Kingdom Born

Chapter 20: Lady Merric

The steam from the hot water in my bath felt...sinful. The tension and aches in my muscles just seeped out through my skin and dripped into the water. It felt wonderful but there was another sensation was building in me. A hot flush ripped through my body. I wanted Karl, right here and now. I would have taken him on the edge of the tub if he were nearby. Instead, all I saw were little unfed girls rushing about outside of the steam. I stretched my hand across my stomach as it growled and rubbed it gently. Wanton, that's what I was. I gathered my feet underneath me and stood letting the water drip off. Since I couldn't appease one hunger, I would deal with the other in my stomach.

A water bucket was placed nearby that I was supposed to rinse off with, a dainty little ladle stuck out of it. I tossed the ladle to the floor, picked up the bucket and doused myself with it from my head on down. It was cold water. I blinked it out of my eyes and reached for a towel. It was handed to me. I wiped my eyes clear and looked at the small child who had joined me.

She came up to my shoulder but was only half as wide. I could have crushed her in a hug. Her hair was bleached to blondness and it hung heavily down her back ending near her hips. All through it were little glass beads that caught the dim foggy light and reflected it, dazzling the eye. Her face was pretty enough but she had on paints, around her eyes, cheeks and lips. Her upper arm was smaller than my sunburnt forearm.

So when this child opened her mouth, I was stunned into listening for a moment, "I won't lose him to the likes of you! You swagger like a man, you're brown from work and you weigh as much as a cow. But I'm not afraid of you..."

If I had wanted, I could have tossed her around like a rag doll. "You would be better off if you turned and walked away little girl."

"Threats! I don't care how big you are but poison can take care of anyone, even a cow like you!"
I caught her arm, my indulgence and good humour gone once she referred to poison. I pushed her hard enough to knock her into my bath. She screamed as if I stuck a blade into her. Her screams were picked up by the other fragile veils and it echoed in the small bathing room.

I caught her shoulder and shoved her under the water to make her shut up. She came up sputtering and splitting out soapsuds. I grabbed her by her hair and dragged her close to me, "Who are you?"

"Let go of me." She turned her hands into claws and tried to rake my face. I shoved her under the water again, this time holding her under longer. She came up gasping for breath, "Who are you?"
"Merric..." She coughed and hung onto the side of the tub, "Matthais' wife".

I dropped my hand away. "I am Phara Longsword."

"I heard Matthais bought you as a slave girl."

"I'm slave to no man." I offered my hand to her. She looked at it suspiciously then took it. The kingdom dress had soaked up along of water. She almost weighed twice as much now as I pulled her out.

"Then why are you in women's quarters..."

"Lord Sander says that Karl and I have to get permission from Kaleb Bezer before we can be recognized as man and wife here."

"Put a towel on. You're too big everywhere," Merric bent down tossed me the one I had been using then toddered over to a stand and pulled out another towel for herself. She wrung her long hair out then flipped it back over her shoulder, "I know you bedded with him."

I didn't need to be told who we were referring to. I debated for a second about lying then shrugged. "I did."

Her green eyes narrowed, "And you don't want him?"
I met her accusing eyes honestly, "No."

She continued on, "I saw you together in my visions. Only you had longer hair." Her green eyes narrowed, "Lord Matthais is a man of power and it will be increased when he takes over as Thane, what kind of woman are you to toss away what he offered you? Matthais is a handsome rich man." Her hands tightened into fists of strained anger.

I wrapped the towel around my body. Now that I was out of the water, the coolness of the shaded air was too cool. I shivered. "You are a woman, you know the answers. Yes, he is handsome in his own way. He is a powerful and admirable man. If I had met Sanderson first, I could have taken him to my bed gladly, but he is not Karl. I don't know how to explain it any better."

"You don't want to take him away from me?"

"No." My tone was assured.

