An Arrangement

[Otto26]

The boisterous laughter was his first clue that things were going to be unpleasant. When the three guards tumbled into the room, he backed himself into the corner but that was to no avail. Two of them grabbed his arms and turned him around while the third fumbled with Edmund's pants. Edmund didn't need to feign his panic and thrashed in their grip.

'Easy, easy,' he cautioned himself. 'Don't want them to clip me about the head...'

He felt the breeze on his ass and then, a moment later rough hands gripping it. The sound of spitting was his final warning and he winced a moment later when he felt the cock pushing into him. It stopped almost immediately, the jovial sound of his tormenter replaced by puzzlement. He felt the cock withdrawn and then screamed as fingers roughly probed his anus and pulled the packet out. He sagged against the grip of his captors and spat the jewel in his mouth onto the ground. A moment later, to sounds of wonderment, one of his captors let loose of one of his arms and reached for the stray gem.

Edmund surged to his feet, breaking loose of his remaining captor and driving the man's head back with one hand while his other fist hammered down onto the man's throat. He grabbed the cosh and swung wildly, wanting to scream his rage and pain but instead remaining silent and focusing his emotions into the blow. The bag of coins struck the second guard with enough force to stagger him and Edmund let the force of the blow carry him bodily into the third guard, crashing to the ground. They scrabbled there in chaotic desperation until the man grabbed Edmund's throat and began to throttle him. Edmund ignored the pain, knowing he had at least a minute until he lost consciousness, and dug his thumbs into the guards eyes. The guard screamed and grabbed at Edmunds hands, trying to haul them away from his face. Edmund was only too happy to oblige as it cleared the way for him to smash his forehead into the man's face repeatedly.

Panting, Edmund climbed off of the unconscious guard and took a quick look at the others. The first was dead of his crushed windpipe, the second was mostly unconscious. Edmund took a knife from one of them and dispatched the two live ones by slitting their throats. He pulled his pants up, grabbed the jewels and carefully ventured out of the cell.

'I hope like hell they thought that last scream was me again,' he prayed.

Just as he was deciding that the house seemed quiet enough he heard Fira scream. His hand tightened it's grip on the knife and he swore, all thoughts of stealth gone. "I'm going to feed him his cock!"

He burst through a doorway into a garden just as someone dropped down from the balcony above. It took him a moment to recognize Fira.

"Attacked him? I hope you fucking killed him! Come on."

He didn't check to see if she was following him because he didn't have to. Somehow, he knew she was. They went out the front gate. The man guarding the gate saw a knife flying at him and dropped to the ground where Edmund viciously kicked him and stomped on his neck. They burst out onto the street and sprinted, putting as much distance between them and Farooq as they could.

 

[slippedhalo]

Fira breathlessly followed, her eyes darting around for more possible avenues of escape. First of all, she needed more clothing than what she had on. They would have to remain unseen until she had a proper burqa and Edmund perhaps had a disguise. "This way." she said, running ahead, leading Edmund by the hand into a darkened alley between shack houses and some shops. It was an empty street at the moment, still too early for most to have risen.

 

[Otto26]

Edmund followed Fira through the alley and then passed her. "Distance," he said. "We need a lot of it." They ran through the alleyways in an ungainly effort to be both quick and stealthy. As the sun rose higher into the sky it became harder to be stealthy as more people came out onto the streets. Edmund finally drew to a halt, breath rasping in his throat. Fira stopped next to him.

He was torn. Part of him was repulsed by her. She was covered in Farooq's dried cum, some of it already flaking off, and that reminded him that she'd been with another man. It sickened him. But she was also covered in blood and had kept up with him on the flight through the alleys. He respected that. And both emotions were so strong that they amplified his other emotions, such as the lust he felt seeing her in the nearly transparent garment she was wearing. He almost laughed, but she was still holding her bloody knife and he didn't fancy finding out if her sense of humor was intact.

