake and racing in all manner of ways, mostly in the directions of Mille and Vio. Yesterday, he hardly had a thought for girls, now such thoughts seemed to be consuming him alive. It was not until well after the witching hour that he finally nodded off.

  ǂ

  The next morning came very early for Gwaynn and he groaned softly when Leek nudged him awake. He lay in bed, sleepy for a moment then his mind was racing once more, so he got up and climbed down from the small loft he shared with the old man. Leek and Lane sat in the dark kitchen, the only light coming from the small fire in the cooking hearth. They would soon enlarge it for the morning cooking, but that could wait until Shari was up and about.

  Gwaynn glanced at the back room door where the girls slept, but quickly turned and headed in toward the two men. He grabbed a slice of day old bread then headed out to relieve himself. He went to the side of the barn, as was his habit and gazed up at the morning stars, sighing with satisfaction. He popped the last bite of bread into his mouth, and then turned to head back to the well to get a drink before going down to the beach. But as he rounded the corner of the house, Mille was there waiting for him, still in her long, white nightdress. He immediately stopped moving, but somehow she was still getting closer, then suddenly she jumped into his arms and quickly kissed him. He stiffened for a moment. She was very small, soft and smelled vaguely of flowers, and he quickly found himself returning her kiss with more enthusiasm than he would have thought possible. She held him tight and he returned her embrace. Mille’s skin was still very warm having just come from her bed, and Gwaynn’s head was spinning when they finally broke. They stared at each other for a long moment until somehow he managed to tear his gaze from hers and he walked down to the beach for his morning run in a daze. He felt all out of focus and that morning he lost to B’dall by a good margin, and he was very disappointed to find that Vio was not waiting for him at the finish as she had always done in the past. He swam longer than usual since she was not waiting on the beach, then dried and headed up the path feeling like he was somehow losing control of his own life. It was a bewildering, fuzzy feeling he was not sure he liked…not sure at all.

  He spent the day with Leek gathering cattle from the hilly regions of the island’s interior.

  “Storm coming,” was all Leek said by way of explanation, though the sky was a cloudless blue. Gwaynn found that he was disappointed at first not to be around Mille, but quickly decided it would at least give him time to think on what had happened, and maybe sort through some of his thoughts which seemed to be all jumbled. He wasn’t sure what was happening to him. He had no experience with girls and he seemed unable to think of Mille in any kind of coherent fashion. His mind kept playing the morning kiss over and over again. Thoughts of the encounter gave him a pleasant warm feeling that started from somewhere inside and then spread until his entire body seemed to be tingling.

  The day passed with Gwaynn lost in his thoughts, which fluttered about landing mostly on Mille, but occasionally on Vio as well. Neither of the girls knew who he truly was, both thought he was just a tragic boy from a shipwreck, a commoner like themselves. He knew his long term goals contained neither of them, and though it was not rare for those of noble blood to take a tumble with a commoner, it was nearly unheard of to take one as a wife. Even though the thought of taking a tumble with Mille made his stomach lurch and his heart jump in his chest, he doubted that she would be satisfied with just a tumble, and for some reason he could not even picture taking a tumble with Vio, alluring as she was.

  “Oy!” Leek yelled, frowning. “Wipe the grin from your face and walk down into those trees. A few of the buggers like to hide amongst ‘em.”

  Gwaynn, jumped at the sound of the man’s voice, blushed, then nodded and moved off down the hill. He was still a distance away from the copse when he realized that Leek was correct. There were at least three head milling about inside the trees. The first one he caught sight of was a young bull calf, about three months old. Despite being young, the bull was already very large. For some reason seeing the young bull brought back thoughts of his large friend Karl, then of his former life, now seemingly long gone. He had only been on the island for….just over four months now, but it felt much, much longer. He thought of his Mother and how he missed her and suddenly he was overcome with grief, though his eyes remained completely dry. He thought of his sister and her execution, something he had not done now for weeks, and suddenly was angry. He would avenge them if he could, and not run away from his destiny, but any of that would have to wait until he was ready.

