"The Witch of East Riverbend" (closed)

[CutiePie1997]

"The Witch of East Riverbend"

CLOSED

Lord Craymore strode purposefully into the Great Hall of his castle, right past his son without so much as making eye contact with him. He ascended a three step dais, turned, and dropped heavily into his throne of a big wood and iron seat, and very nearly emptied a flagon of beer handed to him by one of what his wife, Lady Craymore, referred to as her husband's walking, talking, but rarely thinking sex toys.

Only then did he finally look to his son. "I have spoken to my Council about your future, Robert ... and it has been decided that you will immediately assume the title and responsibilities of Sheriff of East Riverbend."

Lord Craymore saw the shock and, quiet possibly, the fear in the eyes of his youngest son at the thought of being sent to what, at this point in history, was likely the most dangerous Town in the Earldom. But his youngest of four son's concerns where not his concerns because ... well ... Robert was little more than the youngest of his four sons.

And honestly, after a spate of rumors that had made their way to him from a variety of sources -- in addition to the fact that Robert had very little resemblance to his older three brothers -- Lord Craymore had serious doubts as to whether Robert was of his loins in the first place, not that he would ever question his wife about such a thing.

Robert, who was the most powerful and most wealthy by far of the 5 Earls who served the King, had had plans for each of his three first male offspring even before they'd been born.

His eldest, Edward, was of course his Heir Apparent and would upon Lord Craymore's death inherit the entirety the land, the titles, and the other wealth. And there would be more as well. Lord Craymore's wife, Elena of Trent, was the sole living child of the next most powerful of the Earls, and with the marriage of Edward to Elena's maternal niece, Lord Craymore would have the financial, military, and politic might to force the King to abdicate and put Edward on the throne in his place, elevating the House of Craymore for Nobility to Royalty.

But one could not rule the continent by political and military power alone. Lord Craymore's second son, Julian, had joined the church and become a Priest, and not just any priest at that. Through manipulation, bribery, promises (unlikely to be kept), and more, Lord Craymore had seen Julian rise quickly through the Church's hierarchy to become Bishop of the Western Reaches, second only in power and influence to the Cardinal himself.

There had still been one area in which Lord Craymore had known he must have a controlling interest, and that had been in the King's Army. His third son, Kristen, had been his way into that institution. Kristen was raised to know only one thing: war and how to conduct it. He had been offered by Lord Craymore to the King as an aide-de-camp initially, but within 8 years, Kristen was one of the King's most trusted Generals. He had lead a dozen military operations against enemies within and without the Realm, and on two separate occasions had even saved the King's life, securing the Monarch's unquestionable trust.

When the day came for the King to step down and make room for Edward, Lord Craymore knew that Kristen would be there to see that it happened peacefully as directly ... or see that it happened at the point of a sword if necessary.

Which only left Robert. And what was Lord Craymore to do with him? Lord Craymore had initially considered giving Robert a commission in his army, knowing that he wasn't at all up to the challenge and would likely be killed in his first engagement. The only problem with that was his wife, Lady Elena, who -- coincidentally -- knew that her youngest offspring wasn't up to the challenge and would likely be killed in his first engagement.

Lord Craymore had no need for a fourth son, and to be honest, saw Robert as a threat to the future of the House of Craymore. Amongst the Nobility, it was typical for a young son such as Robert to be given a slice of his father's Estate -- perhaps a small Town or equally small County -- to keep him busy and out of his father's hair.

But Lord Craymore had no intention whatsoever to split off any portion of Edward's inheritance to satisfy the Noble Traditions; Edward would need every acre, soldier, and gold piece available to achieve the goal of the House of Craymore ruling over the land.

In fact, it was that need for land, fighters, and coin that had led the Council to choose Robert's path, not realizing that Lord Craymore himself was simply shipping Robert off to be killed. Nearly a decade ago, the Town of East Riverbend had lost its Sheriff to the most brutal of methods. Lord Craymore had been intensely involved in other more pressing issues and had not tended to the Town slow but sure downward slife. Control of the Town fell into the hands of three different criminal elements -- the Three Families -- that, ruling in an uneasy Triad, were by now the de facto government of not only the Town but of the important port and highway crossroads which they controlled.

Lord Craymore knew there was no chance of his youngest son returning Law & Order to East Riverbend. But once Robert had done his best -- and gotten himself killed -- Lord Craymore could then recommend to the Council that a full Company of veteran soldiers be sent in to clean out the town, which would result in the gain of the land, fighters, and coin Edward would need one day soon.

"You will take a detachment of 10 men with you," Lord Craymore continued, waving off any attempt by Robert to either inquire or object. "You will eject the rabble who have taken control of the town and its economy, and once you have you will be given Title to the Town and the lands within its jurisdiction as Lord Robert of East Riverbend."

Of course, even as he was saying it, Lord Craymore knew that his youngest son could never accomplish this feat. Robert would ride into East Riverbend with a detachment of Army rejects Lord Cramer had hand picked for failure, would be killed by the vicious criminals, and would likely never be seen again. Lord Craymore would send a detachment of crack warriors out to search for Robert, and when they came back shrugging their shoulders, Lord Craymore would comfort his wife by telling her that their son had lost his life in support of the House and their soon-to-be-King of a son, Edward.

Easy-peasy.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Robert ran his fingers through his thick, light brown hair. This was one time he wished the walk from the castle to the stables was longer. His father had just broken the news that he was being “given” the title of Sheriff of East Riverbend. He’d heard the stories, of course. His brothers had even confirmed some of them. They'd never admit to anyone else that they’d been there, but they knew it was incumbent on them to offer a little brotherly advice about where to find certain substances or ladies who were willing to do certain things.

Robert had no taste for that stuff, himself. He wasn’t a prude, though. He was just a one-woman kind of man. That one-woman was going to be terrified when he told her they were leaving Castle Craymore. Lilly was the stablemaster’s daughter, a couple of years younger than Robert, and a short, curvy girl with a personality that drew people to her. Robert loved how fearless and at-home she was in any situation, and he also loved their nights together. None of his brothers would have been able to court a common girl so openly, but Robert’s Father had always been more easygoing with his fourth son. Robert knew his brothers thought he should be insulted by it, but he actually appreciated it.

Perhaps his biggest fear about the assignment to East Riverbend was that he wouldn’t be able to protect Lilly while they were there. East Riverbend was a tough town, and Lilly was a sweet, unassuming girl. He had asked her to marry him a few months ago. He told his father, but he didn’t think that man remembered. Lilly’s father had also been surprisingly indifferent to the idea. Lilly and he were ecstatic, though.

He opened the door to the stables and saw her, wiping down his own horse. The sunlight that streamed in through the window lit up her fiery red hair like a lit hearth. At least one thing he could count on in East Riverbend was coming home to her at the end of the day. Her sweet smile could turn a statue into a man, and he would need that support.

He debated internally about how to tell her. “Lilly, I’ve just received terrible news. My f--”

“Ya, I ‘eard.”

She couldn’t even bear to look at him. The poor girl must be so frightened for their future. “I’m so sorry. My father has given me his ten best men.” That put a small smile on her face. Maybe he hadn’t given her enough credit. Maybe she was braver than he knew. “We will make the best of this. And, once--”

She turned her face toward him, bright, brown eyes shining in the morning light. “I idn’t goin’, ya know.”

He felt that as a punch to his gut. They were engaged! “Lilly, I...what about us? What about our future?”

It was so hard to be upset with her. She was a gorgeous creature. The way she turned her body, her hips bouncing the same way her small, flat breasts didn’t. The way the dirt from the stables framed her perfect, square-jawed face.

“We don’ ‘ave one, Robbie. Yer a good man, and a suprizinly decent roll in da hay, but I idn’t goin’ ta Eas’ Rivuhben’. Ye’ll ‘ave ta fin’ anotha gel. I’m breakin’ off da b’troval.”

He was stunned into silence.

Lilly patted the rump of Wardragon, his prized steed. “‘Ere ya go, ‘ere’s ya horse.”

He reached down and dragged his broken heart up off the dirt floor. His future was broken before his eyes, but what his love needed from him now was strength. He shouldn’t have assumed she would be willing to come with him. It was too dangerous. The poor thing must be putting on a brave face to spare him her tears. He needed to tell her how much he cared about her; how much he would miss her. He just had to hope he could come back someday and they could be together.

“Lilly, I—“

“Out da door, Rob. I got things ta tend ta.

Later, on the ride to the inn where he would spend his first night on the road, Robert reflected on his conversation with Lilly. Perhaps she had not been as in love with him as he’d thought. He was going to have to build his own future, now. He would restore order to East Riverbend or die trying. The men with him now would be the people he would rely on to do it; a band of brothers.

They rode their horses up to the small inn, and half his men didn’t even tie up their horses before rushing inside for an ale. Oh well, so what if their military discipline left something to be desired? He would work with them on that. Perhaps they should do some training exercises before leaving in the morning. Let them relax for now, though.

After tying up the loose horses, Robert walked up the steps and pushed the door open with his gloved hand. The smell of mediocre stew and the sound of men rousing rabble greeted him.

 

[CutiePie1997]

“Out da door, Rob. I got things ta tend ta."

Lily shushed any further conversation, then shooed her now-former lover away from the stables. Outside, a Groom helped Robert saddle Wardragon and tie down the saddle bags. Robert's father had ordered him and his Escort to be on the road by noon to reach the first end before dark; there was no time to waste.

Lily watched with sadness the departure of the 12 men: Robert and his Guard Captain led the way; behind them, a young, rather effeminate Scribe named Lonny with a Sergeant beside him; four mounted Guardsmen; a carriage meant to give Young Lord Robert a place to rest from horseback if he wished, which was driven and protected by another two Guardsmen; and the remaining two Guardsmen, whose faces were grimacing at the severe cloud of dust that was being kicked up by all who preceded them.

As the man who'd taken her virginity and showed her so much caring, love, compassion, and respect headed for the gate, Lily contemplated a life without Robert. Of course, he would never truly be out of her life, would he? She was, after all, carrying his child.

Or ... was she?

Lily looked off to her left, to the third level balcony of Lord Craymore's Keep to see the Nobleman gesturing her to his bedroom ... where she had been servicing her Master's needs since the day after Robert had announced his intention to marry her. Letting Robert put his cock inside her that first time had been a hard decision to make; if Robert had abandoned her with her maidenhood gone, it would have meant never finding a good man again.

Ironically, letting Robert's father put his cock inside her had been an easy choice.
After all, he was her Master in every way, with the power to make or break her family and her future. Lily hadn't understood why Lord Craymore would demand sexual service from his son's lover at the time, but as she came to realize how little respect the Earl had for his fourth born, it all became clear as a rainless sky.

So, whose seed had found a home in her garden, Robert's or his fathers? Does it matter? Lily thought as she headed for the servants entrance and the back staircase that would take her to Lord Craymore's bed. She knew what she had to do, of course. She would wait another month, long after Robert's departure, to announce to her Master that she was carrying his child. Lord Craymore had a reputation for taking care of his bastard children, better care than he showed to his 4th son, who he believed -- incorrectly! -- might actually be another man's bastard son, as opposed to his legitimate blood.

