Kwin

by Trudie Collins

  They stayed in that position, not speaking, not moving, until the heat of the flames died down. The pyre had been built in a pit, enabling the two mourners to easily cover it over once the fire had completely died. They used their hands to push the dirt in. It took a while and they were exhausted by the time the task was complete, as well as covered in dirt. Only then did Jona take Luka in his arms and hold her while she sobbed into his chest, tears once again falling from his own eyes.

  Chapter 33

  Kwin watched as Jona placed Fain’s body on the pyre. He had no idea what she had been like when she was alive, but Jona seemed to have liked her and Luka loved her very much, so her death saddened him.

  Drake had ordered him to stay away, but he had been unable to do so. When his pacing had started to annoy the other servants who were in the kitchen, drinking coffee and chatting, Drake had told him to find somewhere else to be. Throwing an invisibility shield around himself, Kwin had decided to watch the proceedings.

  He was glad he had when he heard a carriage approaching. Jona and Luka were so focused on what they were doing that they were oblivious to its arrival.

  Kwin went to see who it was, knowing full well who it would be but praying to Hellan that he was wrong.

  He wasn’t. Moda stepped out of the carriage and moved toward the front door. Kwin dropped his shield and moved to intercept her.

  “I wouldn’t recommend doing that,” he said as her hand reached out to knock on the door.

  She began to shake as she turned to look at him.

  “I am here for my daughter’s funeral,” Moda said, her voice trembling.

  Kwin smiled at her. “Actually you’re here to cause trouble for Luka. I won’t let you. She made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t want to see you again, so I suggest you go before she finds out you are here.”

  “You can’t stop me saying goodbye to my daughter.”

  “You wouldn’t need to if you hadn’t killed her.” That comment was probably going too far, but he didn’t care. Tears formed in her eyes and she slapped Kwin across the face. He didn’t even flinch.

  “She was my daughter,” Moda said.

  “So was Luka but from what I have seen, you never treated her as one. Now are you going to get back into your carriage or am I going to have to carry you?”

  “If you lay so much as one finger on me, I’ll scream.”

  “Go ahead.” Kwin let his magic surround Moda, slipping it through her throat, freezing her vocal cords. He smiled when she opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

  Her eyes filled with terror as she clutched at her throat. Kwin took a step toward her and she instinctively stepped back before turning and fleeing to the safety of her carriage, where her driver was waiting for her to provide him with a destination.

  “She wants to go home,” Kwin told the man. “Please make sure she arrives in one piece.”

  The driver frowned at him. Having not heard any of Kwin and Moda’s conversation, he had no idea what was going on. Instead of asking, he decided to trust that Kwin was telling him the truth.

  Kwin watched the carriage depart until it was out of sight. It would be a few hours before Moda would get her voice back and he was sure that she would try to contact Luka the moment she did. He was looking forward to seeing how Luka would react.

  He placed his invisibility shield around himself once more and returned to where the funeral was taking place. He watched the ritual with fascination. When Jona took hold of Luka he tensed, ready to intervene should the man do anything more than comfort her.

  Eventually Jona stepped away from Luka, then picked her up and carried her into the house. Kwin followed them as Jona carried her upstairs and into her suite. He placed her on her bed, kissed her forehead, then left.

  Kwin waited until Jona was out of sight, then let his shield drop. He returned to the kitchen and informed the occupants that the funeral was over. He took great pleasure in mentioning his encounter with Moda.

  “Good for you,” Drake said. “The last thing Luka needed today was her mother interfering.”

  Koal placed a glass in front of Kwin which was half filled with an amber liquid.

  “What’s this?” Kwin asked.

  “Brandy.”

  “Brandy? From Tippet? I didn’t know you could get that here.”

  Koal grinned at him. “You can’t. Luka knows someone who smuggles it in.”

  “So why am I only hearing of this now? I have really missed this stuff.”

  “Luka isn’t able to get much of it and most of the time I use it for cooking. Tonight, however, I think you deserve a glass.”

  Kwin raised his glass to him. “Koal my friend, thank you.”

  He took a sip, savouring the taste. The other servants approved of his treatment of Moda; he just hoped that Luka would react as well.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  Luka woke the following morning feeling like she hadn’t slept at all. There was a knock on the door and, silently praying that it wasn’t Kwin, but at the same time hoping it was, she called out, “Come in.”

  Shelby entered with a breakfast tray. “Drake thought you might need this,” she said as she placed it on Luka’s lap.

  Luka almost asked where Kwin was, but stopped herself just in time. “Thank you,” she said and took a sip of the fruit juice.

  She hadn’t realised how hungry she was until she took her first bite, then ate everything on the plate. She then got washed and dressed and went in search of Jona. She found him in one of the sitting rooms with Nonah and Drake.

  Nonah jumped out of his seat the moment she entered the room, but Luka waved him back down.

  “I didn’t realise you and Nonah were such good friends,” she said to Jona as she took a seat.

  “We found out soon after Nonah arrived that we have a number of things in common,” Jona said.

  “Like?”

