Bertrice Small - Lara

“One slave was considered unfit. I only delivered the order, but I agreed to see the inferior one was replaced. I am taking her for sale elsewhere,” Rolf explained.

The guard grunted, satisfied with the answer. Content with his inspection, he passed the caravan through into the Desert realm. There Rolf Fairplay requested permission to camp for the night.

“The Head Forester from the Forest District will be here on the morrow to complete a sale,” he explained to the Desert official. “I expect he will arrive shortly after the sun is up. There is much involved, and I thought it better to finish our transaction here rather than at his hall. Have you a banker nearby?”

The official nodded. “I will send one of my men for him at dawn. You need not depart until you have put your monies with him for credit in the City.”

They ate, and prepared for bed once again. The sky above them was darker than any Lara had ever seen, and filled with bright crystal stars. While the blue moon of the Midlands had been new when she left the City, the deep red-orange Desert moon was a full glorious globe. The Forest moon, a first quarter the previous night, was a pale green. She wondered what hue the coastal moon was, and whether she would ever see it. Or if one day she might stand somewhere in the Outlands and see all the four moons of Hetar.

“Come to bed, Lara,” Noss called to her.

“In a moment,” Lara responded. She wanted a few last minutes alone in the night to enjoy her freedom. She knew that once she came into the possession of the Head Forester and his brother, she would not find much time if any to be alone again. She had always enjoyed her solitary time. She looked down into the crystal that hung around her neck. The little flame flickered and grew brighter.

What do you want? Ethne asked.

To remain brave. To not show fear before the Forest Lords.

The strength is within you, came her reply. You have but to use it.

Lara dropped the crystal, and it fell to lie in the valley between her breasts. She felt its subtle warmth against her skin. She wondered once if the voice she heard was her mother’s, but her father had said no. Ilona had given her the chain and pendant from her own neck. She, too, had heard the voice, for so had she told him when she first showed him the crystal star. Still it was faerie magic, and Lara was glad to have it. It was odd, but she did feel strong. It was a sensation she had never truly experienced until recently. With a final look at the sky she returned to the cart to sleep. Too soon morning would come. Climbing into the cart, Lara sighed softly. Noss was already sleeping, no doubt relieved that she would not go to the Forest Lords tomorrow.

Yet the next day Noss was awake early, and again she brought food for Lara, and water for her to bathe in before she left them. Lara thanked her once more, and when she had finished her food she washed her face and hands in the warm water even as the Forest Lords arrived at the border. Hearing the approaching hoofbeats, she brushed out her hair and plaited it into one braid, knowing that she would be sent for when it was time. Rolf Fairplay would not let her go until he had counted and weighed every coin.

In the end, it took several hours, for the trader was a suspicious man where transactions of this sort were involved. Each coin was checked to be certain it was pure gold, and not a baser metal merely gilded. Some coins weighed a bit more, and others a bit less, but the final weight was exactly what it should be.

The Desert banker was standing by on his side of the border to take the gold that the Head Forester passed over. Lara was called to come. Hugging Noss, she reminded her to be brave, and kissed the girl’s cheek. Then the papers transferring Lara’s ownership from Gaius Prospero through Rolf Fairplay to Durga and Enda of the Forest Kingdom were signed. And finally, Lara, daughter of Sir John Swiftsword, stepped across the border separating the Desert from the Forest, and into the custody of her new masters.

“CAN YOU RIDE?” Enda asked Lara.

She shook her head in the negative. “But I can learn,” she told him.

Reaching down, he pulled her up and settled her before him on his saddle. His free hand smoothed over her breasts. “Sweet,” he murmured in her ear.

She probably should be afraid, Lara considered, but she wasn’t. It was a childish display of ownership. She said nothing as he drew her back against him, his sinewy arm clamped about her slender waist.

“We won’t go very fast,” he told her.

“If you expect to return to your hall tonight you will have to eventually,” Lara said. “If it took Rolf Fairplay’s caravan two days to reach the border you must have ridden quickly to reach here in just a day.”

“You are educated?” He was surprised.

“Enough to understand time and distance,” she told him.

“You have not been raised a slave?” His voice was hot in her ear.

“No,” Lara replied shortly.

“Tell me,” he said, curious now.

