The Dragon Lord's Daughters

by Bertrice Small

  “Junia, my love, what is the matter?” he queried her.

  Junia closed her green eyes briefly. “I want a place to hide,” she whispered to him in an odd little voice. She drew away from him, and he saw her face was very pale.

  He nodded, immediately understanding that the shock of the past few hours was finally beginning to affect her. “Can you walk unaided?” he asked her.

  “I th-think so,” she said low.

  He held out his hand, but she drew back. “Come with me, then,” he said with a sigh, his hand dropping.

  “Don’t let him see me,” Junia pleaded softly as Simon brought her into the castle. “I cannot be brave any longer.”

  “You’ll be brave again after a meal, and a good night’s sleep,” Simon said as he led her up a flight of stone stairs and down a dim hallway.

  “I hurt,” Junia replied, following him through a door into a small chamber.

  “So do I,” he responded. “I know my father took great pleasure in laying that strap across my buttocks. They still burn. I’ll see you have water to bathe yourself, Junia, and the ache will be gone come the morrow, I am certain.”

  Junia looked about the chamber. The walls and the floor were stone. There was a bed, a chest, a stool, and little else. There was no hearth for a fire. The single window was shuttered with two sturdy wooden shutters. The bed, however, was curtained, and would provide some shelter against the winds that would creep through the cracks in the walls and the window.

  “What does he mean to do with my brother?” Junia asked Simon.

  “I am not certain yet, but I do not think he will kill him,” came the reply.

  “Will he torture him?” Junia pressed.

  “I don’t know, but I will do my best to dissuade him from harming Brynn,” Simon answered. He couldn’t lie to her, but perhaps he could convince Hugo to leave the boy alone. Merin Pendragon would eventually come for his children, and Simon determined to do all in his power to help the Dragon Lord regain their custody even if it meant going against his father. Hugo’s cruelty this afternoon had surpassed his previous worst efforts. Simon remembered his mother, and how she had struggled to see that her only child did not grow up to be the man his father was. Anne de Bohun had been a compassionate and kind woman of great faith. So much so that his father had gone against his very nature to please her while she lived. He had been unable to maintain his reformation once she had died. Anne had held his demons at bay. Without her he was helpless to do so, and not even the son they had created together could help him.

  Simon considered how horrified his mother would have been at the rape of Junia Pendragon. And it had been rape despite the fact Junia had cooperated. It had not been at all the way he had envisioned their first coming together. It had been lewd, and violent. And now he saw Junia’s brave façade beginning to crumble as fear began to overcome her. He had to prevent those fears from overwhelming her. And he had to keep his father from seeing her afraid.

  “I want to see my brother,” Junia said in a quavering voice.

  “My father will not let you, sweeting,” Simon replied, “but later I will go below to the dungeons and reassure Brynn. His main concern is for you right now.”

  “The Dragon Lord will come, Simon. Oh, God! By our actions we have only revived the feud between our families!” She began to weep.

  He reached out to gather her into his arms, but she drew back, the fear in her eyes now very visible. “Junia?”

  “Please, Simon, do not touch me,” she whispered. “I do not think I can bear it if you touch me now! Please, I beg of you!” The tears ran down her pale cheeks.

  He nodded helplessly. “Junia, I am so sorry. So very, very sorry! You know I would have never touched you but for my father. Say that you can forgive me,” he pleaded. “How can I live knowing what I have done and how it has hurt you?”

  Reaching out with a tentative hand Junia patted his hand. “Like the pain between my thighs, Simon, these fears I now harbor will also recede eventually.”

  “I will not touch you again in that way until we are wed,” he swore.

  Junia shook her dark head. “Oh, Simon, we will never be wed,” she said. “Your father will have his way, and you will marry this girl he has chosen for you. But my father will come, and he will not rest until Brynn and I are free. As for me, no man will have me now. I have been despoiled. But perhaps some convent will accept me despite my modest dower. I have no real calling for the church, but what other road is there for me?”

