by Mind Guest
of you to also expect a reward."
Considering the way he was looking at me, I couldn't help stumbling
over the word "reward," and that seemed to amuse him. Laughter touched
his eyes very briefly, wiping away the sharpness of desire, and then he
took a step backward to give me an up and down.
"I have your permission to expect a reward?" he asked, folding his arms
as he stared at me. "I consider that extremely kind of you, wench, yet
would know what you believe you may expect." "I?" I echoed, wondering what he was talking about. "What might there
be which I would expect?"
"A good deal," he answered, the amusement gone from him. "Were you not
told to remain near to me, so that you might be properly protected?
Were you not told what would befall you if you were to disobey? Had you
not taken yourself off, this would not have happened, nor the
possibility of worse, had I not noticed your absence. Are you prepared
for the reckoning?"
"Should you wish to see the matter in that light, Captain, there is
surely another more deserving of a reckoning with than I." I came back
stiffly, finally remembering to make a stab at pulling the tatters of
my blouse back together the way Bellna would have. "When I walked about
in the kitchens, I made certain that your attention was with me; had I
thought it would wander, as though I were of no consequence, I would
certainly not have allowed my curiosity to bring me in here. It seems,
then, that my lack of protection is the fault of another rather than
mine."
He stared at me in silence for a minute, the flickering lamplight
showing nothing in the way of an expression on his face. Because of
that, it was hard to tell what he thought of my counterattack,
especially since it was pure hogwash. I didn't know if he'd realized
yet that I was trying to slip the leash, but if he hadn't, I certainly
wasn't about to tell him.
"So once again is it circumstance rather than yourself who may be given
the blame," Fallan said at last, a slight nod accompanying the
observation. "'I would venture to assume that my reward is soon to be
turned to a reprimand, therefore shall I dismiss all thoughts of reward
and inform you that no longer will circumstances be held at fault. You,
wench, will reap the consequences of your actions, and that as quickly
as we have reached our night's lodgings. Wrap your shawl about yourself
so that we may depart."
"I shall reap nothing of the sort," I huffed, reaching for the shawl
I'd forgotten all about. "Had I remained in my proper position, such an
outrageous attack would not have occurred. Need I remind you, Captain,
at whose insistence I did not remain in my proper place?"
"All points of the disagreement will be clarified when we have reached
our night's lodgings," Fallan said, dismissing my arguments by refusing
to discuss them. The hard decision in his voice was turning Bellna
wide-eyed again, but I refused to believe the man would cut his own
throat by beating me. He might decide to lecture me for an hour, but
lectures were easy to turn off, especially when you had experience at
it, the way I did. It might not be a bad idea to pretend to be
browbeaten at the end of the lecture, which could take Fallan's eyes
off me long enough for me to do a fast fade. Even though Clero's men
weren't in sight yet, I knew I was running out of time. If I didn't
separate myself from Fallan soon, the entire question would become
academic.
Fallan took my arm in one of his now familiar firm grips, and began
hustling me out of the storeroom. He seemed to have overlooked the fact
that I didn't yet have the shawl tied around me, and his hand on my arm
wasn't helping matters any. The closer we got to the door Out of the
storeroom, the more heat I could feel in my cheeks from Bellna's
wailing embarrassment, and the more frantically my hands fought to tie
the green wool-like material around me. Back off and let me do it! I
ordered the presence in my mind, silently cursing her too-deep sense of
modesty and lack of control, but I could feel I wasn't getting through.
My breasts were bouncing with the pace Fallan was forcing on me, and the feel of the rough shawl against my skin was adding to Bellna's
agitation. She was about to be dragged naked in front of peasants, and
the humiliation was killing her.
Fallan reached the end of the aisle and turned without even slowing
down, taking me with him, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I was
tripping over every third thing sticking out of the stacked items to
the left of the aisle. His hand on my arm kept me from going down, but
my own efforts to stay on my feet and avoid more bruised shins, toes
and feet bottoms were destroying Bellna's fumblings with the shawl. We
were back in the kitchen before Bellna-I realized we were being
punished after all, and by then it was too late. Every male eye in the
room was on me, staring hard as I frantically closed the shawl and held
it in place, their eyes taking in the inner burn of embarrassment I was
helpless to stop. Fallan finally let go of my arm to look at my face
again in the better light, and one of his men came up to him.
"Was the wench harmed, Lieutenant?" the man asked as Fallan put his
hand on my face under the chin to keep me from squirming away from him.
"What of the one who followed her?"