"Hang about," he gasped, and then levered himself up over the wall of the house. He looked into the courtyard and said a small prayer of thanks before dropping quietly down to the other side. A moment later he was back over the wall and handing Fira a damp garment. She seized the garment and quickly threw it on while Edmund was discovering that his pants would need to be removed, and not just rolled up, to avoid showing beneath the robe he had stolen for himself. He stripped out of them and hung them and his shoes around his neck before pulling the robe closed.

He saw Fira ripping a length of material from her undergarment and using it to tie her knife to a forearm. 'God save me but that's a practical woman,' he thought. She finished tying her veil before he finished wrapping his head-covering and then helped him with the last of it. They looked each other over and she kicked dust onto his feet and lower legs until they were no longer a glaring give-away. She gave him a questioning look and he turned and slowly walked out into the street.

It took them the rest of the day to get out of the city and make their way to the Suez road. There, they blended into the pilgrim traffic that shuffled slowly down the side of the road. On the road proper, caravans moved past, jostling, and occasionaly trampling, the odd pilgrim. It was dark before Edmund heard the sound he was listening for, Burgundian.

He followed the sound, Fira on his heals, until he found the source.

<Can you gentlemen help me?> he asked the two teamsters having a friendly discussion cum argument.

<Bugger off!> one of them said good-naturedly.

<The authorities have been very unkind. My wife and I are converts to Islam and we are making the Haj. But the clerks who issue the passes in Cairo... Very unkind. They accused me of being a heretic and told me I must wait for papers. So I waited, but all my goods had already been shipped to Suez. We need to get to Suez, I know a clerk there who can write us a pass to Mecca.> Edmund lied.

<We don't do charity work,> the other explained.

<I wouldn't expect you to. I can pay you, of course,> Edmund retorted.

He could almost see the wheels spinning in their heads. They couldn't rob him right here on the Pilgrim's Road with so many witnesses. The crowd would take the opportunity to loot the caravan under the pretext of protecting a brother. But if he really could pay them...

<Show us,> one of them demanded.

Edmund extracted a small gem from within the folds of his robe and held it up. <The law forbids giving these to non-Muslims, but the law has been very unkind to me. And perhaps in Suez you could find a good price from a foreign merchant?>

<Just a moment, friend,> the other man said. <It'll take us a moment to shift things so that you and your wife each have a camel.>

<You're too kind,> Edmund replied. He leaned over to whisper in Fira's ear, "Just cross your legs over the pommel and hold on."

 

[slippedhalo]

"Whatever it takes to get the hell out of here." whispered Fira back. "...and as soon as we can find a bathing situation I would really appreciate getting that bastard's....garbage off of me." she said, not just meaning the slime and dried cum which was making her sick to even contimplate but also the blood hidden beneath her robes.

 

[Otto26]

The caravan moved through the cold night until morning when they reached a well. Edmund left the teamsters to water the camels and grabbed two buckets of water and led Fira past a clump of trees and over a dune.

"Scrub it all off," he ordered. "I'll keep watch"

He climbed to the top of the dune to keep a look out for... anything. And so that we wouldn't have to see Farooq's mess.

 

[slippedhalo]

Fira felt contaminated, so, she indeed scrubbed well. Her flesh was burning and nearly raw when she returned to his side.

 

[Otto26]

Edmund turned and saw Fira approaching and walked down the dune to meet her hallway. He looked at her face, bringing his fingertips to run them over her skin. He found no trace of Farooq, but he felt compelled to keep looking. His hand hiked up her clothing and raced across her body while his other hand drew her lips to his and he kissed her roughly. He pushed her back onto the sand and knelt between her legs.

"Touch yourself," he snarled quietly. "Make yourself ready for me. Now."

 

[slippedhalo]

"But.." Fira began to protest, with all of the trouble they were in and barely very far from the scene of her crime now wasn't the most rational moment for a sexual encounter... but she could feel the heat coming off of Edmund, could see the lust in hisi eyes. He would never accept a refusal at this point and she realized she was growing very turned on by his insistance, likely a way to reclaim her. He wanted to show her who she belonged to. She smiled and snaked her leg up to hike up her robe folds and display her flower to him as she began to play with herself for his viewing pleasure.

