The Aebeling

by O'Neill, Michael

  Conn could tell the turmoil that was going through her head. He sheathed his sword. ‘What’s an honor bout?’

  Sibbe took a deep breath; she was clearly very upset about the whole event. ‘It is a bout to the death – or submission – whatever comes first. Winner takes all. It is an ancient Silekian tradition.’

  ‘Aebeling, if it means so much to her, I’m happy to accommodate her wishes. She seems very hard done by for some reason.’

  Conn sensed that the two voices in his head were at odds with this decision – one was delighted, though Lilith was disturbed. Lilith didn’t seem to know what was happening.

  Aerlene was confused. ‘Submission or death? What sort of bout is that? In Moetia, we just pay fines.’

  Ignored, Aerlene followed the crowd as it poured out into the forecourt. They were strangely excited; an honor bout was not something that happened everyday – Conn quickly got the feeling that everyone thought him dead already; such was the reputation of the Valkeri. Outside they encircled a large stone ring on the ground. It must have been carved a thousand years ago. Halla was waiting in the circle; she stood with her sword, almost snarling.

  As Conn walked in he had a chance to look at her in detail in the sunlight. She was dressed in leathers suitable for training, but not ideal for a battle to the death. To be fair, Conn removed his mail and gambeson, and stood bare chested with his Katana, the only thing around his neck were the two Twacuman medals. His white skin, though tanned, made him more noticeable than before and Conn flexed his muscles to show off a bit.

  It suddenly occurred to him to ask. ‘Any rules?’

  Halla responded, eying him as she circled. ‘Submit or die. That is all you need to know. I’d prefer if you didn’t submit.’

  ‘OK. Whatever works for you?’

  At a signal from the Aebeling, the bout commenced. Halla was still furious and she was a highly trained operator, very skilled, and she attacked with ferocity. She went very close to striking Conn with her blade on several occasions and he even had a faint mark over his chest where the tip of the blade whizzed past. After about five minutes, Halla was still attacking and Conn spent most of his time defending. After 10 minutes, Conn was starting to get his feel of her methods.

  He raised his hand and she paused. ‘Do you wish to submit?’ she demanded, as she drew in deep breaths. ‘I hope you don’t.’

  ‘No, not at all. I just want to apologize for underestimating you – you are a great wiga. I was thinking that you would fight like a girl.’

  ‘Then it will be a girl that kills you.’ She mocked.

  Conn shook his head. ‘Sorry sweetheart, not today. You are good – but not that good.’

  ‘I am not your sweetheart!’ Snarling, Halla lunged and Conn parried. He changed his tactics now; instead of just defense, he mixed it with attack, though he always retreated from the terminal blow. After another ten minutes, Conn could see that Halla had begun to realize that this was not going to be as easy as she thought; her eyes showed that she now understood that it was now a fight for her survival, and her tactics changed.

  With the change, the mood in the crowd also changed; Halla was now not fighting in her usual fashion, and everyone knew that. As they fought Conn could hear the ‘other’ voice in her head – though he suspected that ‘it’ didn’t know he was eavesdropping, and it drove her to kill. She wore a leather thong – that stretched down between her breasts. Whenever it was in danger of coming loose, she would place it back – it must have a brown stone hanging off it. None of the other Cyme had similar that he had seen – and their bosoms were all on display. He needed to get the necklace, because if he didn’t stop that voice in her head, there would be no reasoning with her, she would never submit.

  First he needed to get the sword from her, and turn the battle to hand to hand so that he could get close enough. It took another five minutes before she overreached slightly and this time Conn was able to deftly kick the sword from her hand and out of the ring. She winced and the crowd drew breath, and instead of retrieving the sword, she regrouped with only her dagger now.

  Halla looked surprised when Conn handed his sword to Aerlene and attacked barehanded. It took all his skills gained over a lifetime of training to not get killed, and instead he chose to inflict as much pain on the girl as possible; pain without breakage. As the battle progressed, it was clear that Conn was starting to toy with her, every time that he had an opportunity to end the bout, he would feign a different outcome. After every throw to the ground she would stand and try again, until she could hardly crawl. Still she would not submit.

