The Honor of Duty

by A. R. Rend

She really has a strong fixation on getting me in her mouth.

  “I’d stay… but… I dunno. I’m not even in the running and I want to stay just for a chance with you, Phil,” Tonie added in a strange tone.

  Looking to the young woman, he found she was leaning forward, staring hard at him.

  “I’m no maiden but I really would be good for you,” Tonie swore. “Just consider me the fifth contestant and give me a chance. I’ll leave the other little girls in the dust. You’re worth getting into a fight like this for.

  “I served with your mother for my contracts and came here after the last was up. I remember every time you came to camp. You always were very polite and kind to all of us dirty ugly soldiers. To me.”

  “I don’t think you’re dirty, or ugly. Any of you,” Phillip said with a casual flick of his hand. “But… I’m glad to hear you’d all stay. I’m just… feeling a bit hypocritical.”

  “Nah, they’re all here because they want to be. And you’re not giving them false hope. You’re honest with each of them,” Frankie muttered. “Uhm… I’ll be the sixth fighter then.”

  “Seventh,” Vinnie said quickly.

  “Eighth,” Bobbie added with a heavy sigh. “We’ll be the dark horse girls.”

  “That or just stay with him regardless of who wins,” Tonie said in the silence that followed. “He’d keep us hired on till we were too old to marry. Then just turn us into servants. I’m sure I could get in his bed at some point, too And once in, always in. Just gotta survive whoever he marries being pissed at me.”

  “You’re incorrigible,” Phillip said with a chuckle. He couldn’t deny that her plan actually had merit in it. It planned for his mentality quite well,

  “I dunno what that means, but if it means I’m a sex-hungry woman who wants to lick you from your toes to your eyebrows and show you what you’re worth, yeah. I am. I’m definitely that,” Tonie said with a growl to her voice. “But only you. I’m not really interested in other men. You’re… you’re different, Phil.”

  Closing his eyes, Phillip grinned to himself.

  He wasn’t afraid of these women.

  Mildred might worry over them being forward with him, but he knew them better than she did. They weren’t a threat to him, or his honor or duty.

  If anything, he was the threat to them.

  They were rapidly putting themselves into a position they had slim chances of winning. Because they somehow felt that slim chance was worthwhile.

  Good at seducing women, indeed.

  Twenty-One

  “Phil.”

  Startling awake in the recliner, Phillip opened his eyes and looked to the speaker.

  Mildred was standing in the entryway to his room.

  “Hey, Milly,” said Phillip with a thick tongue that didn’t want to respond. “What’s up?”

  He hadn’t expected to fall asleep as he had. The book at his feet was testament to the fact that he’d dozed off while trying to read after working all day. Sitting upright, he then bent over and retrieved the book from the floor.

  “I’m sorry for waking you,” Mildred said with a grim look on her face. “But we had an incident. I’ve already solved the situation but I wanted to make you aware of it.”

  Phillip cleared his throat twice and then set the book down on the table in front of him.

  “Okay?” Phillip asked, turning his full attention to Mildred.

  Or at least trying to. He felt groggy and run down given everything he was trying to keep together.

  “Several individuals broke into Madeline’s workshop. We caught three, but I’m not sure if there were more of them,” Mildred said, getting straight to the heart of the matter. “If there were more of them… then they’ve likely already gotten the news back to whoever sent them.”

  “Which means… there’s a distinct possibility that someone knows what we’ve been making,” Phillip said with a slow exhalation. “The cart isn’t an issue thankfully. Alice already started selling those before she left.”

  Phillip shook his head and considered what to do.

  They had the money from the carts in their pockets which meant they were certainly in excellent shape. But losing the first to market status on the updated spinning wheels would be a significant blow.

  There was also the distinct possibility of losing the market entirely. If someone got ahold of one of the spinning-wheels and broke down what was changed, they could easily mass produce it.

  To dump so much gold into it that time wouldn’t be a consideration.

