15
.
Wren awoke, unsure what had disturbed her. She sat upright.
“What’s the matter?” Kevin asked.
“We must leave at once!”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. But we must leave. They are coming for us.”
“Someone must have said something,” Kevin said.
“They wouldn’t! They know what the King is like!”
“The King is cruel. So is his son. They probably found ways to make people talk.”
“Sadly,” Wren agreed.
“Look, I have an idea,” he said getting up and putting his clothes on.
“What?”
He looked around the cave, only dimly lit by the fire now.
“There are some human bones back here. I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to frighten you. But if we throw some of these bones around on the ground below this cave, maybe with pieces of your robes… maybe they’ll think we were killed by wolves,” Kevin supposed.
“Do you really think that will work?”
“Long term, no. There must be a dozen ways to tell that these are old bones, not fresh. But it will slow them down, at least.”
“Sounds worth it,” Wren said getting up and helping with the task.
The pile of bones was substantial. Probably half a dozen people had been dragged into the cave by wolves or other creatures needing meat to eat.
“I think it was a tuskcat,” Kevin said. “I don’t think it’s been here for awhile, but a mother tuskcat needs a lot of meat for her cubs, so stray humans are perfect. Even a horse or two, it would seem.”
Their horse neighed as if worried about a tuskcat.
Bones discarded down the slope, Kevin tore a few scraps off his clothes, and off Wren’s fuchsia robe. “Sorry,” he said as he used his knife to hack pieces off hurriedly. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“Let’s just get out of here,” she said nervously.
“Last touch…,” he said opening the pack of jerky and dumping half of it over the bones. “Now, the wolves have something to fight over to make it more believable.”
Lastly, he kicked the fire out and helped Wren back on the horse, then mounted behind her. “Silence is our ally,” he whispered, then clicked to the horse.
The blue moon lit the night as they moved out.
♥
Chester, the dark-skinned captain of the guard led the group of men down the hill and left at the junction. The new trail wasn’t well marked, but there was only one obvious path to travel. The blue moonlight helped guide them along the edge of the forest which stretched from the mountains to the coast.
The night wasn’t quiet, between the owls, frogs and occasional howls from the wolves that were known to roam the area.
Chester did worry about tuskcats and panthers, both large enough to kill a stray human, though a group would not be likely to be attacked.
He thought about the young woman they were chasing. He wasn’t sure he knew who this Wren was, but he knew that he would enjoy her when he found her. The old woman was surprisingly delightful. It had helped quell the fire inside him – as much as it made him heat up again, thinking about a much younger woman to receive him. His desire burned hot, despite the cold, damp air.
At least, it didn’t look like snow.
Chester wasn’t sure why the King had left half his entourage in Castel Velantia. It was something regarding his current obsession with the eldest sister of the order here in the mountains. The guard was accustomed to the King’s rapidly changing and intense needs for things and people, but this one had surprised him. Sister Vasana couldn’t have been less than 60 years old, and Chester had heard it said that those of the Sisters of Vasana were often hundreds or even thousands of years old, thanks to the spells they sang daily to prolong their lives. He didn’t understand why the King would be interested in someone like that, but Chester wasn’t one to comment about other people’s tastes in bed.
Having sampled her himself with the King’s command, he understood a bit better. She was lovely and warm, not one to condemn him for following the King’s orders.
Chester had been in situations before where the woman he had been commanded to rape fought him and did some damage. Enough damage, perhaps, that he had not borne any children since that woman, the wife of a man who hadn’t paid taxes. Raping wives and daughters had been typical punishment since King Finn had taken the throne. Many of the guards enjoyed the punishments assigned. Even Chester couldn’t avoid feeling the rising heat thinking about the girl they’d been instructed to rape when they found her.
“Captain!” a foreguard called as he galloped towards the troops, bringing Chester back to the present.
“Report,” Chester instructed.
“We’ve found some wolf-gnawed bones and some scraps of fabric that would have belonged to the girl.”
“Sounds disappointing,” Chester replied, thinking of the arousal which would go unsatisfied if the man was correct.
“There’s also the remains of a fire, still warm. So they were there earlier.”
“At least until the wolves devoured them,” Chester said. “Any sign of their horse?”
“I’m sure the horse ran off if it could.”
“We will investigate when we get there. Bones will not run off.”
“Though the wolves may scatter them further.”
“It is of no matter,” Chester explained. “Either it’s their bones, which cannot run, or it’s not and we’ll have to continue. It would be foolish to go faster at night. If horses begin to founder, the wolves will be quick to gather.”
“Yes, Captain!” the foreguard said, then turned and galloped off again.
Chester thought about the girl he had known – before the King had ruined his life.
Even now, he thought about Peony. Her delicate skin. She had been his first lover, and he had been her first as well. He remembered the feeling he had when he was inside her, delivering his seed, one of which had taken root.
That was before the King administered crampweed to rid her of their fruit. Before the King took her as payment for taxes and gave her to the Prince.
A tear rolled down his cheek as he remembered finding her broken body below the bridge. He had been too late to do anything except administer a final kiss as she told him that she could not live with the Prince, cruel as he was.
Kevin was the first to find him – and said nothing as the King suggested Chester as a replacement for Peony – on threat of the lives of his own parents.
The opportunity to take Kevin’s beloved from him was too good to pass up even though his mind occasionally rested on Sister Misty who had been watching him since their arrival. He wondered if she would accept him, when he was forced to be cruel. He would have to be better… to be worthy of a Sister’s affection.
If you have enjoyed this book, I would be grateful if you could put your thoughts as a review on [Goodreads](coming soon) for me.
Buy at: Books2Read
Other Chapters of the Ladies of Finn II set...
Royal Trouble - Chapter 1
Maps and Guides
Velantia - about 1300 BTCE, 4600 KV (Kingdom of Velantia era).
Apothecary Kit, Dec 2019 - part of the kit of a good healer
Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2105 – all rights reserved.
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Lori Svensen
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