by D. R. Rosier
We were at the very least at the halfway point of our trip, and intimate lovers.
Of course, there were other concerns other than our growing relationship, and how alarmingly fast I seemed to be falling for the mesmerizing redheaded beauty. Too fast, yet I couldn’t stop it, or at least, I didn’t want to step out of the whirlwind.
So far, the king hadn’t sent anyone after me, or was still searching the capital. For all I knew, perhaps Irwin had lied to cover his ass, but I doubted I was that lucky. Regardless, the last five days we’d pretty much exclusively concentrated on ourselves and what was growing between us. Fortunately, she seemed as smitten with me as I was becoming of her, but I couldn’t be sure.
Regina said, “I’ve been thinking that maybe we should avoid the city altogether, and just stop in one of the surrounding villages for a resupply, and a night in an inn?”
I shrugged, “That’s fine with me, but no one has come after us yet.”
Regina frowned, “That doesn’t mean anything, I’m sorry, we’ve been enjoying ourselves, learning about each other and our lives so much, that I haven’t been doing the task I gave myself when we left.”
I raised an eyebrow in question.
“I forgive you, and I still don’t know your ambitions,” I said playfully.
She smirked, and winked.
“Point is,” she said exaggeratedly, and then continued in a normal tone, “Mages can talk over long distances with magic, there are also magical talents that do only that. The king probably sent word out to the two dukes, and most likely the barons as well. He doesn’t need to chase you, he just needs to wait for you to show up somewhere. Every guard in the kingdom will have your description by now.”
“Oh, does that mean they’ll be watching for me at Eastguard as well?”
She shrugged, “The baron and his troops will, but they shouldn’t be hard to avoid, there’s only about twenty of them in the whole city. The baron and his personal guard. The king depends on the enslaved abominations to defend against any excursions from Laya. The troops are there less for law and order, but to ensure some small amount of stability and report anything significant back to the king.”
“Wait, so the city is in anarchy?”
She made a face, “Yes and no, the people there have all been enslaved, so they won’t rebel, and won’t go too far with internal fighting. They aren’t allowed to risk the city’s fall, but there are gangs and rulers of different sections of the city, they don’t always get along.”
The city is split up into territories, all ruled by different gangs?
I frowned, “That makes things more complicated. It sounds more like a jail or penal colony, than a city.”
She nodded, “I had some ideas about that, we can discuss it later? But back to my original point, we should stay in a village, and do our best to avoid the baron. It shouldn’t be hard, they usually have a large estate that’s part of the village but just outside and separate at the same time. Point is, the barons don’t leave their estates and mingle with the villagers. There will be guards in the village, but only a handful as opposed to the city, so if we’re spotted and need to escape it will be a lot easier.”
“Alright.”
She blinked, and then smiled.
I asked, “What?”
She shook her head, and gave me a sheepish look.
“I should know better by now, but I keep expecting you to argue with me.”
I sighed in mock sadness, “And I keep expecting you to tell me your ambitions, I suppose we better both get used to the disappointment.”
She giggled.
“So… Eastguard?”
She smirked, “Alright. There are supposedly five sections of the city. The Baron and his bodyguards, along with their families, are an island in the center everyone avoids. Another part of the city is run by enterprising humans of dubious character, they are freemen who support the city and choose to live away from the nobles. They’re the ones that interface with the farmers in the area. They’re criminals, but not? And also needed to run the city smoothly, the abominations can’t leave the city, and the farmers are reluctant to enter the city and deal directly with them.”
I nodded in understanding, organized crime ignored by the crown, because they serve a purpose.
She continued, “The last three sections are split up between humans, elves, and dark elves that have been enslaved by the king’s magic and influence. They’re usually enhanced in some way, and unable to be anything but completely loyal to the king. Some of them are twisted beyond that, and turned ugly and deformed, if still able to fight. However, they split up into three sections because of race.”
I frowned, “Elves and dark elves, isn’t that what they’re defending from?”
She nodded, “Many of them get captured, either during our raids or theirs, and are sent to the king for modification. I’ve heard more than once it amuses the king to use their own people against them, and to keep them out of our kingdom.”
“That’s messed up.”
She nodded, “And that’s just from putting together rumors from nobles with wagging tongues, the reality may turn out to be more, or less. I’d advise approaching and healing the humans first, avoid the free humans and the baron in the beginning. I wouldn’t advise trusting the free humans at all, they’d sell you to the baron if there’s a reward out on your life.”
“The elves and dark elves?”
She shrugged, “I’d say you should work that out with the leaders of the humans you free. Those two sections of the city are much smaller, there’s far more humans than captured and twisted elves, of either race.”
“Regina, do women have rights on this world?”