  Especially if someone was trying to take action before Alice or Lenore could return.

  Which meant it was very likely the guild mistress herself.

  “Okay. We’ll start selling them today,” Phillip said with a short nod of his head. “I’ll go meet with Madeline and we’ll start moving things into action. We don’t have much of a choice otherwise.”

  “If this were a battle, first to strike would have the initiative,” Mildred said, agreeing in her own way. “I had the spies executed, by the way. Their bodies were dumped on the other side of the city. Whoever hired them will obviously know they died, but they won’t be able to claim anything. They’d have been the ones hiring them.

  “No sense in risking them escaping with information. And they knew the price of being a spy that was caught.”

  Phillip was mildly surprised at that.

  There was no such thing as a “spy” in civilian life. They would have just been tried as simple thieves.

  Burglars, even.

  “Okay,” Phillip said, not really knowing how to respond to that. “I’ll support whatever you feel is best, Milly. Always.

  “For now though… we need to go talk to Madeline. Get a list of everyone we should go see about selling our product to, and start doing just that.”

  “I’ll organize the guard,” Mildred said with a nod of her head.

  Turning, she left him there with his thoughts.

  Well… here we go then. No way to go back from here I suppose.

  Phillip prepared himself mentally for what he suspected lay in wait for him. A war of a different sort than what his mother waged.

  One that would play out in backrooms with the weight of fortunes lying in wait.

  First to market counted; having inventory counted a great more; being who they went to if their equipment broke, was priceless.

  He needed to go see Madeline in the morning.

  ***

  Entering Madeline’s home and business, Phillip was struck rather quickly by the fact that it was swarming with women.

  Very tough-looking women.

  Kitted out in armor, arms, and looking like they knew a deadly business and how to go about it. That they were likely the very same type of creature that Mildred, Tonie, Bobbie, Vinnie, and Frankie were was obvious in that single glance.

  Soldiers and fighters through and through, without the hope or wish of being anything else.

  Given his personal preferences, Phillip had to hard-curb his interest. If he was being honest with himself, he really wanted to mingle and talk to some of the women he saw. Get their names and maybe have a conversation with them.

  As if they sensed that desire, Tonie and Vinnie pressed in a bit closer at his sides. Till their arms touched his own. Locking down tight around him and guiding him deeper into the house.

  Finally, Phillip found Madeline. She was unhurriedly finishing up the assembly of a spinning-wheel.

  Looking up from her work, she saw him heading her way.

  A dissatisfied grimace spread over her face. Either she wasn’t happy to see him, suspected bad news, or already knew what was about to happen.

  Given how many guards are swarming around, I imagine the second one, or the last, as far as possibilities.

  “Good morning,” Phillip said, coming to a stop in front of her. “I assume you know what happened?”

  “Morning, Mister Rias,” Madeline said with a shake of her head. Followed by a slow nod. �
�Yeah. I heard. And I can guess at what’s next, too. Time’s up?”

  “Time’s up,” agreed Phillip with a nod of his head. “We need to go to market. I want you to start selling them by noon. I’m going to see if I can’t talk to the guild-mistress one more time, and then a few of the largest textile shops in the city.”

  “Alright. I can do that,” Madeline grumped then sighed and threw up her hands. “Whatever. We’ve been building for this moment. Maybe I’m just afraid.”

  “First touch of battle is always the hardest,” offered Tonie.

  “It’s a lot easier after that,” Vinnie chimed in.

  “Really just becomes a slog and the anxiety goes away,” Bobbie finished.

  To his left, Mildred nodded her head a little.

  “Great. Anything you need from me before I head out?” Phillip asked, feeling rather excited about the whole thing. He didn’t doubt that he’d be able to make some great sales. That he’d be able to really move product.

  Outside of figuring out who to deal with at the start, he was also quite good at talking people into doing what he wanted. Or buying his product, to be more specific.

