She thought about it for a moment and realized how lucky her life had been. Emilia had gone from a dilapidated farmhouse straight to the king’s castle. Every time she started to get mad at Ali-Samuel he knew just how to calm her down.
“Are we ever to be married?” she pressed. “We should wait until after we take back our kingdom and can throw a proper wedding feast. I am not even sure the Gods can see us in this strange land of savages,” he answered. “They are rather primitive,” Emilia agreed. “Yes they are but if we can use them to take back the crown, it will be worth the small sacrifice of a half-summer in Histomanji.”
“Can they be trusted in battle? Do they have any discipline?” Emilia asked as she rubbed her lover’s stubbly red beard. “My father seems to have them trained pretty damn well. They will do anything he tells them. However, holding position in battle does look like it could present a challenge. In battle quite often you are holding a piece of land. When you see the enemy, your first instinct is to rush over and start killing but if the opponents break through that piece of land you are protecting, it could turn into disaster. Savages usually follow their base and primary instincts. We will need the ‘light face,’ as the Histoman call us, to hold strategic grounds. On the plus side they are fierce warriors in the open and if we can employ them correctly we will destroy any fool who stands in the way.”
The next day Emilia sat at the front table with Pariah and Krys Colbert. The young woman had been tending to his wounds but several infections weren’t getting better and two new ones had developed. The black, wounded areas oozed white pus when pressure was applied near the infections. The apothecaries had told her that if the injuries didn’t improve, Krys would probably die in the next few weeks. Emilia felt awful for the young man after all of his struggles to then have to deal with the death of his brother and the infections.
The trio played Wild Jesters with Emilia’s castle cards. Pariah picked up the complex game quickly and Krys knew the game from his days in Mattingly. “I am so sorry about your brother, again,” Emilia sympathized. “I still don’t think all this has sunk into my flooded head. This has been…simply crazy,” Krys stated. “If you ever need anything, I will always be here to help, sweet boy,” Emilia promised. “And me,” Pariah added with a warming, toothy smile.
“After the initial incident, everyone has been great to me. Cobra told me the Histoman have decided to tattoo me for bravery in the face of sure death. I can take some pain as you can see. I believed I would never escape that hell in Androsi. But if you told me I’d survive landing in Histomanji and meeting the Wamhoffs on the same day, I would have dug my grave while I called you a liar,” Krys forced a smile through clear mental and physical pain. “I have my first question, ladies. Will a woman ever be able to love a man with my…” he lowered his head in shame. “My looks as they stand?”
The former queen leaned across the table and raised Krys’ head up by his chin so she could look him in his brown eye. She tried to not focus on his damaged eye. “Many women will love you. In fact, I can see them clamoring over you. Once your wounds heal and some time passes, you will look much like your former self, I am sure. Scars on a man show bravery, and bravery will trump looks to any woman. You will marry a beautiful bride once we return to Donegal.”
“I was set to marry a beautiful bride. Sarah Caughleigh from Griffin’s Point was considered the fittest bride for the heir of Mattingly. That was until your husband and my uncle hatched the black egg that seems to have destroyed both families in a rather short time,” Krys said. “Revenge can soon turn to madness the way it occupied my late husband’s mind. The fear of your father consumed him inwardly and he lashed out the only way he knew how. Eliminate the problem completely with underhanded trickery. When we take our kingdom back you will rule over Mattingly as you were meant to, I will make certain of it,” Emilia promised.
“That is quite gracious…my queen?” the confused young man wondered about her title. “No, not yet and perhaps not for a while. My dead husband and his father before him ran our once proud realm into the ground through terror and murder. We want to stand for honor and justice and that would be exemplified with your appointment as Duke of Mattingly. The people will respect one of their own, to rule over them. And you will have the loveliest bride a man could ever wish for. I will make certain of that also.” Emilia seemed full of promises she wasn’t really sure she could uphold for the abused young man. She realized Krys was right, the grudges in Donegal had torn many families apart because of silly, unsettled arguments. The former and hopefully future queen wished to crush those damaging battles when they took rule again. She felt responsible for never taking an interest in really helping the people through using her power when she had ruled as queen.
