by Heath Pfaff
I could hardly contain my excitement at the prospect of good news from the Knights of Ethan. The only matter that concerned me was finding out who had survived the attack at Fell Rock, but one survivor might well know of others who had survived. The prospect filled me with anticipation. The room I was in was apparently some form of guest quarters. It had a bed, a room off to one side with a nice sized wash basin, and a table that would comfortably sit two. There were no windows, but the room was well decorated with wall-hangings and other furniture. It was at least three times as large as my room at Fell Rock. I made my way to the room with the wash basin and began cleaning myself. It had been too long since I'd really had the chance to make myself presentable, and I decided I would take advantage of the opportunity. I tossed my cloak over the back of a chair, shut the door to the small room, and undressed the rest of the way, doing as thorough a job as possible of washing the grime of the road from myself with the soap and water available. While I was working on the process of removing layers of dirt from my flesh, I thought I heard what sounded like the door to my room opening and closing. I finished scrubbing the grime from myself and redressed, eager to have at whatever refreshments had been left for me. I was hungry, and tired of eating rations and unseasoned game. As I opened the door that led back into my room, my jaw dropped. The table had a large, covered, silver tray on it, but what really surprised me was the woman standing off to one side of the tray, looking at me as I came back out of the wash room. She was undressed from the waist up, her more than ample bosom fully exposed, and glistening in the light cast by the room's candles as though her skin was oiled. She wore a semi-transparent gown about her hips that did little to hide the exquisite feminine features beneath. Her eyes were a deep brown, and her face was framed by a smooth, light brown hair that hung down far enough to offer her the barest hint of modesty across her supple chest. I noticed that she was so skinny that I could make out her individual ribs. After staring at me for a time, though I didn't know how long because I'd been doing some staring myself, she dropped to her knees and bowed her head. I heard the rustle of chain as she bowed, and looked down to see that her left ankle was shackled, and there was a chain running from her ankle to an iron circle partially embedded in stone at the door, where it was fastened with a lock. She was, in effect, on a leash that allowed her to move about the room, but not much else.
"Master Lowin, I am here for your pleasure." She said in a voice that quavered with timidity and fear, her eyes downcast as she spoke. I didn't honestly know what to make of the situation. I was no longer entirely naïve in the ways of the world, and I understood that it was common for young women to be sold into body-service to rich nobles in order to pay the debts of their family. I, however, was not of a mind to take advantage of such a situation. The girl was terrified of me, and I would not willingly bed someone who was only going to do so because it was expected of them. Kye had not been the type to get jealous of physical affection. She had explained to me that among her people, they did not concern themselves with such trivial matters, but what would Kyeia think of me if I were to force an unwilling girl into my bed? I didn't have to ask the question, because I knew what she would have thought, and I would have felt the same myself. Sleeping with a slave was rape no matter how you looked at it. I would not sully her or myself in such a manner.
"Stand up." I told the girl, finding that my voice was firm, full of a sense of command that I didn't know I possessed. She snapped to her feet, her finer attributes swaying in a fetching manner. I made a point of softening my voice. "My pleasure today will come from the refreshments you've brought, and not your flesh, you needn't worry." She relaxed, but only to the slightest degree. I walked around the table, grabbing the blanket from the bed as I passed, and draping it around her shoulders. She flinched as I came near her, and I tried to pretend that it didn't bother me that my presence was now so terrible that common people flinched away. I pulled out a chair and sat down, removing the lid from the food. There was some form of roasted meat on the platter, heavily spiced and beautifully aromatic. There were also a variety of seasonal vegetables, warm bread, and a bowl of some sort of soup. Multiple empty plates had been supplied, one per course. Instead I grabbed one of the plates and placed a few scraps of meat and vegetable on it, and ladled some of the soup over it. There was more food than I could eat by myself, but not really enough for two people.
"Have a seat, girl. Eat something." I said, not wanting to eat alone with her watching me, hunger obvious on her face. To my surprise she didn't hesitate to sit down and begin eating. I thought she might have, if for no other reason than because she feared me. She tore into the food with abandon, eating so fast I thought she might choke. The poor girl was starved. She seemed to notice me watching her after a moment, and she slowed down her eating, but there were tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Master Lowin." She said from around a mouthful of food. "I didn't mean to eat so much of your..."
I shook my head. "It's alright. I wasn't that hungry anyway. Eat what you want." I lied easily. I was hungry, but my body was never short on energy. I imagined I could go much longer than the frail girl wrapped in a blanket could before my next meal. She continued eating, going through most of my food in short order, but I didn't care. A strong distaste for Renwalk was building up inside me.
"You are nicer than most of them." She said in a small voice, after she had finished eating.
I shrugged, not sure who she meant by "most of them," and not entirely comfortable with that line of conversation. "I just try to do what is right." I replied.
"Your eyes are kind of pretty, not all dark and scary like those others..." She added, getting up from her seat and coming around the table towards me, the blanket fell off of her shoulders as she moved, exposing the girl's breasts. "I wouldn't mind making you feel good, you know, since you've been so kind to me." She whispered those words into my ear as she drew close. I felt my body responding to the suggestion, but I shook my head.