"The one who followed her is now asleep," Fallan replied, frowning only
slightly at the spot where the house guard's slap had caught me. "She
will not be much bruised, a fact he may thank as the reason for his
continuing to live. I also choose to ignore his having reached for his
weapon."
"In opposition to the codes?" the other man asked, sounding shocked,
echoing the sounds of shock from the other mercenaries in the room,
including the other house guard. "When not engaged to fight for
opposing sides, we are forbidden to draw weapons against one another!"
"Perhaps he was taken by forgetfulness," Fallan suggested, a dismissal
in the tone he used, finally letting my face go. "Go and inform the
captain that we shall await the Princess in her carriage, so that we
may depart as soon as she has ended her meal."
"As you say, Ca- Lieutenant," the man responded, giving me a last
glance before turning and heading out of the kitchen. I was still
holding the shawl, knowing damned well Bellna would have a fit if I
tried tying it in front of all those people. Once it was closed it
would cover me more completely, but the process of tying would just
about strip me again. Fallan put a hand in my back and pushed me toward
one of the two doors leading directly outside, and the rest of our
party hurried to join us.
The coach stood waiting for us in the afternoon sunshine, the harnessed
vair looking peaceful and satisfied. Fallan made me stand and wait
while the other girls climbed in, then put his head in the door after
I'd reclaimed my seat on the far side of the coach.
"Should I feel you sufficiently remorseful for your unthinking
willfulness,
girl, I will obtain a new bodice for you," he told me,
letting his glance slide over the shawl. "Until that time, however, you
will cover yourself as best you may with that which you have. When the
new bodice is brought, I will also expect an apology for your past
behavior."
Don't hold your breath unless you look good in blue, I commented to
myself as he closed the door and walked away. I didn't need his
generosity, and especially wouldn't need it when I managed to take off
in my own direction. The man may have helped me out of a tight spot,
but he was still a royal pain in the backside.
"Should the Captain see such an expression upon your face, he will
punish you to an even greater extent than he now intends," a whispered
voice came, and I looked up to see the brown-haired girl who had told me how unhappy Fallan was with me that morning. "Should you give him
the apology he wishes, he will surely be more lenient with you."
The other two nodded their agreement to the sentiment, all three of
them looking extremely uncomfortable, and I didn't have to wonder why.
In my place they would have been punished, and undoubtedly knew what it
was like.
"There will be neither apology nor punishment," I assured them, taking
the opportunity to quickly tie the shawl before Bellna could squawk.
"Though the beast has forced me to dress as a peasant, never would he
dare to treat me as one to so great an extent. I will arrive at my
destination as I was at my departing, totally untouched by the beast
Fallan."
"Perhaps, Princess, you are correct," said one of the others, the
oldest of the three, her expression serious. "Perhaps your true station
will indeed keep you safe from the Captain's displeasure. It will be
well to hope that this shall be so, for if it is not, there are none to
protect you from him. This, above all other things, must be
remembered."
They broke off the conversation then out of respect for the "princess,"
who had finished her meal and was being escorted back to the coach.
Considering it just as well, I let it drop, too, working to keep the
pity off my face. Those girls really did have no one to protect them
from the men around them, and they were trying to make a sheltered
young girl aware of the real world, to keep her safer than her
ignorance was likely to keep her. It didn't matter that I didn't need
anyone to protect me; they didn't know that, and they were trying to
help. I damned Fallan for risking their lives so casually, then slumped
back and waited for the coach to get moving again.
The only thing more boring than a slow, primitive trip is a monologue
by a small town bumpkin on the wonders of big city life, and once we
were on the road again we had both. The redhead chattered away about
the fantastic meal and service she'd been given, her previous silence
disappearing behind the flood of words like shadows in a rainstorm. The
three girls listened with a good deal of interest, but I sent my
attention out the window and turned my hearing off, spending my time
praying for the attack that should have already come. The redhead
hadn't noticed that her blouse was hanging on me in tatters, so taken
was she with her new life. She seemed to have forgotten that her life
both new and old could disappear at any time, but I hadn't. I had
decided that I had to force Fallan to let me play princess again, but
the one thing I couldn't decide on was how.
The afternoon disappeared behind one discarded plan after another, and
nightfall found me empty of ideas and in a really lousy mood. The woods
were dark blobs on either side of the road, a breeze moved in against
the warmth of the day, and I was beginning to think about being hungry.
I was just wondering how far ahead the next inn was when the coach
turned off the road into the trees, making me Sit up with abrupt
suspicion. Both of the previous inns we had stopped at had been built
right at the side of the road, and there seemed to be no reason for the
unannounced side trip.