  “Like we both hated sleeping with Moda,” Jona said.

  Drake coughed to hide his laughter.

  “Speaking of which,” Drake said when he had recovered. “Did Kwin tell you she visited here yesterday?”

  “Moda?” Luka said in surprise. “No, he didn’t.” How could he have? She hadn’t seen him.

  Drake told her what Kwin had told him and she had to turn her head away so nobody could see her struggling not to laugh.

  Jona was not so amused. “You give that man far too much freedom. Slaves like him should be kept on a tight leash.”

  A mental picture of Kwin wearing nothing but a leash filled Luka’s mind and she had to shake her head to banish it.

  “I give him as much freedom as he needs to protect me. Would you rather Moda had disturbed us?”

  Jona was saved from answering by a sound echoing around the room, letting Luka know that someone was trying to contact her.

  “That’s probably her now,” Luka said and grimaced.

  “Would you like me to take care if it?” Drake asked.

  For a moment, Luka was unsure. She never wanted to see her mother again, but didn’t want Drake to have to face her.

  “Luka,” Drake said, gently putting his hand on her arm to get her attention. “You have just lost your sister. This is the least I can do for you.”

  “Thank you,” Luka said, then a thought occurred to her. “On second thoughts, have Kwin speak with her. I have a feeling he might enjoy it.”

  “With pleasure,” Drake said. “I think I might stay to watch.”

  Luka could have ordered him not to, but she didn’t. “When Kwin has done, please contact Gadrel for me. The sooner I get Moda removed as my legal mother, the better. And please take Nonah with you, there is something I need to speak to Jona about.”

  Drake nodded, then left the room, ordering Nonah to follow him.

  “What are your plans?” Luka asked Jona once they were alone.

  Jona put down the glass from which he had been drinking. “To be honest
, I haven’t thought about it. I’m not going back to Moda and I can’t stay here.”

  Luka opened her mouth to protest. She liked having him around, as long as he understood they could never be anything more than friends. Jona raised his hand to stop her from speaking.

  “I know what you are going to say, but deep down you don’t really want me here. I still have strong feelings for you and I don’t think I will be able to keep them hidden. It is better for us both if I leave, though I would appreciate it if I can stay for one more day.”

  Luka smiled at him. “Of course you can.” That was one of her problems solved. Now all she had to do was work out what to do about Kwin.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  The days dragged by slowly. Jona left, as he had promised, the legal proceedings were taken care of, Moda did not try to contact Luka again and Fain’s ex-slaves were told the truth about Luka’s household.

  Luka continued to pine after Kwin, and avoid him. It was getting harder and harder and she found herself becoming lonely. She would eat alone in the dining room once more, having banished Kwin to eat with the other servants. She even gave up on her language lessons. Canis kept telling her she was being stupid, until she told the dog to mind his own business, at which point he went to find Kwin and sulked for the rest of the day.

  Luka immersed herself in business, keeping her business manager so busy he eventually asked her to slow down and let him take care of things. Not wishing to displease him, but needing something to occupy her, she asked his permission to visit the various stores and other commercial interests she held. She did not take Kwin with her on any of her trips.

  One morning, while she was eating breakfast, Kwin entered the room without knocking and took a seat opposite her.

  “This has got to stop,” he said.

  “I don’t recall giving you permission to enter,” she said, hoping he couldn’t hear how fast her heart was beating, as it always did whenever she saw him since their night together.

  “Cut the crap. I understand why you don’t want to see me.” He stopped and tried again. “Actually, no I don’t. I know the reason you don’t want to see me, but I can’t say I understand, but that is beside the point. If you don’t want to spend any time with me, fine. But what have the others done wrong? Why are they being punished?”

  Luka stared at him in shock. Not at the fact he dared to talk to her like that, but at what he was saying. She didn’t understand what he meant.

  Her confusion must have been written on her face because he explained without her having to ask him to. “Why are you eating here all alone? Why are you not eating in the kitchen like we sometimes used to? You understand enough of the language to hold conversations with your servants now. Drake would be more than happy to be present if that is what you are worried about.”

  Luka opened her mouth then closed it again. She had no idea what to say.

  “They miss you,” Kwin continued. “If you want to keep avoiding me instead of dealing with your problem, fine, but go back to being the friend to the others that you have become instead of their mistress.”

  Kwin stood up and walked out, leaving Luka staring at his departing back. She was still staring into space, lost in thought, a while later when Drake entered the room.

  “What are your plans for today?” he asked when he managed to get her attention.

  “I’m going to go for a ride,” she said.

  “Will Kwin be going with you?” Luka was aware that the servants were concerned about the tension between her and Kwin, but none of them had asked her what it was about. She kept expecting Drake to, but he never did.

  “No, but you can tell Koal that I will be having lunch in the kitchen, if that is alright with him.”

  She may be mistress of the house, but Koal ruled the kitchen and nobody ever did anything there without his permission.

  Drake smiled at her. “Of course Luka. I will let him know and advise the stable boys to prepare your horse.”