Merric's face broke into a wide smile, "Good, I don't think I could have actually poisoned you anyway. Nasty business poisoning someone." Merric bent over and began to ring her gown out. She shook her went hair out of her eyes then started to struggle out of the gown, "Help me will you. These look great but the men never have to wiggle into one of these."

I just looked at her. Less than a minute ago she was threatening my life and now she was treating me like were bloodsisters. I caught the edge of her hem and yanked it over her head.

She skipped across the tiles to a stack of towels and wrapped one around her body and another in her hair. I touched the ends of my hair. It was growing.

A brace of guards rushed into the steamy room, "Lady Merric?"

"We hear screams."

"It was nothing, a misunderstanding." Merric draped another towel over her head to hide her exposed shoulders.

"The whole wing was screaming." I felt their gaze lingering on the scars that crisscrossed my body.

"They scream if they can't get their girdles tight enough. As you can see, I'm alive. Now get out."

"Milady." The two guards backed out of the room.

"Are they gone?"

"Yes." I headed over to her and grabbed another towel and rubbed it vigorously around my head.
Merric's pulled the towel off her head and looked up at me, "We haven't been properly introduced..." She popped up to her feet and crossed one leg behind the other and bowed. "I am Lady Merric, wife to Matthais Sanderson. Welcome to Stronghold."

I was amazed she didn't fall over.

"Phara Longsword of Sandshore." I touched my heart then extended an open palm of friendship.
She looked at it then touched my hand. She closed her eyes and her forehead furrowed with concentration, "Captain Longsword."

"In case you didn't know it, I have the Gift."

"You're a seer."

She opened her eyes and shrugged, "Not as good as Lady Margaret, Matthais's mother. I can only get impressions most of the time and it's usually the immediate future. Do you want your future told?"

"Go ahead."

"You're already back on the path that will take you back to Sandshore, back to your former position. It won't be a happy path but it's the right one. That's all I get. I must apologize, normally I am not a screaming shrew who threatens new visitors. If I should be screaming at anyone it should be Matthais." She wrapped the towel around her head securely and gestured toward the door.

"You don't call him Matty?"

Merric picked up her discarded dress and twisted more water out on the tiles, "Heavens, no. I couldn't bare to call that hulk, Matty. What did you call him?"

"Sanderson. I had no one to ask formal permission to be more familiar."

"You can call him Matty if you wish."

"Never...If you approve I would call him Lord Matthais."

"Karlen Bezer is War Thane Kaleb's son, right? You are of a higher rank than me. If you wanted you could order my death for uttering threats against you." An impish gleam appeared in her eye that reminded me so much of Yana.

I cocked an eyebrow and stared down at her, "If I wanted to I could kill you myself."

Merric looked at me startled then smiled when she saw my slow grin. "May I call you Phara?"

"That is my name."

"Merric...Matthais calls me Merry but I detest that name. Come with me, I'll take you to your quarters. The waiting maids should have riffled through your things by now. If you find anything missing just tell me. I can tell you who took it. Father doesn't take kindly to finding dead servants, even if you are royalty." Merric gave up trying to wring out her dress so she tossed it back to the tiles, "Well come on, Phara. I'm hungry. As it is I've got to change, and you have to get dressed, and we'll be missing most of the best conversation."

I shook my head, smiled then followed after her like a little boat in her wake. Lady Merric Sanderson wasn't anything like I expected but she looked like a friend.


Merric escorted me to my assigned quarters then disappeared saying that she would be back in a moment to take me to the upper balcony. The quarters I was given were less than lavish but they were ten times better than anything I had ever slept in. Heavy tapestry curtains hung from the high windows all the way to the floor. The bed was rather narrow, meant for single occupancy, but it was covered with a down comforter and had several pillows on it. There was a huge multipatterned carpet on the floor that stretched from wall to wall and there was a dresser. I opened it cautiously expecting to find more of those hateful dresses inside instead I saw my familiar clothes. I pulled out underwear then began searching for breeches and a light tunic. The heat of the day was beginning to make me sweat again.

