Vandira lit a cigar and, just like the day before, sat down on the chair and put her legs on the desk. Liberated and anxious to show my worth, I scribbled quickly as she spoke, asking for clarifications where I thought it was necessary.
"After being banished, my first thought wasn't how to plot my return," she said. "I decided to go to the south-west, past the mountains, to the port of Umbaya, simply because that was the nearest city with a branch of the Stoneheart bank, where my assets were. As I said, I had money - my idea was to leave the past lie and maybe buy an inn along the harbour. The heavy ship traffic all but guaranteed customers, and if needed, I could always turn it into a brothel. The Church holds no sway over the Umbayans. And this could have been my life, if not for a couple of events."
A scruffy-looking soldier came in unannounced, whispered something to the Queen and gave her a parchment to inspect. She absentmindedly signed it without stopping her narration.
"The road south until you reach the mountains is safe enough. There are plenty of inns, taverns and the like along the way, so if you are willing to suck a few cocks or finger a young horny waitress you can get some food and a corner to sleep on without trouble. Once you reach the mountain pass though, there's always the danger of running into bandits. The Umbayans guard their side of the pass, but they don't waste resources beyond their border - most of their trade is by sea, so what if a few caravans get attacked? It makes little difference to them."
She got up, poured a glass of wine for herself, and this time took a second goblet and motioned me to come and fill it. I limped there as graciously as I could. She smirked. "You should try someone less rough for the next couple of days. Your cunt isn't ready for guys like Harad pounding it often."
Well, there goes the discretion she had shown till now, I thought. "I may not be, uhm, partaking of the services today, your Grace." I didn't have to tell her that, since it was not exactly her business. But I actually liked the interest she showed, as embarrassing as it felt.
"Nonsense. You can still have fun. I suggest Naira. But first, earn it. We still have a lot to cover." She had a sip and gathered her thoughts.
I went back to the desk and tried the wine. Uncultured as I was, I had no idea if it was good or not, but the goblet in my hand made me feel like I belonged to the Queen's entourage.
"Anyway, given the bandit threat, I thought it was safer to follow a merchant caravan, since they had guards with them. As it turned out, that was not too wise - bandits are more likely to ignore a lone traveler than four wagons full of stuff. When we got attacked, the caravan guards were no match for the company of Khonran the Savage. Although, to be fair, that moniker is unfair. Khonran is rather noble for a man of his reputation. Which is to say his men carried me back to their camp hog-tied, but kept their hands off.
They had no plans for me. Other prisoners could fetch some ransom, however small, but not me - and they didn't believe me when I told them I could pay for my own freedom if they just let me visit the bank. They were also vehemently against slavery - kidnapping was fine, of course - so they wouldn't sell me away. I think what they did in such cases was keep the woman in their camp until she decided her best option was to attach herself to one of them. Of course that was a game I knew how to play better than they did."
Taking advantage of the pause as she waited for me to write that down, I decided to ask her about the famous Savage. "Is Khonran as the songs say he is?" I had to drag some info out of her, as she tended to gloss over descriptions.
She seemed to wait for me to continue, as if she had no idea what the songs said.
I sighed and did my best to sing the tune:
Hither he comes, with hair black as night,
Hither he comes, foreboding, gloomy-eyed;
Sword in hand, to steal, to raid, to kill.
His sorrows great, his passions supreme;
Hither he comes. Hither he comes.
Vandira clapped joyfully at my sad attempt. "Not very informative though, is it? Yes, his hair was black, and yes, he had this smouldering look on his face. But he's not the giant mountain of muscle people think he is. Don't get me wrong, he can lift you with one hand and throw you, but he isn't as wide as you imagine."