  He was now closer to her necklace, and as she lunged with her knife and he rolled past the arm, grabbing the swinging necklace as he passed and pulled; it came off with a snap and the brown gemstone fell on the stone floor, freed from the leather strap.

  Halla regrouped and her eyes watched the stone fall to the ground; her hand gripped her throat where the band had been. Her eyes filling with horror as she saw Conn step forward and crushed it under his heel.

  ‘NO!’ she screamed and lunged towards him with no sense of self-preservation. The crowd knew she had been beaten, and Sibbe stood downcast; her daughter was being hurt physically and now physiologically, and was moments from death. Instead, with her reckless lunge, Conn was now able to quickly get two hands to her; one holding the dagger and another around her neck, and he followed her to the ground; she was in a submission hold from where there was only one outcome – oblivion – and he carefully reduced her oxygen flow until she passed out.

  The match was over. Conn placed the unconscious body gently on the cold stone. The proud Cyme was now a heap on the ground – but at least she was still alive. One of her crying sister wiga came over and threw a bucket of water on her, and gasping, she struggled to her hands and knees. She looked at Conn with confusion and to the others around her in helplessness. She knew she was not in a place she had ever expected to be. She looked lost, alone and simply terrified.

  Conn had returned to stand with Aerlene, who had tears in her eyes. She had never seen Conn so cruel and brutal.

  ‘I presume you humiliated her for a reason.’ Her voice was filled with distaste.

  Conn nodded sadly. ‘I did not want to kill her. It was the only way.’

  Sibbe walked over to them. ‘I’m sure you have your reasons, Conn il Taransay, but I am glad that you didn’t kill my daughter – even though she is now lost to me. You are the most skilled wiga I have ever seen. I pity any who meet you in combat.’

  They watched Halla as she stood, struggling to her feet; pain and humiliation all over her face. Something strange happened as she stood; the two gold bands that were on each wrist suddenly glowed and expanded; they then dropped off her hands to the ground and seemed to disappear into the rock floor. As they did, Conn felt the surge of power in his mind – he could tell that this was Lilith’s doing.

  Halla wailed: ‘No, No, not that, no…’ and broke down in tears, falling to her knees.

  She was really alone – nothing like she had ever been before as there were no voices in her head; she had been cut off from all the Gyden. Conn knew that Lilith was sad – but happy that she wasn’t dead.

  Sibbe took a heavy gold necklace from around her neck, and placed it over Conn’s head.

  ‘The gold in this chain symbolized the gold that was around her arms, the bands that made her bedda to Lilith. As a betrayer of her vows, and as a result of losing an honor bout that she requested, she is cast out. She is no longer a part of the house of the Valkeri. She is yours to keep. She is theow.’

  The sadness in the courtyard was palpable; a lot of people were crying. Even Sibbe was finding it hard not to cry. Somehow she directed Aerlene and Conn to be shown to rooms to rest; and there, Conn took the opportunity to take a bath; he was exhausted after the bout – physically and mentally. House staff came and filled up a tub for him. They were unused to having a male there but not so shy as to not wanting to stay in the
room just in case he needed them – for anything. He was sure that they didn’t have that much cleavage on display earlier. Alone, he soaked – for once in his life he was even too mentally exhausted for sex.

  He could feel Lilith lurking in his head. He wondered if she would talk to him.

  ‘Why did you not stop the bout?’ he tended as an opening statement. Probably too demanding.

  ‘You do not understand what you ask.’ was the curt response.

  ‘Perhaps. There is much I do not understand. Perhaps you didn’t because she wasn’t listening to you.’

  There was no response. He suspected that she wasn’t sharing, and she left Conn in peace as he finished his bath. Clean and refreshed, he was about to leave the room when the door opened and Halla walked in. She was escorted by wiga. She bowed.

  ‘Thane il Hama, I am Halla, theow, and I have reported here as is my duty. And as per the laws that relate to theow, you can do anything to me except sell me, share me, or kill me.’

  ‘Seriously? OK, well how is your head?’