I was lacing up my boots when Merric floated in. "I didn't think you'd have anything appropriate so I scoffed a couple of old tunics from Matthais. I brought a sash to go with it. Here." She tossed the bundle of silk clothing to me.

"I'm fine."

"No, no, no...that's fine if you want to go riding. You'll be meeting Lady Margaret and first impressions are important. Try the green. It matches your eyes. I've got a yellow sash to accent it. Well, hurry up." She said all of this in one breath. Apparently I didn't move fast enough began she reached out and began to untie my lacings on my tunic.

"All right." I stripped off my cotton tunic and slipped into the green silk. It was huge. The hem hung down to my upper thighs, but the arm length was fine. While I was lacing it up and buttoning the sleeves, Merric was winding the sash around my waist.

"Green suits you." She chattered.

"So I've been told." I thought back to Sanderson and his green dress. It seemed all the Sander family wanted me in green.

"Come on, the upper balcony is just above the garden. It's peaceful and quiet. Sometimes around here, that's the only place you can go to think."

Merric lead me out of the chamber. By the time that we reached the upper balcony I was glad to see her disappear to Matthais' side. I now knew who the potential thieves were. Who slept around with any guardsman who asked. Who was best to stay away from as they couldn't keep a secret if their life depended on it. She spoke so fast she gave me a headache.

Karl had relented and dressed in silk pants and tunic that Lord Sander had provided. He looked...different. I made my way over to him, ignoring the way the garishly clad servers openly stared at me. Lord Sander called us to table and we began to eat. The servers treated me as if I were a new breed of Badlander that had just come crawling out of the fringes. Karl was treated as if he were some sort of demon or spirit come back from the dead. I guess to them he was. His deliberate staring with his pale grey eyes didn't do anything to ease the situation. the meal consisted of whispers and suddenly silences until Lady Margaret, Lord Sander's wife, appeared and then there was absolute silence. The balcony atmosphere had changed from idle curiosity to rigid order, based on fear more than respect.

Matthias and Merric ate, talked and made the eyes of newlyweds at each other, not noticing the strained silence that the regal woman left in her wake. He was elegant, probably more than fifteen years Matthais's elder but she had an aura of wisdom around her. Lady Sander past a quick glance over at Karl then centred her dark exotic gaze on me. I bowed in her direction to show that I respected her position and her authority with the ranks of this household. She returned my bow with a slight nod then turned her attention back to the well provided table.

"Karlen, Phara, I present my wife, Lady Margaret Yoe. Margaret, these are our honoured guests, our nephew Karlen Bezer and his...friend...Phara Longsword."

"Blessings to you both." Her voice was cultured and carried a lilting accent.

"May the Goddess bless your household, Lady Margaret."

She eased herself gracefully into a chair at the opposite end of the table. The servants who had been reluctant to approach hovered around her with trays and pitchers of wine. My goblet had long since gone dry. The small portions on the plate I had been handed would have served a child. I glanced over at Merric's plate. It was half empty but simple hunger wasn't in her mind.

"And what were you discussing with our honoured cousin, Mitchell. Not that dreaded ship journey, I hope. They've been at sea for weeks. and they are bored to death with it. Karlen has been away fro fifteen years, surely you could find a topic that would allow him to discover how much has changed."

"Kaleb will be here tonight." Lord Sander returned, easing himself back into his chair, holding his goblet up for refilling. I copied his move but the servant rushed past me to do his lord's bidding. When he was finished he stared past me back to Lady Margaret.

"Karlen is also you nephew. As a relative, you have a duty to him as well. Is there anything you would like to know Karlen?"

"My father...is he well?" Karl set his knife and fork aside.

"Kaleb is in great shape. I can't believe that King Halsem is forcing him into retirement at the end of this season. Kaleb's only forty-four years old. There's a lot more campaigning years in him.