"What's your name?" I asked her. She kissed my neck.
"Lace." She whispered again.
"Well, Lace, you needn't repay my kindness in such a way. I am content with your company." I told her, though I did, indeed, want to have her at that moment. Physical lust is difficult to suppress, but I felt that it would be wrong to accept Lace's body in payment for giving her the food she so desperately needed.
She moved away from me then, her eyes wet with moisture. "You really are a good one." She said. "I was so scared when they told me I was to service one of the Dark-Eyes, but you are not like the others, and it's not just your pretty purple eyes."
I shrugged once more, not sure how to reply, and not sure what that implied about my fellow Knights. I felt a churning in the pit of my stomach. Were so many of us really that terrible? Lace moved over to the bed, dragging her chain behind her, and laid down. "I really don't mind if you join me." She said, once more offering me a sincere temptation. I got up from my chair and walked to the bed, laying down beside her, but not touching her. She crawled across the bed to me, running her hands down my torso towards the waist of my pants, but I grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"I recently lost someone who was very important to me, and it still weighs heavily upon my heart." I told her. "Let us just lay and enjoy the quiet for a time." She smiled, and it was an honest expression that I guessed she probably did not wear very often.
"Alright, Master Lowin." She whispered, and laid her head on my chest. In a matter of minutes she was sleeping, though I didn't fall immediately into the land of dreams. Who were the Knights of Ethan, and what kind of a band were we that everyone so feared us? What had our king created? These questions plagued me, but in time they faded. The warm press of Lace's body against mine sent my mind in another, painful direction. My memories ran back to my first and last night in bed with Kye, the desperation and sincerity in our passion together. Tears crept to my eyes. The world was not the place I'd always thought it was. How can I go
on without you, Kye? I thought to myself. Of course there was no answer, and so I lay in quiet desperation, until sleep finally took me.
"I see you've kept yourself busy while I took care of business," came a familiar voice, startling me awake. I sat up in bed, Lace coming awake as well. Weaver was standing in my doorway, and behind him I could just make out the form of Kensil. Upon seeing Weaver, Lace cowered behind me, and I could feel her shaking at my back. Even as I stood up from the bed, the mostly naked girl stayed hidden behind me, the chain on her ankle rattling as she stepped off the feather mattress onto the ground.
"It's not what it seems. She merely kept me company while I ate, and stayed by me while I slept." I said, defending the honor of a girl I knew probably had little left to defend, though it was no choice of her own. Kensil laughed from where he stood behind the red-eyed warrior, the man I now knew to be Lucidil.
"I've heard she is quite good at keeping one company." He said snidely, his lip curling in an unpleasant smile that made me like the man less than I had before, if that were even possible.
I stood up straight, my shoulders stiffening as my ire built. Weaver seemed to notice, and he moved to head off anything rash I might do or say. "It matters not, Lowin. It is time for us to be gone. Get your gear together, and we'll be on our way."
I shook my head. "I'll not leave Lace here to be abused. I want her freed, and given something to start her own life." The words left my mouth before I'd really thought them through. I was, after all, in no position to make such demands. Lace was a slave, and I was just a passing warrior. However, it was a decision that must have come to me in my sleep. Or, more likely still, it was not a decision but simply an inability on my part to allow a person as kind and gentle as Lace to be used and mistreated. I knew, in my heart, that there were others in her position that I wasn't helping, but what would I be if I allowed such an abuse of humanity to continue in front of my very eyes?
"Master Lowin, you shouldn't put yourself in..." Lace began, but her words were cut off as Kensil burst into laughter.
The little man's voice was oily and disgusting as he spoke. "Is this your first flop, boy, that you are so taken by a whore? She wets your manhood a little, and you fall in love with her?" He burst into laughter. "Well you'll get no more of her, she's one of my best girls and I have no..."
Weaver raised his hand, silencing Kensil's outburst. He eyed Lace, and then he turned his attention to me, an honest curiosity in his eyes. "What of it, Lowin, what is this little slave girl to you? There are another hundred like her in the servants' quarters. Why do you care what happens to this one?"
"How could I not care what happens to a human who is suffering right in front of my eyes, Weaver? How could anyone not care and still call themselves a man?" I replied, speaking my heart, and never letting my gaze wander from his. I searched those red eyes for some sign of humanity, but like my own, they were eyes that were distinctly inhuman. They had, perhaps, held more life in them when they belonged to their original owner, I thought.
"That is a foolish sentiment. You can't hope to save them all, and most don't even deserve your notice." Lucidil replied, and I saw a sudden spark in his eyes. "I will make you a bargain, though, and let us see how truly you value your foolish ideal. I will grant you this favor. I will free the girl and give her money enough that she need never want for anything..."
Kensil broke in angrily. "You can't do that! She's one of our best..."