  Halla was startled by the question. ‘My head?’

  ‘Yes, without the voice there to keep you company.’

  ‘You know about that?’

  ‘I try to know about everything. Whose voice did you think you were listening to?’

  ‘Lilith. She is the protector and guardian of the Valkeri.’

  ‘It wasn’t Lilith. It was someone else – another Gyden. That is why you chose to fight. The other Gyden wanted you to kill me. I don’t think she likes me very much. I have yet to know why. Lilith was upset you wouldn’t listen to her.’

  Halla looked at him in disbelief. ‘That is not possible. I was joined to Lilith at birth – and how could you possibly know? No-one can hear what the Gyden say to other people. No one – not even a Folgere.’

  ‘Not entirely true. Anyway, is your father a Rakian?’

  She still shook her head but answered his question. ‘Yes, my mother spent some time in Rakia. But how is that relevant?’

  ‘It is relevant because the Rakian is a descendant of the Ancuman and that connection allowed another Gyden to supplant Lilith in your mind and heart. I do not know how yet.’ Conn chose to remind her of their first meeting. ‘You were in Tegeste recently?’

  She smiled thinly. ‘You caused a great deal of trouble.’ She looked at him curiously for a moment. ‘Why would you steal the Twacuman girl – did you want her as a theow? I understand that she was quite young.’

  ‘She is not theow – I just rescued her – she is now in Halani.’

  ‘You went to all that trouble to rescue the girl?’

  Conn nodded.

  Confused but resigned, Halla was now curious. ‘Can you tell me why you fought for so long… you could have killed me much earlier? We both know that.’

  Conn nodded his head. ‘I didn’t want to kill you. Lilith certainly didn’t want you dead. It took a while to achieve that.’

  ‘Lilith still loves me?’

  Conn nodded.

  Hall seemed relieved at that – despite that fact that she was cast aside, and she tried hard not to cry. It had been a very bad day for her.

  Conn told her that he was heading for the port to check in with the Captain, and that she should accompany him. Aboard the brand new schooner, he gave Halla a guided tour of the boat. The weather was perfect today; and the large vessel rocked gently in the harbor.

  She was suitably impressed, but Conn could see that her body ached as she walked, and climbing up and down stairs made her wince. She was doing well to hide the pain.

  With the ship ready to leave at first light, Conn returned to the Keep in time for the feast and he was escorted to the hall. Halla was left behind in his room as she was no longer allowed there.

  Inside Aerlene was waiting talking to Sibbe and several others from the court. Conn was taken to his couch and the hall gradually filled with women of all ages and statures but mostly underdressed. Conn felt like he had suddenly died and gone to heaven – surrounded by beautiful women with very little on. The servants wore less, and the dancers later had no clothes on at all. It was surreal.

  The Cyme did not use chairs and tables but lay on what Conn would describe as the lectus - a wooden frame that supported criss-crossed leather straps and a mattress filled with wool or feathers. The couches held two or three people and Conn shared with one of the Aebeling’s advisors; including a young woman whose clothes covered almost nothing when she stood, and less when she lay down. She also had a wandering hand that kept finding itself on his leg.

  Sibbe sat in front of him; she shared her lectus with a young woman who was obviously her lover. ‘I noticed that you were wearing an unusual medal that seemed familiar. Would you show it me?’

  He took off the medals and handed them to her. Sibbe looked at them in silent contemplation. Via his link with Lilith, he felt her surprise when she recognized that one of them said Feorhhyrde.

  She took a deep breath; held up the medallion on its leather thong and watching it spin. ‘I do not understand how you would have this medallion. It is said to have disappeared in the battle that defeated the Ancuman – on the battlefield with the Casere who died with thousands of his kin and Twacuman. Can I ask who gave it to you?’

  ‘The Twacuman of Halani…’

  ‘Really?’ She handed it back. ‘Such a simple object but one filled with such reverence. Did you know that the Rakian have tried for centuries to find that medallion?’

  ‘It is probably better for all that they were not successful. The Twacuman seem to think that it holds great power.’