 

[Otto26]

Edmund pulled back his robe as he watched Fira's hand play between her legs. Her smile told him she was enjoying this, but he was indifferent to that. He knew he was acting foolishly, that he wasn't going to change anything, but he didn't give a damn. He pulled Fira closer to him, hands on her hips, and drove into her. She was ready for him, mostly, and drew in a breath as he bottomed out within her. His hips pumped, moving him out and into her fiercely. He lowered his body onto hers, pulling on her hair to expose her neck and sucking hard at the flesh, almost biting her.

 

[slippedhalo]

His urgency to demonstrate his mastery over her was overwhelming and Fira felt it wouldn't be a long fuck before both of them orgasmed. As he thrust his hardness quickly and forcefully, she bit her lip to keep from crying out her pleasure.

 

[Otto26]

Edmund pounded into Fira; it was completely at odds with his usual style of lovemaking, but this wasn't usual. He was mad and he was taking it out on the victim and he knew this and he couldn't stop himself. Some very primal urge drove him to mark his territory and drive out any memory that she'd ever been touched by another man. He was pretty sure he'd feel guilty later, but now...

He heard soft, strangled noises and looked down at her and saw her biting her lip and thoughts tumbled through his mind.

"You like this," he accused her. "You like it when a man forces you to fuck. That gives you an excuse to behave like this, like a bitch in heat. It's okay then, because you have to; you didn't choose to act this way, to give in to that secret want you can barely contain. And that scares you, doesn't it? Yes, I see that now. You're afraid you'll end up a used whore on the street begging for a little attention to feed your desire. You're afraid someone will recognize that burning need in your belly and tell you you're a cursed whore."

"Admit it," he said. "Tell me you like this. Tell me you want this."

He slammed into her hard enough that both of them were going to be bruised later and ground his pelvis against her, moving his hips in a circular motion to roughly caress her clit.

"Say it," he snarled.

 

[slippedhalo]

There was a sting to his lovemaking that was almost as hurtful as his words as he thrust, desperate to cause her some sort of injury, whether it be physical or emotional, he seemed to want to punish her. For what? Yes, she was a whore, although she completely agreed with him that it was mostly her own choice to do this as a way to survive....she supposed it would have been more socially acceptable to turn into a beggar or be that damn priest's private plaything, or that pig-farmer's slave and end up dead when they were through with her...so her crime was in wanting to live into adulthood, if that was the case, then, yes...she was guilty of it. Her eyes reflecting her thinking as she stared up at him, tears welling in them despite herself.

"Say it," he snarled.

"I like this." she said, the tone of her voice seething with anger that he made her admit it. "Yes, I do like it like a carpenter loves the smell of wood, like a baker loves to see yeast rise...this is what I have become. Is that what you need to hear? I admit I am a whore..***** has made me this way, whether you choose to accept that or not it is the way things are, and I am your whore." she said punctuating her point with a deep kiss, eyes still wide open, watching the fire in his eyes, even as tears spilled from her own.

 

[Otto26]

Edmund thrust his tongue deeply into her mouth, taking her body in as many ways as he could manage. He felt her anger matched against his, but he also felt, in some indescribable way, her surrender to him. And as she opened to him he came to her, his body filling hers as he came and came and came.

 

[slippedhalo]

After the initial euphoria of their passionate moment Fira felt shame at her admission without a fight. His words still stung, even in echo through her thoughts and she realized that no matter how close she might feel to this man she was still, and would always be alone with no one she could ever feel trust for or a true connection to. How could she? As enamored as customers may become with her at times it still comes down to honor and she had differering definitions of the meaning of honor than her clientelle. Who would really want to spend their life and share their home with a former whore? No one. So, even as connected as she felt to Edmund there was a sadness in her that realized it could never last and she was still just a paid toy for him. This is the hand fate had dealt her...Eleven years old, and a life changed forever to be a fight for survival over comfort and joy.

