Rory was very conscious of her nearness and the pressure of her breast against his arm. He felt her shiver. “Are you cold, Lady Bethany? I should have thought to bring you a cloak."
"It is a little chilly up here in the breeze, Rory. Perhaps you could just put your arm around me and help block the wind.” She stepped inside his arms, pulling one arm above her shoulders like a cloak. They stood there for a while, looking at the stars and catching a fleeting glimpse of a shooting star.
She turned to face him, standing very close. She reached up to touch the side of his face, and Rory awkwardly brought his head down toward her. She pressed a hand against his chest when his lips were mere inches away from hers.
"Rory, have you ever kissed a girl?"she asked in a whisper.
"No. I have never even been this close to one before,” Rory admitted quietly.
She drew his lips the rest of the way down to hers in a brief kiss.
Her lips were warm, sweet, and soft under his.
"Please forgive my forwardness, Bethany,” Rory said as he drew his head back.
"Don't be silly, Rory. I have a confession to make. You are the first man to ever kiss me other than my father. Kiss me again. How else will we know whether we are suited?” She pressed herself even closer to him as their lips met again.
Rory's head was swimming in the combination of the feast and the feel of this vibrant girl in his arms. He wasn't completely sure what he should do, but he knew he did not want to stop kissing her. His hand slipped down from her shoulder and across the creamy flesh of her breast. He jumped as if he had stuck his hand into a fire. As he started to stammer an apology, there came a noise behind them.
"Pardon my intrusion, Lady Bethany, but I need a moment of Lord Rorrick's time before the king and I depart,” Prince Brightblade said.
Lady Bethany quickly curtsied to the Prince of the Forest, and said, “If you will excuse me, I must be off to my rooms. I will have one of the guards escort me so you two may speak."
After she left the roof, Prince Brightblade said, “Pretty girl. You could do worse."
"I beg your pardon, Father?"
"I believe they plan to marry that pretty girl to you some day, Rory."
"I'm not ready for marriage!” Rory cried out.
"Rest easy, son. It's not going to happen overnight. I suspect the engagement will be announced at Spring Court and you won't be married until you reach your majority at eighteen. Don't frown so. It's not a terrible fate to wed a beautiful woman.” Prince Brightblade laughed. “Until then, you will have much to learn from the duke. And that is what I wanted to speak to you about. Not all your lessons can come from him. Just as you must learn about managing the duchy from him, you need to be taught about your elven half as well. Some lessons will come from Swiftstalker, while others will come from me."
"From you, sir?"
"In three months, right after the Winter Festival, I want you and Lord Swiftstalker to leave the keep and come to me in the Great Forest. I have already discussed this with Duke Richard and he has agreed. You will rejoin the duke just before it is time to travel to the court in Aluria,” Prince Brightblade said. “There are some things you must learn before you travel to that court."
"As you wish, Father,” Rory replied.
Chapter 6
The morning dawned cold, dark, and wet. The large ballroom had been restored back to its normal function, the receiving chamber for the Duke of Westfell. The ducal throne was in place on the dais, flanked by two lesser chairs. The King of Aluria occupied the center throne, while the Duke of Westfell sat to his right and the Duke of Kendrahl sat to his left. The walls were lined with both the King's Own and the duke's guards. Standing slightly behind the Duke of Westfell was Lord Rorrick, Heir of Westfell. Standing on the first step of the dais, in his full mail and helm, stood General Gustav.
King William said, “Let's get this unpleasantness over with, shall we?"
General Gustav nodded, and the chamber doors were opened. The townsfolk silently filed into the room to bear witness to the morning's proceedings. Some would be called upon to speak. Once the chamber had filled, the general's voice boomed out, “Bring the prisoner forth."
Two guards dragged in the whimpering chamberlain. His fine clothes now in tatters, the soles of his soft boots worn through in places, he was filthy, and bound in heavy chains. It was obvious from the way his clothes hung on his frame, he had once been very fat and had recently lost a lot of weight. His hair was unbound, long and greasy and his face was covered in a dirty, ragged beard.
They brought the prisoner to a point ten feet from the dais and let him go. The man collapsed to his knees, begging for mercy.
"Silence!” General Gustav yelled.
King William said, “In our respect for our loyal duke and his valued service to the realm, we have reluctantly agreed to adjudicate this matter."
The chamberlain started to cry as he realized this meant he had been submitted for High Justice from the king himself.
The first to speak was Richard, Duke of Westfell. “This man was chosen to serve as my chamberlain, tasked to handle small matters involving the duchy in my stead. Large matters, especially those involving finances, were to be mine and mine alone. I submit to your review this warrant of office drawn up when he was appointed to the position. It spells out very clearly what duties and responsibilities the position contained, as well as the limitations upon the office.” He handed the document to the king.
"Did his position include a stipend for the fine clothing he wore, My Lord Duke?” the king asked. “When he appeared in the court at Aluria, he was attired in the finest brocades and silks."
"No, Your Majesty, for in this duchy, we dress simply as a rule. Such fine garments do not wear well when one is working and are suitable solely for court. Since his duties did not involve any need for him to ever appear at court, such an allowance was not included,” Duke Richard explained.