She looked at me sharply, and then sighed, “Not especially. We can’t own land or businesses, but we aren’t chattel either. We also have the choice to refuse a suitor by custom, we can’t be forced into a man’s bed or home by law. That said, the reality of things is close to that, since we can’t own land or business, we’re dependent on men to support us, or give us work for pay. It would also be exceedingly dangerous for a woman to turn down a noble man, for any reason or request.”
I thought about that, and tried to look past my shock. It wasn’t until the last century on my own world that women truly had rights, and even then, not in every country. Still, I thought about the brothel filled with girls selling their bodies to perfect their talents and catch a husband, and that pretty much told me the truth of things in Desal as far as women’s rights, didn’t it?
Honestly, a man’s rights weren’t worth much either, if a noble decided they wanted something.
There was also a hint of vulnerability in her eyes and on her face, that I hadn’t seen for two days now, and it made a protective feeling rise up in my chest.
I honestly wasn’t sure what to say about it, all I could do was continue to treat her and every other woman I met with respect. What else could I do? It just seemed wrong, but it would be a miracle if I could keep myself safe, be a healer, and raise a family on this world given what I was. I could hardly fix it, no matter how fierce the protectiveness I felt for Regina was. My own attitude and the way I treated her was the only thing I had to give.
“My world is different,” I finally said, “And I’m not going to change the way I act or treat you, or any other woman for that matter.”
She smirked, “Better not, I would really miss your cock if you did.”
I snorted, “Evil woman.”
She nodded, and winked salaciously.
“It’s a very nice big cock, can you blame me?”
I knew she was just teasing, sort of, I think. Of course, if I turned into an asshole snapping orders, I’d deserve it if she did, but that wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t have it in me. The teasing part came down to me believing she already knew that.
I was also turned on right then, like I hadn’t been getting enough sex the last few days? She was just that tempting, almost all the time.
She giggled, and looked at me knowingly. She also licked her lips and directed her horse off the road…
Chapter Nine
The village was small, a blacksmith, general store, clothing shop, a stable and farrier, an inn, and a few homes. As near as I could figure it, the villages supported the surrounding farms with goods for trade for farmers and their needs outside of food, and the farms supported the cities, who supplied the goods the villages carried but couldn’t make themselves.
The baron’s residence and estate was almost a half a mile from the village itself, and easily avoided as Regina suggested.
We put our horses up in the stables, and immediately went shopping. We figured it was best to be ready right away, just in case we were forced to run. I let Regina do all the haggling, though I paid close attention to the prices, and how she got them down. By the time the shopping was done for new food supplies, and we’d filled up the water skins, it was dusk as we checked into the inn.
When we walked in I looked around the common room on the way over to the counter. I saw the two guards right off, but they were both facing away, sitting with ladies, and neither had turned around to look at who came inside.
“We need a room for the night,” Regina said.
The barkeep said, “A silver, for the room, dinner, and breakfast.”
Regina looked at me, and I paid the man. For some reason haggling was expected when buying things in the market, or at a store, but not for renting a room at the inn.
Regina said, “We’ll eat in our room please.”
The barkeep nodded, “I’ll send it up when it’s ready.”
I admit, I was a bit nervous, but the guards never turned around as we took the room key and headed straight upstairs. So far so good.
Regina snickered as the door shut, and let out a sigh of relief.
I kissed her, and pulled her into my arms, she was a perfect fit against me, and I knew I’d never tire of the feeling of her soft supple body against mine.
“Bath?”
We’d managed to stay clean on the road, we’d had to considering all the sex we’d been having, but stopping at streams to wash up with soap wasn’t the same as a hot bath or shower, and I was looking forward to feeling truly clean for the first time since I got to this world.
She nodded, and put her arms around my neck, her eyes and expression were inscrutable as she studied me with our faces just inches apart. The intimacy of the moment was breathtaking, and I got lost in her green eyes and the feel of her in my arms.
I had no idea what she was looking for in my face, but after a few moments she melted her body against me, and claimed a kiss much more lingering and intimate than the one I’d taken just a moment ago. It felt like she’d surrendered herself to me in some way, and although she’d done it before, surrendered her body to me during sex in perfect trust and vulnerability, this felt different. It wasn’t about the vulnerability of sharing her body, it was about the heart.
She broke the kiss with a smile, and grinned wider at my confused questioning look.
“I’ll start the bath love, but we should eat first.”
She’d called me love a few times when we first met, a turn of phrase, but she hadn’t said it in a couple of days, and the way she said it in that moment was far different. My heart raced in my chest, as I watched her walk over to the tub in the room. Did she love me? Did I love her? I thought I might, but it seemed far too soon, even if we’d spent every waking moment together talking, laughing, and making love for the last five days straight.
I almost made a joke about her ambitions, but the words stuck in my throat. I didn’t want to fuck up the intense connection and intimacy we’d just established. Even with her walking away from me that moment, it didn’t diminish.