Fira couldn't stop the tears from falling and she simply lie in silence in Edmund's arms mourning the loss of that which she could sometimes come so very near to that she could smell it...but an intangible that she will never be allowed to have, a normal life, a normal love.

 

[Otto26]

Edmund held Fira as she cried. "Mine," he muttered. She looked up at him. "Mine," he repeated. "You're a whore but you're my whore. And if you think I'm using that word in a derogatory fashion then you're wrong. I think every man dreams that his woman will act the whore for him, and only him. I don't begrudge you the actions you've taken to survive, Fira, but I don't like them either. I want you and your body for myself and I get very jealous when I think of other men touching you. So don't do that anymore."

He rolled off of her so that they were side by side.

"I'm Lord Edmund Holyoke. My father was stupid and dangerously ambitious. A man named Thomas Dalton, apparently with the support of the Duke of Burgundy, advanced a claim to the throne of Anglia. My father supported the claim. He paid for his idiocy with his life. I heard about his actions and fled. Fortunately I was serving on the continent at the time. Still, it was a close thing for a while. There's a price on my head and Anglia would be all too happy to see it separated from my body."

"I'm bound for Good Harbor. Anglia has no influence there. Come with me. What have you to go back to?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Fira regarded him to measure the seriousness of his expression and tone. He wasn't joking or teasing her. He meant the offer. "Go with you...as your whore?" she asked, realizing in any case it would still be a good offer.

But...she had a conflicting thought and in fear of a revoked offer she shook it off, thinking perhaps she was tired and it was making her all melancholy over nothing. His offer to keep her his private whore, his personal concubine, was a good one she just wanted so much more and likely could never be seen in his eyes as a true lady. However, she could wish, and that was her secret wish, to be better than a whore. To leave this life behind.

 

[Otto26]

"Of course as my whore," he replied, squeezing his cock so that it moved inside her. "In the bedroom, at least. In public... you'll need to be a little more refined. We'll work on that. Anglia is hardly likely to let me keep my title, but there are appearances to keep up. And I understand that Good Harbor is a place where a person can stand on their merits, not their birth."

 

[slippedhalo]

She was careful how she asked, not wanting to scare him with her desires or presumptions, "So...publicly, I would be...what?...your housekeeper? Your cook? Your...what exactly?" she asked, rising slowly to sit up, which forced his softening cock out of her body. "I'm greatful for an offer to start over, Edmund, don't get me wrong...I'm just...not cut out to be a personal servant for the rest of my life either." she clarified.

 

[Otto26]

Edmund laughed softly. "Personal servant? How much actual servant's work have I made you do? You'll be my partner whatever you call yourself in public, in any case. Wife seems to be working well at the moment, we'll give that a try and see how it works. What say you?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Her cheeks burned, it embarrassed her how much meaning she had learned to attribute to this title and how avidly she desired it to ring true..."I...can do that. I can pretend to be your wife, Edmund." she replied with a soft smile, but remembering to stress the word 'pretend' because she was certain he'd never want her for a real one. Embracing him quickly in an awkward hug she whispered, "Thank you for not abandoning me at the first sign of trouble."

 

[Otto26]

"Whatever my other faults," Edmund said, "abandoning friends is not something that's in my character. Sinful lusts on the other hand..." he said. He pushed her head down his body towards his groin. "If you're going to pretend to be my wife then I'll need to see if you're any good at it," he joked.

 

[slippedhalo]

"Mmmmf" answered Fira, taking his prick into her mouth withoout a second's argument, sucking their combined fluids off of him as she massaged him back to renewed vigor.

 

[Otto26]

Edmund groaned softly and stroked Fira's hair. 'Such delight,' he thought. Another sound caught his attention and he thought he heard a snatch of Burgundian. Cursing softly at this interruption he pulled Fira off of him.

"Later," he promised, himself as well as her.