  “I will not marry this Aceline de Bellaud,” Simon responded stubbornly, “and one day I will teach you how sweet passion is between two people who love one another, Junia. I will kill my father before I let him harm you again!”

  “Nay, Simon, I will kill him myself one day,” Junia whispered.

  There came a scratching upon the door to the chamber, and Simon called, “Enter!”

  The door opened to reveal a tiny wizened woman followed by a young girl with a scar across her face that ran from her right temple over the bridge of her nose, and to the left corner of her mouth. The girl carried a basin of water in her hands, and across her arms were several clean cloths.

  “Elga!” Simon was relieved to see his nurse.

  “Your father boasts of his foul deeds today in the hall,” Elga said, shutting the door behind them. “Put the basin on the stool, Cadi.” Her attention then turned to Junia. “My poor child,” she said. “I am Elga, she who nurtured this laddie, and before him his mother, the Lady Anne of blessed memory. I have come to take care of you now, my chick. Simon, leave us, and do not come back until I tell you.” She shooed him from the chamber, turning back to Junia. “Tell me your name, child.”

  “I am Junia Pendragon,” the girl responded.

  “And you have been cruelly treated this day, Junia Pendragon,” Elga said. “Let Cadi help you off with your gown, and I will make you feel better if you will allow it.”

  “I am so ashamed,” Junia said low, realizing that she was embarrassed. What had she done that had caused Hugo de Bohun to order her rape?

  “ ’Tis not you who should be ashamed,” Elga said fiercely, “but rather that fiend who is master here. Do you see Cadi’s face? Lord Hugo took her eldest sister for his amusement, and so Cadi’s father disfigured his own younger child to protect her. I then took her to help me with my chores, for I am an old woman now. But at least no man will hurt her as you were this day, Junia Pendragon.”

  Junia began to cry again, the tears running down her face in dirty runnels.

  Elga gathered the girl to her bosom. “There, child, there. My laddie loves you, and he will make it all right. He is a good soul as was his mother, God assoil her. If my lady had been alive this foolish feud between your families might have been settled once and for all. Now I fear for what will happen.”

  “My da will come.” Junia sniffled as Cadi helped her from her gown.

  “Of course he will,” Elga agreed.

  “My brother is in your dungeons,” Junia said. “Elga, he is just a boy!”

  “And a brave lad, too. I heard Lord Hugo said the boy might have killed him had he been a bit quicker. Well, better luck next time to him, and then my laddie will rule here at Agramant.” Elga chortled. Then she grew serious once more. “Lie down upon the bed now, my child, and draw your chemise up so I may treat you. Cadi, put a cloth beneath the lady.”

  Junia lay down as she had been bidden. She closed her eyes but felt the heat of her embarrassment in her cheeks. Elga tched and clucked as she bathed Junia, wiping the blood from her thighs and private parts with a soft cloth and warm water.

  “There is an herbal potion in the water that will help to ease the soreness, my child,” Elga told Junia. “You are, of course, no longer a virgin, but there is no real damage done you otherwise. There,” she finished, waving away Cadi and the basin. She drew Junia’s chemise back down. “I am going to give you something that will help you to sleep, my child. You will feel better on
the morrow, I promise you.”

  “But if I sleep I am helpless should he come into this chamber,” Junia whispered fearfully.

  “Who, child? Surely not Simon.” Elga’s face wore a puzzled look.

  “Nay, his father!” Junia cried.

  “Lord Hugo will not bother you. He has said aloud in the hall that you are his son’s leman. He possesses a strange honor, that monster. He will not touch you as long as Simon protects you by his possession of you. Nay.” She shook her grizzled head. “You need have no fear of Lord Hugo.”

  “I must be certain Brynn, my brother, is safe,” Junia said desperately.

  “Cadi, slip down to the dungeons and ask after the boy,” Elga said. “I will stay with you, Junia Pendragon, until she returns.”

  “Thank you!” Junia replied, and then she accepted the mint-flavored liquid that Elga offered her, asking before she drank it down, “Will you stay with me until I sleep, Elga? I feel safe with you.”

  Elga nodded, and then said, “Hurry, Cadi!”