  “Yeah, actually. If you don’t mind,” said Madeline after a second.

  “Of course, what can I do?” Phillip asked with a smile.

  “Stand next to the sales stall for a bit. Dressed just as you are right now,” Madeline asked. “Honestly… I think we’ll get people coming over just to look at you, let alone buy a wheel.”

  I… ah… ugh.

  I suppose she’s not wrong.

  “As… you wish,” relented Phillip. “That’s not an issue I suppose.”

  “Great. Be back by noon? We’ll start then,” inquired Madeline.

  “Noon it is,” confirmed Phillip.

  Turning on his heel, he left the house and got back out onto the street.

  “I mean, I’d come over to see you, Philly,” Frankie said, her left hand coming up to rest on his back.

  It was surprising to be touched like that.

  His personal guards had put up a barrier around him almost at all times. That they even excluded themselves from.

  Outside of Mildred, not one of them had touched him before.

  He wasn’t against it either. Her warm hand felt good on his back.

  “You see me all the time, you dolt,” Phillip said with a laugh, glancing at Frankie. “Now, get in front of me and let’s go see the guild mistress. We need to be going. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it sooner rather than later.”

  “You trying to get a look at my butt?” Frankie asked, arching an eyebrow.

  “Oh, that’s a good point. Milly, would you and Vinnie go up to the front?” Phillip asked.

  Frankie guffawed at that and gave Phillip a very light shove before turning around and moving behind him.

  “Whatever, I’ll stare at your ass then,” Frankie said with a chuckle.

  Vinnie and Mildred moved past him and got in front of him. Though Mildred did pause to give him a several-second stare.

  “What? She’s right. I should enjoy the view, right?” Phillip asked, not looking away from Mildred.

  Who was now becoming a slow dark-red color.

  “You can look, Phil. But you have to remember it’s also all yours if you want it,” Vinnie said, adjusting her helmet. “On me, Dread.”

  Not waiting for her leader, Vinnie started forward, forcing the other woman to catch up with her a short step later.

  “You’re terrible,” Bobbie said at Phillip’s right side.

  “You love it,” said Phillip, feeling extremely flirty and excited. Getting into deals and leading them all the way through like this got his mind spinning wildly. “You wish I told you to get up there.”

  “I… uh… yeah, I do and yeah, I did,” Bobbie said, clearly off guard.

  “You could get up there and walk backwards. You and Tonie. That’d be just as great,” Phillip offered easily.

  “Oh my fuck I never should have told you I was interested,” grumbled Tonie. “Now you’re making it even harder for me.”

  “You make me harder, too, Tonie,” said Phillip before his brain could catch up. “Especially when you smile.”

  “Damnit, Philly,” muttered Frankie from behind him.

  “You made me hard in the first place, Frankie,” threw Phillip even as his mind screeched at what he’d just said to Tonie. “It’s just a shame you put your hand on my back. And not elsewhere.”

  Suddenly, all of his guards were quiet.

  For the first time, in a long time, they weren’t actually responding.

  Walking through the street, the group was able to make their way rather quickly. People got out of Mildred and Vinnie’s way. Moving to the left or right without much of a complaint at all.

  Faster than he honestly wished it, as he was actually enjoying staring at Mildred and Vinnie in their leather armor, they reached their destination.

  I really am a cad. I can’t believe I said those things.

  But… they were so fun to say!

  They really made my heart race.

  Maybe this is… maybe this is why my sisters always liked talking at men.

  Stepping up to the front door of Fend’s home, Phillip knocked on it rather firmly.

  He wished it wasn’t his first place of call, but it needed to be done. Getting it done sooner rather than later, was also in his best interest.

  There was a light clatter from somewhere inside.

  “One minute!” called a voice that sounded like Fend.

  We’ll tell her we’re going live with it soon. Likely tomorrow.

