F4: The Guildsman

* * * *

Kyelle looked around the crowded but cosy back room of the jeweller's shop she had entered with Angus. The old man who welcomed them had disappeared to locate the jewels she sought, and Angus hovered nervously near the rear door. He had not told Connor why he had asked him to meet him here, and he worried about his reaction when he saw the young Princess waiting for him.

There was a rhythmic knock at the back door and opening it a small way Angus ushered Connor inside quickly. Connor shook off his cape and growled at Angus, "So I am here now, what was so important it couldn't wait?"

"That would be me," Kyelle said with a voice much stronger than she felt.

"You brought her here of all places!" Connor said disgustedly still talking to Angus and trying to hide his pleasure at seeing Kyelle again.

"She is shopping for jewels for Eowyn," he shrugged, "Where should I have taken her?" Angus looked at Kyelle, who seemed angered by Connor's reaction to her appearance.

"Could we have some privacy, please? What I mean to say should not be heard by genteel ears," she smiled sweetly at Angus who bowed and edged out of the room. Then taking the upper hand Kyelle advanced on Connor making him take a backwards step in surprise.

"Just whom do you think you are to come into a lady's room in the middle of the night and leave a letter and gift such as this," she had reached into her bodice and drew the amulet forth. "You have given me no options, no right of reply, no real explanation." She drew a sharp breath, "Who are you to decide what and whom I deserve in my life. I am hardly the naïve girl you left behind in that doomed palace; I am married to a monster in case you had forgotten, and I have grown to realise just exactly how the world of men works." She continued advancing on him as she let vent to her anger and sadness backing him into a corner.

"Do you think me so shallow that your fortune or fame matter to me? Do you still see me as that young naïve girl who used to moon over you and follow you around the palace in secret, watching you practise with your men and those of my father?" She pressed forward until there was barely an inch between them.

Connor was made speechless by her words and her obvious anger towards him.

"Tell me, Connor, of this admiration you hold for the girl I used to be, for you obviously have no idea about the woman I am now," she took a deep breath and finally stilled with her lips close enough to his to feel his breath.

Connor looked into her eyes and saw them flash in challenge. He lost the battle with his emotions and leaned forward kissing her. She yielded to his kiss and closed the gap between them to press up against him, revelling in his soft groan. Coming to his senses Connor pushed her away holding her at arm's length and breathing heavily.

"I'm not that young naïve girl you left behind Connor," she said softly looking up into his dark eyes, "Would you really deny me and send me back to the joyless life I lead now," she whispered.

"I am not the heroic man you think I am," he final spoke and even to his own ears his voice held an edge of uncertainty and regret.

"No?" She pulled at her bodice popping buttons in quick succession exposing the flimsy undergarments and the amulet he had left on her pillow. "Then why did you leave this and the letter if not to try and save me from something?"

"Cover yourself," his eyes went towards the door before returning to hers, keeping them trained on her face with difficulty. His voice softened, as a blushed coloured her features and a small smile curled her lip. "Dammit, you're a Princess. A Queen," he corrected himself, "I am a soldier for hire, and," his eyes flickered down to her chest, "I am only human, please cover yourself."

She took one of his hands gently from her shoulder and stepped back in towards him again, her small smile growing. She ran a hand down his chest to his groin grasping his cock lewdly through his trousers and whispering, "I am glad to know you are human," she leaned in to kiss his surprised expression. "A man such as you could not send me back to face the coming turmoil without knowing a minute's happiness would you?"

"If I am honest there is nothing I would like more," he swallowed hard. "You are so beautiful," he stroked the side of her face and kissed her hard once more. Stealing himself and softly groaning he broke the kiss, picked her up and took several quick steps to the couch in the middle of the room. Placing her gently on the couch and moving away to sit opposite her on a chair, he put his head in his hands and rubbed at his face. "I know I am not the man for you, and even if I was, this is not the time or the place, I would not want anytime we may share, in an embrace, to be rushed and burdened by prying watchful eyes."

