“Where did she go?” The boy king’s question interrupted her thoughts.
“I don’t know. We talked and she…” Londenia lost track of her words as she watched a flock of wide-winged birds rise from the dark forest, up into the night sky, crossing in front of the broken moon. Romarus joined her again by the glass wall and stood watching them too.
He put an arm around her and leaned his head on her chest.
I don’t know if he is comforting me, or if he is in need of my comfort. Perhaps we need each other’s comfort in such uncertain times, Londenia thought. “Did you find the place to do your business then?”
“I fucking hope so, or some tal’s going to get a surprise when they open their cupboard.”
Neither of them laughed, they just took a deep breath and tried to forget their troubles, even if it was just for that night.
As the evening drew late, there was the usual performance from Romarus and one of his horde. This time, it was a little thing with blonde hair, called Reeri. The screaming seemed to be louder since Romarus took to entering his wenches. Londenia busied herself with some letters at the far side of the warm, stone bedchamber they were given. Much like the great hall before, one side was fully open to the forest, separated only with a sheet of glass. If there are tribes close by, they will be getting quite the show, she mused. The room was well lit with three torches on each of the stone walls. When the king was finished, the wench left. Londenia barred the door, before they received the usual visit from Bwick. A knock came after the king and queen laid down ready for sleep but after a few attempts, they heard footsteps move away.
“I feel really bad we didn’t answer him,” Romarus said with a nervous laugh, turning over on his side to face Londenia.
“He’ll have just thought he got the wrong room. Don’t trouble yourself.”
“You always know how to make me feel better about things. How do you do that?”
His words made her feel a tingling inside. It was a happy feeling that she could serve her king with such simple words and help a friend.
“I never help you though, or make you feel good,” he said.
She turned onto her side to look Romarus in the eye. “That is not your concern. I am here to serve you and your people.”
Romarus didn’t respond. His blue eyes stared at her as he slid closer. The warm hand of her sister’s husband moved up her leg to the place where no one had ever touched. Moving away would have been what a queen (and a loyal sister) should have done but the sensations wouldn’t let her. Turning onto her back, she widened her legs. Her boy king knelt next to her on the bed with his eyes focused on her groin. His arms and torso looked smooth and flawless, with the torchlight casting perfect shadows on his skin. If he was only slightly further up the bed, she could reach out and embrace him.
Londenia looked down her chest and stomach to Romarus’s fingers. As they toyed lightly with her lower lips, she threw her head back. Tickles rolled like waves over her whole body. She stretched forward to pull her boy king back to lie next to her and wrapped an arm around his strong shoulders. She blurted without thought, “Don’t stop.”
Fingers still teased and the waves grew stronger. Her grip on Romarus’s body tightened. His face focused on his working hand. The teasing pattern was broken when she felt a finger enter her and for a moment her body buzzed and skin pimpled. Yearning to press her lips against his, Londenia leaned towards the boy king’s focused face but his gaze remained fixed on his gift to her. His fingers inside her moved in ways she couldn’t understand. The feelings they created made her ache for him. The waves were becoming a fire warming throughout her body. She ran her nails down his contoured hairless chest as the flame inside her became violent and every worry left her mind. A wetness grew as she let her king take complete control of her body and fully occupy her thoughts. She caught a glimpse of Romarus’s lips curling. Then the feeling took her. Londenia felt herself throb with pleasure around his fingers. Her very core rumbled and the boy king’s gift rippled over her skin.
She felt a calm like no other. Romarus leaned over her and pressed his lips to her forehead, and whispered, “Night Blessings.” She could smell his comforting musk as his head lifted. A hand brushed her breast, making her skin tingle.