The room in the inn had crude plumbing of sorts, but obviously no water heater, just a single spigot from pipes that went up to the ceiling, and probably to a water basin on the roof. The bathtub slowly filled with water, and I walked over to where she stood by the spigot and put my arms around her. I just… had to be touching her.
Fuck. I felt rather vulnerable myself, and hoped I hadn’t misread the situation. It was still early, but I knew my words were the absolute truth as I filled the silence with them.
“I love you, Regina.”
She looked back over her shoulder at me, and I leaned down to kiss her as my bulge grew against her ass.
She sighed in contentment when our kiss broke, and leaned back against me.
I got the idea she’d already known, and that’s what she’d seen on my face just a minute ago, when she’d searched it.
“I love you too James,” she whispered in a dreamy voice.
I was incredibly happy in that moment, but also shocked. Five days, far too short, yet I’d spent more time with her than I would with a woman back home after months of dating, and I knew her far better than I’d known any other woman.
Except for her ambitions. I smirked into her hair.
I also wasn’t sure what this meant for us, a part of me wanted to ask her to marry me, another part of me wanted to run away and out the door. It was less commitment issues, than the shock of it all. I’d also been planning to try and find a way home, and I was no longer sure I wanted to even try. My mind needed time to figure it all out, and in the meantime, I’d just hold on and love her.
Our future was also less than assured, we were walking headlong into danger, and we knew that more danger was also behind us and would follow. It may have been the safest and smartest course of action, but it was hardly safe.
“So how long do men and women court on this world, before marriage?”
She stiffened for a moment, then relaxed against me again.
“My love, you’re confused, this isn’t your world. Men pick a woman they want on their arm and in their bed, and then fuck them. If they like the sex too, they’ll offer marriage, if the woman finds them palatable they say yes. Obviously, we aren’t following that mold, at all. Do what you wish, but in my heart, I’m already yours.”
“That’s fucked up, not the last part, the other part.”
She giggled, “It isn’t quite that grim for most, but it is for those women that share my talent. Courting involves attraction, and sex, for someone like me. There is some courting like you implied for others, and below the noble level, but not as much as you would think. The man needs to prove he can support the woman he wants, and she has to approve of him. Women certainly aren’t admired by men for their brains, or their words.”
I frowned, I could understand what she said just fine intellectually, but I couldn’t feel it viscerally, or imagine it.
“So, your mine?”
She turned, and looked me in the eyes, “Always. No other man has ever touched me, and no other man ever will, my love.”
Damn, that got me hard, and then there was a knock at the door.
She smiled, and walked over to the door to open it.
A young woman brought in two plates balanced on one arm, and two mugs of ale in her other hand by the handles. She walked over to the small table and put them down. Then she looked at me, though she avoided eye contact for longer than a second.
“Would you like me to heat your bath?”
I replied, “Yes, thanks.”
She walked over to the bathtub, and ran her fingertips along the top of the water, and the bath started to steam.
“Anything else sir?”
I shook my head, “No, thank you.”
At Regina’s silent urging, I pulled out and handed her a copper piece. The girl smiled, turned and left. It was another stark example to me, of the patriarchal society I found myself in. Any man with the ability to wield fire would be given a place of importance in this society, and treated with respect. Controlling any of the elements was one of the rare and more powerful talents. But that girl would probably use hers for the rest of her life, merely to ligh
t fireplaces and warm baths.
We sat down, and started in our meals.
I said after a moment, “Shouldn’t you tell me your ambitions, you know, since your mine and all,” I teased.
She smirked, and nodded, “I suppose I could tell you now. I was afraid if I’d told you earlier I’d have scared you away. Then again, maybe I should wait until you get to that proposing part?”
“How does that even work, I haven’t seen any churches or temples here. Marriage I mean.”
She looked almost relieved to change the subject, and that really made me curious what her ambitions were. She was going to drive me crazy.
“When a man asks a woman to be his wife, and she accepts, they go to a mage. There’s a binding ceremony, and then that’s it. If there’s family, they accompany the couple for the ceremony.”
I frowned, “So the government has no involvement? What does the binding do exactly?”
She shook her head, and looked amused, “Of course not, the government has no say in who marries. The binding will make us aware of each other, not thoughts, or even emotions, but we’ll be able to feel each other, where we are, and more. The more is on an intuitive level though, and is hard to explain. I’ve been told myself I’d just have to wait and experience it for myself. It’s said to enhance intimacy, but not on a pleasure level.”
I was insane, obviously, because I was seriously thinking about proposing. She seemed to think we’d already gone way above and beyond what most couples do before marriage, we’d fallen in love already, apparently something that isn’t even a consideration on this world for a life partner. Perhaps for some, that came in time? Regardless, she’d already declared herself as mine, marriage or no marriage.
“Are there vows in the ceremony?”
She tilted her head, “Not as such. A man is expected to provide and protect, a woman to obey and succor.”
“And I’m dragging you into danger.”