“You know my mother was a faerie woman. She deserted us when I was an infant. My father was a member of the Mercenary Guild,” Lara said. “My father’s mother raised me, and then my stepmother, Susanna. My father is a great warrior, and very much wanted to join the Crusader Knights, but he had not the means until it was suggested that he sell me to Gaius Prospero. And so I am now in your possession.”

“Did your father at least win his place among the Crusader Knights?” Enda asked.

“Yes,” Lara said. “I saw it all, and he fought well.”

“Why did not Gaius Prospero sell you to one of the Pleasure Houses? You are obviously meant for one,” Enda probed.

“That was his plan, but the Head Mistress of the Guild of Pleasure Women would not permit it. My beauty was already causing dissension among the women, the owners of the Pleasure Houses and their patrons. And then there is my faerie heritage. Some feared it,” Lara concluded.

“I do not fear it,” he said softly, and she felt his hot mouth on the back of her neck. “For centuries the Forest folk and the faerie folk have been allies. We enjoy making love to faerie women.” His teeth nipped her flesh.

“I am not a faerie woman,” Lara protested softly. “I only had a faerie mother. I know nothing of magic or spells. If you have purchased me for that reason you have cheated yourselves. There is still time to catch Rolf Fairplay, and have him return your gold. He will do so, and the Coastal King’s son will not be disappointed.”

Enda laughed. “No, we will not return you, and poor Arcas will never know what he has missed. The trader is satisfied with the transaction, and the banker who took our gold has already sent a faeriepost to the City to credit Gaius Prospero. You belong to me and my brother now, Lara. Best to get used to that fact.” The hand fondling her breast pinched the nipple sharply, making her gasp in surprise.

He laughed, and they continued on their way. After a short while their pace increased until they were cantering along a barely discernible trail, and the Forest around them was deep and dark. The caravan had not come this way, Lara realized, but it occurred to her that the traveler’s route might not necessarily be the fastest route, but the easiest. Their path led up hills and across meadows. The horses never seemed to flag, and Lara wondered if they would stop before they reached their destination. But as the sun reached its zenith in the summer sky the brothers drew their mounts to a halt in a small clearing with a stream.

Durga was off his mount first, and coming over, lifted Lara down from her perch on Enda’s saddle. He tipped her face up to his, saying, “Do not be fearful, faerie girl. We will treat you well, and you will do our bidding obediently, eh?”

“Yes, my lord,” Lara told him. His black eyes were small and piggy.

“Restrain your lust, brother,” Enda said joining them. “Remember your promise to me.” And he chuckled.

“Do not take long, then,” his elder replied. “If you were not so delicate in your manner we could have her here and now on yon mossy bank. Think of the pleasure we would gain, and ’tis a fine day for it,” Durga concluded.

Enda laughed aloud. “No,” he said. “Our seed will grow more potent if we wait.” Then he turned to Lara, who had been listening to them and struggling to restrain her aversion. “Go into the bushes, girl, and relieve yourself. We will be doing the same. Are you hungry?”

“Aye.”

“Do what you must, and then we’ll eat,” he told her.

Hidden behind the greenery Lara obeyed him, for it was the only sensible thing to do. She gazed down at her pendant. The little flame glowed steadily. She drew a deep breath, and stepped out into the clearing again, where the two men were awaiting her. Enda handed her a chunk of bread spread with the most delicious cheese she had ever tasted in all her life. It was soft and creamy, and had bits of mushroom in it. Lara gobbled it down none too delicately, and Enda, eyes dancing with amusement, handed her a second piece.

“My betrothed wife, Tira, makes the cheese,” he said. “It is good, isn’t it?”

“You have a wife?” She was surprised.

“We wed in the autumn. She is the younger sister of Durga’s wife, Sita. My brother and I are members of the ruling family. It is tradition that our wives come from one particular family.”

“What if a particular generation had no females?” Lara asked him.

“It has never happened,” Enda said. “Our bloodline is pure, and goes back to the days of the Creation. The Forest clans are the oldest families on Hetar.”

They gave her a little wine to drink, and then they remounted their horses and were on their way again. It was very late afternoon when they arrived back at Durga’s hall. Sandwiched between her two owners, Lara mounted the narrow, winding staircase that led to the treetop structure. She was amazed by it all. There was nothing like it in the City.