As she watched Romarus lay next to her and slowly drift off to sleep, she would have given the world to embrace him. But she did not want to be the one to initiate another inappropriate act. His warm thigh rested against her leg under the covers. That small piece of contact was all she had as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
She woke to the dawn flooding through the glass wall behind the oversized bed. Romarus was still asleep as she slid out from under the covers. Her body felt like long grass blowing in a gentle breeze. She slipped on her white silk robe and turned to glance at Romarus, who was lying peacefully. For a moment, she allowed herself to remember his fingers inside her but the realization that he was her king, made her come to her senses. I should not have let him do that. I should have refused! It is my place to guide him. If anybody were to ever find out…
She thought for a moment, trying to form a list of consequences for her actions, but this turned out to be a struggle. It was frowned upon for a king and queen to pleasure each other in such ways, but there were no laws against it. However, if the act became known, her sister would kill her and Romarus would lose respect from his people. There is no telling how some of the kingdoms would react either. Cretins, she thought, as she pictured the First, Peak and Gate kings outraged at such a pathetic, unimportant act. They would likely have the High Council make up some new law to make it punishable. Nobody will ever find out, and even if they did, it is unlikely her rather bleak and pessimistic predictions would ever actually happen.
Londenia despised how she worried about every situation and tried to extrapolate all possible outcomes before they happened. But at the same time, she felt this was what gave her an edge. It allowed her to have a plan for any situation. This is perhaps why the message from Mor frustrated her so much as it was impossible to predict, even vaguely, what the situation might be. There were so many elements to take into consideration, that plans could not be made.
Romarus stirred. Londenia turned away quickly, avoiding eye contact, busying herself at the dressing table by the foot of the bed. She brushed her hair, looking into the large mirror. Two stretching arms popped up at the bottom of the reflection, and then a head. “Did you sleep well?” Romarus asked, mid-stretch.
“Yes,” she chirped, avoiding his eyes in the mirror. Why can’t I look at him?
“Are you okay?” the boy king asked, propping himself up against the glass wall with sleepy eyes and ‘pillow-face’. “Did I not do it right for you last night?”
I don’t really have anything to compare it with, she thought, remembering the intense feelings. “It was…very good…but we should not speak of these things again.” Londenia continued to brush her hair and didn’t look to see the reaction to her words. She heard Romarus slump back into the pillows. I do want to speak of it again. “I did sleep well though…Your Grace.” She gave a quick reassuring smile into the mirror but there was nobody to receive it.
They broke their fast outside on a wooden decked area risen ten footfalls above the forest floor. The sunlight slanted through the blue leaves of the hackle trees and glared off the glass side of Hal Tal. The circular deck, joined by a wooden walkway on the second floor of the pyramid, held all of Last Kingdom’s party, along with five tals playing host. Tal Marith sat at the royal table along with a jolly, plump tal who went by the name of Golba. She had an infectious squawking laugh and a habit of playfully hitting anybody who made her chortle. Londenia sat opposite Romarus. The two short-haired women were between them, around the circular table.
“We heard you last night, you scamp!” Golba jested, with a roaring cackling.
Londenia felt her heart skip. I don’t remember making any noises when Romarus—
Golba let
out another roaring laugh and slapped Romarus on the arm.
I have to stop being so paranoid, Londenia thought, as she realized the plump tal was referring to the boy king. His session was rather vocal last night and Reeri wasn’t shy with her screaming. Panic over, her thoughts turned to this woman’s lack of etiquette. How can I put this diplomatically? “A king’s actions in the bedchamber should not be discussed around the serving table,” she warned, then leaned in and whispered lightly, “However you will sleep easier after our leaving, I’m sure.” This was not meant to cause hilarity, just an attempt to lighten her etiquette lesson, but Golba let out a rip-roaring cackle again. This one has definitely felt Lomber’s touch!
Tal Marith stepped in, saying, “So…do tell us what your plans are. Does Your Grace mean to leave us quickly or are you staying to eat with us at midday?” The old tal looked to Romarus expecting an answer but his head was lowered next to his bowl. He shoveled blueberries mixed with yogurt into his mouth.
Londenia quickly jumped in: “We mean to leave as early as possible. We are hoping to make it far enough today that we only need spend perhaps two nights at camp in the forest.”
