CHAPTER 4: GORAN'S PLAN
The next morning Goran carried the two large packs to the corral where the borsin was still behaving himself. Cat struggled under a larger load of other items. They were leaving as soon as Goran made two more stops at craft shops. He hefted the packs onto the back of borsin and secured them. Cat was to secure everything else and meet him with the borsin who he talked firmly to about cooperating with his slave. Cat was surprised by the reaction from it as it looked sideways at Cat as if to say he would only because Goran wanted it. Cat shook her head. How was she going to get the borsin to respect her will?
Cat needed a ladder leaned against its side to properly secure everything, paid the stablemaster what was owned from coins Goran gave her, then walked with the borsin down the street. She was again only wearing her hide boots, otherwise naked. They drew many stares and she wasn't at all sure if it was the borsin or her. And, if it was her, it wasn't that she was naked, but was it her ink over her mound or her bare pussy? Either way, she stood out as Goran had wanted.
When they caught up with Goran, he was standing in the middle of the street. Cat had been with him long enough now that she normally saw him without really seeing him. Now, walking the busy street with the borsin alongside her, an image she would never fully appreciate from another's perspective, she saw him, her Master, Goran, as he was really. He was standing with his feet comfortably apart but with a tension in his legs able to spring to either side or backward or forward in an instant. His thick hide boots on his feet and tight hide pants on his body appearing as though they had somehow been applied to his legs layer by layer. A dagger was secured to his right calf. A thick belt around his waist held a longer dagger. His upper body was bare but for the two large swords in harnesses across his back. And, of course, the medallion at his throat. She saw a man that seemed comfortable but closer examination showed her how the muscles over his body twitched and vibrated as his eyes scanned around him constantly, his entire body always prepared to move instantly to any discovered threat. It was the way of his life. A man who makes his living as a sought-after mercenary and legendary assassin has a list of known enemies and an awareness of those who would seek to make a name for themselves.
Cat now defined herself as a slave to Goran on this world and it wasn't with reluctance. She proudly served him and honored his care with obedience. But their Master/slave situation was different from most. She was given the freedom to speak her questions and curiosities. Slaves normally remain quiet until given specific permission to speak or are asked a direct question. She was also free to initiate sex. Cat was not USED for sex. Sex was a comfortable and recurring part of them.
Both items Goran held in his hands were covered in cloth wrappings. Cat inquired, "The new sword is one, but I didn't realize you had another item to be made, Master."
He touched her cheek as he moved past her to secure the two items to the packs with his lance and his covered bow and quivers of arrows. He smiled teasingly at her as he leaped impossibly onto the borsin's back with the aid of pulling on the mane. Reaching down to grasp her hand to assist her up, "Gifts... in case of someone worthy of being trained." It was a puzzling response but she was being propelled into the air to land behind him. She wondered what kind of training lay ahead.
Goran didn't stop the borsin for hours... many hours. They had left the roadway a long time ago and were moving cross-country. Cat wondered how he knew where he was going and concluded it must be an innate directional sense acquired with enough travel through the wilds without the benefit of GPS or maps.
The borsin was moving steadily up a hill. They had been moving for much longer at one time than they ever had before. Cat understood his desire to leave the city behind and he frequently stopped on hilltops to search behind them for anyone following. Finding none after those hours, Goran seemed to relax somewhat.
Cat ventured to allow her curious mind to verbalize her questions. "Master, where are we heading? You seem intent on getting somewhere."
He stopped the borsin on the hilltop. "Hmmm... not so much intent on getting somewhere as resuming the journey I had been on before crossing paths with the caravan and encountering you. Finding you created a detour I had not anticipated. We will make up some of the delays and then rest... it will be explained by HOREAN time. Expectations might be set for a certain date but that is always a rough expectation. It is understood that you might arrive early or late." He chuckled, "So, nobody arrived early..."
Catching the meaning, Cat finished for him, "Always late." He was scanning the immediate surroundings as he always seemed to do when a good vantage point presented itself. His hand absently caressing her hand lightly holding his hard stomach. She sighed at the gentle touch from this hard man. "Where are we headed then, Master?"