  The ride was not as enjoyable as Luka had hoped. She missed Kwin. At one point she saw him in the distance, exercising the horse he usually took when they used to ride together, but he didn’t approach her. Instead he turned and rode away from her.

  She sighed sadly. Their estrangement was her fault, but his actions still hurt her. She wished she knew what to do.

  Lunch, however, was the most enjoyable meal she had eaten in a long time. A number of the servants were present and took great pleasure in teasing her when she mispronounced anything she tried to say in their language.

  Until Kwin turned up. The moment he saw her, he turned around and left. She had no doubt that he did it because he believed she would prefer him not to be there, and part of her did, but it ruined the atmosphere and she soon left.

  She went to her room and growled in frustration, waking Canis, who was asleep on her bed. “I don’t know what to do,” she said, more to herself than to the dog.

  “Sleep with him again,” he said into her head as he rolled over and closed his eyes again.

  “That’s not very helpful,” she said, but received no reply.

  Then her eyes fell on her communicator. She needed to talk to someone, as a distraction if nothing else.

  Why she contacted Ofar, she had no idea, but chatting with the woman took her mind off her own problems. She was glad to hear that Gareth was well. She wished there was something she could do to help him, but he was owned by Ofar so she could not interfere. Then an idea occurred to her. Maybe she could kill two birds with one stone. She needed time away from Kwin and he would like spending time with his friend. She made her suggestion to Ofar, who jumped at the idea. Once the details had been decided upon, she said her goodbyes, then went in search of Drake, who would need to make the arrangements.

  Chapter 34

  “You did what!” Kwin roared, making Luka take a step back. She had to be winding him up. She couldn’t really be that cruel.

  “I made an arrangement with Ofar for you to stay with her for a few weeks in exchange for Gareth coming back with you and spending a few weeks here.”

  She wasn’t smiling and her eyes, which always lit up when she was amused, had no spark in them. She wasn’t that good an actress; she was serious.

  “Is this punishment?” he shouted at her. The whole household would be able to hear, but he didn’t care. Only Drake would be able to understand what was being said and he had gone into the village to purchase some supplies. “You think I acted like a sex slave so now you are going to make damn sure I am treated like one. Is that it?”

  He was still looking into her eyes, searching for any trace that he was misunderstanding what she was saying, so he saw them fill with rage.

  “Get over yourself,” she yelled, matching his volume. “Not everything is about you. Has it ever occurred to you that I am trying to help Gareth, to give him some time away from being a slave? Or are you too full of yourself to allow yourself to be used for a little while in order to give him a break?”

  “I...” Kwin started to say, then gave up. He was too angry to have this conversation. Instead he walked out, slamming the door behind him, and almost walked into Nonah.

  “Problems?” he asked.

  “None that concern you.”

  Nonah raised his eyebrows. Since arriving at Luka’s estate, he had never seen Kwin so agitated. “Let’s go to the forge,” he said. “Kail mentioned the other day that he has a couple of swords that need testing. The exercise might do you good.”

  It would take his mind off what Luka had planned, if nothing else, so Kwin agreed. Kail was more than happy for the two men to practice their swordsmanship, on the condition that they didn’t break anything. He didn’t say whether he was referring to their bones or his swords.

  Kwin was impressed with the workmanship. The sword he selected was perfectly balanced and a decent weight. It felt good in his hand and moved well.

  “How good are y
ou?” he asked Nonah once they were far enough away from the forge.

  “I can hold my own,” Nonah said and took up a fighting stance.

  The fight began and Kwin soon found out that Nonah had been downplaying his abilities. He could do a lot more than hold his own and Kwin found he was having to fight properly instead of just playing at it.

  While Nonah wasn’t as skilled as Kwin, he knew how to use a sword, had good footwork and put power into his swings. Kwin could have easily disarmed him, but that wasn’t the point of the fight, so he made no attempt to do so. Instead he blocked and countered.

  Nonah was relentless and he was fit. He showed no sign of tiring. Kwin soon found his mind was on nothing but the combat. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face. It had been a while since he had used a sword and he had missed it.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luka approach, but he didn’t let her know he had seen her. Whenever he glanced at her, he could see that she was watching his every move.

  “Playtime’s over,” she eventually called out. “Kwin, you need to get ready. We will be leaving shortly.”

  His bad mood instantly returned. Without speaking, he strode past her and into the house. He stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower, hoping the hot water would wash away his anger. It didn’t.

  He should have been happy that Luka was trying to help Gareth, that his friend would get a few weeks of freedom, but he wasn’t. And he didn’t know why. He didn’t mind that he was going to suffer being used as a sex slave for a while; it was the least he could do for Gareth. But he was still mad at Luka for making him go through it. If she had spoken to him about it, he would have readily agreed, but she didn’t. She had told him what was going to happen, treating him like a slave not a friend.

  He couldn’t understand how she could treat him like that, like he was a commodity that she could trade. This wasn’t the Luka that he had grown to respect. Maybe her sister’s death was affecting her more than he realised.

  Before finishing his shower, he switched off the hot tap, inhaling sharply when the cold water hit his skin. It did nothing to cool his temper.