Richter hadn't been able to take his eyes off the orderly graves. Now he turned to look at Malachi. His face was so grim it looked like any minute he might start crying. Richter couldn't remember ever having seen a grown man cry and something told him he wouldn't be able to bear it. He gripped Malachi by the shoulder and gently turned him, walking him away from the graves. Keeping his hand on Malachi's shoulder guiding him, he headed for a section of garden he had seen earlier. As Richter guided Malachi, he thought to himself, I am so screwed. I was going to hell before, now I'm a traitor. Great, just great.
"Now you see why I don't want to fight. I never wanted this war. Not because I'm afraid of fighting, not because my people can't take yours; we've lost enough people. We've seen enough of our friends die, we don't need to lose any more."
"Look, I got nothing against you personally, but I am not going to help you. This conversation might as well end now."
"Very well." Malachi escorted him back to his quarters.
Richter spent the next month exploring the grounds, talking with Holly and enjoying the peace and quiet. The only thing that drove him crazy was not knowing how the battles were going. No one would talk to him about that. Sometimes Malachi was around, sometimes he wasn't. Sometimes the others were gone. He knew that there had been a lot of fighting. He didn't know what was going on, but men kept leaving and not coming back and he didn't like how that made him feel. He wanted them to come back and he didn't like that either. He was strolling through the garden by himself this time. He looked over his shoulder. Well, not exactly by himself. As always, he had two guards who followed him everywhere. Rounding a corner, he slammed into Duff, the one person he went out of his way to avoid. They glared at each other. Duff shoved him. "Next time watch where the hell you're going."
Richter shoved him back. "The same could be said for you."
Duff shoved him again. "If you want a fight, I'll gladly give it to you."
"Any time you think you're man enough to take me down, bring it."
Duff had had enough of Richter's arrogant attitude and the way he strode around the castle like he owned the place. He was going to shut him up once and for all. He threw a quick jab followed by a hook. Richter's head caught both blows and though he reeled from them, he retaliated, quickly stepping in and delivering his own hard right left combination to Duff's midsection. Then he brought his knee up into the side of Duff's chest.
The two guards, standing back watching, looked at each other, and then back at the fight. "You think we should do something?" asked Duncan.
Angus slowly shook his head. "If the Captain needs us, he'll ask for help."
Duff grabbed Richter's head with both hands and slammed it into his knee. Richter reeled and staggered back. He stood there for a moment while Duff laughed; then he dropped his shoulder, charged in and tackled Duff, taking him to the ground. The two men were rolling on the ground kicking and hitting each other when a bucket of water was thrown on them. "Stop it right now, you two heathens!" They both stopped and looked at Holly.
Duff sat up and glared at his cousin. "What did you go and do that for?" he demanded.
Richter pushed himself to his knees and turned to look at her. "Yeah!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I seemed to think you two were about to kill each other," she snapped angrily as she put her hands on her hips, still holding the bucket in one hand. To her complete and utter annoyance, the two men looked at each other, shrugged and looked back at her. She growled in frustration and hurled the bucket at Duff, who held up a hand to block it. Storming forward, she grabbed a handful of Richter's hair and yanked him to his feet. She dragged him this way all the way to the infirmary. Slamming the door behind them, she pointed to the chair. "Sit."
"Aye, ma'am." He did as he was ordered, wiping blood from his mouth.
Muttering under her breath to herself, she filled a bowl of water and returned with a rag and started cleaning his face. "And what the hell were you thinking? You can't go getting into fights. You're on thin ice here. It wouldn't take much for somebody to lose their temper and just off you."
"I think if anybody was gonna lose their temper and kill me, they would've done it already."
"Oh really, and what was that between you and Duff?"
"Apparently we both just needed to blow off a wee bit o' steam," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. She snorted and glared at him, then she started pulling up his eyelids, looking at his nose, his lips, his ears. He tried to pull away. "Is this really necessary?"
"I would say I'm looking for brain damage, but apparently you both have it."
Richter couldn't help it. He laughed. He reached out and squeezed her waist. "I do believe you're worried about me."
Holly looked down at where his hands were, then she looked back up at him. When she did, he kissed her. She was so startled, she pulled away and slapped him. "What did you do that for?"
Richter got to his feet, grabbed her around the waist and pressed her against the wall. "Because I wanted to, just like I want to do this." He bent down and kissed her again. They'd been kissing for several minutes before Richter started rubbing his body against hers, and that's when he realized everything was working quite normally. He gripped her shirt and pulled it off over her head. She started unbuttoning his shirt.
After a few more minutes, she pulled her mouth free. "Wait a minute, I thought …" She was interrupted by him grabbing her hand and sticking it down his britches. As her fingers wrapped around his hard cock, she giggled and began caressing him. "Oh, never mind." They struggled to continue kissing while getting undressed, one of them slipped. They tried to keep their balance, but they both fell. Fortunately, Richter was able to shift at the last second and land on the bottom. He was just about to ask if she was okay, when she went back to kissing him.