Soon enough, Lily was certain, she and her father would be quietly whisked away in the night to a little town on the coast or in the mountains, where she would tell her new neighbors her child was the offspring of an officer in the Earl's Army who had been tragically killed in some heroic battle prior to his child's birth. She would receive a month stipend, provided by the local Magistrate to her as War Widow Benefit, even though it was actually just child support, in case one day in the future Lord Craymore had a need for a son or daughter of his bloodline to do his bidding, as did all the others.



"M'lord...?"

It was the third of an expected six night trek from his former home in the Capital to his new one in East Riverbend, and Sergeant Terrance was already thinking that he likely would never complete the mission to escort his Master Lord Robert.

Their very first night away from the Capital, Terrance's Captain had been stabbed to death by ruffians in the Inn's Tavern while trying to resolve a disagreement regarding a tavern whore's worth. That left Sergeant Terrance in charge, something he wasn't sure he wanted.

The next morning, two other soldiers, their horses and tack, the Innkeeper's daughter, and the Innkeeper's bag of coin which he had been amassing for more than two decades were all missing. The two men might have run off in one direction to avoid service in East Riverbend while the slutty daughter ran off in another with her father's fortune. But Terrance had a pretty good idea that the trio and the coin were likely traveling at high speed to some distant locales together.

The only good thing to come out of this situation was Terrance knowing that at the earlier moment, the smart little slit would likely slip away from the two deserters, taking her daddy's money and leaving them penniless with a price on their heads that Lord Craymore's bounty hunters would surely yearn to have in their own coin purses.

As if all of this wasn't discouraging enough, this the third morning began with Terrance taking a walk down to the creek at sunrise to get water for boiling tea root, only to happen upon the boy scribe, Lonny ... who was crouched down at the water's edge washing away the evidence of an unexpected, early onset of his menstruation cycle. The boy was no boy at all but was instead a petite, youthful-looking 18 year old woman who had cut her hair short, strapped her boobs flat, and donned loose fitting clothes to hide her womanly curves.

Lonny begged Terrance to keep her secret, even lifting her tunic to present her bared, not-a-cock-in-sight personal space and offering, "My pleasures ... for your discretion."

Terrance had been furious and confused ... and, to be honest, instantly excited by the sight of the young thing's bushy mass and pussy below it. But he resisted and demanded the girl finish her hygiene process and redress again as a boy!

What remained of their merry little band of now-8 males and 1 female was standing outside yet another rat and flea infested roadside Inn, while Lord Robert stared dumbfounded at the whore standing in the open doorway of the little cabin from which she provided her services to travelers.

"M'lord," Terrance repeated yet again, breaking his Master's fixation on the naked beauty. With a respectful tone he said, "It has been a hard couple of days, and m'Lord deserves a moment of rest, relaxation ... and relief. If you would like to take a walk across the street to find some ... entertainment, I will see that the men find room in the Inn."

He almost wanted to say the men and and girl but didn't. He wasn't sure how he was going to deal with Lonny, but now was not the time. They still had 4 nights of travel through increasingly hostile lands. To expose Lonny as being female would mean having to assign two of the men to escort her safely back to the Capital, and even then Terrance couldn't be sure that the two men wouldn't simply have their way with her, then discard her dead corpse into the forest and desert, just as the two previous men had. No, it was better to keep Lonny's secret for now and keep the Bodyguard as tight and controlled as possible.

"M'lord?" Terrance said a final time. He glanced to the woman across the street, then smiled. "I doubt very much that I have in pocket the amount of coinage such a beauty would require for her services, but ... if you're not going to walk across the street to make her acquaintance, might have leave to do so myself?"

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes, have fun..."

Robert Craymore had had a bad few days. It was only the third evening of their journey to East Riverbend, and he had lost three of his ten men-at-arms. It was his fault, really. He had been feeling quite low ever since leaving Lilly behind. These men needed a leader, and he needed to step up and fill that role for them. Terrance had been filling in nicely, however. The man was practical and humble. Robert could see why his father had recommended him.

Robert needed to do a better job keeping his mind on the tasks at hand. Case-in-point, he had failed to notice the townswoman gesturing to him and his Sergeant, despite staring straight at her. He heard Terrance say something about going to speak with her, and Robert nodded his assent. The man deserved some downtime. He had stepped up to cover the loss of the Captain and Robert’s own distracted state.

Robert walked into the inn proper, and sat at the end of the bar. Four of his remaining six enlisted men were playing a game of chance at one of the tables. The last two were unaccounted for, as was the scribe. Robert waved away the innkeeper’s offer of an ale. He started thinking through how best to utilize his remaining men at East Riverbend. Without knowing the strength or organization of the brigands controlling the town, it might be wise to avoid marching in and making his intentions clear from the beginning. Perhaps he could camp his men just outside the city, and he and Terrance could discreetly ply some of the townspeople for information. Hopefully they would find some wooded copse that would provide them shelter for a night, at least.

Robert was about to rethink the keep’s offer of an ale when he heard shouts behind him. Turning to the table where his men played cards, or dice, or whatever, he saw the escalation of a dispute. One of the riders, a tall, wide fellow with a bristly black beard, had a hold of one of the footmen by the lapel. Apparently the footman had been successful enough at their game to arouse suspicion. Robert hoped it was luck involved, because if the footman had cheated, he didn’t have the stature to back it up.

Now was the time for Robert to begin leading these men. He had neglected his duties for too long. He stood up, and pointed at the barmaid, a tall woman, thin except for her wide hips. “Stay back, miss. I’ll get these men in line.”

He heard laughter from the two uninvolved Guardsmen, no doubt at the footman’s expense for having gotten himself in this predicament. The large rider had begun pulling back his fist to strike the poor man, and Robert stepped in between them. He put a hand firmly on the rider’s arm, and commanded him to stand down.

The man must not have heard him quickly enough, because the fist flew, and Robert felt the hammerblow strike him square in the cheekbone. He spun, grabbing a nearby chair to keep himself upright. The footman had used the opportunity to wrest free of the rider’s grip, and he threw his steel mug at the larger man as he backed away. More than just Robert’s men were shouting, now, and the fourth son of Lord Craymore began to worry that the situation was spiralling out of his control. He needed Terrance’s help.

He stumbled to the door, tasting blood from his cheek. He shoved it open with one hand, nearly knocking the scribe boy to the ground. “Lonny, stay out of the inn for now. Come with me if you’d like. I’m going to get Terrance.” He didn’t look to see if the boy followed. It had been the better part of half an hour since Terrance had crossed the street to that woman’s home, so hopefully whatever conversation he’d wanted to have was over. Robert needed his Sergeant’s help.

He walked up to the rickety wooden door, and knocked twice with a heavy, gloved hand.

 

[CutiePie1997]

“Stay back, miss," Robert called to the barmaid, "I’ll get these men in line.”

Robert heard laughter from two of his men, but they weren't laughing at the men engaged in the fight with the mountain of a man lifting the smaller man off his feet but were in stead laughing at the nobleman who honestly thought he was going to save the day.

Despite what Lord Craymore had said about providing his son with cream of the crop from his Guard, all but one -- Sergeant Terrance -- had been men the Earl had been more than eager to see shipped off to East Riverbend where, if all went well, they'd be killed an no longer deprive Craymore of coin he could use elsewhere.

They laughed again as their disoriented Master stumbled out the door, running off for the absent Sergeant. Lonny had been outside, enjoying a small glass glass of something called Port. The she who all but Terrance still thought was a he had been sitting on a bench outside, using the last rays of daylight to write in her journal when the sound of the ruckus brought her to the door, just in time to nearly be smacked off her feet.

“Lonny, stay out of the inn for now," her Master warned. "Come with me if you’d like. I’m going to get Terrance.”

They crossed the street to the whore's cabin, but no sooner had Robert rapped his fist on the rickety wooden door then he caught sight of Terrance a few yards away, leaning against the trunk of a massive Oak while he was facing the cabin's open window and jerking off.

The Sergeant had heard the loud knock as very quickly began to put his cock and ball back inside his trousers. At the same time, the the whore -- impressive, gravity-defying boobs and all -- leaned out the window, caught sight of the much better dressed nobleman and called out in the language common to one of lower class immigrant communities in this part of the Earldom, "Poate ai destule monede ca să-ți cumperi drumul prin ușa mea ... m'lord?"

"So, so sorry, m'Lord," Terrance was saying with an embarrassed tone as he hurried away from the tree, still putting his trousers and belt back together. "What can I do for you, m'lord."

Lonny had seen what was happening -- including a good and not entirely regretful look at the Sergeant's cock -- and saw the continuing confusion in her Master's face. She explained about the whore, who was still chattering away with her tits hanging out the window, "She asked, 'perhaps you have enough coin to buy your way through my door', m'lord."

The whore started laughing, then slipped back inside and pulled the shutters closed. Not wanting to further embarrass the only man here who new she was a she, Lonny continued, "Apparently the young woman wanted more coin--"

"I only had enough for the show," Terrance cut in, now finally standing tall before his Master. "I'm so very sorry, m'Lord. I have no excuse for--"

That was all the farther he got before the door of the tavern was suddenly shattered into a dozen pieces as one of Robert's escorts flew through it, out into the streets. The big man who'd hit Robert accidentally -- or not? -- came out the door ... with three men grasping him, two of them on his back with their feet clean off the ground. The man was roaring like a bear, and he began spinning round and round until all three lesser men were tossed from his body.

No one would ever know what the man might have done to the four attacking him because as he spun one last time to look for a target, Terrance's fist caught him in the forehead ... his head flipped back quickly, then slowly moved back forward ... and as he teetered and began to raise his fists, Terrance hit the man in the same place again ... and he fell over backward like a falling tree, barely missing the man who'd come through the door head first but who now scrambled to avoid being crushed.

"Fun's over!" the Sergeant hollered. Looking about to all of the men -- those not involved in the fight had come out to see the damage -- he demanded, "All of you to your rooms, now! No last drinks, no dragging a whore to your bed ... go! We leave at dawn, and I will have no man too hungover to ride or missing 'cause he's still balls deep in some diseased wench!"

The men bitched, of course, not about the early to bed order but about the women and drink. Once they were all going the right direction, Terrance reached out to catch Lonny by the arm, stopping her. To Robert he said, "M'Lord, please ... your Scribe and I need a word, please."

Once inside at a corner table away from the other dozen or so patrons, Terrance laid it out for Robert simply. "Your Scribe here is not a boy but is a girl."

Lonny's face drooped in an attempt to hide the red flooding its skin.

"Explain yourself," Terrance demanded. He looked to Robert. "I've been told the story, but you need to hear it for yourself, m'Lord, so as to decide what to do with her."

Lonny explained that as a child, she'd impressed a Priest with her intelligence and, despite the Law of the Land forbidding it, she'd been taught to read and write along side the males of the Monastery, boys who believed that she, too, was a boy as she never participated in such things as skinny dipping at the creek or soaking in the Monastery's mineral spring baths.

"When I was 10, I went out on the road with my Master to help him write a history of the land," she went on. "Six years we crossed the land, writing about all we learned ... drawing mountains and flowers and maps. I learned other languages easily and quickly, as I did the whore's--"

She hesitated, grimacing that she'd called the woman that. Lonny imagined that the young beauty would go about her life in another way if she could, just as would Lonny herself. She continued, "When I was 16, we were attacked by bandits, and my Master was killed."

Lonny looked up the road, to the direction in which they were traveling, toward East Riverbend. "Right up there in fact. After that, I reached the Capital, and found an illiterate Loan Maker who employed me to document his deals, which on paper could be taken to court in the borrower failed to pay. It lent the man credibility and made him far more money.