Tal Marith tightened her lips and nodded. “We would enjoy your company for longer, but I do feel that would be best. Some of the tribes have been wandering outwith their usual territories and we have heard of clashes in parts. They do not restrict their use of bladed weapons and will use them unashamedly. There have even been rumors of beheadings. But this could be fanciful stories from travelers wishing to make their journeys sound more adventurous.”
“I’m sure a strapping king like you will keep them at bay, Romarus,” Golba squawked, followed with a loud, lingering guffaw and jolly slap on the boy king’s back.
Londenia received a blueberry stuffed glare from him. Don’t lose it, Romarus. The boy king was never angered with the big issues. However, little irritants like this would send him into a fury. As Londenia offered a smile, a juicy-blue-flash of a grin was returned, reassuring her an eruption wasn’t imminent.
Breakfast passed with more details of their journey, warnings of hangings and decapitations in the forest, more cackling, and Romarus’s right arm receiving plenty of slaps and punches. Tal Marith informed them the forest trail was in good condition, but in some places the dirt path was overgrown. She warned of fallen trees and other obstacles that may cause delays.
The tals provided six broncos to carry their essentials through the forest in place of the dunebacks, which would be left at the temple. The white steeds, with their long faces, crowned with two arm-length horns, were loaded up and ready to leave by midday. The muggy heat of Hal’s Forest began to build. Londenia remembered the forests back home in Long Kingdom, where she grew up, as being noisy places filled with the calls of animals. This place was nearly as quiet as the desert of her current home in Last Kingdom. The only sounds were the occasional call of a bird, the creaking of the massive hackle trees and their blue leaves rustling in the soft breeze. The quiet, coupled with the filtered light from the sun, made their travels somewhat relaxing.
Their party walked along the dirt track, winding through the sleepy forest. The white broncos’ fur-covered hooves trundled along laden with their tents and supplies. Londenia walked ahead of the broncos along with Romarus and Celóndas. Two guards flanked the three of them, forced to walk with one foot off the track for the past hour as it began to narrow. An unusual call brought the party to a standstill. Caoow caoow caoow followed with some clicks.
“That is no bird,” said the guard, Trae’Gon, assuming a shield position in front of Londenia, drawing his long-staff from behind his back. She slowed her breath to hear the sound more clearly.
Caoow caoow…more clicks.
“These calls...they are of the Meeren tribe,” Celóndas whispered with wide eyes and a tight jaw. “They used to dwell close to Hal Tal when I was a student there.”
“Are they friendly?” Londenia asked with her gaze fixed on Romarus, reading his reactions. How can you be so calm?
The king stood bolt upright in the middle of the track, looking up at the trees and all around. His chief guard, Grey’Gon, drew his long-staff then grabbed Romarus’s arm, pulling him down to a crouch. The rest of the party followed suit. Crouching isn’t going to make much difference when we are so exposed.
“They were friendly until one of their leader’s wives joined the horde of King Servin. After that, they turned against anything remotely linked to the Ten Kingdoms…including Hal Tal.” Celóndas’s usual smile was no longer present as she spoke.
Londenia’s heart sank as she looked out from the track. A dark figure stood in the midst of the tree trunks. He wore nothing but a cloth wrapping around his waist and a bow over his shoulder. The whites of his black eyes pierced through the forest. He made no threat or sudden move, only stood and stared, then turned without any haste and vanished into the trees. For a moment, Londenia breathed easy and it seemed as if everybody’s rear ends unclenched for a moment.
Londenia gasped. Brown figures slunk from behind nearly every tree within forty footfalls. They carried staffs with blades attached on the ends. Their faces were punctured with bones and colored sticks. Countless bodies wore only cloth around their waists; skin inked with strange patterns. The points of their bladed-staffs were all angled at Londenia and the rest of the party.
“Come on then, you bastards,” she heard Romarus say under his breath. He grasped the staff he carried across his back.