"But I..." she stopped as he held up his hand and followed his eyes to the door.

"Please just do as I asked, tonight under the new moon, you must promise me," he said with urgency.

"Will you come for me? Will you save me from whatever is happening," she asked dropping her angry bravado of just minutes ago. Connors breath caught as the girl he had fallen in love with reappeared from behind the mask of the worldly Queen Kyelle.

"I am doing my best to make sure you are kept safe," he murmured averting his eyes once more, "Please cover yourself properly Kya," he said softly, "This is not easy for me." She smiled at his use of the nickname her father had always used for her and with nimble fingers buttoned her bodice.

"I will promise on one condition," she said, "That you give me your word I will see you again before I am shipped off to my gilded cage where life may be privileged but is also very unpleasant." He looked at her then and wondered at her life as it had been since becoming the fifth wife of a tyrant. He hadn't let himself think about her fate, but her words made him examine his assumptions about the life she now led.

"I give you my word that I will do my best to keep you safe," he gave her a half truth, he did not know if he could risk another meeting like this.

"That is not what I asked," she seemed sad now, her anger having dissipated. "Am I so loathsome as the wife of your enemy that you would spurn me now, when I need you so much?"

"It is not me that you need, I am just the first face you have seen with the familiarity of home, you are home sick and once you are returned to your family you will find that things are not as dire as you thought at this moment," he said with regret. How easy it would have been to press his advantage and use her mixed emotions to his own ends, but he loved her in his own way and knew she was destined to be more than a whore for a guildsman.

"I have loved you for so long and believed you dead for half of that time," her voice caught as her eyes became glassy. "Now I am finally old enough, worldly enough, to tell you how I feel, and you call it homesickness?" Humiliation at his further rejection of her fuelled the tears she could not hold in check. "Perhaps I was wrong, a silly girl with a silly crush," her voice was brittle now, "You can tell your Uncle I am ready to view the stones now, I will bother you no more."

"Promise you will follow my instructions, please, Kya," he pleaded.

"Do not worry I will not betray you," she said the tears short lived as she was resigned to her fate now.

"You will see me again one day," he said quietly and kissed the top of her head before knocking on the door his uncle had disappeared through, then turning and leaving from the rear door he had entered by without a backward glance.

Angus came into the room noting the girl's distress as Connor exited. He frowned but said nothing merely waiting until Kyelle looked up at him before showing her the jewels to choose from.

* * * *

Kyelle lay in bed unable to sleep, she held the amulet tightly gripped in one hand staring into the darkness and giving reign to her tears. Of course, she missed home and her family but she would give them all up if he could love her the way she loved him. She wanted so much more than to be the wife of a conquering King, who was so paranoid he never even took his boots off before taking her to bed. She cringed remembering the nights she'd had to endure the attentions of the obese King and his hurried copulation techniques. At least it was over with quickly she had consoled herself.

Images of a shirtless Connor on the practice fields with his men filled her mind, and she wished he could have pretended to love her just for one afternoon. She longed to know the feel of a real man and her hand slid down her body to the apex of her thighs.

"There is no time for that," a feminine voice broke through the darkness of the room and as Kyelle opened her mouth to scream a hand clamped over it, and the woman spoke softly again, "Connor sent me."

Kyelle relaxed under the hand and nodded. The hand was lifted away, "We must go now, come!" She barely had time to grab a cloak before they exited her suite and Kyelle saw what she assumed were sleeping men lining the corridor and tall, lean scantily clad women roaming the walkways and corridors. She looked straight ahead and followed the woman out into the street. The cobbled stones hurt her feet, and she had trouble keeping up as the woman darted through the showy alleys.

Frustrated Odine picked up Kyelle and threw her over her shoulder before she continued on to the wall. Forced to climb the wall, Kyelle trembled in fear as she stood on the other side and stared into the dark forest surrounding the town. She had been told the legends of the forest guardians since she was a small child, and she had no wish to anger them, but at that moment she felt she had little choice. Connor had told her to be brave, so she stood passively in the spot the woman had left her as she helped others over the wall.