"I was in court with him one day when Lord Craymore himself asked my Master who had written the documents my Master presented." Lonny noted the reaction in Robert's face to the mentioning of his father. "Before I knew it, I was copying manuscripts in the Castle Library."

She paused to give Robert a chance to ask questions or make comments or simply remark at how unbelievable this all was. Then Terrance said firmly, "Tell him the rest."

Again Lonny dropped her face, embarrassed. Terrance, however, finished the story. "Lonny drugged the Scribe who was assigned to come with you to East Riverbend, m'lord ... gave him an overdose of Kefir-extract in his night milk that gave him the shits so bad that the man wasn't able to pull his pants up for three straight days. Nearly killed him from dehydration. Your father didn't know this, so when you left with a Scribe, Lord Craymore was none the wiser."

"Please don't send me back, m'Lord!" Lonny begged. "I will never be allowed to put a quill to paper again. I end up ... I'll be a ... Curvă ... a whore. There will be nothing more made available to me. I'm too small for farm work, I don't sew or cook. I'm afraid of horses."

Lonny knew that his latest -- only? -- lover had worked in the stables. She continued, "The only work your father will have for me will be done flat on my back with my knees high and parted. Please m'Lord."

"Regardless of what you decide, m'Lord," Terrance cut in before the nobleman could answer, "Lonny can't sleep in the rooms with the men anymore. In their drunken state, they may do something that might lead to Lonny lack of a cock and ownership of a slit being discovered, and if that happens ... well ... they rape her and kill her ... and not necessarily in that order."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Robert pondered his choices. He didn’t like any of them. Lonny deserved to be sent back to Castle Craymore, but they desperately needed a scribe in order to communicate with his father and request support, if need be. The girl’s language skills could come in handy, as well.

He rubbed his wide-eyed, square-jawed face, and looked at his Sergeant. “Terrance, thank you for bringing this to my attention.” He put a small coin on the table. “Lonny, fetch us both an ale if you would.”

Once the girl had left, he looked Terrance in the eyes. “Sergeant, I’m going to level with you. I’m beginning to think my father didn’t send us with his best men. Except for you, that is. I suspect I may be relying on you quite a bit for the near future, including tonight if any of the earlier brawlers feel the need to vent any further frustrations. I suggest you take your ale up to your room and get some rest. I’ll figure out what to do with the boy for tonight. If you come up with any ideas for tomorrow, let me know.”

After Lonny had returned with the ales, and Terrance had bid his goodnights, Robert asked the young crossdresser to sit. “You’ve put me in a terrible position, Lonny.” The girl’s face was unhappy. “Poisoning a scribe, even non-fatally, is a serious offense. By all rights, I should drag you back to Castle Craymore myself.” That hadn’t cheered her up. “But, I’m not going to.” That might have, a little. “I need a scribe and translator. I’m also not entirely unsympathetic to your plight.” He held up a hand to prevent comment. “Don’t misunderstand me. I am a man who respects the law, and if I had any way to replace you and do my job well, my sympathy would net you nothing.” He let that sink in. “I don’t want to hear any complaints. It’s getting late, and I don’t have time to think of a good solution for tonight, so you’re getting a bad one. Come with me.”

Robert led the girl out of the inn, and across the street to the whore’s house. He rapped on the door as a courtesy, but did not wait for an answer, barging in. Luckily, the woman did not currently have a customer. Ignoring her state of dress, or undress, and holding up a hand to forestall any interruption, he asked Lonny to tell her that he would like to pay her nightly rate for her to keep Lonny safe, and that he would be by in the morning to pick him up. He waited patiently through the layers of translation for her reply.

 

[CutiePie1997]

As Robert led her out of the Inn, Lonny was entirely uncertain of her Master's intentions. Many possibilities were banging about in her head, none of which made sense except for one: Robert was taking her to a quiet, remote location to rape her as punishment for the problems she'd caused him ... and maybe to make up for the fact that he was no longer getting his cock wet inside the stable master's daughter.

Lonny knew all about Robert and Lily, of course. Hell, everybody did as the pair had made no attempt to hide the relationship, despite being between an Earl's son and a peasant's daughter.

Lonny also knew about Lily and Robert's father. That had been a much better guarded secret, one Lonny had only discovered why a pair of Guards responsible for escorting Lily quietly in and out of Lord Craymore's chambers were chatting quietly about it one day in a stone passageway with excellent echo accoustics.

She assumed -- correctly as it was -- that Robert wasn't aware that his fiancee had been parting her thighs for his old man, and it hadn't been anything Lonny was going to tell Robert ... not unless the day came when it would benefit her.

Was that time now...? As she was being dragged off to the dark woods to have her innocent pummeled out of her by her Master's lonely cock?

As it turned out, no, it wasn't. She found herself inside the whore's cabin, ordered to tell the woman that she -- he? -- would be staying the night here.

Chloe looked the petite male Scribe up and down with her standard faux-hungry expression meant to make her patrons feel as though she really wanted to service them sexually. Then licking her lips, she asked in a seductive tone, "Trebuie să am plăcerea de a fi primul băiat?"

"No!" Lonny said quickly. Knowing that Chloe spoke Common tongue as well as her own, she explained, "No, you won't have the pleasure of being this boy's first ... because I'm no boy."

Chloe barely reacted, thinking that Lonny was only trying to say he was a man, not a boy. Lonny realized this and clarified, "Nu sunt băiat sau bărbat... sunt fată. Not a boy or man ... girl ... understand?"

Now, Chloe's expression began to show her confusion. Lonny explained -- leaping between Chloe's language and Common Tongue -- about how she'd hidden her female identity to join the expedition to East Riverbend. About thirty seconds into it, though, Chloe suddenly threw up a hand in a stop gesture and said firmly, "Primesc patru argintii pentru o noapte."

Lonny contemplated the situation -- knowing Robert didn't speak the lowly local dialect and, therefore, didn't know Chloe had asked for four silver coins for the night. She told Robert, "M'Lord, she wants seven silver coins for the night..."

Lonny saw an eyebrow raise on the whore's face as the misinterpretation. The Scribe continued, "But ... I think she'll take six."

"Seeeks silva!" Chloe confirmed, knowing the girl-boy was planning on skimming her portion of the payment. Still naked as the day she was born, Chloe approached Robert and stuck her hand out, empty palm upwards. She made yet another offer, "Twaa more silva, you fuck me, too."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Robert understood the woman’s offer, despite her broken Common. He was surprised by how tempted he was by it, as well. It had been four days since he’d last been with Lilly, sexually. The woman was beautiful, and her nudity didn’t help. Were it not for the complication of the scribe, he might have taken her up on it. Instead, he dropped six silver into the naked woman’s hand and left.

Robert walked into the tavern, and found several patrons helping the pretty young barmaid straighten up the tables and sweep the broken dishes. He had intended to go over and apologize for his men’s behavior, but he was exhausted. He went up to his room and slept the night away.

The next morning, he came downstairs to find Terrance readying the men early. There weren’t any issues he could see, to Terrance’s credit, he assumed, so he walked on over to Chloe’s hut. As he crossed the street, the footman from last night, a scrawny fellow with a frizzy mop of bright red hair, jeered, “Favor a breakfast more tart in flavor, m’lord?” Robert would have to remember to ask Terrance the man’s name. He had a feeling that man would need watching.

He waved away the insult, no need for an earl’s son to sully himself, after all, and knocked on Chloe’s door. The woman answered, shockingly clothed this time. Maybe she took them off in the afternoon or something. She welcomed him with an outstretched hand, and he stepped inside.

 

[CutiePie1997]

(OOC: The image of Lonny below is out of context. Imagine her as is described in the associated text.)


Chloe blew kisses to the nobleman as he departed her cabin, continuing to invite him to partake of her body and skills in her broken Common Tongue. After he'd shut the door behind him, she found herself a bit conflicted: she would get her coin for the night without having yet another stranger's sweaty, panting body in her bed, which was good, but if he had stayed, she might have earned additional coin by sucking his morning wood ... or maybe by simply filching them from his purse while he slept.

She looked to the boy who wasn't a boy, studying Lonny from head to toe and back up again. She began a conversation using her Low Language, "You don't look very much like a girl, boy."

"I am," Lonny reassured her.

"Show me," Chloe challenged, waggling an extended finger toward the Scribe's groin. "Drop boy pants, show me."

"I'm not dropping my pants for you!" Lonny laughed.

"Then how I am earn my seeks silva?"

"Four silver," Lonny said, reminding Chloe of the night price she'd given in her Low Language. The Scribe separated out the quartet of coins and tossed them onto the nearby bed. Then, seeing an evil grin on the whore's face and knowing what the woman wanted, Lonny tossed one of the two skimmed coins into the mix of the others. "And you aren't earning them ... my Master gave them to you ... to give me a place to sleep for the night away from the others."

Chloe studied the other female up and down again, then as she turned to find a gown to cover her nakedness said, "Have it way of your own. But ... I do girl, too."

When she turned back to Lonny, she found the slightly younger woman's eyes wide in surprise. The whore laughed as she tied her gown, hiding her flesh but not at all hiding her delicious, womanly features. "You not know some girl like be with other girl, no?"

Lonny realized she was beginning to tremble. Despite living most of her life pretending to be male, she'd never had a female show her any sort of intimacy. She'd spent nearly every hour of every day of every year of her life within sight of the Priest for whom she'd scribbled and drawn and counted with quill on paper; when would she every have been approached by a girl, and later a woman with any designs of seducing him?

And now, finally, after all these years and now being of an adult age, the first female to suggest partaking of sexual pleasures with her was doing so after Lonny had confessed to being a female herself...? It was simply overwhelming ... and it would turn out ... somehow tantalizing to the young Scribe.

"Be with Chloe, not be with Chloe, no matter," the whore said, reaching out. "No matter, you not wear boy clothe anymore--"

"Wait, stop!" Lonny objected, stepping back as she realized that Chloe had been about to begin removing her clothes.

"You not hide be girl no more," Chloe said, moving forward again, trying to get her hands past Lonny's as the latter tried to fend her off. When the Scribe tried to argue that she needed to continue to pass herself off as a male while traveling with a detachment of males, Chloe laughed, repeated, and expanded, "You no hide be girl no more. Not last long. Must tell truth. Your Lord protect you from men, keep their cocks in their pants. Trust!"

Lonny continued to back up and grasp at the other woman's hands but only halfheartedly, and soon enough she simply gave in and let the whore help her out of her clothes...



From inside her cabin, Chloe heard a male voice call out, “Favor a breakfast more tart in flavor, m’lord?”

She smiled, knowing what that meant and who she could expect at her door in a moment. The nobleman knocked on Chloe’s door, actually waiting for her to open it herself rather than simply barging in as he had the night before. She answered it and noted his surprised look when he found her delicious body somewhat less exposed in a still somewhat sexy outfit that had been a gift from a traveling merchant in lieu of coin.

"Master Robert of Claymore like?" she said, turning slowly to show him all of her curves after making it clear that Lonny had spoken of him the night before. She gave him time to compliment her or simply ignore her and when facing him once again said, "Or like no clothes, Chloe do, too."