He pointed ahead. She leaned to the side to see around him better. She saw a wide valley, a meandering river, thick and dense forest on the opposite side, and rising hills into the distance like waves on a sea. Exactly where in all that she had no idea. He chuckled and pointed her attention further. On the horizon was a ragged line of snow-capped mountain peaks. She had looked at them before... from the room... "You are going back to see those people? Where the borsin came from?" He nodded and wouldn't offer more details but set the borsin steadily moving, again.
That night, after settling the borsin and starting supper from the supplies in the now bulging camp pack, Cat noticed Goran standing pensively between the camp and the gently flowing river where the borsin drank and grazed on the grass. She walked up and stood next to him and felt his powerful arm drape around her shoulder and pull her tight into him in an easy, natural action. She could see nothing that should hold his attention so fixedly so she remained quiet. He suddenly released her and spun around, walking deliberately to the camp and specifically to the packs and gear. He had muttered only three words, it is time. But to himself or her?
As she followed him, by curiosity rather than direction, she paused to stir the pot heating over the fire containing her latest stew variation. Goran preferred a thick broth, more like a gravy, so the mixture had a lot of heating to boil away water and to permeate the meat chunks with added flavor.
Goran held the last two wrapped bundles from the city. He handed one to Cat who looked at him questioningly. It was heavy in her hands. With a flick of his head, he motioned her to open it. She unwrapped the heavy cloth, which was a blanket. She laid it on the ground to expose its contents, already anticipating what it was by its weight and rigid shape but uncertain about its implication. What she found was the sword Goran chose from the caravan. The blade sparkled in the light and looked as if newly crafted. The hilt and guard had been retooled. She looked up to him and he again used only a motion of his head for her to take it up. It felt heavy in her hands but not as heavy as his swords when she had held them for him. She looked at him, again, still uncertain about what was happening and he gave another reassuring look. She gripped the hilt in her hand, her right hand high near the guard and the left lower. The hilt was sized perfectly in her hand. She then remembered him telling the craftsman to retool the hilt slightly smaller in diameter. As she turned it in her hands, she noticed the butt of the hilt. It contained Goran's symbol and the braided hair from her head and the sparkling jewels he requested. It felt like a fine weapon but the marking of his symbol seemed to make it his and not a gift as he had told the craftsman.
With one hand shifted under the broad surface of the blade and the other under the hilt, she offered it up to Goran, "A beautiful weapon, Master. It will be a treasured gift, I am sure." He didn't move his hands, however, as she offered it to him. He just smiled. Confused, her eyes flicked from the weapon in her hands to her Master and back and forth before settling on the gleaming blade. A gift... but it bore his symbol... the same symbol on the butt of his weapons... marking it as his... but a gift...
"Master?" The only explanation hit her. The only explanation? There should be another... shouldn't there? "Master... me?" His smile changed, softened somehow. "But, Master, I thought there was a rule against slaves using weapons except in domestic tasks."
"There are unwritten but accepted rules that I violate regularly it seems. This will just be another." The feel of the blade in her hand immediately became different. It was a gift from her Master but it was a gift with implications of use and purpose. "I told you, Cat, I imagined a future but it was dependent on you... on you being able to accept and thrive in your allowed role in this brutal world." Her eyes looked into his as her hand tightened around the hilt in unconscious response to his words. "You have exceeded any expectation I could have established. This world is harsh and demanding on any woman, much less one unprotected. You have quickly established yourself as my slave, an exceptional slave, that will be remembered in that city we just left. Now, we can begin implementing my plan."
His plan was stunning. He described the future he envisioned while eating. Between bites and chewing, he talked and explained, and addressed issues. She listened intently with little interruption through her eating, then as she cleaned up after. In short, his vision was a partner. Until he met her, he had never considered the possibility of traveling and trusting in someone. But finding her and hearing of her background and training, the image of what might take hold. The way she adapted to him, his wishes, and the role he established stunned him. How this physically strong, commandingly confident, and highly intelligent person transformed herself to comply with the only role available to her was a testament to the determination and willful internal strength residing within her. It was then that he knew it was possible and his thoughts turned seriously to what he wanted.
He stood by the light of the blazing fire and indicated with his hands for her to join him. "If you are willing to take this step with me, I think your body is."