Confused and frightened Kyelle stumbled and was at times carried through the forest to a small well camouflaged village. She was shown to a small round house and ushered inside where she was left alone for what seemed an eternity but in fact was probably no more than an hour during which time she sat on a low bed filled, she suspected, with straw.

"I am Odine," the woman who had carried her from the town announced as she returned to the one room home. "You are small and weak, I do not understand why Connor believes you to be so... special." She said the last word as if it tasted bad in her mouth.

"He thinks me a child that needs looking after," Kyelle was offend by the woman's offhand comments but knew the truth enough to quench her curiosity and make her stop surveying her with predatory eyes.

"I know the looks of men; he does not think you a child," she laughed, "Tell me, what did you do to make him want such a small, weak woman for a mate? Do you have hidden skills with the bow or a knife?"

"I assure you he does not want me as a mate. He has told me as much," there was scorn heavy in her voice and she stood to face Odine.

"Then he is a liar. His heart beats for you and his eyes show his worry for you." She seemed to consider Kyelle for a moment, "I would be happy if it were not true, will you give him to me?"

"No!" Kyelle almost shouted because freezing under Odine's glare. "I mean... he isn't mine to give," she finished unsure of herself with this warrior woman.

"Sleep," Odine indicated the small bed Kyelle had been sitting on. "The time for words will come soon enough." With that, she lay down on a similar straw mattress within the same room and closed her eyes ending the conversation.

For the second time that night, Kyelle lay down and stared at the ceiling, the dim light from the dying fire pit and the uncomfortable mattress were the only differences from earlier as once again her mind went to Connor. She didn't understand him at all; she was hardly a wilting virgin Princess anymore; he could have just taken her, made love to her, then left and done the things that needed doing but he had pushed her away. She had acted so badly, like a harlot of the street throwing herself at him. She cringed at the memory of his rejection.

She closed her eyes and chose to remember the soft groan he made during their first kiss. It told of his need, and she had thought at that moment that she could have the man she wanted if only for the smallest of times. She tried to see where the mood had changed, but it eluded her, and she crumpled once again under the weight of his ultimate rejection of her advances and let her tears slide down her cheek as she turned to face the wall.

The sun was well past the horizon when Kyelle woke from a restless sleep. Her body ached, and she stretched laying in her bed and taking in her surroundings in the light of day. She was surprised that a screened off area held a pitcher and basin and a small chamber pot. Unsure of the customs here, it was with relief that she used the small screened off area grateful that she had worn a garment of some substance to bed that evening following Connors warning she even had her cape to drape around her shoulders.

Curious but not wanting to offend her hosts she peered through the small doorway of the round house into the village. It had seemed small in the darkness of the early morning when she had arrived, but she found it was actually quite a large a community from what she could see. A young girl stepped from the shadows beside the doorway and smiled. Motioning Kyelle to stay where she was the girl darted off into the surrounding houses.

It was not more than five minutes later that Odine came trotting back towards the house. Tall and muscular she looked even more impressive to Kyelle in the daylight. Her short dress hung from one shoulder and was belted tightly at the waist making her long legs seem even longer as she strode toward the doorway making Kyelle back away from the entrance.

"Come Kyelle," Odine motioned toward her. "You will not need that," she took the cloak from her and smiled, "The sun is a warm kiss for the skin, you must not hide from it so much. Come," she motioned Kyelle out in front of her, "We go to meet my mother."

Walking through the village Kyelle realised she was somewhat of a curiosity to these people. Her fair skin and light coloured hair marked her as distinctly different and while as a Princess she was accustomed to public scrutiny this felt very different from her life at court. They entered a large round dwelling and walked to the centre of the room. A tall, athletic looking woman looked up studying Kyelle and Odine before motioning them forward. The woman appeared older than Odine. She had the same features and build, although her curves appeared more feminine. Kyelle realised this must have been Odine's mother and guessed by the head-dress of feathers she wore that she was the leader of these warrior women.

