It was only two more days until they would arrive in Carlin.
Maybe I can stretch it to three, she thought.
* * *
Ukko woke up midmorning. A few muscles in his back protested as he shifted, reminding him of the night before. He became aware of the warm body next to him. He opened his eyes and saw Abigail resting on her side, looking at him.
"Morning."
"Hey you," he replied.
Ukko let his eyes wander over her smooth curves. Sunrays caressed her thigh and shoulder, adding an angelic quality to her beauty. If Madairika would ever walk among mortal men, he mused, this is the body she would choose.
She stared back, as she had done for a while. She ached in places long forgotten. But it felt good, a testament to their labors. She felt better than she had for an unhealtily long period of time.
"You're brooding again," he remarked.
"It's nothing at all... I just wondered what you were thinking," she smiled. "If you had any...."
"...regrets? No, of course not."
That came out a bit too quickly, he realized, so he added: "No, really, I don't. Last night was the best I ever had."
Ukko felt guilty the moment he said it. It was as if he'd said: you were a great lay, thanks. See you around. The sex had been fantastic, for sure, but hadn't it been more than that?
"How about you?"
"It was alright," she conceded.
"Nine times alright if memory serves correctly!" Ukko said indignantly.
She laughed.
"No, we were good together," she said seriously.
Ukko smiled. "Oh yes."
He relished the simple intimacy of pushing his fingers through hers.
"I've been meaning to ask you. The night before last, when I asked you if there was anything else you wanted, you just smiled. Care to tell me what it was, or is it what I think it was?"
Abigail almost blushed but realized they were past that point by now.
"We pretty much covered everything I wanted you to do that night. Too bad I practically had to throw myself at you, before you noticed me," she teased.
"Hey, I noticed alright. I'm just a guy who needs a bit more reassurance than Dlanor. I don't have all that much experience with women. And they don't usually throw themselves at me, you know.."
"Their loss," she quipped and gave him a quick peck. She got up and took her grey shirt. Stretching her arms above her head she let the shirt slide down over her shoulder and breasts. She donned her clothes and armor in methodical, practiced movements, covering more and more parts of her body.
Watching this was, strangely enough, as exciting as watching her strip, Ukko thought. But he knew it was time to move on.
Just for tonight, she had said.
He might wish it had been more than just sex, but that would not make it so.
After eating the last of the berries they gathered yesterday it was time for training. Abigail had made a wreath of twigs and leaves and hung it up on the old willow. They took turns in shooting arrows with Abigail's crossbow. A few times she had to correct his stance.
Ukko was distracted more than ever by the feel of her hands on his wrists and arms. He forcibly emptied his mind and tried to capture the moment of release.
The arrow almost missed the improvised target.
If Abigail noticed, she didn't let on.
Then they duelled. First one sword against the other, then two each. He with his two longswords and she with her longsword and her silver dagger.
Dancing around each other, parry and strike, block and thrust. They worked up a good sweat, but the nagging feeling Ukko had had for a while remained. They took a refreshing swim afterwards, but neither one of them tried to strike up a conversation.
They avoided looking at each other.
As they got out of the water Ukko wanted to tell her how much he had enjoyed the closeness between them. And how he would like it to continue. He stared at her bare back while she stripped the water off her arms. But he just couldn't find the right words.
They got dressed and packed their gear without a word spoken.
This is bloody ridiculous, he thought, as they mounted their horses and rode off eastwards.
They crossed the Wren around noon, despite their earlier agreement to wait a day. Ukko wanted to suggest they tried to catch some fish for dinner, but recalled that she hated eating fish. After staying at the lake a bath was hardly necessary, so they only stopped long enough to let their mounts drink.
The sun was near the horizon when Abigail spotted a wild boar. She managed to kill it with only two arrows and they decided to make camp right there and then.
"Hey, there's a farm up ahead. I'll see if I can buy some bread, ok?" Ukko announced.
"Ask them if they got fruit!" she called as he rode off. She took the harnas and saddle off her mare and started looking for the brush in the saddlebags.
* * *
"Afternoon," Ukko greeted the elderly farmer who was sitting on a wooden bench in front of his house enjoying the sunset. The farmer got up and raised sun-tanned and gnarled hand.
"Afternoon, stranger."
"My companion and I are a bit short on food and I wondered if I could buy some bread. And some fruit if you have some," he explained.
"Maybe..." the farmer replied. He eyed the warrior suspiciously. "Are you going to pay for it as well?"
Ukko grinned and shook his purse.
"My sovereigns are as good as the next man's, farmer."
"And your swords as sharp as the next man's," the old man added dryly. "Let's see those sovereigns, stranger."