  Cadi sped down the stairs, and slipped like a shadow through the hall, taking the flight of steps that led down into the de Bohun dungeon. There was but one guard on duty. Cadi smiled her crooked smile. “Let me see the prisoner,” she cajoled him.

  “No one is to see him,” the guard said surlily.

  “I’ll let you feel my titties if you do,” Cadi tempted the guard. “I just want to have a look. I ain’t never seen a Welshman before.”

  The guard considered her offer. Her face might be scarred, but he could see by the bulges in her gown that she had big breasts. “Come here!” he told her with a grin.

  “Nay. First I get my look, and then you get your feel,” she replied.

  He thought a moment, and then he nodded. Even if she didn’t mean to keep her promise she still had to get by him to get out of the dungeons so he’d get his feel, all right. “He’s over here,” the guard said, leading her to a small wooden door with an iron grill in it. “Hey, laddie, this wench would have a look at you.”

  “Your sister wants to know if you’re all right,” Cadi said.

  Brynn nodded. “Is she?”

  “Aye,” Cadi responded.

  “That’s enough now,” the guard said, pulling Cadi away. “I didn’t say you could talk to him.” He pulled her against him, and began to fumble her breasts.

  “I’ll make it up to you, then,” Cadi told him, and she fondled his cock with skilled fingers. “Do you like this?”

  The guard groaned. “Jesu, wench!”

  Cadi laughed, and pulled away from him. “That’s enough, now. Thank you!” and she sped off up the stairs again, leaving the guard rubbing himself.

  She might have an ugly face, the guard thought, but by God and his Blessed Mother, the wench had a lust for life a man could appreciate. He wouldn’t tell any of his friends of this little adventure. He intended keeping that hot little piece for himself. Eventually he’d get her against the wall with her skirts up. He grinned and wondered what her name was.

  Cadi hurried back to the chamber where Junia was imprisoned. “I saw your brother myself, lady. He says he is all right and worries for your safety,” she reported.

  Junia was already half asleep, but she heard Cadi’s words, and smiled weakly. “Thank you,” she murmured before slipping into a deep sleep.

  There was a faint scratching at the door, and Elga nodded to Cadi to see who it was. It was Simon.

  “How is she?” he asked. His eyes went to the sleeping girl.

  “Frightened. Ashamed,” Elga said. “Why on earth did you let your father force you to rape, laddie? Your mother would be furious.”

  “I didn’t know he had followed me when I left here today to meet with Junia at Mryddin Water. He came upon us so quickly that I couldn’t get her to her horse. He said if I didn’t take her then and there that he and his men would. He meant it, Elga. The devil was hoping I would refuse so he could have my sweet love. I had no choice in the matter. I tried to be gentle with her, but my father took a strap and beat my buttocks in order to make me perform more vigorously. I begged him to let her go afterwards, but he said if I do not keep her as my leman, he will give her to his men. And, Elga, he means to wed me to Aceline de Bellaud.”

  The old woman nodded. Then she said, “You are fortunate he holds both of the Dragon Lord’s children captive else that outraged father come down on Agramant with a cruel vegeance and more innocent folk be harmed. Now, laddie, did I not tell you I should call for you when I wanted you?”

  “I just came back to tell Junia that her brother is all right. I visited the dungeons myself a short while ago,” he replied.

  “We know. Cadi went herself for your lady,” Elga said. “Now go into the hall and eat, Simon. Your Junia will sleep the night through, and she needs that healing sleep far more than food right now. I will remain with her until you return.”

  “Have you eaten?” he asked her.

  “Cadi will bring me a bowl of pottage, laddie. Go now else your sire come looking for you,” Elga advised.

  “He won’t come here,” Simon said with a small smile. “He is too busy in the hall boasting of his escape from the dangerous knife attack of an eleven-year-old boy.”

  “The laddie is but eleven?” Elga cackled her laughter. “Ah, no wonder his sister is worried about him.”

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Simon said as he left them.

  “The dungeon guard was cooperative?” Elga asked Cadi when Simon had gone.

