"Come here, my lord," she greeted, hearing the door close. "I've been instructed to keep my eyes covered, but you can do as you wish with me."
"Thank you," he grumbled, undressing quickly to join her.
"Tell me, my lord, why the request?" she asked, touching his chest and arms. "Are you so horrible to behold?"
"I'm the ugliest man that ever lived," he said gravely. "I'd rather be spared your disgust." And then he leaned to kiss her, silencing her objections.
It was just sex after all. Like the previous afternoon in the public baths. A pleasant pastime, but not exactly what he looked for.
He wanted a relationship. Except Leondina's curse meant he couldn't have one. Because if someone started feeling something for him, he'd just go back to his eternal sleep.
Was it worth it? He didn't mind the new present. It was lonely, but with Billinda it was bearable. If only she allowed him closer... but the tough warrior woman would never let him do as he pleased.
He took his pleasure with the blindfolded whore and dressed. Before leaving the room he told her to look at him and she gasped in awe at the sight.
"My lord! You're the most beautiful..."
He put a finger on her lips.
"And I'm cursed. Had you seen me before we did what we did, I'd be fast asleep already – a spell from which there is no cure."
She gaped at him and he smiled ruefully.
"Thanks," he said before leaving the room and going back to the main room where Billinda was waiting.
"So?" she asked with her amused look.
"You can pay the madam and we can go," he said sharply, avoiding her stare. He wasn't going to tell her he'd rather have sex, no, make love to her. She had already made it clear she didn't want to be touched.
She followed him in the street. "Do you wish to stay another night?"
"Not really," he grumbled. "This was enough."
"Good. Then we can get our stuff at the inn and move on," she said cheerfully.
He nodded and didn't comment. There was nothing to say anyway.
The lost child
Since nights were getting chillier at the end of summer, Billinda tried to find a farm or a hamlet to spend the night in. She didn't mind sleeping under the stars in the summer, but during the fall it was easier to get wet.
She had considered buying a tent, but it would mean encumbering themselves too much. Buying a mule to carry their stuff was also out of the question. She liked to travel light and Splendor seemed to be getting used to doing the same.
In spite of the seven months gone by since his awakening, Splendor still tended to let her do everything. She carried his purse since he didn't seem to get the hang of money and true value of things, but he had learned to do some things himself, like shaving.
He still wore his sky-blue tunic, but Billinda knew she'd have to buy him warmer clothes soon. Her wandering would bring her to some town where the wool trade was strong and she'd refurbish their wardrobe with winter clothes.
She should probably stop somewhere during the winter and find some kind of job as a body guard or town militia. But it wasn't winter yet.
The sun was setting when she reached a lone farm with Splendor. It had a well-kept orchard and a tiled pitched roof. It was actually quite small, thus it must belong either to a young couple or a single man.
A blonde and beautiful woman opened the door. She must be ten years older than Billinda and wore commoners' clothes with noble dignity. She didn't look scared by two armed visitors and let them in.
The house was basically one room with a fireplace and a mezzanine under the pitched roof for a big bed. A cauldron was gurgling on the fire, sending the smell of stew throughout the living space.
The woman set the table for three, with fresh bread and a salad to accompany the stew. Billinda and Splendor sat with her noticing the emptiness of the house and the paleness of the beautiful face that never smiled.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Splendor said as she whispered a blessing on the food.
"Do you live alone? Are you a widow?" Billinda asked, curious. Their host wasn't what she expected.
"Not really," the woman said mournfully. "Would you like to hear my story?"
***
Miranda, Countess of Yorkenshire, had renounced her birth family years earlier. Her story felt familiar to Splendor, who could relate to most of nobility's traditions even after a century-long sleep.
Tradition wanted her to marry still a virgin and her father watched over her virtue. But she fell in love. Landino was handsome and passionate. He had only one fault. He belonged to an enemy family and her father refused to give her to him. The Count chased away the prospective son-in-law, insulting him and his ancestors as deadly foes to the Yorkenshire people.
The two young lovers were desperate. They loved each other and wanted to get married and live happily ever after. So they both went against tradition. They met in secret and shared the most intense passion they both felt for each other.
It was the best night of Miranda's life, spent in the arms of her beloved Landino. Unfortunately her father discovered them and killed the young man, taking her back home in shame.
She cried for her lost love for a long time. She consoled herself with the thought she was with child. A part of him still lived inside her.
She gave birth with great pain and secrecy, risking her life. When she recovered, she was told her son was dead, but she didn't believe them.
Eventually someone told her the baby was somewhere, far from the castle, and she better forget him. She decided to forget them – the family that had hurt her and torn her heart apart.
She wandered for years, looking for her lost child, but couldn't find him. Eventually she settled in that farm, exhausted from her useless search.
***
"Now if any of you in your travels meet a boy of seventeen who answers to the name of Massimino and has a birthmark on his right shoulder, please tell him his real mother is waiting for him and show him this place," Miranda concluded.
"We shall look for him, won't we, Billi?" Splendor assured her. "What else do you know of him?"