They chatted a moment, but when two men in the distance began calling out rudely about the nobleman and the common whore, Chloe took Robert by the hand and pulled him inside. She turned in time to catch the man's eyes bulging at the sight of Lonny crouched down in a squat wooden tub pouring warm water over her body, rinsing the soapy suds away from her petite and very womanly figure. With water in her ears and flowing over her head at just the exact, inopportune moments, the Scribe hadn't heard the knock at the door or the whore's questions to the nobleman, and she only knew of Robert's presence when Chloe announced that they had a visitor.

"Dear Holy God!" she shrieked as she dropped to her knees in the tub and lashed her arms over her bosom as if she was afraid it was going to run away. "Don't look...! M'Lord, I mean ... don't look!"

Chloe couldn't help but laugh before taking Robert's arm and dragging him to what amounted to the kitchen portion of the little cabin. Here, a semi-sheer drapery hid the Scribe from their view, and Chloe offered the nobleman breakfast and hot root tea while she asked him about East Riverbend and about how much coin he had.

"Nobleman rich, yes?" she asked in her broken Common. "Much coin, soft clothes ... many slits want be with you ... be reason not want Chloe, no?"

She listened to his responses and replied where she thought it might gain her more coin. Chloe kept Robert company for several minutes, telling him, "Lonny new look ... no boy no more. You will be good man, yes...? Good noble man who protect Lonny from mean men, yes?"

She explained as best she could that she had convinced Lonny to no longer hide her gender, stressing to Robert, "She no whore ... no like me. Master Robert of Claymore protect virtue of girl who serve him, yes? Lonny virginity is--"

"Oh Dear Holy God!" Lonny shrieked from beyond the drapery, pleading, "Please stop talking about my virginity, Chloe, for God's Sake!"

Chloe only laughed, stood, told Robert stay seat, and went to attend to Lonny, who was having issues putting on the clothing the whore had selected for her. Chloe's bedroom area, which was half of the cabin's 400 square feet, was a vast array of free standing wardrobes, hanging rods, wall hooks, open shelves, cupboards, dressers, trunks, and crates, all filled with the items -- a great deal of it clothing -- that had been given to her in lieu of coin by her many, many admirers during her career here on the major commerce road.

Of the clothes, less than a third of it was actually her size. Much of it came from the wardrobes of the deceased wives and lovers of her patrons, men who had suddenly found themselves alone with wearable memories upon which they no longer wanted to look. Chloe didn't quibble much over how men wanted to pay her for her company, particularly if it was clothing as there was a merchant friend who would come by several times a year and trade her real coin for the better pieces she'd acquired.

She stepped back into Robert's view and with a smile and a wave said, "Chloe present to Master Robert of Claymore ... new, better, girl-not-boy."

Lonny stepped tentatively out into the nobleman's view, her face filled with the fear that Robert would either not approve or even be anger as what had been done to her. But Chloe was proud of the change and even included, "Not Lonny no more. Lonny boy name. This ... this Allanna."

Lonny -- Allanna -- had a hard time meeting her Master's eyes, peeking up with only very brief glimpses, her face and even most of her neck flushing red. Chloe urged her forward toward Robert, and when she finally was able to look up and set her gaze on the man's face, Allanna asked timidly, "Do you approve, m'Lord ... 'cause ... I can put my other clothes back on."


(OOC: Pronunciation: uhl-LAHN-nuh)

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

“Er, yes, ma’am. You look very nice.” He must not have seemed sincere, because she immediately offered to disrobe. She wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Thank you for agreeing to my request last night, ma’am. It was not an ideal situation for—“

Chloe grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. He wasn’t sure why, and he didn’t love the idea that his men might think he was delaying their departure for a morning fuck. He didn’t want to be rude, though, so he didn’t object.

The next few minutes were a blur. He quickly noticed Lonny rinsing herself in the tub. He had known Lonny was a girl, of course, but he hadn’t expected her body to be so feminine. Before he had his mind wrapped around the thought, Chloe had pulled him into a corner of the cabin where at least a sheer drapery protected the girl from his eyes.

He blinked and realized Chloe was speaking to him. “Oh, yes. East Riverbend is a bit rough at the moment, but I intend to turn it into a respectable, orderly town. Of course, a respectable, orderly town still has need of...certain...services. If you ever wish to set up shop in a town with more traffic than this little crossroads, you could do so in East Riverbend with the unofficial support of the new Sheriff.”

He wasn’t sure if she understood him, since she seemed to just be asking why he didn't want her. Maybe he’d make the offer again when Lonny was paying attention and could translate.

He tried to explain that he wasn’t exactly not interested in her, but that situations at the moment had conspired to keep him from enjoying himself, as it were. He tried again to suggest she set up shop in his town. He would need some support from the more illicit side of business in East Riverbend, and perhaps this whore could be a source of information for him. He couldn’t tell if she was agreeing or just saying friendly-sounding words.

He didn’t mind when she changed the subject to Lonny.

“Of course, I intend to keep my men from doing anything to her. That’s why I brought her to you.”

She liked that answer, but she didn’t love his next one. “Well, I’m not so sure revealing her gender is the best idea at the moment.” She was unperturbed, however, going on about Lonny’s virtue, to the girl’s great consternation.

Robert was glad when his next task was simply to take a seat. He was happy for the moment to clear his thoughts. Something about the scantily clad and very confident woman flustered him, and seeing his scribe in the altogether had not helped. His cock was thinking about stiffening, but it was just as confused as he was.

The earl’s son’s heart rose and fell simultaneously as Allanna stepped out from behind the curtain. The fine clothes were beautiful by themselves, but seeing the girl in clothes that highlighted her femininity instead of dampening it nearly bowled him over. His heart broke at her beauty. Her curves were modest, and her face had not yet lost all of the androgynous features of her youth, but she was stunning. Robert’s cock was less confused, but his other head had even less idea what to do, long-term. Short-term, though, he had to make sure she didn’t get killed. As much as he wanted to ride next to this creature, her safety was more important.

"Do you approve, m'Lord ... 'cause ... I can put my other clothes back on."

He decided to be blunt, but hopefully she wouldn't take it too harshly. “Allanna, you won’t make it to East Riverbend. I’m going to need your help, Allanna, when we get there.” He stressed her new name so hopefully she would know that he supported the girl’s eventual reveal. “Lonny might survive the trip, so I need him to be in the carriage in a quarter hour. Understood?”

He saw their faces after his answer, and he almost caved then and there. He turned and left before they could convince him to let the girl get herself killed. The men jeered again at the sight of him leaving the whore’s cabin, but he barely noticed what they were saying.

He walked over to Terrance. The man wanted to know where Lonny was, but the men were close enough that they might overhear. Robert spoke softly, but pointedly. “He’ll be here in a quarter hour. He met a new friend, Allanna, that he wanted to bring along. I gave him a chance to say goodbye for now. We’ll be ready to leave then?”

 

[CutiePie1997]

“Allanna," her Master began, making the young beauty smile. She'd only learned of her true birth name from the kindly Priest when when she reached her teens and suffered her first Blood Spill. She'd kept it a secret until just last night. But the smile faded as Robert told her, "you won’t make it to East Riverbend.”

Allanna's face lowered in a combination of shame, disappointment, and heartbreak. Chloe saw this and came to stand beside her, putting an arm around her and whispering sweetly to her as her Master finished his explanation and departed.

"You will take clothes," Chloe told the other female, searching for and snatching up the most masculine looking canvas tote bag she could find. By now, Allanna was already shedding her new clothing, unbuckling her purse and shedding her vest and gloves. Chloe collected them as they came off, telling the now crying Scribe, "No sad. No sad, beauty girl. Know who Allanna is. Not forget who Allanna is."

Then, moving up closer, Chloe took the half dressed young beauty into her arms and pressed a soft but erotic kiss to her mouth. Allanna's mouth reacted in kind, much as it had the night before when the whore had earned her 5 silver -- and made a friend -- by introducing the virginal boy-girl to the pleasures of sexual ecstasy.

"Master Robert of Claymore tell, I can come East Riverbend," Chloe said in her broken Common.

She looked into Allanna's eyes, looking for a sign that the other woman would want her new and ever only lover to follow her to the distant town. Allanna smiled, then nodded ... which was conflicting at best. Allanna had very much enjoyed her first sexual experience, but while Chloe had told her that some women liked other women, she knew herself that she liked men ... or ... a man, at least.

The reason Robert's chastisement of her exposing herself as female was that Allanna had been in love with her new Master long before he became her new Master. Lonny's desire for the 4th son of Lord Craymore predated this mission by months.

At the same time that she knew she wanted to one day be as intimate with Robert as she had been with Chloe last night, Allanna also knew that if the whore followed them to East Riverbend, she would continue her career as a whore. Chloe wouldn't be only Allanna's lover; she would be many's lover.

"Yes, please come to East Riverbend," Allanna found herself saying, though, pulling her new friend-lover-whore to her for another passionate embrace. "I will need a friend indeed."

They set about stripping the forbidden clothes from the Scribe's body, and although Allanna should have been donning her boy clothes, she allowed Chloe to take her down to the bed and drive her to the heights of ecstasy once again with her fingers and tongue.

Allanna was barely fully dressed in her boy Clothes again when Sergeant Terrance pounded on the door, calling for Lonny. The two women embraced a final time before Allanna threw the bag full of mostly women's clothing over her back and left.

Terrance gave each of the women a scrutinizing glare, asked in whisper if every thing was fine, and when they both confirmed that all was well, the two left the cabin and joined the others for the long ride.



At the lunch break by a turn in the river they'd been following off and on for days, Allanna called out loudly enough for the others to hear, "M'Lord, would now be a good time for me to journal your personal thoughts?"

It was Allanna's way of saying she wanted to get the nobleman apart from the others -- something the Lord and Scribe did at least twice a day every day -- but this time with the intention of talking to him about what had happened and about what he'd learned.

"I wish to thank you, m'Lord, for maintaining my secret and for protecting me when you had every right to throw me to the wolves," Allanna said quietly once they were alone at the river's edge, sitting close on an old rotten log. "I also wish to thank you for offering Chloe a place in East Riverbend. I know she is just a lowly whore and barely literate in Common, but I believe she is a good person and has something to offer to achieve success in Riverbend."

Chloe had just very briefly told Allanna that she sometimes passed information to various people -- for coin, of course -- and that she thought Robert could use what her brain had to offer, even if he had now use for her body. Allanna, in turn, had promised that Robert had all sorts of uses for the whore's body but that the timing now was simply not good.

Robert responded to Allanna's comments -- using the name Lonny, of course -- and the two of them discussed such things as Allanna's upbringing with the Priest, her knowledge of languages, math, art, and more -- subjects that would enhance his own education in making East Riverbend a proper town -- and also about the normal basic things, such as how much food, water, and other resourced they had or needed to buy, the anticipated time of their arrival, the number of nights left in their trek, and more.

When the topic shifted to where Lonny should sleep until they reached East Riverbend, Allanna said, "I believe I should continue to sleep with the men, m'Lord ... and as the Sergeant has shown me great respect and discretion thus far, I believe I should sleep in his tent or his room if we take lodging at an Inn."

They agreed that that was the best, mounted their horses, and set off again. They found the next Inn had burned to the ground just weeks earlier -- the victim of extortionist Highwaymen who hadn't gotten their coin bribes -- and were forced to pitch tents in the woods. In the middle of the night, when one of the soldiers went to the woods to take a shit, an unseen assailant slipped up from behind and slit his throat, stealing from him a handful of coppers and his weapon.