  Cadi nodded, giving the old lady a crooked smile. “Man who spends most of his waking hours in a dungeon gets lonely,” she said with a mischievous wink.

  “And?” Elga said, her grizzled head cocked to one side.

  “I let him feel my titties,” Cadi said. “But not until after he had let me see the boy, and talk a moment with him. Master shouldn’t imprison a boy like that, and for what? The lad was trying to save his sister. Seems it don’t make no difference if you’re rich or poor if you’re a woman. Men will have their way.”

  Elga nodded. “You’ve a sharp eye, lass,” she said, nodding. “But be careful when you play such games.”

  “I know what to do,” she told the old lady. “Don’t you worry none about me, Elga.”

  Junia slept through the night as her young body recovered from the shock it had sustained. She awoke, unsure for a moment just where she was, but then remembering, rolled over to find Simon next to her in the bed. Her sharp gasp woke him.

  “How do you feel, sweeting?” he asked her, his gray eyes scanning her face.

  “What are you doing here?” she demanded to know.

  “My father has ordered that you be my leman, Junia. Do you not remember? You are in my chamber. If I do not sleep here he will think I am not coupling with you, and then he will take you for himself and afterwards give you to his men. This is the only way I can protect you, sweeting.”

  Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, God, Simon!” And the terrible memory of the previous day welled up. “Brynn!” she said.

  “He is safe in my father’s dungeons. He had not been harmed, and I will do my best to see that he is not, Junia.”

  “I want to go home,” Junia whispered, low.

  Simon de Bohun sighed. “I know,” he said. “And I want to take you and Brynn home, but for now my father is adamant. You are safe here in my chamber where he has ordered that you remain until he gives you permission to come into the hall. Elga and Cadi will look after you when I am not here. How do you feel?”

  She blushed. “The soreness is gone,” she told him.

  “Good,” he replied. “Junia, I told you last night, and I say it again, I am sorry. I beg your forgiveness, sweeting. Tell me you do not hate me for what happened.”

  “I do not hate you, Simon,” she answered him. “How could I when I love you, but I know now that love cannot be. Your father is a strong-willed man. He will have this girl he has chosen for your wife, and you cannot escape it. But you must a
id Brynn and me. We must escape Agramant before this ancient feud escalates into something far worse, Simon. You are aware that Brynn is my father’s only son. He will be wild with anger over his kidnapping.”

  “And what of you?” Simon asked her.

  “I am his youngest daughter, my love. Daughter of his second concubine. He loves me as much as the others, but I am a daughter. Brynn is the son. My father’s heir. If I cannot get away, at least help my brother, I beg you!”

  “I will do what I can, Junia,” he promised her, and he leaned over to kiss her lips, but Junia pulled back from him. He looked at her, puzzled.

  “I am sorry, Simon, but I told you last night that I cannot bear to be touched right now,” Junia reminded him.

  He closed his eyes a moment feeling physical pain throughout his whole body as her words reached him. Then opening his eyes he looked into hers, which were filled with disgust and loathing as she stared back at him. “It will not get better, Junia, until I have held you in my arms again, and comforted you,” he said quietly. “Each time you reject me your fears will grow larger. I swear to you that I will not touch you with disrespect. We will pretend for my father’s sake that we are lovers now, but I will not make love to you, my darling girl, until you are ready again. But how can I believe that you have forgiven me unless I can hold you, and kiss your lips?”

  “Oh, Simon, I am afraid,” she admitted. “I can still hear the shouts of your father and his men as you took my virginity. I close my eyes, and I see their faces leering down at us. I see some of them rubbing themselves while you labored atop me. It was horrible!” Her eyes were now filled with tears.

  “Aye, it was,” he agreed with her. “I was so afraid for you that it was difficult for me to maintain my arousal. My father knew it, and that is why he beat me—that I would remain hard and plunder your virtue.”

  “I never knew people did things like that,” she cried. “I thought love was good and fine. The love my father has for his women and his family is that way. My sisters are so happy in their marriages. I thought it would be that way for me, Simon. I did not know this darkness existed.” The tears were now running down her face.