"Only what I told you, noble knight," Miranda answered, staring hopeful at him. "His age, his name and the birthmark. That's the only thing the midwife noticed when she pulled him out of the womb."
"It's not much, but better than nothing," he said. "Do you have any idea of where they took him?"
"I'm sorry, but I lost track of him a long time ago."
"We'll look even in the kingdom of Salamar, won't we, Billi?" Splendor realized Billinda was strangely silent and lost in thought. "Hey, Billi! What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I'm tired. Good night." The warrior woman rose from the table and went to curl up near the fireplace without looking at anyone in particular.
Splendor felt the need to apologize for her blunt behavior, but he was also quite tired, so Miranda gave him a blanket and he went to lie next to the warrior woman.
***
The next morning Billinda was still too quiet and subdued for Splendor's tastes. They said good-bye to Miranda and left the lone farm, resuming their endless journey.
"Will you tell me what's wrong with you?" Splendor demanded at last, sick of his brooding companion.
"Nothing. No need to ask all those questions," she answered bluntly.
"Why not? We might meet him."
"If she couldn't find him... Splendor, it's a useless search!"
"Why? We only need to keep our eyes open..."
She stopped and turned to look at him.
"I understand her sorrow touched you, but have you thought about him? Maybe he's happy where he is now. Maybe he has a family and doesn't know he's been adopted or bought or whatever. Why should we upset him?"
"You speak as if you knew exactly where he is now," he said with a frown.
"It's a wild guess, Splendor!" she snapped. "Think about it! It's none of our business! I don't want to hear about children eve
r again!"
And she resumed walking fast, without turning back to look at him. He followed her, still upset at her vehemence.
***
Billinda felt irritated and sad. Why did people breed anyway? What was the point of having children to be separated from them? And even if they stayed together, families didn't always get along. Take me. I'm better off without my family.
But Splendor had been touched by Miranda's sorrow. And now he wanted to look for a lost child, as if it meant something. Probably he felt like a lost child himself, since he'd lost everyone to the long-sleep spell.
Billinda was trying hard not to think about her past, but Miranda's story had stirred something. She had a half idea. She wasn't sure she wanted to follow through, though. She didn't really want to go home.
But then, she'd been away for so long... things might have changed. She had changed, and not only because she'd lost her monthlies to her wanderings. She had learned to defend herself and keep men at bay – even the closest ones.
She'd been traveling for months with Splendor, sharing rooms with him without anything wrong happening between them. True that Splendor was a prince in everything and his manners would never make him force himself on anyone, but still...
Billinda was enjoying the company, or she'd have left him somewhere a long time ago. With the excuse of the curse, she could keep him at bay. Although, even if something actually happened, there wouldn't be any consequences.
Not that she'd discussed her health with him. She didn't want to know about his real needs either, just in case. He was probably missing a woman's touch, but blindfolded whores weren't good enough for him either.
I need proof. I need to see how I feel. I need to go home. She was headed home anyway. Not really homesick, but still... She must understand how she felt about her family before thinking some more about the future.
Home sweet home?
Splendor and Billinda had been traveling together for almost a year now. Ten long months through spring and summer, and now the fall. Splendor wondered where she was going to spend winter and hoped she'd stop somewhere, at least during the coldest months of the year.
"You're very quiet, lately..." he said as they walked on a lake shore, headed for a small village straight ahead, with its tiny pier and few boats. "Where are we?"
"Home," she snapped.
She says it in a way... Does she love or hate the place? Or both? Splendor couldn't tell. In spite of the intimacy of often sharing rooms, he still didn't know much about her. She didn't like to talk about herself and he felt still too intimidated by the fiery warrior woman to ask questions.
As they approaced the village of mud huts, he must admit it looked grim. No wonder she'd left it. Although she hadn't had a much better life, wandering through the northern lands...
People milling around the village started to notice them. A blond teen brightened at the sight.
"Billinda!" He screamed in delight. "You're back!" He rushed to hug her.
Splendor saw her stiffen but not push him away.
"Yes, Denni, I'm back. Quiet, or you'll throw me to the ground. You've grown up a lot..." She touched the boyish face, thoughtful.
"Yes, I'm not a child anymore," he said proudly, straightening his back to look taller.
Then the boy saw Splendor. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing at the prince shamelessly.
"A friend," Billinda answered with a shrug.
Friend, Splendor thought. She's keeping me as friend... or pet... or... What was he expecting? Again he felt like they were still strangers in spite of the months spent together.
"Good! I was afraid you'd gotten married!" Denni said. "How long will you stay?"
"I don't know," Billinda answered. "Any news?"
"Everybody is fine!"
"And... Malcom?"
"Married."
"Ah."
Splendor wondered who Malcom was. Maybe Billinda did have a heart after all. She came back to this place for someone. Someone who was now married to somebody else. Interesting.
"Will you stay with me?" Denni asked.
"No, thank you, Dennison, I don't think your parents would approve."
"But..."
"Come, Splendor." Billinda led Splendor away from the disappointed teen and headed for one of the huts on the lake shore.