Celóndas laid a hand on the boy’s back and warned, “Your Grace, aggression will not help our situation. You must speak to them with—”
Before the healer could finish her sentence, Londenia took control. “We mean you no harm. We are travelers from the desert and we seek safe passage through the forest.” She held her hands open in front of her.
A thin brown figure walked towards her with bladed-staff in hand. The others, well outnumbering Londenia’s party by three-to-one, stood still. As he drew close, the whites of his eyes shone next to his black pupils and dark skin. His ears had two bones sticking through the lobes with another pushed through the lower part of his nose, like a straight pointed moustache. He flashed his yellowing uneven teeth and clicked. Noises spouted from his heavy dark lips.
She knelt and signaled for the rest of her party to kneel. “We do not mean any harm. We only request safe passage through your land.” Her heart was beating fast. She felt a cold touch under her chin, lifting her head. As she looked up, the long bladed-staff was all that separated her and the tall, thin, near-naked, brown-skinned man. Please don’t cut me, she begged inside her head as the attached blade rested on her skin.
“Get the fuck away from her!” she heard Romarus shout from behind and felt his arms grasp her and pull her backwards away from the blade. The brown man simply stepped forward and the sharp metal was back at her throat. She could feel her hands tingle and a cold sweat on her palms.
Lots of unknown words rumbled all around them as the tribesmen began to chant, shaking their weapons. Then suddenly, there were some familiar words: “Stop! Stand down,” followed by clicks and other strange noises from the same mouth.
A figure approached, shorter than the others, with slightly lighter skin. This boy looked to be a few years younger than Romarus—perhaps just come of age at fourteen years—and had startlingly bright blue eyes to rival any king in the Ten Kingdoms. His clicks seemed to mean something to all the dark-brown men and they began to lower their weapons. This boy had no markings on his clear, smooth, light-brown skin and did not decorate his face with bones like the others. “Show them your teeth,” he said to Romarus, as his own perfectly even and shiny white teeth beamed from his mouth. “Show them your teeth,” he addressed the whole party this time.
Something about the boy’s confidence and clear control over the tribe made Londenia follow his strange instructions. They all flashed their teeth as if their lives depended on it. All the bladed-staffs altered in angle, so that t
hey were stood upright. All the men dispersed and faded back into the trees except for the leader and the boy. “Who are you?” His bright blue eyes fixed onto Romarus, who stood up.
“I am King Romarus of Last Kingdom.”
Londenia was impressed with how confident her king sounded.
“We seek a…way through to the Watch King.”
‘Passage’ was the word you were looking for but good attempt, she corrected in her head.
“I am Taigo,” said the boy, “and I can assure you, you will not find the Watch King.” His blue eyes dropped to the dirt track.
Londenia couldn’t let Romarus handle this, so jumped in, asking, “And why are you so certain we will not find King Servin?”
“Because King Servin is dead.” The boy’s chin quivered as he spoke.
Romarus’s fists clenched as he approached the boy. “Did you and your fucking naked bastards do this?” By the time he had asked the question, the tribesman held a blade to his neck.
“Control your words, Your Grace,” Taigo barked, but still kept proper etiquette. “King Servin was my father! And no, it was not these people who killed him.”
That explains the blue eyes, Londenia reasoned to herself. “I am sorry for your loss but tell me, why is the prince of the Watch wandering through Hal’s Forest captaining a tribe?” She hoped to sound sympathetic because the boy had lost his father, but her curiosity was getting the better of her.
“King Servin was my father but I am no prince. The Watch is not a safe place anymore. And neither is the forest. There are strange people moving through these parts. The same people who killed my father and massacred most of Deca’Point. I came here to find my mother’s tribe.”
And that explains the brown skin. His father was a king and his mother was a Meeren. We’re talking to the reason this tribe is no longer friendly to outsiders, but he seems to have earned their trust and respect.
A Poisoned Land (Book 1: Faith, Lies and Blue Eyes) Page 8