Emilia Burke Wamhoff looked at her motley friends and felt a sense of pride. She liked creating something of her own. She graced Ali-Samuel’s side but Emilia now had an opportunity to forge her path in life. She had been basically thrown out by her original family, into the former king’s life and had to submit to his evil family. Now Emilia was putting together a new family to take back to Donegal. She looked at Princess walking in and saw a daughter.
Emilia woke up excited about the day. Pariah had told her that the Histoman had four celebration days a year. They called them ‘happy days’ and the people played games, feasted and had a bonfire after dark. After a tumultuous start to the year, Emilia looked forward to a day of thoughtless happiness.
She went down to the native grounds with Pariah and Princess. The Wamhoff men claimed they had work to take care of before attending the festivities. The partly cloudy morning made the heat bearable, but Emilia knew a scorcher of an afternoon would probably follow.
The Histoman had been hunting for weeks to prepare for the feast. The normal meal consisted of fire roasted meat. The Histoman didn’t really eat fruits or vegetables unless the hunts were unsuccessful. The smells of charring beaver, caribou, elk, egret, squirrel, different snakes, duck, four-horned antelope, gazelle and giant otter wafted to her nose and made the former queen’s mouth water. The people just ripped pieces from the roasted animal and sat on the ground, eating their fill.
The morning featured competitions of strength and speed for the men. One event involved a huge boulder the men had to heave in a common direction to see who could throw it the farthest. Cobra won that competition easily. The leader of the Histoman went on to win most of the feats of strength. A lanky man named Crazy Legs won all the events for speed and running.
Ali-Steven and Ali-Samuel arrived in time for the mid-day feast. They ate more wild game and the Histoman even drank for the first time Emilia had witnessed. They also smoked long, wooden pipes filled with a green plant Emilia had never seen. Pariah told her, “They call it the smile plant.” Cobra passed her a mug of red wine and Pariah gave her a smoking pipe, and the former queen inhaled the tasty smoke. She reminisced back to her drug using days. She remembered the happy times in the beginning and not the bitterness toward the end. Her head seemed to float from the smoke.
Cobra filled her mug again, but this time the drink had a much harsher finish. She wasn’t even sure what it was but the mix was potent. Everyone feasted and drank until they couldn’t consume any more. Cockfights started up and the people seemed to take them very seriously. Pariah told Emilia some men trained their birds for three months to get ready for these days. The Histoman only placed bets with their pride as the God, Rolog, preached to live simply off the land. The cockfights looked quite brutal to Emilia and she only watched one or two before going back to the main group of natives. The giddy group played a game before the sun went down. They called it ‘break the chain’ and it consisted of a line of people locking arms. Another line of people stood fifty feet away and the teams would call a member of the opposite team to try and break the chain of arms. If the chain was broken, both of the people whose arms were split were eliminated. If the chain wasn’t broken, the person attempting to break it would b
e eliminated. Emilia had fun playing and even though her team lost, she still enjoyed the game.
They feasted again around sundown. The drinking, pipe smoking and cockfights commenced again, and Emilia couldn’t get rid of her smile. Seven stacks of wood, twenty feet high, had liquid dripping from them before they were lit in unison. Flashes erupted from all around her and the heat rippled over her body. Night became day as the huge bonfires blurred Emilia’s vision. She kept drinking heavily and smoking the smile plant as her head began to spin. Emilia found Krys Colbert and the young man looked like he was genuinely enjoying himself. The former queen carried a pipe over to Krys and handed it to him. He choked at first but attempted again and found he liked the fragrant smoke. Emilia gave him some booze to help wash away his problems for the night. It made her truly happy to see Krys having a good time.
Emilia spotted her lover on the ground and squeezed him from behind. Ali-Samuel just sat there and didn’t react or say anything. Emilia hadn’t thought about her dead husband or abandoned son even once today. She went back to Princess and Krys to enjoy the rest of the celebratory night. They danced under the stars and stumbled back to their living quarters around dawn. This was exactly what Emilia needed to offset all the wild adventure and serious war plotting.