"Did you give him leave to travel to the court on your behalf?” asked the king.
"No, his absence from the duchy was a complete surprise to me when I returned from my time at the Tower of the Pact. We had routinely exchanged messages about the affairs of the duchy,” Duke Richard said. “In none of those missives did he ever so much as hint about traveling away from the duchy."
"Thank you, Your Grace,” the king said. “We call on Mistress Margaret, Head Housekeeper of Westfell Keep."
Mistress Margaret came forward and curtsied deeply before her king, holding the curtsey until bidden to rise. “Mistress Margaret, to your knowledge, has the duke spoken truthfully?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The duke is always honest and truthful,” came her proud reply.
"Do you have any knowledge about the actions of the chamberlain?"
"Sire, at first the chamberlain did his work openly and simply. Over time, he began to take more and more upon himself, drinking the duke's wines and eating fine cuts of meat. He even beat one of the serving wenches when she refused his bed.” Her disdain for the chamberlain came through in her tone of voice, which clearly said she thought the man was slime.
"Was she the only one he sought to force into his bed?"
"No, sire. She's the only one he beat badly enough to make her unfit for work. Others submitted unwillingly to his threats."
"Thank you for your information, Mistress Margaret. You are excused,” the king said.
When the king asked for others to speak, there was a parade of serving girls, maids, and people from the village who reported the chamberlain's villainy, from his abuse of the women to outright theft from the villagers. When asked why they never approached the general with their complaints, they all admitted meekly that they were afraid of him.
The king turned his steely gaze on the general. “General Gustav, you have a long history supporting the realm. You have been said to be the perfect warrior. How could you sit by and let this happen?"
"Your Majesty, up until about five months ago, I h
ad been on a patrol of our outermost forts and garrisons that took the better part of a year; a mission I had been sent on by the chamberlain who told me it was at the behest of the duke. When I returned, the scoundrel was already gone to the court. Apparently, no one but you and the duke know what an agreeable sort I am, so no one told me what had been happening in my absence. If they had, I would have come to Aluria myself and brought him to justice."
The king next turned his steely gaze upon the accused. “Well, chamberlain, now is your chance to defend yourself against your accusers. But first, we must ask you this. Did you not stand before us and swear to the All-Father that the duke was a dying, feeble old man who had lost all sense of reason and was no longer fit to rule this duchy? Did you not attempt to persuade us that you were his chosen successor?"
The chamberlain fell to his knees, groveling at the foot of the dais, whimpering, “Mercy!” over and over again.
"This then is our ruling. This man is convicted of being a thief, a rapist, a liar, and a traitor. We order his hands be removed so he may steal no more. Let his privates be removed that he may never defile another woman. We command his tongue be removed so he may speak no more lies. Finally, his head is to be removed and impaled on a pike at the keep gate for a period of three days as warning against treason to the duke and the realm.” Turning his implacable gaze to the general, he said, “We are not satisfied that you did enough to prevent this from happening, General Gustav. For your punishment, you will be the one to remove this man's hands, genitals, tongue, and head. You will place his head upon the pike at the gate. As you do so, you will remember that your duty is to defend the people of this duchy from all enemies, including slime like this one."
The general knelt to his king in submission to his will, while the guards dragged the screaming and whimpering chamberlain from the room. The general rose and slowly followed after them, carefully avoiding the trail of urine on the floor.
The duke rose and followed the general, saying to Rory as he passed, “You must come with me, Rory. As the future leader of these people, you have to be present when justice is meted out, no matter how unpleasant."
After Rory came the people of Westfell. Only the king and Duke Armand remained in the hall, feeling this was strictly an internal matter to the duchy.
The crowd assembled in the main courtyard of the keep. In the center of the square a large wooden block had been placed, to which the former chamberlain had been lashed with his arms outstretched so his wrists lay across the center of it. To one side stood the general, a large battle axe in his hands. At a nod from the duke to proceed, the general swung the axe high over his head. With a mighty swing, he brought the axe down so fast it whistled through the air and sank into the block with a loud thunk, cleaving cleanly through the prisoner's wrists and severing his hands. Since his wrists had been bound tightly beforehand, there was no arterial spray.
The convicted chamberlain was jerked to his feet and his filthy pants were pulled down to his ankles. The general grasped the man's genitals in one mailed fist and used his knife to swiftly perform the gelding. Tongs were used to pull the man's tongue out from his mouth and the same bloody knife was used to remove it. Finally, the chamberlain was bent over the wooden block and the axe was used to remove his head. The general picked up the head by its greasy hair and jammed it down on a pike, then carried the pike with its ghastly burden to the gate, where he shoved the staff deep into the earth.
The general marched up to the duke and knelt once more. “It is done, Your Grace. Please accept my deepest apologies for failing you in this matter."
Speaking loudly enough for all to hear, the duke said, “The matter is settled, General Gustav. Such a lesson need only be learned once."