Splendor followed her inside a very poor dwelling with just one room with a fireplace. An aging woman was by the fireplace, mixing some kind of fish soup in a big cauldron. Next to her sat a brown-haired young woman with a braid and the same blue eyes as Billinda, obviously her sister.
"Splendor, this is my mother and my sister Elkele," Billinda said.
There were also two men, one bearded, the other clean-shaven.
"My father and my brother Arindal," Billinda continued, pointing at them.
Her father sat by the fire with his pipe and frowned at the sight, her brother came forward to clasp Splendor's hand.
"It's ready!" Elkele said cheerfully, adding two plates, two spoons and two goblets at the already made table.
Splendor sat with them and noticed how the men of the house were a little wary of Billinda, but the women looked very happy to see her again. And to meet him. Billinda's mother even offered him a new woolen tunic, saying his was too ruined.
"Where have you been, Linda?" Elkele asked.
"Around, Elke," Billinda answered without looking at anyone in particular.
"You've changed," Arindal said, amused, sitting with his father after the meal to smoke his pipe.
"You bet." Billinda glared at him but didn't elaborate.
What's going on? Splendor wondered as Billinda's mother tried the tunic on his frame. He had to accept the gift. He'd have to buy a woolen tunic soon anyway...
The weather wasn't too bad yet and, after the meal, Splendor and Billinda went out again, leaving their travel bags in the hut. Splendor hoped they wouldn't spend too much time in the crowded house. The hamlet didn't seem to have a tavern or an inn, so Billinda's family was probably the only shelter they could have.
Billinda didn't look like she wanted to spend the winter with her family, though. As they walked through the huts along the lake shore, Splendor asked, "Billi, you don't like your family?"
"No," was the blunt reply.
"Why?" he asked again, puzzled. He'd give anything to have his family back. Lost to Leondina's spell and a long gone past.
"We don't understand each other," she grumbled.
She approached a young man with long black hair braided out of his face, carrying some nets off a small boat that had just landed. He had caught a few fish and was probably taking them to his house.
"Hello, Billinda," he greeted with a smile.
"Malcom," she answered with a nod. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, and Splendor realized she was in love with the young man from the way she looked wistfully at him.
"I heard you got married," she said lowering her eyes.
"Yes... and you?"
"I'll never marry."
He chuckled. "One day you'll fall in love and change your mind! See you!"
Billinda watched him walk away with a clear expression that said she'd never love like this ever again.
"You love him," Splendor whispered.
"Yes," she answered without turning to look at him.
"So it's not true that you don't believe in love." Splendor frowned. He thought it was impossible that a woman would be so cynical and he was glad to be proven right.
"It's more complicated than you think," she replied.
"Help me understand!" he demanded. Had she lied to him?
She turned to look at him and half smiled.
"Boy, you're curious!" she said. "What do you care?"
"I want to understand how and why you became who you are today," he answered.
She stared at him for a moment before saying, "How and why... All right, come with me."
They sat together on the lake shore, a little apar
t from the hamlet and little wooden pier. She hugged her knees, frowning in concentration before telling her story again.
"One night I came back late and bloodied. I was scolded because I had gone out alone. They thought I'd been raped by the raiders of Rota Anak. But it wasn't the raiders who had raped me, it was some of the boys I'd grown up with and whom I trusted."
Splendor gasped. She'd been raped. No wonder she didn't believe in love anymore. But then... Malcom?
"The shock of being attacked by people I considered friends made me lose my voice," she continued. "I never told anyone the truth. We went to town and my brother was very close to me. Too close if you want my opinion."
"In what sense?" Splendor's eyes widened even more.
"In all senses." She smiled ruefully. "It's called incest, if you want the right word for it. When he found out I was pregnant, Arindal got scared. I don't think it was his anyway. My parents were furious. I was nervous and lost the baby. I found my voice again as I screamed my wordless pain. I ran away, cutting my hair and dressing like a man. The rest you know."
Splendor nodded and gulped before speaking again.
"And Malcom?" he asked, blushing. He shouldn't ask, but he really wanted to know more about her.
"Malcom is the only young man of the village who never touched me," she answered. "I guess I idealized him for that reason..." She sighed. "I had a crush on him before the accident, and probably that's why he's still my ideal man. I think he liked me too, but we never managed to tell each other."
"And now he has married someone else..." Splendor said, thoughtful. If her ideal man was like Malcom – the physical opposite of himself – he was doomed. "What about Dennison?" he asked then.
"Denni was a child!" she replied amused.
"Yes, but now he's a young man too..."
"True, he's seventeen..."
***
Billinda lay in the darkness of her parents' hut, listening to the breathing of all the people sleeping in the big room. Splendor lay next to her, probably asleep, but on the other side there was the mud wall.
Malcom's face flashed inside her. Gods, he was still handsome! His dazzling smile made her want to have his babies. Of course that would never happen since he was now married and she didn't have her periods, but still... it felt good to dream.
Tales of the Northern Kingdoms volume 2 Page 6