The red-eyed warrior's voice cracked like a whip, heavy with its brutal power. "I have absolute authority here, Kensil. Do not forget that." Kensil fell backwards into the hallway, shaking, and I noticed with some satisfaction there was a wet spot expanding on the front his pants. Behind me Lace was shaking so hard that I could hear her teeth rattling together. The voice had no effect on me. Weaver, or rather Lucidil, continued where he had left off, his human tones resumed. "I will free the girl and see she has the means to a happy life, but doing so gives nothing to me, and so I demand a boon of you, in exchange. I will give your woman her life, but in return you will give me your word that when I demand return, you will repay me, whatever I may ask."
"What would you have of me?" I asked, not yet understanding the nature of what Lucidil was bargaining for.
"That's just it, Lowin. I'm not going to tell you now. You will get this woman's life, and I will get some guaranteed favor to be decided in the future." The light in his red eyes was dangerous and I knew it, but what other choice did I have? I couldn't turn my back on a person in need if it was in my power to help them. I felt a tug at my back, and heard Lace whisper softly.
"Sir, you don't have to do anything for me. I've done nothing to earn such a thing from you. Please don't give the red-eyed man so much power over you." Her voice was soft and frightened.
I turned to her, brushed her messed hair back from her tear streaked face and smiled in as reassuring a fashion as I could manage, though I too feared the agreement I was about to enter. "He already holds much power over me, but this way at least something good comes from it." It was true. Weaver was strong enough that he could force my hand if he wished to. I didn't feel that I was giving him much more then he already had. I faced Weaver once more.
"Alright, I agree to your terms." I said, though I still feared what I might be getting myself into.
He chuckled and shook his head. "You are noble, Lowin. You're a great, noble fool. She'll never be worth what you've just agreed to, I can promise you that." The red-eyed warrior crossed the room to Lace, who shrank back from him, but he blurred into motion and in an instant the shackle fell from Lace's ankle to the ground. He then reached into his cloak and withdrew a large coin purse and put it in my hand. "That is for her. I'll meet you in the courtyard in one hour. By that time I will have finished making arrangements for her. Don't be late, we've a lot of traveling to do yet, and our new travel companion is eager to be on the road again."
"New travel companion?" I asked, but he had already turned his back and was disappearing down the hallway, Kensil in tow. My moment of confusion was broken when I felt two arms encircle me from behind.
"Master Lowin, you shouldn't have, I don't know what to say to you. I can never repay..." Lace was saying and I turned to face her, smiling.
"You can just call me Lowin, and there is no need for thanks. I just set right something that was wrong." I opened the bag of coins I'd been given, and saw the glint of gold. A good deal of gold, likely more than any commoner would see in their entire life. I pulled the bag closed and lifted one of Lace's hands, putting the purse in it. "Find some place nice to live, and live the way you want to." I bent down and lifted the blanket from the ground, wrapping it around her shoulders.
Lace pushed her body against mine, supple and inviting, even through the cloth of the blanket. "Surely you will let me repay you for this, at least once, Lowin?" She asked, her eyes watering, and her face still streaked with tears.
I shook my head. "Your body is your own now, Lace, and you need never use it to pay for anything again. Find someone to love, and share it with them as you will."
She put her arms around me tightly and squeezed, and I returned the gesture, and then she backed up from me and smiled honestly for the second time since I'd met her. "Thank you." She said. I nodded, offering her one more smile, before grabbing my things and leaving the room. It had been difficult not to take her up on her offer, very difficult, but it was the start of her new life, and I would not sully that by using her in such a manner. She was sincerely happy, I knew, and was making the offer willingly, but she was not doing it out of affection, only gratitude.
I passed through the castle, using my acute memory to guide myself back to the courtyard. I knew that I would be early, but I had nothing else to do. I did a great deal of thinking as I walked. Weaver's real name was Lucidil, and he was one of the first Knights of Ethan. There was a distinct darkness in him, and the agreement he had forced upon me, I knew, was related to that. I had played myself into his han
d in some way that I was not yet fully aware of. That made me nervous, but there was little I could do about it at the moment. I felt as though I was caught up in something far larger than myself, being moved about like a piece on a large game board, and at the moment, Lucidil was the person holding the pieces.
When I reached the courtyard I was surprised to see a figure in a shifting cloak waiting. He was dressed in one of the new cloaks, like Weaver's, and that immediately struck me as odd, since Weaver had said there were so few of them. As I approached the hooded figure, he turned to address me. I staggered to a stop when I saw the face beneath the hood. A wide grin traced its path across his face as he locked eyes with me.
"Silent? How did you get here? Where have you been?" I asked, not only shocked to see him at Renwalk, but shocked to see him alive at all. It was only after I had asked all my questions, did I realize it was absurd to ask questions of someone who couldn't talk, and expect answers. I was surprised again then, when he answered.
"I have been on a special mission for the last month or so." He said in a voice I recognized immediately. I took a step back, startled by his speech, and more so startled by the familiar voice he used. He was the one who had stood atop the rubble between me and the Lantern Eye the night Fell Rock was attacked. I was certain of it. "It is good to see you well." He continued the familiar, easy smile on his face that I had seen so many times during the first few months of my training.