He saw many a palatial residence as he ventured through the broader thoroughfares of the western district; he walked as soon as he was out of sight of his captors, to avoid possible attention.
He dwelt a little as he passed the house where he'd seen the desirable woman from the market. The house was so inviting, stucco walls with a green tiled roof; rambling roses adorned the front wall and part of the house. He could see a lengthy lawn round the side of the house; more roses and spring flowers abounded in the surrounding beds. He yearned for another look at her, but it was not to be.
He was startled by a small girl who had seen him and tapped his arm. Despite her diminutive size, he froze with fear.
"If you're looking for Mistress Serena, she may be at Maidenbower Manor today; it's her country house within the Darkwood." He looked around, the girl was unaccompanied, and he breathed a sigh of relief and then asked more of her.
"Mistress Serena; she has deep red hair, a slender lady with blue eyes?" The girl smiled at him as though he were a little simple.
"Yes of course, she sometimes teaches at my school; we call her 'Mistress rusty' because of her hair." He smiled softly back at the child and asked her where the Darkwood was? She pointed over the wall at the dense forest he'd seen from up the hill.
He patted her on the head and she skipped off. He watched as the picture of innocence faded into the distance; it pained him to think that no more than a toss of a coin might decide whether she became a Clara or a Serena when she reached adulthood.
He strolled down to the west gate and found that there were a minimal amount of sentries at this point; the fact that it faced the forest with a few rough tracks leading to the gate meant that only a rudimentary guard was necessary. There were already several carts parked up by the gate, laden with animal skins to be traded elsewhere to the west. They would depart in the morning when the gate was wheeled open.
Nilok waited till dusk, and then clambered onto one of the carts, covering himself with the musky hides. The stench was somewhat rich, but this was offset by the warmth that the skins provided. He slept soundly, undisturbed by the snoring of any large women.
He was awoken by the rocking motion created by the oxen being hitched to the cart. He lay motionless and awaited the sensation of the wheels traversing the cobbles. At last his entire body vibrated as the hard wheels shook between the cobbles, though he knew things might be difficult, he was elated; he was free again. The vibration gave way to a lumpy sensation as the cart left Ovum Fortis and took to the external dirt track. He allowed what he thought was around five minutes to pass before furtively peeping through the hides into daylight. He could see the wall and the citadel in the distance and panned his head round. There, around two hundred yards off, was the forest known as the Darkwood, which now looked very inviting in comparison to his recent confinement.
Nilok carefully edged his way clear of the hides and dropped, unseen, from the rear of the cart. He waited for it to move off into the distance as he lay in the lush grass beside the track. He filled his lungs with the sweet fresh air; he was a free man again.
He lay on his back surveying the soft blue sky as he waited for the cart to move beyond his field of vision. A skylark fluttered above, head high and warbling its urgent and adversely shrill notes in the warmth of the sun. Nilok smiled to himself as he tried to keep the tiny speck in focus. Nature always held a metaphor that he could identify with; he was anxious yet somehow jubilant. He sat up as the bird's notes faded into the glorious morning sunshine; the forest beckoned.
As he stood, he looked back at the wall and the tall citadel, and then he turned to the forest and started to waft his legs through the tall damp grass as he made his way to the trees. Somewhere within this dense arboreal world lay the promise of a manor occupied by a woman he would be pleased to be owned by. It seemed incomprehensible to him at this point, but it gave him the strength to persevere.
He penetrated the oaks and ashes; this forest was that dense, the sunlight had difficulty in breaking through the canopy in places, he dipped through one gnarled vale after another, the odd deer his only company; and they did not linger to indulge in conversation. As dusk fell, the eeriness of his situation realised its full potential; he slipped and tripped on inconvenient roots. He decided to rest for the night, and found a suitably comfortable nook within the plentiful roots of a huge oak. Though cooler than he may have wished, the canopy kept him just warm enough to allow him to sleep. He snuggled amongst the leaf litter and drifted off.
He was awoken by a sharp shower of rain; the silvery droplets falling in large globules after collecting in the foliage above. He shivered in the grey mist of dawn as the blackbirds doled out their plaintive songs. He slipped and stumbled on stiff legs, and as he tumbled over a fallen bough, a green woodpecker screeched its laughing cry as if to mock him as it darted past in low flight. He picked up a stick and hurled it high up in the direction of the bird; the stick landed with a crack on hard ground, he had slept just yards from a well beaten track.