"I am Oshin, Mother of the Guardians," she raised an eyebrow as Kyelle gasped at the word and smiled. "Are we not the fearsome creatures of your fairy stories?" She gave a half laugh.

"I apologise Oshin, Mother of the Guardians," Kyelle said softly giving her the full title. "I meant no disrespect; it would seem the legend has grown over time to scare small girls away from exploration of your island, I expect."

"It is accurate from what I understand of the story you have heard, my ancestors were very protective of our land and people as am I when needs be," she said seriously. "We will judge your words and your heart today, as a boon owed to Connor of the east." Extending her arm in invitation, she invited Kyelle to sit on a low stool within a small group of older women before joining her there. Odine stood behind her observing but not actually joining the group.

An ancient woman got up and waved a large colourful feather over Kyelle, chanting a song in surprising sweet tones. He stomach filled with butterflies, but she sat still allowing this to happen around her trying to remain calm outwardly and to remember the words in Connors letter to be brave. She did not flinch or move through the strange ceremony but turned her head toward Oshin as she began to ask short, direct questions.

"Are you afraid? Do you come here to harm us? Will you respect and obey our laws while you are here with us?" Each time Kyelle's response was negative, except that she would obey the laws of their people. One by one the other women joined the chant as she answered the questions. After a dozen or more innocuous seeming questions, the oldest of the women lifted a small leather bag and small pieces of animal bone were strewn across the small space between the women to land before Kyelle's feet.

A hush descended over the crowd as the bones were studied and murmured over by the women of the small group. The oldest of the women babbled something incomprehensible to Oshin, and the leader of the guardians spoke once more.

"You must endure one more trial, you will stay here and will make no sound, you will just watch what is to occur in this house. Do you agree?" Oshin studied Kyelle's face as she nodded in agreement unable to find her voice in her fear.

Kyelle turned as she remained on the stool and saw the small crowd in the house part to show the forced approach of the First queen and her son. They were heavily guarded; their hands bound behind their backs. They presented a very different image of captivity than the guardians had shown her.

"I am Oshin, Mother of the Guardians." The warrior woman stood before the bedraggled pair.

"I don't care who you are. I am Prince Regent and future King and you will bow before me," Hametus screeched spittle flying from his mouth in anger and fear.

"And you Queen of the west, do think I should bow before your son?" she asked in a deceptively mild voice.

"You will pay dearly for our mistreatment," the first Queen said coldly confident in the fact that the King would come to rescue his eldest son.

"I will help you to understand," once again her voice was deceptively mild. "The King of the west has no rights over the people or the land of this island. Your people visit the town because I and my people allow it, not the other way around. I will bow before no man and his elderly mother." She paused, letting her words sink in.

"You will bow before me!" Hametus blustered.

"No, I will not and this conversation has ended until you and your mother can show the proper respect to the true rulers of this land. Return them to their cages," she waved a hand and the guardian warrior women surrounded the pair once more and marched them from the house.

Kyelle was embarrassed by the bad behaviour of Prince Regent and lowered her head sadly as the warrior woman walked back toward her. "This is your family?" Oshin asked her again in that deceptively mild voice.

"The King of the west took me from my family and placed me with those people," Kyelle looked up into the narrowed eyes of Oshin. "I will, however, apologise for their awfulness and hope that you do not think all people of the west are so arrogant in their stupidity."

"Stupid is a good description,"Oshin nodded. "You may go and visit their cages if you want to speak with them."

"Perhaps another day, thank you, Oshin, Mother of the Guardians," Kyelle said softly. "I would very much like to learn more about your village and your people."

"You must only move in the village with an escort and not leave its borders at all," she replied. "You will remain in Odine's house for now," at her confused look she explained, "Where you slept last night."

"As you wish," Kyelle said naturally and gave a half smile remembering that the same thing had been said to her many times recently.

"You will dine with us tonight, and Oriah and I will tell you of our thoughts, go with Odine for now," Oshin dismissed her but before she left the big house Oshin called to her escort, "Odine make sure she sees all of the village."