The next evening -- another camping on the ground night -- was not only more deadly but was tragic. Allanna was settling down for a surprisingly deep sleep when a couple of hours before dawn the Night Watch called out a warning of intruders. The Sergeant ordered Lonny to remain hidden, then rushed out into the dark with his sword, just as dozens of arrows flew into the camp. Cries and screams of pain and fear came from every direction; beyond them, from the woods, came the victorious bellows and animalistic screeches of the unseen attackers.

Suddenly, bodies fell into Allanna's tent, pulling the tarps and poles to the ground. She screamed out in terror at the sight of her Master, Lord Robert, falling to the ground on his back, an arrow sticking out of his chest. The Sergeant was close by, and he hollered to Allanna, "Help me get him to his feet, Lonny! We must get him to the woods, to safety!"

Allanna did the best she could seeing how Robert's muscular frame was 60 pounds heavier than her petite one. Terrance took most of their Lord's weight of course as they fled for the tree line. At one point they stumbled and fell, and when she looked back to the camp, Allanna could see at least a dozen assailants killing the last of Robert's men, gathering the horses, and ransacking the coach, which they would later set ablaze.

They got Robert to his feet again and headed into the trees, apparently unseen. It was a hard trek through sometimes thick undergrowth, and the farther they went, the weaker Robert got, to the point that Terrance had to throw his Master over his shoulder. The sun was beginning to break through the trees, and Allanna was sure they simply could not go onward anymore without rest.

Then ... the strangest of things happened...

Allanna felt weak and fell to her knees ... then ... fell directly forward to crash upon the soft, mossy floor of the forest. She couldn't know it, but moments later -- as he was asking if she was injured or hurt -- Terrance suffered the same fate, simply collapsing to the ground, his Master's unconscious body falling atop him.



When Robert awoke, he was laying in a soft bed of leaves and most under a lean-to made of still living saplings and vines that seemed to have grown into their shelter-providing shape as opposed to having been cut and assembled by a person. His shirt had been removed, and his chest had been bandaged from where the arrow had entered just inches from his heart. A blanket lay over his lower torso and legs, and his boots were set nearby, with a clay picture of what appeared to be cool, clean water within reach.

There was no sign of Sergeant Terrance.

There was no sign of Lonny-Allanna.

But ... there was a beautiful, dramatically stunning woman nearby, leaning the weight of her nearly naked body against a tree as she looked upon Robert with an intense gaze. She had stark white hair that reached down her body nearly to her firm, round ass; her skin was nearly as pale as her hair, while her eyes and the brows above them were contrastingly dark. Pink lips were parted slightly as if she was about to speak, and yet no words came out. And her delicious, firm, round bosom was on full display ... only ... it wasn't; as if the strangeness of simply finding oneself deep in the woods in the presence of a nearly naked and incredible woman wasn't enough, the vines and flowers and leaves that hid her most intimate of womanly features -- her pert nipples, the meeting of her thighs where all men wished to find release -- these bits of nature weren't picked and applied to her body to hide her ... no ... they were living ... and as the woman turned and began to slowly wend her way through the trees and shrubs toward Robert, he would very likely see that this plant life wend its own way all about her body, alive and snake-like as it continued to hide her most personal of features from the man's view.

With a voice that was somehow sultry, ominous, and threatening all at the same time, while also sounding one part human, one part hissing snake, one part purring kitten, she whispered to Robert, "Živiš jer ja biram da te pustim da živiš, jer imaš nešto što želim da mi nijedan drugi muškarac ne može dati."

She continued his way, the nakedness of her body becoming better displayed as she passed by the undergrowth hiding her long legs and bared feet and yet still hidden in those most personal of areas by the still creeping vines and other plant life. When she was standing almost directly over top of him, she repeated what she'd said to him in Common Tongue but with that same raspy, hissing tone, "You live ... because I choose to let you live ... for you have something I want that no other man can give me."

Then, suddenly, she flashed both hands at Robert, casting a cloud of ... of what? It wasn't dust or powder, though it looked like it. It was white as snow but seemed not to have form; it was like steam or mist but when it surrounded him it smelt of vanilla and pine.



And when he awoke again ... the woman was gone but Allanna and Terrance were laying on the ground near him, trying to awaken from a stupor they couldn't explain.

They had no knowledge of the woman or of the mist-powder or even of how they'd gotten from where they had collapsed to where they were now.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The strange woman’s words had been at once terrifying and comforting. She clearly had power beyond what Robert could understand, whatever its source. Robert, being of noble birth, had received a world-class education, despite his father’s general indifference to him. With such an education came a healthy amount of skepticism toward magic. Even now, Robert was half-sure the woman was just skilled with using the ingredients of the forests to heal wounds, induce sleep, and cause false images.

That said, the idea that his life was so fragile was not something he reconciled easily. To depend on a strange forest creature for his life was...less than ideal. Still, it was better than having nothing at all to depend on, especially with an arrow in his chest. So, he took her words as a promise, that he would live, at least for now.

That made it easier to let Allanna and Terrance take their time. It took several minutes for them to remember what had happened before their sleep. Once they did, Allanna rushed over to check Robert’s wounds, running her soft, narrow fingers over his bandages. Terrance just asked what had happened.

“Someone caused your stupor, Sergeant, Allanna. I woke up bandaged like this, and I’m assuming it wasn’t you that fixed me up?”

They both confirmed it hadn’t been them.

“Well, then, it must have been the strange woman who put you two to sleep.” He held up one finger to ask them for time to finish his explanation. “I don’t know how. She spoke to me, and then blew some kind of dust or mist into my face to put me out. I know she said that she was keeping me alive for some purpose of hers, but the one sentence, plus another in some strange tongue, was all I got from her.”

At Terrance’s expression, Robert went on. “I know, I know. It sounds unbelievable, but I didn’t remove the arrow or put these bandages on myself.”

Allanna wanted to know if he remembered any of the strange language the woman had spoken.

“It was something like: ‘Zjiviš šato šta želin di ta umzem mužkots.’ I tried to take note of it in the moment, but it was difficult. I had hoped you would know it. I apologize, Allanna.”

Robert was sure he’d butchered the woman’s words, but he was still proud of himself. A week ago he wouldn’t have been as quick to pay attention. His easy life may have been ripped away from him, but one silver lining was that he found himself beginning to rise to the occasion, arrow wound notwithstanding.

He wouldn’t do any literal rising for a while, though.

“Sergeant, report. What is our situation?”

Terrance was, as always, as professional as the deceased men hadn’t been. His two remaining companions searched nearby and found a bag of medicinal supplies, as well as hot food, ready to eat, and a small store of foraged edibles.

Terrance remarked that he was thankful Robert’s forest spirit didn’t seem to want them dead yet.

“Yet, being the operative word, there, Sergeant. Let’s eat the rabbit first: it’ll keep the worst. Then, the soup. Let’s try to eat just enough to get by for now.” If his body was useless, at least his wilderness training wouldn’t be. Although he hadn’t expected to use it on this trip. “Whenever the one of you with the most healing knowledge has had their fill, I need you to take a look at my wound, and tell me how long I need to lie here to avoid reopening the thing.”

The two began eating, with Allanna handing Robert some of the rabbit. Robert had very much enjoyed his earlier pre-mortal-wound conversation the day before with the girl, who had no real need to pose as a boy anymore. She was clearly intelligent, as well as a better conversationalist than most of the women Robert had spent time with back on Craymore lands. The nobleman internally pledged himself to make sure she didn’t die a violent death, recognizing the irony of making that silent statement after so narrowly escaping a violent death himself.

“Two last things. {chew} One, thank you both. You’ve done me a great service by helping save my life, {chew} and an even greater service by saving your own. I intend to continue to rely on both of you {chew} extensively. Two, do either of you have a good idea where we are?”

 

[CutiePie1997]

Allanna was still blinking her eyes, trying to make them return to uninterrupted focus when her Master said, “Well, then, it must have been the strange woman who put you two to sleep.”

That led to an interesting and somewhat frightening conversation in which Allanna contemplated a word she had never used in a serious conversation before: Witch! In her years of traveling with the holy man, she and he had often heard tales of people -- mostly but not exclusively women -- who had magical powers. But the Priest had always beaten back any serious consideration of the subject by the young Lonny. The belief of magic and spirits and Gods of water, earth, fire, etc., etc., flew into the face of the religion the Priest was trying to spread while he wandered the Continent compiling his history of all things.

Allanna -- Lonny -- had always found it cynical and hypocritical that the history of all things wouldn't include magic and those who used it. But the Priest had managed to make her believe that magic wasn't real ... which frightened Allanna now as her Master seemed to believe that it might just be possible after all.

"‘Zjiviš šato šta želin di ta umzem mužkots’," Robert said, hoping Allanna could translate the forest woman's words. "I had hoped you would know it. I apologize, Allanna.”

She repeated the words as she'd heard them, and Robert corrected where he thought she'd misheard him. Finally she worked out, "I think ... I think it's as you said, m'Lord. She saved your life because you are important to her ... because you are ... have something ... something she needs. I'm sorry, m'Lord, without having heard it myself..."

They ate and did so ravenously as if they hadn't eaten in days. It was only then that Terrance looked more closely at his Master's face, then rubbed the stubble on his own chin and asked, "How long do you think we were unconscious? Because ... m'lord, you shaved yesterday morning down by the water, as did I ... and yet, we each have at least two, three, maybe even four days growth on our faces. Which means that yesterday wasn't yesterday, and today is actually three or four days from now."

Inconspicuously, Allanna reached a hand to her own leg, low and just above the ankles of her fat legged boy trousers. Chloe had shaved her legs for her that night together in preparation for her coming out as a girl. (The whore had offered to shave other parts of Allanna's body as well, more personal parts, but the Scribe simply hadn't been up for such intimate and unfamiliar hygiene. So finding tiny stubble there of a value of maybe a week, not two days, was a surprise to her as well.

They finished their meal, and as Terrance set about scouting the area about them, Allanna tended to her Master's wounds. She was apparently and conspicuously hestitant about how she was touching Robert's bare and quite manly-man chest, because he suddenly chastised her, "Come now, girl. Modesty and danger simply don't go together. Besides, it's only fair after that show in the bath two days ago."

Allanna's face exploded in a fiery blush, and she looked for but did not see the other man who -- to the best of her knowledge -- was not aware that their Master had found her naked in a tub of water cleansing her milky white flesh.

"Please, m'Lord, do not speak of such things," Allanna whispered with an embarrassed tone. "You were not meant to see me in such a manner of undress. I'm so ashamed."


(OOC: For any readers following along, any dialogue I write for my fellow writer's characters was suggested by him. I just didn't want you to think I was putting words in his people's mouths. )

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

“I’m sorry, my lady. I won’t mention it again. I do so because you ask, not because I think you have anything to be ashamed about.”

Robert was torn. Not about what he said to Allanna, but about how to feel about the event itself. Allanna had had every right to expect privacy, but the sense of propriety that he had grown up with told him that he should feel guilt for stumbling on her in the bath. Whenever the thought crossed his mind, though, a smile crossed his face. He tried to avoid visualizing her rinsing her naked body, but the image regularly reappeared in his mind’s eye anyway.