  ‘Indeed – and so do the Rakians – though I do not understand what it is.’

  ‘I gather you have spent some time with the Rakians.’

  She nodded. ‘Indeed – we provided protection for the Healdend of Rakia – they are generally hated by their subjects and three have been assassinated over the last two hundred years.’

  ‘You no longer provide protection?’

  ‘No – we have been replaced by...’ she paused and leaned forward, her lack of under wear clearly apparent, ‘Ancuman.’

  ‘The Healdend has a strong connection to the Ancuman, I gather.’

  ‘Their blood is mostly of the House of Axum in Kindah – which is the home land of the Ancuman. The Rakians search for that medallion because the Ancuman have asked them to – their desire is to destroy it – I remember hearing that it was actually cast in Kindah, so they feel they own it.’ She paused to contemplate him further. ‘So now you are Feorhhyrde and have a theow from Valkeri; a rare combination.’

  Conn changed the subject. ‘Are not the people of Trokia your kin?’

  ‘It is true, the Healdend in my cousin.’

  ‘Then why do you not go to her aid? It is possible that they will be invaded by the Gatinans next spring.’

  Sibbe paused to considerer her answer. ‘The Valkeri have a reputation to uphold. We are bodyguards who do not take sides or interfere in wars. We only act if our client is under threat. Sadly that pledge was not followed by my Great-Aunt who usurped the throne of her client. They have broken from the path that we follow so we cannot help them.’

  As it was getting late, Aerlene retired as she was very tired. She was escorted to her room in an outside longhouse. With the departure of Aerlene, Sibbe moved to sit beside Conn; very closely, placing one hand on his leg and another on the girl that she had displaced. She was rubbing both very slowly.

  She smiled at him, the sweat on her brow visible. The room wasn’t cold, and the fires had dimmed down so that the room was getting dark.

  ‘It seems that you are not afraid of doing things that perhaps you shouldn’t…’ Her hand didn’t stop as it went up his leg. ‘Tell me what you would like me to do… and I’ll say yes.’ She stood, and dropped the shoulders of her grown. It slipped down her body and dropped to the floor. She was naked now; and as he looked around, most everyone else was as well – and engaged in some form of sexual act
ivity.

  For a fleeting moment, Conn wondered if he would make it out alive, and then decided he didn’t really care – there would be a lot worse ways to die.

  CHAPTER 23

  Early the next morning, they bid the Aebeling farewell and headed to the port without escort. Halla was already on board.

  Aerlene commented on how much friendlier they were, despite what had occurred the previous day.

  ‘What happened last night?’ she asked curiously as they walked.

  ‘Nothing much – we just sat around and had a few drinks together after you left – we had a lot to discuss.’

  ‘I’ll bet – you in a room with fifty almost naked women. I can imagine what you talked about.’

  ‘I was able to negotiate porting rights for my ships.’ Conn added hopefully. Sibbe did need some “convincing” about that so he made to “negotiate” with her several times over the evening. With a Gyden urging you on, it’s amazing how much stamina you have – enough to even “negotiate” with the “not as attractive as half the room” Gudrun, Portgerefa of Cyme. After a particular energetic “negotiation” session, she agreed that the brown sailed vessels could land in Cyme any time they wanted to.

  They had other things to discuss as well. They were in a tangled mess of nakedness when he asked Sibbe about the Cirice.

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t know where the Trokian Cirice is – or was. We have our own – this is an ancient Ancuman port; Kishdah – the Ancuman homeland –is somewhere to the east and this was their first stop. My ancestor discovered a Cirice here in the keep – deep down on the lowest level – and long since deserted by the Ancuman Gyden. My ancestor was Silekian – a Folgere from Ilissus– but the pirates treated her just the same as any other female. One day she was able to steel a gold gemstone and took it to the Cirice and devoted the Cirice and herself to Lilith – who accepted it and us. Not long after that the men were gone and the Valkeri were born.’

  Conn understood now – every Valkeri was actually a Folgere. No wonder men were not allowed – unusual sword bearing and bow wielding Folgere, but Folgere none the less.