He stepped up to a stony road that wound through the trees and pressed on, the sunshine split the clouds and a roll of thunder echoed in the distance. The road provided signposts to several residences as he cautiously tramped along; 'Hymenia Hall', 'Velveteen House', 'Grace Farm'. He looked furtively down the side tracks to these houses; they were all similarly fortified and he wondered upon the women that ran them. At last he came across the sign he had wished for; 'Maidenbower Manor'.
The sun was hot on his back now, as he crept down the track to the manor; it had a high wall with a large wooden gate, though the grounds within were elevated and he could see a finely tended garden before the imposing white three storey building with a castellated roof. He ducked behind a tree when a young woman appeared from a door; a cacophony of noise erupted as the geese she was feeding fought over the grain.
He was here, but the woman he desired may still be in Ovum Fortis and what of it anyway? He was only torturing himself with the idea that he could somehow be favoured by her. He laughed at his own folly as he toyed with the collar about his neck; this was sore and he wished he had some balm to ease it with. He stepped out from beyond the tree and started to walk back up the track. The girl with the geese saw the bedraggled figure and called out to him, she could see he was weary and wondered who he was.
"Can I help you?" He stopped dead and turned, there was no harm in engaging the woman; she was not armed and he could disappear into the forest at will. He stepped toward the gate.
"Oh, I'm just on my way to Ovum Fortis, I err...' The woman could see he was lost for words and knew he was probably a 'stray'.
"Would you like some water?" The woman smiled kindly at him through a hatch in the gate; there was a spring in the garden and she bent down and filled a cup from a rack on a post. She was an attractive woman of about 40, and smiled kindly at him as she passed the cup through. She eyed him in a slightly provocative way as he looked at her delicate slender hand as he accepted the cup from her.
Dishevelled and tired, the company of a warm woman was all the more inviting; his cock tingled as he noticed the woman's pertly erect nipples through her thin dress. He downed the clear refreshing water in one; she smiled and gave him another without asking. He looked at her full figure, the long thin dress tied around the middle displaying her feminine curves, he could smell her as she passed him the drink and he imagined what it would be like to be tucked up in a soft warm bed with her. He thanked her for the water, and casually asked if it were her house? She giggled.
"I am Bella, the Housekeeper; the manor belongs to Mistress Serena of Ovum; that's where she is at this time. She's a very attractive red-haired lady, not easily forgotten once seen." He commented back unconsciously.
"I know." She looked at him, puzzled, as he swiftly handed back the cup. He felt he had given away too much and thanked her again, but also made sure she knew who he was.
"Thank you Bella, my name is Nilok by the way, and I am forever indebted to you." If only he'd known that Bella was on the verge of inviting him in; she had ideas of a warm cosy bed too. 'Nilok' she thought, as she watched him slip away.
He skipped into the forest and cut through back to the road; now he'd seen her country house and found that he would always be offered a drink, he somehow felt he'd achieved a little. He was unsure what to do and his stomach rumbled somewhat; He found a path which dissected the road, a pointer to Ovum Fortis went one way, a Citadel called Femina Bastia lay to the west; he went west along the dark and gloomy path.
The forest was very dense here, making it difficult seeing where he was going as soon as the sun began to go down; the situation also had a strange eeriness to it, no birds sang here. He decided to move off the path to find somewhere to sleep. As he stepped through the undergrowth there was a loud crack and he was hoist in the air by one leg; he cracked his head on a root as he went over, he swung there for a few moments, viewing the canopy above as it swirled back and forth; then everything went black.
When he awoke again, he found himself bound and slumped over a pony. The animal was led by a woman with bow and daggers; he watched her shapely bottom as she jostled past obstructions, up ahead he could see a small ivy clad cottage nestling between the trees, a plume of grey smoke lifting from its chimney up through the canopy, welcoming lights peeping from the windows a dusk fell.
The woman seemed to sense he was now awake and looked back at him with a wicked smile; it seemed he was to have female company whether he liked it or not. As the pony approached the cottage, another formidable looking woman with tight leather leggings and bodice came out.