Allanna’s soft hand had stalled, lightly resting against his chest. He looked into her light brown eyes for a moment longer than was natural. He knew he should say something, but nothing came to mind. The girl was an impressive young woman, and the more Robert learned about her, the more he wanted to learn more. I should tell her that, he thought.

“Allanna, I am very glad to have met you. You are an intelligent, resourceful young woman. Also, I—“

Robert stopped speaking at the sound of footsteps crunching through the forest. He turned his head to see Terrance approach.

 

[CutiePie1997]

Allanna gently peeled the bandage from her Master's chest, careful not to rip off too many of the curly little hairs that populated it. The teen hadn't seen many bared male breasts during her life, and yet she'd somehow developed a fascination for the furry ones. On one of their stops at the estate of a Count for whom the Priest and Lonny had written his biography, Allanna had often found herself sitting in the shadows of a second floor alcove watching the Nobleman's troops training below.

There had been one Guardsman -- a tall, bulky, brute of a man who often took on and defeated four or five men in wrestling -- who had had inch thick hair that covered his chest and the front of his shoulders. It was during this stop that Allanna had discovered the joys of masturbation. It had also been during this stop that the Priest caught her masturbating and forced her to wear a chastity belt for the next six months.

"Eww," she moaned as the wound came into view, "it's infected."

But once she'd gotten the bandage entirely off and began cleaning the wound, Allanna realized that she hadn't been looking at the bubbling, sticky goo of infection but had been looking at something the Priest had called poultice dezinfekcijska krema ... a creamy poultice that prevented infection, a substance that sometime in the very distant future would be called anti-biotic disinfectant.

Allanna was shocked to see this for two reasons. First, while the Priest had known of the medicinal cream, he'd had no idea how to make it because -- and here's the twist -- it was supposed to be a myth, a medicinal treatment with its origins in magic, which of course didn't exist!

And second -- and what a second it was! -- the poultice ... well ... it was moving! Allanna recognized the smell of some of the herbal ingredients, and she recognized the large oak leaf upon which the poultice had been made and which she was now carefully pulling aside. What she didn't recognize, though, were the tiny little creatures, no larger than baby spiders right out of their mother's sack, that were milling about the wound ... presumably cleaning it!

"You might not want to look at this, m'lord," Allanna said with soft voice as she fully pulled the leaf away and exposed the nasty but functioning treatment. She giggled, then made another eww sound and said, "I hope it's supposed to look like this."

She set about cleaning the would with the now cooled down, boiled water. She found a small wooden bowl with a lid, opened it, and found more of the creepy-crawly poultice treatment. She smothered the wound again with the goo on a leaf, replaced the bandage, and wrapped a long cloth around Robert's chest to hold it all in place.

When she did, Allanna's face came very close to Roberts ... and for a moment, after he stared deeply into her eyes, the young Scribe very nearly pressed her mouth to her Master's. But instead, she backed away as her face exploded in a fiery blush. She blushed again after she'd finished the bandage and realized that not only was her hand resting upon Robert's muscular chest but that her fingers were unconsciously threading their way into the soft curls of his pecs.

“Allanna, I am very glad to have met you," Robert said, causing yet another explosion of red in her otherwise fair face. "You are an intelligent, resourceful young woman. Also, I—"

"There's no sign of the horses, our gear, the men, or even our former camp, m'lord," the Sergeant said as he returned to the camp. He caught the guilty look in the Scribe's face as she seemed to scoot back a foot at the sound of his voice. He glanced to the nobleman and wondered but said nothing of what he was thinking, of course, instead continuing, "Of course, I didn't really expect to find much. There is absolutely no sign of our trail at all. I suggest we get a move on soon though..."

He looked up to the sky, trying to match the direction he thought he was looking with the location of the sun where he thought it was in the hazy, overcast sky. He continued, "...before it gets too late in the--"

"He can't move!" Allanna said with shock in her voice, quickly adding with respect, "Sergeant Terrance. M'lord must remain still ... for at least a day ... maybe two."

She looked to Robert with a desperate expression, begging, "Please, m'lord."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Robert was saddened to hear about the loss of his horse. He was less saddened to hear about the loss of the men. Hopefully some of them had lived, and disappeared to live their lives in some faraway land, never to interact with the fourth Craymore son again. At least, that’s what he told himself to avoid the nagging guilt of feeling relief at the death of another. Robert had never killed a person before the attack a few nights ago, and he wasn’t sure whether he had, even then, before the arrow got him. He wasn’t yet jaded about taking human life. He hoped he never would be.

He was more conflicted about the interruption to his conversation with Allanna. He had almost tried to kiss her! The young thing surely wouldn’t be interested in a man almost ten years her senior. He couldn’t deny that he wished she were, though. She was sweet and unassuming, but what attracted him to her the most was her intelligence. It made him question why women were discouraged from those pursuits. Weren’t men robbing themselves of the opportunity to find the perfect partner: an educated and intelligent woman?

“Terrance, thank you for scouting. To be truthful, I think I still feel the lingering effects of whatever that woman threw into my face. My head feels...unsteady. Plus, perhaps another night would do my wound some good. Do you foresee some pressing danger that couldn’t be avoided if we rest here for a single night? We have food and a fire, and the grass is soft. I would be happy to take the first watch. I can at least shout if I see anything. Besides, if we march on, we’d likely find ourselves still in the forest at nightfall anyway.”

Robert was a bit surprised at himself for explaining his reasoning to Terrance so thoroughly. He had started to consider the man a peer instead of a man in his service. He wanted him to know he wasn’t discounting his suggestion out of disrespect. A week ago he wouldn’t have bothered. Perhaps it was also partially because he currently depended on his two companions for his very life.

He looked to Allanna’s pleading face. “I do think Terrance is right that need to move soon, Allanna. I’ll try to stand and walk in the morning, and assuming that goes well we’ll be off.” He looked back to Terrance. “I hope that’s a plan you can both be comfortable with.”

He looked back and forth between the two for their reactions.

“At the moment, I’d like some more of that soup if there’s any left?”

 

[CutiePie1997]

“Terrance, thank you for scouting," the Master of the trio said, continuing onward about his health and the decision that they should stay in place another night. "Besides, if we march on, we’d likely find ourselves still in the forest at nightfall anyway.”

Terrance didn't fail to notice how kindly Robert was treating him. The Sergeant had been raised by strict parents, taught to respect his elders and superiors. When they'd been killed by raiders surreptitiously supported by a nobleman who'd been in a sort of cold war with Lord Craymore, Terrance -- then only 13 -- had joined the Army, where he'd developed even more discipline, loyalty, and sense of servitude.

Honestly, he hadn't been that excited about joining this mission. He'd been well aware of the lack of experience of their now dead Captain, and he'd known enough of the also now dead soldiers to know that they had been anything but the cream of the crop. There had been rumors -- suspicions, maybe -- that Lord Craymore had sent his 4th son off to be killed, simply to get the young noble out of his hair and away from his inheritance. That was not a mission Terrance wanted to be part of.

And yet now, after watching young Robert of the House of Craymore -- Terrance himself would turn 38 in a month -- the Sergeant had come to the conclusion that this noble was worthy of his service ... and if it became necessary, his life.

“I do think Terrance is right that we need to move soon, Allanna," Robert continued, speaking this time to the even younger Scribe who had entered only her 18th year of life a few months past. Robert spoke of trying to rise and walk the next moring, saying, “I hope that’s a plan you can both be comfortable with.”

Terrance and Allanna looked between themselves, then looked back to Robert and almost simultaneously agreed with him, adding of course, "M'lord."

“At the moment, I’d like some more of that soup if there’s any left?”

Allanna set about feeding her Master and making him more comfortable in the odd lean-to. She took a few moments to study it and found that every bit of it was alive and growing such to create a cover for the injured man. Thin saplings emerging from the ground in a haphazard crescent had all leaned inward toward each other, gathering near the top in a sort of shady, rain-blocking overhang; vines with large leaves had then climbed these saplings, and the leaves had laid down upon the thin little trees almost as efficiently as the wood shingles that had kept Chloe's cabin dry.

The young woman couldn't help but think of the whore often as she spent the afternoon wandering the woods around their campsite, searching for mushrooms and edible flowers and such. She found a rotten log thick with grubs and -- after a great deal of comical conversation about the nutritional value of the squirming little creatures, as well as downing one herself -- finally convinced each of the men to try one. There reactions were interesting and made her giggle to no end.

Terrance had become concerned that the skies were darkening, and after determining that the lean-to would not keep them all dry pulled the large dagger off his hip and announced that he would cut down some additional saplings to make a shelter for himself and Allanna.

Yet the moment he bent over a skinny little tree and reared back with the dagger, about to use it as an ax, a screech in the canopy startled him -- and Allanna! -- and an owl flew past the man's head, snatching his had right off it. Stunned, Terrance laughed the incident off and turned back to the sapling, only to hear a hissssss and find a massive snake near the base of the tree, readying to attack.

"Don't!" Allanna called out, hurrying over to take Terrance's arm as he threatened the snake with the blade. She told him in a calm voice as she urged him away from the snake, "I think the forest it trying to tell us something."

They returned to the fire ... and over the next four or five hours witnessed the most incredible thing Allanna could ever have imagined: off to one side of the little campfire, dozens of squirrels that had slowly populated the area built a structure that was a sort of half dome shape, similar to the nests in which they themselves lived high in the trees. After they were done, Allanna found find that it was large enough for her to lay in, although with her knees bent a bit.

At the same time that the squirrels were building that for her -- well, she claimed it before Terrance did, anyway -- on the other side of the fire a shelter for the Sergeant began to form. The wind had come up ... but it had been an odd wind as it blew west, then east, then west again, repeating that pattern for hours ... and yet it only blew on the one side of the camp, where the third lean-to would be created. Allanna stood at the fire and felt nothing at all, watching the smoke rise straight up into the sky ... and yet if she walked four or five feet away from the warmth behind her, she found herself in a wind that made her teeter ... and, honestly, giggle in awe of what she was certain was magic.

Four trees there in that windy spot, each with inch to two inch thick trunks, had swayed in the wind, and as they did, their limbs sometimes tangled and held, almost as if hands grasping at the other's limbs and trunk. When the wind finally died down, just before sunset, the four trees had bent amongst one another, creating the frame for a third lean-to. And even more magical that that, boughs from other trees had broken off in the magical wind and fallen upon the now-bent trees, creating the shelter that Allanna pointed to while speaking to Terrance, "Home, sweet home?"

But the magic wasn't over either: little things happened all through the afternoon and early evening. The owl that had snatched Terrance's hat flew over again, this time dropping a dead ground squirrel near the fire. Allanna had asked, "Accident...? Or more magic?"

Terrance had gone off to find water when Robert expressed his growing thirst, and the Sergeant returned saying he wasn't able to find a creek. And yet while he'd been gone, an artesian spring had suddenly appeared near the camp, with fresh, cool, crisp water bubbling up from between some rocks.

When the excitement waned and the three finally laid down in each of their lean-tos, a chill fell over the camp that simply would not allow Allanna to find sleep. Terrance placed the rest of the dead wood on the fire to cast some radiant heat toward each of the three, but that simply wasn't enough.