Ukko dismounted and walked towards him, keeping his hands away from his swords. The farmer relaxed somewhat and they bargained. A little later Ukko rode off with fresh supplies.
He'd paid a bigger amount than was reasonable, but being a farmer's son, he knew what nothing came easy for these people. Working from sunrise to sunset just to keep the bread on the table.
The life you didn't want to lead, a small voice inside reminded him.
Adventurers or trackers, like himself, could just try and hijack another orc patrol or smoke out a goblin hole and earn some quick sovereigns.
So is that it, the voice asked. Is there a future in the quick and easy life?
Don't be ridiculous, he told himself. I paid my dues. Besides, I have great friends, I can handle anyone wielding a sword. And I got a wonderful woman.
You got a handful of nothing, the voice reminded him. She's a friend who didn't want to sleep alone last night. She's not "your woman".
Ukko threw back his head and cried out in frustration. He was thinking in circles again.
Riding back to where he'd left Abigail, he noticed a trail of broken off twigs and flattened grass joining his old trail. He wasn't sure what the signs told him; she had taken time to tell him about tracking and some telltale signs and now he wished he'd paid more attention. Coming close to where she'd shot the boar he heard voices. From right behind that group of trees. He saw some faint movement and he recognized her voice - she seemed agitated. Riding around the copse of trees Ukko saw four horses tied to a couple of birches.
Abigail stood with her back to Cloud, the brush still in her hand. Surrounding her were four young men. One of whom had grabbed hold of her wrist and threatened her with a dagger. Abigail yelled something at him. The men turned their heads and looked at him, distracted for a moment.
Ukko felt a rage taking hold of him. With a scream he jumped from the saddle onto the smallest guy, knocking him flat on the ground. He immediately went for the next one, wringing his hands around the man's neck. He buried his thumbs into the soft tissue of the throat until the eyes of his opponent were bulging. The others hesitated for a moment. The one holding Abigail shouted something and the fourth one, a big barrel-chested guy, stepped towards him. Ukko let go of his victim, who sagged to the ground making gagging noises.
His fist struck the man in the middle of his chest. The man
hit him on the jaw, but by now the pain was just feeding his frenzy. Determined to make it hurt, he whacked the back of his fist over the man's mouth. The big guy started to spit up blood and sagged through his knees.
Ukko made a run for the one holding Abigail. The man let go of her and waved his dagger in front of him to ward him off. Ukko ducked under the arm and punched him square in the crotch. The man doubled in pain and dropped the dagger. Ukko grabbed the man's index and middle finger and snapped them like dry twigs. Ignoring the man's cries he grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and drove him straight into the nearest tree. Since the damn guy didn't want to go down he started pounding his fist into the man's right side.
And again.
"Ukko, that's enough!" someone shouted. "Stop it!."
He came to his senses and looked up, panting. The other three men were limping to their horses. Abigail stood next to him and covered his fist with her hand.
"Let them go," she spoke softly.
Ukko took a deep breath and grabbed a handful of greasy hair.
"If you ever touch my friend again I will come back and finish you off," he hissed. "Nod if you understand.."
"What do you care... she's just a half-breed!" the man wheezed, cradling his broken fingers with his other hand.
"Nod - if you - under - stand!!" Ukko said through gritted teeth. He forcefully yanked the man's head up and down.
"Good boy. Now clear off before I cut off your manhood and feed it to my horse."
The man madly scrambled away from him and ran towards his horse.
They watched the men spurring their horses into a gallop.
"Farmhands I think. Thought they could have some fun with me. They surprised me," she added unnecessarily.
"Are you... did they..." He cleared his throat. "...do anything?"
She smiled warmly. Her hand moved to his heaving chest, a feathery light touch that send shivers all the way through the armor.
"No, they didn't. You got my back."
He nodded, picked up the assailant's dagger and turned to examine it in the sunlight. He was relieved she didn't berate him for that spectacle he had just put on. He whistled for King and walked away from her, glad to create some distance between them.
Abigail looked at the ground. The moment had passed. He hadn't even given her a chance to find the words to thank him.
She resumed brushing Cloud with slow strokes, feeling disappointed and relieved at the same time. Relieved that he hadn't pressed her why a couple of dumb farmhands had managed to catch her off-guard like that. And disappointed that she had missed the chance to take him in her arms and kiss him and... seduce him again, she confessed to herself.
Eesyan, grant me wisdom, she thought. I don't know what I'm doing. I need to control myself. Look what one night of love has done to us. No... no, she corrected herself. A night of sex. It was just lust. A very relaxing and very much needed physical exercise.
And undoubtedly the most tender and passionate sex she had ever had.