ELISA
The pre-dawn knock sounded, but today Elisa sat on her bed, ready for it. She let Lady Victoriah and a handmaid in. The young girl laid Elisa’s clothes on the bed and helped her dress. Victoriah had a lovely body and her dresses and gowns always accentuated it. Elisa thought the style to be quite provocative and most men’s eyes trailed the lady’s every step, proving the opinion correct. Elisa put on everything except a pair of black gloves. “What are these for?” she asked the lady. “When you rule, your hands will get very dirty if you don’t protect them from the filth,” Victoriah said through the veil.
As they walked to Justice Square, Elisa remembered the meeting with Lady Victoriah and Lord Ichibod on her second night in Lightview:
“If you wish to be queen we will rally support for the cause. I’ve been itching to scratch the Wamhoff fleas off my ass. This creates quite the opportunity for all of us. I only have two demands when we take the throne. First, I will be Falconer of Donegal, and I will notify you of my second demand in a few days,” the lord told Elisa. “I will do anything it takes. I only want to rule a fair and just kingdom,” the prospective queen replied. “Do you know why they call it Falconer?” Lord Ichibod asked. “Yes, when King Ali-Dus established the realm, Pios Elblee was his chief advisor. Count Bidwell told us that Pios enjoyed the sport of falconry and Ali-Dus called him the Falconer and the name stuck for the position of the king’s top councilor,” she said. Elisa’s explanation seemed to have impressed Ichibod whose eyebrows were raised.
“Are you familiar with the sport of falconry?” Lord Ichibod probed. “I know of it yes, but not as well as you, I am sure. After seeing your varied animal collection I naturally assume you are well versed in the craft,” Elisa stated. “She talks like a queen, walks like a queen and soon she shall sit like a queen. Now listen young lady, you must understand this is going to be a dirty game we play. There are no half-measures, no turning back after this. It’s maximum speed ahead for the crown or death but no point betwixt. You will have to give orders for actions you once thought deplorable. This experience will take every emotion at once and shake it like a typhoon. The Lady Victoriah and I will prepare and help you handle the weight of ruling as best we can. I will head the military effort and the ladies will address all other affairs,” Ichibod said, and nodded at the women. “That sounds wonderful,” exclaimed Elisa.
The blazing sun and the crowd’s collective gasp refocused Elisa’s attention as the criminal’s head hit the ground from a single swing of the long sword. The two women sat on the wooden benches in Justice Square. Lightview officials, headed by Lord Stanwik Staley, sent the criminals marked for death to the Square for the king’s justice. A tapered set of wooden benches faced a raised platform with a blood-dripping butcher’s block in the center. The gentle chirping songs of different birds came from the wooded area filled with small apple trees behind the stage, providing a strange, peaceful backdrop to the gory Square. The executioner was shorter than Elisa would have expected, but his rippling arms never missed a swing. He wore all black leather and a red mask over his face. The man who carried out the king’s justice started at sun up and worked through most of daylight.
Lady Victoriah had seen Elisa get sick at Penrose’s funeral and told her she needed to toughen up and apparently that meant to watch men die close up. “If you don’t know what it’s like for a man to die, how can you sentence him to death?” Victoriah reminded her as she tapped Elisa’s hip.
Lady Victoriah and the queen sat in the top corner of the raised pine benches. They sat far away from the other ten citizens in attendance. The benches could hold about one hundred people who wished to see the king or queen’s justice carried out. The veiled Victoriah spoke in a lowered voice, “Trust can be a weakness. It’s your loved ones or those you love who can use your secrets against you. They know the secrets you tell them. Enemies are just that for a reason. You mistrust them. It’s those you trust that will ultimately betray you. But that’s only if you let them. Huff all that. If you don’t allow too many into your heart, you will never get hurt. The less you love, the less you lose,” Victoriah informed her.
Elisa shaded her eyes and envied the lady’s fashionable sun blocker. She thought about how much it had hurt to lose Brehan. She had even been saddened by the news of her father’s death whom she had hated.