  “Come on,” he said and moved around the calf with a stern look. He began to steer the calf out of the woods knowing that his mother would soon follow, which she did as did the two others that were with them. He continued to steer the young bull across the hilly grasslands toward the main buildings, but he only had to go a little past half way before he was able to turn back. He now knew that from there the cattle would continue to the barn on their own.

  He worked with Leek into the early afternoon until all the cattle were moving back toward the main buildings.

  “Storms coming,” Leek said, nodding toward the western horizon as they walked side-by-side back to the main house. Gwaynn’s stomach rumbled loudly as he looked at the dark clouds coming in the distance.

  “Hear the thunder all ready,” Leek added with a straight face, referring to the noise coming from the boy’s abdomen. Gwaynn smiled, but it fell away as they moved closer and closer to the main house and he realized that though he had all day to consider what to do about Mille, as yet, he was unable to come to a decision. His mind raced for a solution, but not fast enough, as the house approached rapidly, seemingly on its own accord. They reached the door well before he was ready. They entered and there in the kitchen helping her mother prepare the early evening meal was Mille and her younger sister Mari. All the women fell suddenly quiet as they turned toward the newcomers and Mari put her hand over her mouth to silence the laughter that was threatening to bubble out of her.

  “Grandpa!” she yelled and ran and jumped into the old man’s arms. Leek smiled widely and swung her about. Mille glanced at Gwaynn and then quickly away, suddenly shy.

  “Grandpa,” Mari said as he set her back on the ground. “Mille and Gwaynn….”

  “Mari!” Shari and Mille yelled together so loudly that the young girl fell immediately silent, Mille turning a bright shade of red.

  Shari shook her head at her chastised daughter and Mari frowned.

  “Mille, why don’t you take Gwaynn out and fetch the others,” she said, knowing that the only way to release the tension would be for her daughter and Gwaynn to be alone for a spell.

  Mille nodded and moved to the door, making no signal for Gwaynn to follow, but he did so in any case. Once outside Mille seemed to grow more relaxed but Gwaynn felt as if he was still tied in knots. He wanted to touch the girl again, as he had never wanted to touch anyone in his life, but he dared not. They walked to the barn, each very aware of the other, but neither able to break the barrier that had someho
w sprung up between them.

  Clouds covered the sun and a strong gust suddenly hit them. Gwaynn could smell rain on the wind and he wondered how Leek had known a storm was coming so early in the day. He was jerked out of his thoughts as a small, warm hand slipped easily into his own. He glanced down at it and then over to Mille, who continued to look straight ahead, though she gave a quick squeeze with her hand. Gwaynn returned it and they both knew that, for the moment, everything was all right.

  Just before they reached the barn Karin stepped out, and though Mille quickly jerked her hand from Gwaynn’s, her older sister noticed the contact before it was broken. Karin smiled and shook her head, studying Gwaynn who had a hard time meeting her eye for some reason. Deirdre followed.

  “Suppers ready,” Mille said and with a glance at Gwaynn turned and moved ahead of him back to the house. Deirdre smiled at him as she passed, but Karin simply waited until they were both far enough up ahead not to over hear.

  “I’m glad you’ve picked Mille,” she said quietly, and not for the first time wished that Gwaynn was a bit older.

  “Picked Mille?” Gwaynn asked.

  “Deirdre would have you I’m sure,” Karin continued, ignoring his question, “but she would have liked anyone. Mille is a bit more discriminating.”

  Gwaynn was still confused. He had not actually picked anyone, though at present he could honestly say, right now, at this moment, Mille was the one person he would like to have alone. His royal life had been well regimented and his experience with young girls very limited. As far as he could remember he’d never been alone with a girl near his age with the exception of his sister. He never noticed this fact at the time because girls up until a few days ago did not interest him. They simply never crossed his mind.