Afterwards, Richter lay there on his back, her head resting on his shoulder, his fingers tangling in her hair. He liked the rich red locks. As he looked down admiring the curves of the woman pressed tightly against him, he liked all of her. She was not a skinny stick of a woman that made him think if he got too enthusiastic he'd break her. He smiled to himself as he thought some men would call her plump, but he didn't think so. He kissed the top of her head. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a week or two, but it never seemed the right time. This is probably not the right time either, but it keeps popping in my mind. What you said about judging you because you had a lass. When I was in school - I guess I was about fourteen or so -the teacher - oh God, I hated that man - but he had this book and he made every one of us teenagers take it home and read it cover to cover. I don't remember exactly what the title was, something like human reproduction, but basically it explained how bairns were made and how to get pregnant or how not to get pregnant. But I remember one of the things it said. Now it went into a bunch of weird variables, but ultimately I remember it said that the man chooses the sex of the bairn."
She pushed herself up and looked down on him. "Are you telling me my husband gave me shit for four years because I had the indecency to have a daughter and it was his fault?"
He reached up and started wrapping curls around one of his fingers, slowly working his way to the back of her head; then he pulled her down and right before his lips touched hers, he said, "That's what the book said. It was written by some female doctor back in 2002, which I know was a really long time ago; but from everything I've learned, that was about the time when our civilization was at the height of its technological age." He kissed her very demandingly. "It also said this was a very good way to end up pregnant," he cautioned, then he kissed her again.
Holly pulled her mouth free and moved on top of him. Bending down, she kissed him again, put both hands on his chest, and pushed herself up holding him down. "You know I think we better make sure that that wasn't an isolated incident," she said as she began making love to him again.
Richter gripped her hips tightly. "I think that's an excellent idea." Afterwards, she did not move off
of him. She laid her head down on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her. "You know, you could spoil me like this."
The door to the infirmary opened a moment later. Holly heard Broderick exclaim, "Fuck me! I could have gone a whole lifetime without seeing that." Broderick turned and faced the infirmary door.
Holly screeched as she scrambled to find her clothes. "Well, that should teach you to knock," she yelled as she pulled on her shirt.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was the infirmary." Broderick looked at the sign directly in front of his nose. "Oh, wait a minute, this is the infirmary."
Holly glared at his back as she grabbed her britches and quickly pulled them on, then she ran out the door.
When Broderick turned around, Richter was just finishing buttoning up his britches. Broderick crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Richter. "If you hurt her in any way I will cut you up into wee bitty pieces and I will make sure you live as long as humanly possible while I'm doing it. Do we have an understanding?"
"I like her. It's not my intention to do anything to hurt her, but don't expect it to be more than what it is."
Broderick stalked towards him. "And what exactly is it?"
Richter hesitated for a moment. "Two lonely people just needing something from each other."
Broderick got right in his face and pointed at him. "Well, before this happens again, you better fucking make sure she knows that." Not waiting for a reply, he turned and walked out.
Richter stood there for a long moment. Just keep telling yourself that, Richter. Don't get attached. She doesn't even like you. It was just a spur of the moment thing. It doesn't mean anything, not to her, he kept telling himself over and over again, desperately hoping he was completely wrong.
Chapter 12
Dunworth Castle, Scottish Highlands
October 5, 2231
Richter tossed and turned, finding it harder and harder to sleep the more and more attached he got to Holly. He rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling. Broderick was going to kill him if he found out that Richter still hadn't had that conversation with her about exactly what their relationship was. Probably because he was a chicken shit and didn't want the answer. He rolled on his side. He was just drifting off to sleep when he had a moment of insight so beautiful, so pure, he saw it all in a flash. He sat bolt right up instantly fully awake. He stared at the ceiling again. He went over it in every detail in his mind. It was perfect, the perfect plan. It would work. He jumped to his feet, pulling on his shirt as he walked out of the room. He turned to the guards. "Take me to Malachi now," he demanded.
"Richter, do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Not a clue and I don't give a shit and trust me – when I tell Malachi what I have in mind; he's not going to care either. So shut up, stop arguing, and take me to see him."
Angus shrugged his shoulders. "Just so we're clear, when he hollers, it's your fault."
Richter angrily gestured for him to lead the way. Arriving outside a huge set of double doors, Angus tentatively knocked. Richter rolled his eyes, balled up his fist and pounded on the door.
Thirty seconds later, Malachi ripped the door open. Angus immediately pointed at Richter. "He did it."
Malachi rubbed his face. "Aye, Richter, what is it?"
Richter, ignoring his irritation, stepped past him into the room. "I had an idea. It's a perfect plan. It should enable us to take the castle with the least amount of casualties on our side. It banks on the one thing my uncle has in great abundance … ego. My uncle would never believe for a second that his precious nephew would betray him. That is our in. I can use that to get back into the castle and get the gates open. Once the gates are open, you and your men should have no problem taking the castle." Richter had been energetically pacing up and down the room.