Lady Victoriah Ellsworth continued her lesson, “Even within a proud family, you must beware. Take my sweet son, Anderley. Tell him what you wish at high risk. I am certain you know of his affection for the former queen?” Elisa nodded in agreement. “And how did you come to find out?” the lady pressed. “He told me,” Elisa confessed. “Oh huff, I knew it. These are offenses that could have landed his head on a spike like these criminals and he tells any fair face his deepest secrets. It’s pure madness. You find him to be weak, don’t you?” Victoriah asked. Elisa nodded again even after seeing his exploits with a sword. “You would be correct. His trust in too many people will end up haunting him. Now I am about to tell you things that may contradict my previous warnings of trusting people but there is strong reasoning behind it. If we are to rule together we must trust each other and have full disclosure on all matters. I have three people to whom I would tell almost anything and you have quickly become one of the three. You replaced someone I have grown suspicious of. I believe you have been honest with me so far,” the lady said.
“I have, about everything. I promise you can trust me,” Elisa stated with confidence. “Yes, I’m quite certain of that seeing how you need me to survive right now. I will need you once you sit on that throne and I expect to be handsomely rewarded for my honesty and for the story I am about to share. I am telling you because I don’t want you to hear a distorted version of the facts.” The lady looked around before almost whispering, “Ichibod went off on a secret mission after the boys were born, to take some easy gold I believe he called it. He got captured in Livingstone and when he returned a year later, he didn’t have his manhood. King Ali-Stanley wanted to teach Ichibod a lesson for going on an unsanctioned military effort and didn’t pay the ransom for a year. He didn’t even let Lightview know about my husband so we could pay the ransom. We all thought he was dead and I mourned for six months after giving up hope until he rode up to the castle on that winter day atop a black mustang. His hair had grayed, bright eyes had dulled and I could see he was a different man. People will try to say it happened when he was young and all our children are bastards but that’s only jealousy talking. After he returned, I was permitted to seek suitors and he got to visit his whores guilt-free.”
“What can he do with whores?” asked Elisa, whose jaw had dropped on hearing this startling, deeply personal news from her new frien
d. She now understood what the men in the woods were talking about and wondered if Victoriah knew it was rather common knowledge. She had heard many things about Ichibod Ellsworth but Count Bidwell had never told her about this or the lord hanging a thousand people in one day.
“Not much. I would guess he likes to use his mouth even though he isn’t very skilled with it. You need a poet with a long tongue for that activity.” When talking in private, the lady spoke rather coarse and almost like a man, Elisa noted. Victoriah broached taboo topics of discussion Elisa had only talked to Ali-Gare about. Most other proper ladies would never talk freely about any subject like her mentor.
“No, he likes to taste exotic creatures as you have seen with his animal collection around the castle. I think he tries to overcompensate with killing the animals to exert his lost manly dominance in some strange way. The other rumor that flies around like a falcon is that Penrose and Darryg enjoy the company of men. That one is true. Better you hear it from me than a twisted version from one of these liars around here. We must make certain Lord Ichibod doesn’t get wind of this or it would break his heart. Darryg is the good son, the perfect boy who can do no wrong in his father’s eyes. And you thought your family to be dysfunctional?” asked Victoriah as the lady let out a slight laugh for the first time in Elisa’s presence.
“Every family has its problems. I found out when my father traded me away for debt relief from King Ali-Stanley to marry his braindead son,” Elisa said. “Yes I know the song of arranged marriage all too well as Lord Ichibod has become quite insufferable of late with his constant complaining of the gout. The lord can look and sound tough but I will teach you how to deal with him.” Lady Ellsworth firmly grabbed Elisa’s chin and turned it toward her. Elisa could see the blue eyes through the veil as the lady spoke in a serious tone, “In the end, all the men will die. In the end there will only be you and I left to rule this kingdom. When the oceans of blood settle, we will have the only boat. I will watch out for you now if you promise to watch out for me later. We only trust each other and nobody else, is that understood?” Elisa quickly answered, “I swear to it.” The lady released her chin just in time for Elisa to see another head hit the ground without an attached body. A few more men lost their heads with an emotionless reaction from Elisa that would have made Lord Ichibod proud. Victoriah deemed eight enough for today and the ladies were whisked away by guards and back to the castle for a meeting with Ichibod.
Fractured Families (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 2) Page 23