Why don't you ask him nicely, she thought sarcastically. Hey Ukko, come and service me again. He's a man. Men don't turn down a pair of warm thighs when it's offered freely.
She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes.
This is getting me nowhere, she thought. I just have to act normal and pick up our friendship, just like he does. He just said it: I'm a friend.
Cloud looked round enquiringly, to see why her mistress had stopped brushing. Abigail smiled a wry smile and ran her hand over the mare's nose. Cloud winked at her as if she understood.
After unsaddling his horse, Ukko started to skin the boar. He had done skinning many times and knew how to get every ounce of meat out of the animal and keep the skin intact at the same time. Relying on his experience he tried to calm down the torrent of thought that still raged inside him. After a while he discovered he'd ruined a perfectly good boarskin. The cooking went better. Slightly.
Abigail squatted beside him.
"Smells good!" she commented.
Ukko grumbled something and added a few herbs. Half an hour later they ate pork stew. They talked about different recipes for stew and shared a few jokes about some of Ukko's early culinary experiments.
Ukko was more at ease now and was no longer distracted by her long, searching looks. They were two flexible, well-adjusted adults, comfortable with themselves and around one another.
He pulled out his waterskin and offered it to her.
"Want some apple wine?"
Abigail's eyes lit up.
"You bought apple wine? What's the occasion?!" she teased. She put the waterskin to her mouth and took a swig. She felt the liquid warm her chest as it went down. She took another swig and gave the waterskin back to him. She stretched luxuriously and sighed in utter contentment.
A nagging voice inside said: Gods, you are such a harlot. Can you be any more obvious?
Trying hard to ignore her pose, Ukko asked: "Are you trying to drink me under the table again?"
Abigail folded her hands behind her head and stared off into the distance.
"Woolfson Bridge," she said dreamily. "I really liked those people, Ukko. We ought to go back to that town someday."
"Couldn't agree more."
Ukko sat back and took off his boots.
"I had a silly thought this afternoon," he started. "I overpaid the farmer for the food, because I know how hard he has to work. And I thought how I had left my dad's farm, for the 'quick-and-easy' life.."
Abigail frowned.
"Quick and easy?"
"That was the silly thought. It is neither quick nor easy. And you were right, you know. The night before last, when I was fighting one of those goblins, I... I kind of felt I was killing a little boy. It's disgusting when you really think about it."
Abigail propped herself up on her elbows and nodded seriously.
Trying to get rid of the filthy taste in his mouth, Ukko took a swig from the apple wine.
"Then I was wondering what I'm doing it all for. Will I be bashing goblins ten years from now or is there a big plan for all of us?"
Abigail scoffed.
"Sure, just ask Revelc. We'll be rich and famous."
"Oh I don't care for fame. And I am rich already. Got my good health, got my friends, got... well, you know."
Ukko sipped his apple wine and studied the way her hair cascaded down her shoulders and how her long, slender fingers fidgeted with her necklace. He idly thought about how wonderful those fingers had felt on him.
"So what about you?"
"Me? Fame?! I need fame like I need a boil on my backside."
She wrapped her necklace around her index finger.
Gods, please make her stop doing that, Ukko begged silently. Preferably before I tear her clothes off.
Abigail stared into the flames and sighed.
"And I could own every house and patch of land in Briar's Veil," she said quietly. "And it still wouldn't change the way how people thought about me. As soon as I was old enough to know the difference, they let me know the difference."
There was only a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"Five years ago I lived on the streets of Katar. Most of my friends were mixed. One night my best friend Andrea got raped. I call the cityguard and they catch the men in the act. They let them go, because, why, it's not against the law to rape a mongrel. Instead the Captain of the guard arrests Andrea on charges of disturbing of the peace.
And obviously, when our friend Borric, who had an Orc father somewhere out west, went after the men to take revenge and got killed, that wasn't against the law either."
Her eyes were leagues away now.
"There's not a lot that came easy for me, Ukko. I know what it means to live like a beggar. I hated it but I'd do it again in a heartbeat if people would accept me as I am. I want to be proud of who I am, of what I am. I want them to answer for what they did to Andrea and Fedya. And I want to stop being outside the law. I hate being a walking excuse for rape
and pillage. That is what I want."
"That's all I want," she concluded.
Ukko looked at her. It was hardly a wish any mortal man, no matter how powerful or wealthy, could fulfill. But she dared to dream. And he loved her for it. He doubted that she ever would see it come true, but if anyone could make a difference, it would be her. Life seemed to happen around her.
"I know, kind of far-fetched," she said softly.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Erotica: Volume 3 (Sci-Fi & Fantasy Erotica Series) Page 14