"I'll go find more wood," Terrance announced, pulling his dagger from his side again. But the moment he turned for the dark of the forest, the glow of the fire began to light up pairs of eyes, eerily looking at him and him alone from beyond the perimeter of the camp. As soon as he sheathed the dagger and backed toward the fire, though, the eyes began to blink out. "Maybe ... maybe we'll just be cold tonight. It won't kill us. Something else might, but the cold?"

Allanna was about to suggest something she felt might not be appropriate: the three should lay together in Robert's lean-to, close together. Sure, they wouldn't all fit under the cover, and if it did rain -- which the sky was still threatening to do -- Terrance and Allanna would surely get wet to one degree or another, possibly unhealthily wet.

And then the last magic of the night befell them. A small, furry creature crawled up close to Allanna and just stared at her with its big, bulbous eyes. It moved closer, the closer; it made contact with her, then crawled up into the crook of her neck and minimal bosom.

"It's warm," she said with awe as the others had been watching, wondering what was happening. She smiled and giggled. "Very warm."

Suddenly, another of the furry creatures appeared, then another and another. As the others watched, a dozen, then two, then three of the balls of fluff swarmed in to cover nearly the whole of the young Scribe's body as she giggled and told the men, "It tickles! But ... Blessed God, they're warm, like a water bottle from the scullery."

Over the next several minutes, dozens more of the creatures came out of the darkness and swarmed over the other two men. Terrance wasn't very fond of little animals, and he repeatedly gave out little cries of discomfort and fear, leading the little girl amongst them to call out, "Stop being a little girl."

Allanna couldn't see Robert, though, and she called to him, "Are you okay, m'lord?"

She listened to his response ... and after some time, she awoke to the sun breaking through the opening of her lean-to, trying to force its way through her eye lids. As she awoke and stirred, the dozens of little creatures squeaked loudly and scattered, and within seconds there wasn't a one to be seen in the forest.

Allanna rose and went to her Master to check his wound...

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Allanna’s subsequent care that evening had been strictly platonic, which Robert was sure was for the best. Or, at least, he was mostly sure. Robert had enjoyed it anyway, much more so than he had enjoyed the stress of his own mind’s increasingly desperate attempts to continue in the knowledge that magic did not exist.

When Terrance had tried to cut the wood the first two times, Robert told himself that it was a coincidence.

When the squirrels started building the shelter, Robert concluded that the forest woman was a skilled animal trainer. After all, if dogs and horses could be trained, then surely a sufficiently advanced trainer could get an owl or a snake or a large number of squirrels to do their bidding.

When the wind started doing strange things, Robert told himself that the wind always did strange things, and that surely with enough variation, the odds that trees would tangle themselves into something resembling a shelter must be greater than zero.

The owl bringing them a squirrel was easy to explain, but Robert cringed a bit at Allanna’s words. It was the first time any of them had said the word magic aloud. Robert would have been concerned about the import of such a thing if he were the type of person who believed in such things. Which, he didn’t. Yet.

When the spring appeared, he told himself that springs had to start somewhere, at some time, and why not here and now? He was having trouble believing it, though.

The warm, furry creatures giving them cover convinced him. They were the last straw. Robert had started the evening a skeptic, but by the time he fell asleep, he knew two things he hadn’t known before. Magic was real, and he hated the taste of grubs.

Despite his distress, he had enjoyed Allanna’s gleefully innocent joy at the wonders they were shown. It was infectious. He even thought he saw Terrance crack a smile once or twice, despite his protestations. It was also the reason Robert did something he knew he shouldn’t do. Men often do things they shouldn’t do just to see a pretty girl smile. Robert was not immune to this. When the small, furry, warm creatures came, Robert kept one. Allanna must have heard him moving.

“Are you okay, m’lord?” Allanna asked.

“A bit mentally shaken, perhaps, but physically intact.”

He slipped it into his pocket before he fell asleep. It didn’t seem to notice. When he woke up and the rest scattered, he could feel his prize scrabbling away, but he kept his hand over the pocket, keeping it inside. He was grateful the things didn’t seem to have any claws or sharp teeth. After a few minutes, it calmed down. Robert was sure the forest woman would know, and he hoped she would just ask for it back if she wanted it. After all, she’d warned Terrance when he was about to cut the wood.

Robert planned to hold onto it for a bit, to make sure he took the blame if the forest woman (He still didn’t feel comfortable using the term witch, even to himself) was angry about it. Then, he would give it to Allanna. He hoped it would make her smile.

After a quick breakfast, and a quick check and re-dressing of Robert’s wound, they all three stood up. His two companions watched him with concern when he pulled himself up using a part of his living lean-to. He felt pressure on his chest when he moved, but it was remarkably pain-free. He still planned to take it slowly today, though, even if they didn’t make it out of the forest by the end of the day.

Terrace asked if Robert was sure he didn’t want to go back to the road. “Not unless you try a bit harder to talk me into it, my good man. The forest has been good to us so far. Better than the road, anyway.”

As they walked, Robert found himself continuing to recover remarkably, and the group’s speed increased. It wasn’t long before they were making good time; almost as good as they’d have made on the road, at least on foot.

Lunch and dinner consisted of more mushrooms and nuts that they’d been fortunate to find, and more grubs that they’d been unfortunate to find. Robert was able to surreptitiously feed his new furry friend some of the grubs, but he still ended up eating a few of them himself.

Terrance began to get a bit concerned about losing daylight, but it turned out he needn’t have worried. Just as the first tint of orange became visible through the trees, they heard the creak of the windmill of East Riverbend. At least, they were mostly sure that it was East Riverbend. Robert trusted Terrance’s navigation skills, but with everything that had happened to them, getting a bit turned around would be understandable.

They smiled to each other and stepped up to the treeline.

 

[CutiePie1997]

"The forest has been good to us so far," Robert said when asked by the Sergeant which direction they should take. "Better than the road, anyway.”

When he said it, the nobleman couldn't have had any idea just how good the forest would continue to be to them. Throughout the day, it -- the forest -- directed them in their trek to reach their destination. Every time they arrived at a point where Robert and Terrance had to consider a direction, something happened to ensure they went the right way.

At one fork when Terrance was about to choose a way, a large, lumbering bear stepped out into the path and simply sat down in it, staring at the soldier. Terrance maintained his cool and pointed to the other gap in the trees saying, "That way."

Another time a swarm of bees ten paces down a fork sent them back to the junction. Yet another, an old tree that had been threatening to fall to the ground likely as long as any of them had been alive chose that moment to give way to the wind and crash, blocking the path.

Or ... had it not been the wind ... and been the witch instead?

Unlike Robert, Allanna had fully accepted that the woman -- who only her Master had seen -- was indeed a witch. Oh, she should have been even more skeptical than he, what with her wide and varied education that came from spending her life traveling the land. Robert was intelligent and knowing, but he'd spent his entire life in Claymore County, only venturing out into his father's wider Earldom on a smattering of occasions. He knew every thing there was to know about this region; Allanna's knowledge, while not as in depth of Claymore, went much farther.

So why had she so easily accepted the concept of magic and a witch? She knew why, of course. Even while she'd been in the Priest's tow and been force fed the teachings of the Holy Book, she'd known there was something more to the world and to life. She'd wanted there to be more; she'd wished there to be more. And now ... now there was!

As they settled down to let Robert rest once again and let them all fill their bellies, Allanna looked over to see that the little wooden bowl in which she'd given her Master some newly found and even bigger grubs was already empty. She beamed with excitement.

"You're beginning to like them, m'lord," she said, not realizing that he'd fed most of them to the creature hiding in his pocket. She gently scooped up half of those remaining in her own wooden bowl and put them into his, saying, "You need meat. It's good for your blood."

Terrance reappeared from having been checking out the trail and announced, "We're there. East Riverbend."

Allanna's face lit up with delight, her first thought being I'm sleeping in a bed tonight! They'd been sleeping on the ground for the past, what, three, four, five nights? She couldn't even remember. But looking to Terrance's face, the Scribe saw concern. "What is it?"

The Sergeant went to his Master and helped him to his feet, saying, "Well, you should both come to see."

They moved through a natural animal trail this time, rather than something created for them by the forest through which they were traveling. When they emerged from the tree line, they found themselves looking south from a higher altitude down upon the town that Robert would recognize from the drawing he'd been given as definitely being East Riverbend.

It appeared to be a pleasant enough town. There was a church at the far, south side of town, and between it and a windmill to the west, fields of thick grain ready for harvest and milling. To their left, on the east side of the city, was the bend in the river for which the city had gotten its name. Allanna would wonder about that later, why a bend in river that was on the west side of it would lead to the town there being called East Riverbend, but for now all her mind was thinking was that there was a working dock, a boat being unloaded, and people working hard to earn their coin and take care of their families.

Or so she thought.

"There," Terrance said, pointing to the road that entered the town from the north. "By the second house."

Allanna stared, and when she finally saw the two bodies hanging by their necks from a tall post, she slapped a hand over her mouth and turned away. Terrance next pointed to the pier that went out into the water, saying, "Slaves."

She peeked over her shoulder with just one eye. After a moment, she was barely able to pick out the detail that the intuitive Sergeant had seen: nine or ten men, in ankle shackles, unloading the boat while a Task Master stood nearby with a whip.

They spoke on what they were seeing and about what their next step should be when suddenly the little creature in Robert's pocket became so excited -- squeaking and hustling about in little circles -- that the other two couldn't help but notice it and look to their Lord with questioning gazes.

He explained (or didn't) and as he was (or wasn't) Allanna suddenly cried out in surprise as a figure stepped right through their little part of three and moved out close to where the hillside began its descent. The figure was hidden from head to foot in the oddest of cloaks, made of woven vines ... that seemed to be actively weaving and unweaving themselves at this very time.

"The witch..." Allanna whispered so softly that she wasn't even sure the other two had heard her. Her eyes and mouth were open wide in shock and awe as she waited for the woman to turn and show herself.

Beside Robert, Terrance had drawn his dagger and stepped in front of his Lord, protecting him from the unseen stranger. But ... then something didn't seem quite right, and looking down to his hand he found himself grasping a blunt stick instead of a sharp blade.

Allanna saw this as well, and catching the Sergeant's glance, she again said in whisper but with more volume and excitement, "The witch!"

"Nećeš nauditi dok si sa mnom," the woman said without ever turning, adding in Common Tongue as she began to descend the switchback trail, "Come ... come with me."

Allanna translated what the woman had said, "She says we will come to no harm as long as we are with her."

Then she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm only the Scribe, m'lord. You're in charge."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Robert opened his mouth to confess, but before he could get a word out, they were interrupted by the individual wearing a cloak Robert knew could only belong to the forest woman he’d met the day before. Now, he was glad he had kept the creature secret, despite its disruption. The witch was here! Now that Allanna had said the word aloud, it seemed silly to think of her as anything else. If she was going to be upset about his theft, surely it would be now.

The town of East Riverbend certainly made a first impression consistent with its reputation. From the chain gang to the townsfolk hanged from their necks, it was clear this was not a wholesome, welcoming place.

Terrance asked Robert if they should follow her. Robert thought for a moment. “I think we owe her that much.”

The woman had a bit of a head start down the street, but the newly healed nobleman had no difficulty catching up. Neither did his companions. They kept a respectable distance. Robert tried to watch the faces of the townspeople, but they all seemed to scurry into their homes as they approached. He assumed it was the presence of the witch that drove them off. He knew he and his companions looked like they’d lived in the woods for a week, but their cloaks weren’t wiggling. Well, Robert’s was a tiny bit, but he didn’t think anyone noticed.