  Then just-

  The door opened finally and Phillip found himself looking at a nearly nude Fend. She was dressed in what was little better than a handkerchief and a pair of shorts.

  “Hey, decided to take me up on that offer, huh?” Fend asked, giving him a devilish smile.

  Did… she take her clothes off just to answer the door like this?

  I mean, I know it’s early in the morning, but not that early.

  “Ah, I certainly came over to discuss the offer we made to you,” agreed Phillip hesitantly. “But not to that. I’m sorry. I’m a married man and-”

  “She wouldn’t know. And your guards won’t care,” Fend said, leaning up against the door frame. She folded her arms under her breasts and partially pushed them up with the motion. “Because if you just came here to talk about what we already did, then it was a waste of time.”

  Sighing, Phillip nodded his head and then realized this was pointless.

  “As you like. Good day,” Phillip said with finality and turned on his heel.

  “I-that-okay, look. I’m sorry,” Fend said quickly as Phillip walked away. “Let’s talk it out. Maybe we can figure something out after all.”

  Pausing, Phillip stood there, staring at Bobbie.

  The green-eyed woman was staring back at him, her face slowly turning red the longer he did it. Till finally she broke eye contact and glanced down at his belt-buckle, then rapidly away to the side.

  She is rather pretty.

  He had a bad feeling about Fend. Had from the very start.

  But he owed it to his partners to make this work. To get this going down the right path. If he could get Fend on board, it would make everything else all the easier.

  Especially if they could make sales from the guild-hall itself. It’d shift their plans considerably.

  “Okay, fine. Put… some clothes on, though,” entreated Phillip.

  “You got it. Come on in. I don’t have any servants or the like so just make yourself at home in the parlor,” Fend said agreeably. She was partially covering her breasts with one arm and had moved to one side. Putting most of her body behind the door frame. “Could you please have your guards wait outside though?

  “This is guild business and that… means… secrets that I just can’t trust with anyone. Even if you trust them, I don’t. That’s my own ask on this.”

>   She met me half-way, now I suppose it’s my turn.

  And there isn’t much she can do to me by herself.

  Nor would she have an alibi if something did happen.

  Realizing that if he wanted this to work, a positive answer was what he would have to give.

  “Okay, but the front door stays unlocked,” countered Phillip.

  “Sure, sure, no worries. I got it,” Fend said and then pushed the door open wider. “Come on in. Just head to the left. I’m going to go get dressed. I have some tea out on the table. I was just enjoying my morning. I’ll bring a second cup for myself, you can use the one that’s there. I hadn’t even touched it yet.”

  Not waiting, Fend vanished deeper into her house.

  Sighing, Phillip looked to Mildred.

  “We’ll be right here,” she assured him. “Just give a mild yell and we’ll be there faster than she can blink.”

  Phillip scoured himself for courage, cobbled it all together, and then marched into Fend’s house. Pausing in the entry way he looked one way, and then the other.

  Spotting what looked like a parlor, along with a tea service on a tray in the middle of a table, Phillip assumed that was where she expected him to be. Putting his hands behind his back, he wandered over to the tea-set and inspected it.

  It was a rather well-made set, with a matching silver set of silverware. The spoons, forks, and knives all looked to be forged with one another in mind. Though the backs of them came to an odd-looking triangular design he hadn’t seen before.

  Oh how lovely. The silverware must be foreign.

  And the plates even have a silver liner to complement the rest.

  I need a set for myself.

  Picking up the tea-pot, Phillip gave the interior a casual inspection.

  The tea was long since ready. If it waited any longer it’d be too cold. As well as likely over-steeped.

  Clicking his tongue, Phillip simply poured some of the tea into the tea-cup that’d been set there. Picking up the saucer and cup, he held it up to his nose and took a discerning sniff.

  It smelled wonderful.

  Unable to help himself, he took a sip of it.

  He found it was a lovely aroma and taste and immediately took a much larger sip. There was a pleasant tingling sensation in his throat as well.