They dressed quickly and then returned to the camp to sleep. The next day was hard, stifling hot and without rest, for the teamsters drove the caravan on through the night with the light of Suez to guide them. It was no more than an hour past dawn when they reached the outskirts of the city. They parted company with the caravan then, the small gem surreptitiously changing hands.

Suez was nothing like as grand as Cairo, but it was still a large and sprawling city. One of the two major chokepoints for trade between the Orient and the Occident, it was filled with traders of every nation. It was also the point of departure for Mecca, so the streets and hostels were filled with pilgrims of every station from still more nations. Edmund and Fira simply disappeared into the crowd; two more faceless pilgrims in the teeming horde.

He'd counted on that. His first hope had been to find a passenger's berth on a Batavian transport, but Anglian agents had had contacts at the bank, and he'd been forced to go to ground after barely surviving an attempt on his life. His alternate route, through the Sultanate, had the virtue of passing through a nation ill-disposed towards Anglia and creating a trail that would be very difficult to follow. It remained only to find someone willing to take them to Axxum.

He didn't think that would be a problem. No one without the proper papers could take ship to Mecca, but Axxum... Who cared? Not the Sultanate. And from Axxum they could easily find someone going to Good Harbor. He hoped.

The docks were fully as crowded as anyplace else in the city, more, really. And movement was slow. Twice Fira nudged him aside, alerting him to the presence of guardsmen, and twice they passed by without a second glance. 'Christ but this is easier with two,' he ruminated.

He finally found the crew he was looking for on one of the quays. They were speaking in a tongue Edmund did not recognize, but one of them said something in Burgundian, which he did speak. He had no desire to say a word in Anglian and create a new lead in the off chance someone still pursued him.

<Gentlemen, I'm interested in taking passage for my wife and me.>

<Go away, we trade to Axxum. No Mecca.>

<How fortunate, Axxum is where we wish to go. Are you the master of this vessel?>

<No. I am,> a deep voice boomed. The voice seemed out of place in the slight and heavily scarred man that stepped into view. <Why are you going to Axxum?>

<Just passing through on my way to Aotearoa. I have business there.>

The man examined Edmund.

<Are you wanted by the authorities?>

Edmund shrugged. <Not yet.>

<You can pay?>

Edmund tossed the sack of remaining coins onto the deck. <Half now. Half when we make port.>

The man jerked his head to indicate that they should come aboard. The dhow was a small ship, the larger cousin of the felucca they'd sailed down the Nile, and it reeked of the coffee that was probably their normal cargo. Now, however, it seemed barely loaded. The man pointed to a space under the quarterdeck where they could sit out of the sun and then went back to the quayside.

Edmund looked around the space and found an empty bucket.

"Keep a watch out please, Fira. I might be some time. I swallowed most of the jewels to keep them out the hands of Farooq's men."

He grimaced.

"This is going to hurt," he said as he squatted over the bucket.

 

[slippedhalo]

Fira grimaced and nodded to Edmund turning, quite relieved to not have to see him pass the gems but still not happy about having to be close enough to hear or smell it either. This was one of those experiences that either drew people closer together through shared hardship or further apart from sheer disgust. Thinking of how Edmund had stuck by her the night she attacked Farooq, Fira had the just shrug this inconvenience off reminding herself that in the future they would both be able to laugh about this. "I pity the idiot who tries to hide one of those jewels between his gum and cheek after this." she joked, just loud enough for Edmund to hear.

 

[Otto26]

Passing the gems was a prolonged agony that Edmund endured in silence only by the expedient of chewing holes in his stolen robes. More than once he swore never to repeat this course of action and more than once he thanked God he'd had the foresite to get polished, but uncut, gems. The insult added to his injury was having to dig through the shit to find all of the gems and clean them off. By the time he'd finished that, and cleaning himself besides, the ship was out of the harbor and working it's way down the coast.

He set himself down gingerly beside Fira and handed her the small bundle of gems wrapped into a thin tube in his last condom.

"Find a place to hide these," he instructed. "And not in your cunny; I'll want that later. That's our travel money and my ass is too damned sore to hide them the way I usually do."