* * * *
It had taken all of Rory's nerve to watch the punishment of the chamberlain for never in his life had he seen another human being hacked apart by cold steel. The corpse was unceremoniously dumped into a cart along with the removed parts and taken out to be burned. Several buckets of water sluiced away the blood and the wooden block was tossed into the fire with the body. General Gustav sat near the fire, honing the edge of the axe to a razor sharpness once more, his eyes never leaving the head hung on the pike.
Lord Swiftstalker took Rory aside. “Leave him be, Lord Rorrick. We all must deal with our internal demons in our own way. General Gustav is a good man, but he has always defeated his enemies in the hot blood of battle. Never before has he had to serve as an executioner. No other lesson would have been as effective. Your king is a very wise man. Remember this day, Lord Rorrick, and remember what the king's high justice means. It is always swift and pointed, not only to the accused, but to all who see it carried out."
Rory and his weapons master went to the training arena and began to spar with the blunted swords, but Swiftstalker soon realized Rory's heart wasn't in it that morning. He racked the swords once more and sat down beside the boy on a bench in the arena.
"What's on your mind, Rory, besides the execution?” Swiftstalker asked.
"Many things. My father has told me that we must go to him in three months. That will mean leaving the duke and the people here I am just beginning to get to know. Then there is Lady Bethany."
"I would imagine she is much in your thoughts this day after the kisses on the battlements last night.” Swiftstalker laughed at Rory's expression. “Don't be so surprised. Did your father not charge me with protecting you? Do you honestly think you have ever been out of my sight since we left the Great Forest? I saw the kisses and caresses last night, and was grateful your father broke it up before it went much further. Neither of you was thinking much about her reputation, which could easily have been compromised."
"It was so ... exciting. It made me feel..."
"I know what it made you feel and how exciting it can be, but Lady Bethany is not some trollop who can be tumbled into bed for a few coins. She is an earl's daughter and quite possibly your future bride. You must promise me, young Rory, that you will not go beyond kisses with her until you are married to her. Her virtue is her future."
"You have my word,” Rory said. “But I shall rely on you to make sure we don't cross that boundary despite our best intentions."
Swiftstalker stuck out his hand and grasped Rory's. “Done!"
* * * *
King William handed Duke Richard a brandy when he walked into the library from overseeing the execution of the chamberlain. The king said, “There is a lesson in this for you as well, old friend. Never leave others in control of your duchy, or you will deserve to lose all you hold. The only ones you can truly trust are those of your own blood, and even then, you must use caution."
"That point has been driven home. Never did I suspect he would abuse his position of trust in the manner he did. What breaks my heart was his abuse of the women,” Duke Richard said.
"Yes, we imagine it does for you have always had a soft spot when it comes to women. My father once told me that even in your youth, you were never one to enjoy an amiable tumble with a serving wench. He swore you went to your marriage bed more pure than your wife, for she at least had been kissed before."
Duke Richard smiled in memory. “Your father should know because he tried to kiss my wife on many occasions. The skillful placement of a swift knee once quelled his lusty advances. She was no respecter of position, my wife. She held her virtue in much greater esteem than your father's pride. As for my virginal state, your father knows better since he and I went roving together quite often before he married and assumed the throne."
"We yield, Richard. We should know better than to match wits with you.” King William laughed. “We should tell you that we are impressed with your heir, and not just because of his other connections. He seems to have a natural affinity with the people."
"Yes, he does. My people love him already for they feel he is one of them in spirit, if not in blood. Although last night I had a very interesting talk with his father while you met with King Alaric.
I had to agree to allow Rory to go to the Great Forest immediately after the Winter Festival to spend some time with his father and learn about his elven heritage."
"How do you feel about that?"
Duke Richard replied, “Ambivalent. On the one hand, I need all the time I can get to train him to be ready to take over Westfell when I die. At the same time, I recognize the need for him to know the Lords of the Forest and what that heritage will mean to him in the future. In the end, I chose to honor the pact we have."
"The queen had a long conversation with young Bethany this morning. The young woman is quite smitten with Rorrick. It is the queen's desire that their engagement be announced at the Spring Court, unless you have some objection to the match."
"No objections, sire. I, too, have seen the way they look at one another and my spies tell me they were kissing on the battlements last night until Prince Brightblade interrupted them.” Richard laughed. “Perhaps an engagement will settle them down for the time being."
Duke Armand snorted. “I don't know about you two, but my engagement to my wife certainly did not settle us down! If anything, it lessened the restrictions between us a bit more than would otherwise have been acceptable. It was a good thing we were separated from each other until our wedding!"
Duke Richard looked a little guilty and King William laughed.
"Well, my friend and my liege, I must bid you farewell,” Duke Armand said. “It is time I went home before the passes fill with snow. I will see you in the spring at Court."
"You must have an escort, Armand,” King William said.
"I don't need one in Westfell and my own men await me at the border between our lands,” Armand said.
"How would it look for a duke to be traveling alone? What if something happened to you? We insist you take at least four of our King's Own with you as far as the border,” the king responded.
The Heir Of Westfall [The Alurian Chronicles Book 1] Page 7