The only exception to this was a woman about Robert’s age with a small boy. The only noise they’d heard at this late hour was these two getting thrown out by what appeared to be their landlord. They heard the portly man shouting from down the street, but by the time they’d walked down the street, he’d shut himself inside the home that the woman and boy were now sitting in the dirt in front of. The witch ignored them, and the two unfortunate former tenants just watched her with wide, fearful eyes, ignoring the three new arrivals.

The town itself was mostly low wooden buildings. Some of them seemed to be in conspicuously good shape, as if they’d just finished construction. Others looked about to fall apart with age and disrepair. Robert didn’t notice anything in between. The silence was the strangest thing. Even the slaves working at the pier barely rattled their chains.

Robert hoped the witch would reach her destination soon. He was getting unsettled out on these streets.

 

[CutiePie1997]

“I think we owe her that much,” Robert answered to Allanna's question about what they should do.

And down the hill they went. The switch back trail wasn't very steep, but the young Scribe -- now her Master's Healer, or was that the witch? -- asked Robert several times whether or not they should stop and rest. Each time the Witch got farther ahead, moving quickly with absolute ease, which only led Robert to insist that they kept up with her.

Allanna was heart broken when they came upon the woman and small boy who had literally been thrown out into the street. The witch didn't even turn her head to them; did she not care, did she not notice them, did she simply not have a solution to their plight, or something other?

The Scribe, however, felt her heart strings being pulled. She glanced to Robert and Terrance -- both of whom were concentrating on the town, the Witch, and their vulnerable situation -- then hurried over to the pair, offering them the Silver she'd skimmed from Robert's payment to Chloe so many days earlier.

"It's not much, but it will--"

The woman snatched the coin desperately -- greedily maybe? -- and rushed away down the street with her boy in tow. Allanna felt a bit offended, but then that women didn't know who she was. She had a feeling, though, that she'd see them again, for good or bad.

Allanna hurried to catch up with Robert and Terrance, both of whom were waving her to catch up. She slipped in close behind them as they walked side by side, several yards behind the witch...

...who suddenly stopped in her tracks, her back still to them.

"Eto," she said, a staff with which she'd been using to walk pointing toward the door of a decrepit Inn that had no door or window shutters and barely half a roof. "Otići ćeš tamo."

"She says there, we will go there," Allanna said after contemplating the words, which were of a seriously altered dialect of the Low Language Chloe had used. "Do we--"

That was all the farther she got before the most incredible thing happened: the cloak and staff fell to the ground with no sign of the Witch at all ... just a silent poof and she was no longer there. Or ... had she ever been? None of the three ever had actually seen her; all they had seen was the cloak push its way through them on the hill, speak, and descend the trail.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

After following the woman (or apparition, who knew?) for so far, Robert felt as exhausted as his companions looked. He assumed he looked even worse, but he’d need a cleaner river than he assumed existed in this town to tell.

He looked at Terrance, and didn’t even need him to speak in order to answer. “I know, Sergeant. That was very strange. I don’t like it either. I didn’t see any other inns in town, though, and she wouldn’t have saved our lives, or at least mine, to get us killed here. Let’s go live like civilized people for the night.”

Robert walked up, put a hand on the door, and pushed it open. There weren’t many people inside. An old woman and a girl a few years older than Allanna sat against the wall. A table in the back had four men playing dice. A short, plump barmaid tried to look busy. The innkeeper stood behind the bar. Curiously, he was holding a cloth and making a motion like he was rubbing a mug, but he wasn’t actually touching the mug with the cloth. Robert had been looking forward to an ale, but that gave him second thoughts.

He walked over to the innkeeper and asked about three rooms.

“Only, got da one, sir.”

Robert shrugged and paid for the room. Luckily, his coin purse was still on him after the bandit attack.

“How much to have dinner sent up?” Robert asked.

The innkeeper replied disinterestedly, “Out o’ food, sir. A copper for an ale.”

Terrance asked for an ale, telling Robert he’d stay downstairs for a bit. Robert thrust two coppers into his hand. “On me.” Then he held out two more for Allanna. “You too if you’d like. You’ve both earned it. I’m going up to the room.” The weary nobleman trudged up the rickety staircase. He thought he heard an unknown feminine voice downstairs before he made it out of earshot, but he didn’t stay to find out who it was.

 

[CutiePie1997]

Allanna had stayed many a night in many a dive during her upbringing traveling with a Priest who had made and stuck close to a vow of poverty, but this place took the cake. As Robert was taking the first step for the stairs, the Innkeeper called out, "Keep t'the right!"

Too late, though; Robert's foot went right through the step. Allanna hurried to him, but as he'd only been on the first step, there had been no harm done.

"I'll go find food, m'lord," she told him, asking for a few more coppers. She offered to help him up the stairs, but honestly, neither of them were entirely certain the old steps would handle two people at a time. She waited until he was halfway up before calling again, "I'll find some hot food, m'lord. There's gotta be something in town."

Allanna caught sight of a woman sitting on top of an ale keg near the stairs. Her age was hard to distinguish; 18, 28, 38, it was hard to tell through the long, wild hair and the horrifically painted face. She whispered to Robert as he passed, "Three coppers to suck your cock, m'lord."

Robert didn't seem to hear her, and when the whore looked to Allanna, she laughed and said louder before laughing, "Lick you slit for two."

Allanna blushed bright red, not because of the offer but because the whore had so easily known that Lonny was a girl. Allanna snapped back before turning away to find Terrance, "I have no slit, you tramp."

She found the Sergeant enjoying his first ale ... or at least drinking his first ale as he was making some curious grimaces after each sip. "I must find food for Lord Robert. Will you come with me?"

"I don't think we're supposed to go out there," Terrance warned.

He was right, of course, but the nobleman needed food. Allanna went to the Innkeeper and asked him to go out to get some food that either he or his staff or she could cook. The Innkeeper looked to the end of the counter where Robert's little fluffy creature had landed after it had inconspicuously leaped from his pocket.

"How's 'bout we cook up that?" the man said as he picked up a club and reared back.

Suddenly without either of them really seeing that it had happened, the fluff ball was no longer there but a hissing snake was. The Innkeeper froze, then leaped back in fear as the snake launched itself out at him, its fangs bared as it hissed.

"Unholy fuck!" he called out after he'd tripped over a small wine cask and topple over. "What was that?"

He came back up to his feet, still trying to put distance between him and the snake ... only to once again see the peaceful, fluffy little creature on the counter, chewing on a piece of bread crust it had found under the edge of an otherwise devoured plate of food.

Allanna -- whose heart was pounding as well -- only said in a feigned tone of calm, "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean?"

The man tried to explain what he'd seen, but it was beginning to sound either of madness or magic ... and he wasn't about to admit to either. Allanna set two of the coppers out on the counter, saying, "Another two when you have our dinner ready ... two more if it's edible."

The frazzled man took the coins, promised dinner in half an hour, and sent his daughter off into the town to fetch the meal's ingredients.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Robert wasn’t sure how he had found the bath, he was so exhausted. He didn’t even care that the water was cold; he just wanted to be clean. He closed the door and started taking off his clothes, and then noticed with horror that the creature he had kept from the woods was gone from his pocket. It must have fallen off during their hurried chase through town after the witch woman in her cloak. There was nothing he could do about it now, but he hated not being able to see the smile on Allanna’s face.

Having taken a cold bath or two in his life, he knew the secret was to slowly add the water. He sat in the dry tub and started ladling in scoop after scoop of cold, grey water. Any other day he would have avoided a bath of this questionable cleanliness, but he was desperate. He did avoid getting his chest wound wet, though. He planned on scrubbing himself with a cloth he found nearby, but he must have dozed off.

Sometime later, he was awoken by a knock on one of the two doors. It wasn’t the one he had come in by. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he called out, “I’m taking a bath, who is it?”

“Larra, m’lord. The innkeeper’s daughter. I just brought ya food up to ya room. Thought ya might need some ‘elp in da bath. I could help you out for a silver, if ya know wot I mean…”

Robert didn’t know if he would have taken the offer on a more energetic occasion (he did like the idea of at least knowing what the woman looked like before agreeing to sex), but on this night there was no chance he would say yes. “No, thank you for the offer, miss, but I’d like to soak in peace.”

The innkeeper’s daughter, who had seen Allanna fight to get Robert dinner earlier, thought she knew what he was thinking. “Ah, got someone else on ya mind, then?”

Robert didn’t have the energy to argue. “Yes, whatever, just leave, please.”

He didn’t realize Allanna had been just on the other side of the other door.

 

[CutiePie1997]

“I’m taking a bath, who is it?”

Allanna nearly leaped out of her skin at her Master's voice. She'd come upstairs to ask Robert if she could use the bath tub, but as she was walking past the bathing room shared by two rooms, realized that he was using it himself.

A second voice, this one an innocent sounding voice of an anything-but-innocent girl, “Larra, m’lord ... the innkeeper’s daughter."

The girl explained she'd brought up the food her mother had cooked ... then made a not too subtle hint that she had more for the man if he wished it. Robert told her no, then when she asked if he was saving himself for another woman, replied, “Yes, whatever, just leave, please.”

Allanna's lips spread in a pleased smile. He could have been simply shooing the girl away, or he may have been talking about Lilly back home. But what Allanna heard was I'm waiting for my Scribe to come in here, take her clothes off, and climb into this hot, steaming bath with me.

Allanna hid at the landing's far, shadowed end as Larra departed and returned to the tavern floor ... then quietly made her way into the shared bedroom. She slipped over closer to the door and peeked through a gap in it's unevenly sawn boards.

Robert was sound asleep in the tub, a one-third end of a large ale keg that had likely been repurposed after springing a leak in the disposed-of end. His eyes were closed, his head was back upon the folded towel or maybe a wash rag, and his knees were just barely visible beyond the near lip of the wood while his arms rested on the other edge. And that delicious hairy chest was on full display, awaiting the play of her fingers through its curls.

Allanna moved back, chastising herself for peeking in on her Master. She couldn't believe she was acting this way. It's Chloe's fault ... it has to be! she told herself. Allanna had barely even thought anything of sex other than it being a sin -- out of wedlock, of course -- per the teaching of the Holy Book from which she'd been forced to read every day of her life with the now deceased Priest. And now, after just one sexual encounter -- with another woman of all people! -- Allanna could hardly keep her mind off the topic, let alone her eyes off her Master.

She knew she should turn and walk away ... but ... then she recalled how wonderful it had felt to caress her hand over-- No, NO! I wasn't caressing Robert ... Lord Robert ... MASTER Robert! And yet, as hard as the dutiful and chaste side of her brain fought, the lustful side of it was slowly winning ... until finally Allanna began shedding her clothing and throwing it all about the room in haste.

When she was down to nothing more than her a pair of waist panties -- what some cultures called boxers when worn by men -- and a thin under tunic that barely reached past the other garment's waist band, she drew several deep breaths meant to calm her ... then surged for through the door.

"Dear Holy God!" Allanna shrieked again, as she had when Robert caught her naked at Chloe's. She covered her body -- not that anything was showing, of course -- crossing her arms over her small bosom and feigning regret, "I'm so sorry, m'lord, so sorry! I didn't know you were in here. Oh Holy God, forgive me."

And yet ... she didn't turn away from Robert.