"You cannot live by the sword forever. Everyone has to set it aside sooner or later. "I stared over at Karl, feeling that the message was for me as well as Lord Sander.

"True, but Kaleb has never been a land lord. He know the battlefield. My tutors and father taught me about the running of finances and the art of ruling, but Kaleb...I can't see him sitting calmly in his holding. King Halsem is giving him a fair sized parcel of land for his domain. You might remember it Karlen, old Lord Winfield's property. Winfield never had any daughters and his son was killed in a battled against the southern Highlands last year.'

"Kaleb never remarried though. When he thought you were dead, he should have. He was young enough to have started a family again."

"Mitchell!", Lady Margaret scolded seeing Karl's frown and my own expression of discomfort, "Kaleb's martial status is no concern of yours."

Lord Sander waved his wife's admonition aside, "Nonsense. Karlen here is a grown man. A fine looking man." He leaned forward, "How did you end up in the Kitchen?"

"Kitchen?" Both Karl and I spoke at the same time.

"The place where women rule."

"I find that insulting Lord Sander." I met his wry gaze evenly. There was more to his prodding than just ignorance. Both of us were being tested in some way.

"Then what can I call your land?"

"Karl and I come from a village called Sandshore, to the south of Coveport. Sandshore and Coveport are..."I searched for a word that would explain our inner workings.

"Independent states." Karl supplied quickly.

"Ah....tell me how you got to Sandshore, boy. You were being sent to me. That is one big detour."

I held onto Karl's hand beneath the table and squeezed it so he knew that he had an ally here. "Pirates attacked the ship. They were looking for gold. When they didn't find any, I was sold as a slave to make up for their losses. Eventually I made it over to the coast. I escaped and nearly drowned. Phara found me washed up on the beach. She nursed me back to health. We were married eleven years ago. We have a ten year old son, named Kyle."

"Why isn't your son with you?" Lady Margaret asked?

"This trip was unexpected." Karl returned squeezing my hand as a sign of his support.

"That sounds serious." Lady Margaret's words were compelling. I found myself speaking before I intended.

"I was banished for a year for disobeying orders of the Council."

"Thank you, Lady Longsword." Lady Margaret acknowledged my honesty with a slight raising of her goblet.

"Excuse us." Matthais and Merric rose from the table and made a discreet escape. They looked at each other with the eyes of newlyweds. I wondered why Merric allowed him to play around on her.

The servant with the tray of cold roast beef past by me again. I pushed my chair back, caught up to him and pulled the tray easily out of his hands. Since I was up I snagged the pitcher of wine and brought it back to our place setting. I filled Karl's goblet then mine then cut off a sizeable portion of beef.

There was a rustle of cloth and I looked up into the stormy face of Lady Margaret. "As you have so rightly pointed out the inexcusable behaviour of my household to you, I offer you my apologies." I nodded my acceptance. Lady Margaret turned her gaze on the empty handed servers, "You are dismissed. Be gone from the Stronghold before dusk." The servants turned red in the face, the one who had held the pitcher glared over at me as if to say something then bowed and stalked away into the shadows.

She elegantly rose to her feet and crossed to my side, "Generally the household the Northern Stronghold are a friendly and honourable. I must apologize as you have seen nothing of this."

She laid a hand on my shoulder. A chill ripped through me as if someone had walked up and poured ice water down my neck. My neck hairs stood on end. Carefully I shifted, breaking contact. "My husband and I have been treated like the strangers that we are. There is no harm done."

"Bad manners are not excusable, no matter who they come from." She shot an eye to her watching husband, "Lady Longsword, I would have you walk with me...if you are finished your meal." The words were a request but Lady Margaret's presence was more of a command.

I gestured to my newly made bread and meat stack, "Wrap this up for me, please." Karl nodded.
I pushed the meal away, stood up, brushing the crumbs off my shirt then offered Lady Margaret the lead as she crossed in front of me. Lord Sander's voice rose into another conversational topic as we exited the balcony.