"A pity we left the last inn too late to reach the next at a
comfortable time," the redhead observed, looking casually out of the
window on her side of the coach. "We now must take lodging in a
woodsman's house, a location far inferior to an inn, yet the Captain
feels it best that we travel as short a distance as possible in the
dark."
"A woodsman's house," mused the girl who was oldest, staring at me through the darkness. "A place with a house, a stable and perhaps a
woodshed; My father's house had no more than a small woodshed, yet that
was where my sisters and brothers and I were taken, to be punished. The
polished switch stung more greatly there than any other place, and
this, I think, is true of all woodsheds."
Again there was agreement from the other girls, echoed even by the
redhead. The oldest girl was trying to tell me to watch my step, but
her estimation of my biggest problem didn't come anywhere near my own
estimation. I had been looking forward to the next inn to see if I
couldn't pull some swindle even with Fallan there, but we weren't going
to be at an inn. Woodsmen's houses were located all over Narella,
funded by the Princes at the orders of the King. Too many of the people
of Narella couldn't afford to stop at an inn, so when they traveled
they were forced to camp out, making themselves targets for slavers and
outlaws. The woodsmen, employed by the Princes to control overpoaching
in their territories, enlarged their houses and larders, then made
travelers welcome. If the travelers were poor they ate and slept for
free, but if they weren't they were expected to pay for what they
consumed. It was a system that worked well in Narella, but it wasn't
likely to work well for me. An innkeeper could be expected to know the
difference between a princess and a peasant, but how many nobles did a
woodsman get to see? If it came down to a choice between believing me
or Fallan, did I stand even the slightest chance? I pulled the shawl
more about me and growled under my breath, knowing damned well that I
didn't stand the chance of a feather in a windstorm. The woodsman would
back Fallan, and I'd be left with the pleasant job of explaining what I
was up to without admitting anything damaging. And I didn't even have
the option of walking away any longer! Once we stopped, slipping off
into the darkened woods would be child's play, but what good would it
do? I wasn't likely to run into Clero's men that way, and even if I did
they wouldn't know who I was. They would still go after the redhead,
take her out, then continue merrily on their way. For the hundredth
time I didn't know what to do, and so just brooded.
It took longer than I expected to get to the woodsman's house, and the
lighted windows hanging in the blackness were a warming, welcoming
sight despite everything. My feet were cold and my hands were cold, and
the damp of the forest night was even beginning to work its way under
the cheap green shawl. The only one of us who was comfortably warm was
the redhead; it was probably the first time all day she hadn't been
sweltering. The coach pulled up and stopped in front of the wide, twostoried
house, the mercenaries dismounted, and "Captain" Ralnor came to
hand the "princess" out. With that done the other girls climbed out and
I followed, all of us finding Fallan waiting to escort us inside. At
that point it didn't matter much one way or the other, so I did as the
others did and went along quietly.
The inside of the woodsman's large house was warm, but it was also the
scene of throttled-down bedlam. Kids ran in all directions for goblets
and pitchers of wine, for chairs with cushions, for hastily made
snacks. Three older women stood at the big fireplace where they were
cooking, but their eyes were shining when they glanced over their
shoulders at the redhead. The grand announcement had obviously already
been made, and I was glad I'd missed it. Even the woodsman himself, a
shortish, stocky man with brown hair and eyes and rough, home-made
clothes, seemed impressed, a depressing observation to my mood of the
moment. Fallan's men filed into the room behind us, closed the door,
then stood around with arms folded, watching the excitement and eyeing
the food and drink. Curious about how many men had been left outside I turned toward one of the front windows, but Fallan caught my arm before
I was able to take the first step, and took me with him over to the
woodsman.
"A good evening to you, Lieutenant," the man greeted Fallan, raising
his goblet to him. "Will you join us in a cup of my best ale?"
"With pleasure," Fallan answered, responding to the woodsman's gesture
with a friendly nod. "First, however, I must attend to a matter too
long unseen to. I have a girl to be punished, and would ask the use of
your stables."
"Why, certainly, Lieutenant," the woodsman agreed with a chuckle while
Ralnor, the redhead - and I - stared at Fallan in disbelief. "My stable
is yours, for however long you require its use. You will find it
through there."
The woodsman nodded toward a bolt-adorned door in the far wall to the
right of the fireplace, and Fallan nodded again.
"My thanks, Woodsman," he said, tightening his grip on my arm. "This
matter will not take long, and then we may drink to one another's
fortune."