Malachi, who was now fully awake, but wasn't sure he was actually awake, turned to look at Angus. "Am I still sleep?"
Angus slowly shook his head. "Not unless I am too."
Still addressing Angus, Malachi asked, "When did he switch sides?" Angus shrugged his shoulders.
"You two do realize you're carrying on a conversation about me while I'm standing right here?" Richter demanded with irritation.
"Whatever happened to 'you were never going to do anything to help us?'" Malachi demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What happened was exactly what you expected to happen. I got attached. I like the people here. I like the peace and quiet. I like the fact that on the rare occasion I run into one of your women, they smile at me. They don't cast their eyes down and shrink away from me. That is what you expected to happen, right? You expected me to realize that life doesn't have to be like that."
"No, I didn't expect it to happen. I hoped it would happen. I don't know a lot about your people, but one of the things that Duff was able to glean in his short stay was that your people are terrified of your King. That is why I put Holly in charge of seeing to you. Holly's not afraid of anybody. And Holly would have no problem telling you off. I figured if Lucius was right about you, you'd try to hurt her and that's why my guards were always very close. Holly has no idea how close they were; oh aye, I know about the wee fight you two got into the first day and I also know who started it."
Richter waited for Malachi to say he knew other things; but he didn't, and from the look on his face, Richter didn't think he did. He shot a questioning glance at Angus who looked at the ceiling. So Angus, you didn't tell Malachi everything. How interesting, Richter thought to himself. He was going to have to ask Holly later if she had threatened him, cajoled him, or bribed him. "So do you want my help or not?"
"It definitely sounds like a really good plan and even worth waking me up in the middle of the night, but how do I know I can trust you?"
"For you, that's actually the beauty of my plan, because my uncle would never believe you let me go or I escaped. However, he would believe that you sent me to give him one last chance to surrender before you take the castle. So in other words, he's not getting any advance warning that you're coming. You and your entire army are gonna be sitting right outside his front door."
"So you think your uncle is going to believe that I just let you go and you walked back into the castle without expecting a trick."
Richter sighed. "Now this is where I don't like my plan, but it's a good plan and it is gonna work. It's just gonna be painful. My uncle wouldn't believe that, but he would believe that you've been beating, torturing and neglecting me for the past month and a half, and then gave back his nephew. So if you beat the shit out of me first and we make a few adjustments to my wardrobe, he'll swallow it hook, line, and sinker."
"You do realize if he even doubts for one second, he will gut you like a fish right then and there." Malachi looked worried.
Richter was surprised at how worried Malachi looked. "If that happens, maybe God will put it on my plus side; maybe it will balance some of the wrong I've done."
Dawn, three days later. Holly clutched at Richter's shirt. "Please don't do this, it's a bad idea," she pleaded, with tears in her eyes.
Richter put his hand over hers. "I'm a soldier. Soldiers sometimes die in battle, but it's the right thing to do and it needs to be done and I'm the only one who can do it."
Holly wrapped her arms tightly around him. "Please, I'm begging you, don't do this."
Richter gripped her tightly by the shoulders and pulled her away. "I thought you hated me?" he asked with a grin. She glared at him. "There, that is a much more familiar look. Now I feel I'm on solid ground. Good to know where one stands." She punched him in the chest. He laughed again. "Take care of yourself." Before she had a chance to grab on to him again, he turned, grabbed the reins and swung into the saddle.
Once they were on the move, Broderick pushed himself alongside Richter. "Two lonely people just needing some company?" he said sarcastically. After a long moment he asked, "Was it me you were trying to lie to, or yourself?"
"I'm a prisoner of
her people. I cannot allow myself to become attached to her."
Broderick shoved him hard. "Don't be a jackass. Clearly you like her and she likes you. Have you told her that?"
"Oh, aye, that's an excellent conversation to have right before I go off and get myself killed. 'I love you. I'm crazy about you. I would really be honored if you'd be my wife if I survive this stupid idea that I have that you desperately don't want me to do.' Oh, aye, that's a great conversation to have."
"Well, I might not be as great an expert about women as you are; but at least if you get yourself killed, dumbass, she'll know you cared and were not just using her for sex," Broderick said angrily.
Richter snapped back, "That's where you're wrong. It's better if she thinks I was, then she can hate me and get on with her life." After a moment Richter looked at Broderick. "Okay, I'm a wee bit slow. Why does it suddenly sound like you're on my side, or I guess not on my side, but not against me?"
"I've known Holly all my life. I don't ever remember not knowing her. Holly was good friends with Malachi's betrothed. They were the best of mates. I thought her marrying Errol was a good thing. He was a nice guy. I liked him. He wasn't good for her. She hasn't been happy since she married him. She's been pretty happy the past month, and I can't say it's our company that's doing it."
"Well, if I come through this alive, you have my word I intend to ask her to marry me."
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