Westrons

The Queen was to marry. People had been discussing it for months, speculating, guessing, and even making wagers about who the lucky male might be.

She'd chosen the son of one of her closest allies. Some thought that she might have tried to form a new alliance, or even to win over one of her opponents. I approved of her choice, though: reward your friends.

Her husband would be the Prince Consort - not the King. He would live in style, and have the privilege of attending the Queen's hemmers, and fathering her children. If he showed any talent for governing, he

might

be allowed to play an active role in ruling the Kingdom.

Maia Simonia - Themis - was marrying the son and sole heir of the late Duchess of Ivia. Themis' daughters would eventually inherit the Duchy. It was a significant land grab for the Royal family. Some families would be jealous, but no one could blame the Queen for obtaining the young heir - and his property - for her sister.

There would be three months of preparations, followed by two weeks of parties and special events, leading up to the weddings. It might sound like a long delay, but the announcement had to travel to all corners of the Kingdom, by boat and on foot - and then the leading noble families had to get ready to travel to the capital.

Themis was getting married.

- "How do you feel about it?" asked Kanitz.

We were in the Chancellor's study again. Kanitz was visibly pregnant - with my child.

- "I'm fine." I said.

- "Are you sure? I know how you felt about her."

- "Thank you for asking, Wenzla. I appreciate your ... concern. But, really - you used the correct verb tense: 'felt'. It was three years ago, after all."

Themis - Princess Maia Simonia -

was

unique: intelligent, kind, beautiful and brave. I could remember the sound of her voice, the touch of her skin, the smell and the feel of her during her hemmer.

Neither Tallia nor Esyle knew about this part of my life. My time with Themis was safely and secretly ensconced in my memory. And in our daughter.

- "Three years is not so long, when it comes to matters of the heart." said Kanitz. She was the only person who knew everything about Themis and me. I always wondered if Langoret suspected or knew, but she'd never said a word.

- "The Princess and the Pylosian? I came to terms with it even then, in our camp outside Tonol, before I knew who she really was." A marriage between us was out of the question. And to be honest, I wasn't certain that I could devote myself completely to a Westron.

Sex once a year? Admittedly, hemmers were incredible, and there's something to be said for three straight days of amazing sex. But

annually

?

- "Are you happy, Cook? Living among us?" asked Kanitz.

We were alone, so it was safe to take the Queen's Chancellor in my arms, and kiss her.

- "Very much so, Wenzla. I always dreamed of a military command - and you've given it to me. My sex life is a fantasy come true, and I've found good friends - true friends."

I didn't mention that I still missed coffee, every now and then - even after all this time.

- "I was thinking more of the people trying to kill you." she said.

It wasn't the first time, I thought, remembering my time at AFOTA. But I couldn't speak of such things with her.

Kanitz had her own troubles: Krayt had been found, floating face down in the river. He'd been badly beaten, and strangled.

There were suspicions, and even some accusations, that the Chancellor had had him murdered, to protect her 'Pylosian Pet' - the Queen's favourite Colonel. There were worse nicknames, and even some scurrilous pamphlets.

I'd seen one with an illustration that showed me waving a sword while I mounted the Queen from behind, even as she signed over the Belere Palace to me.

Esyle assured me that people didn't take 'these sorts of things' seriously. Tallia, on the other hand, tore the offensive paper into shreds.

I knew that Kanitz had been trying to have Krayt followed, to discover who his friends were; she was the last person who would want him dead. Yet there would be many, even among the aristocracy, who would suspect that she'd been behind the killing.

- "It could have been worse." she said. "They could have killed him the day before the wedding. Or the boat party.

That

would have been a disaster."

But that wasn't why she'd called me in to see her.

- "Tell me about Talley's maps." she said.

Esyle, her sister and I referred to it as 'the Wole project'. Using my money, Talley was offering generous pay to anyone who could help him improve the accuracy of his maps.

Obviously, Westrons turned up, to see if they could earn some coin. But others came to see the quality of his work, and several ended up making purchases.

There were also Woles who dropped by. They knew the Westron Kingdom as well - or better - than the Westrons themselves. But they also knew the Crolian lands. Talley had specifically mentioned several provinces which had fallen to the Crolians in past wars.

The Woles were happy to show Talley where roads had been built, or where towns were prospering and growing. They also knew the locations of mines and lumber camps, of foundries and workshops. And of supply depots.

Esyle and Tallia often chanced to 'drop by', to visit their father, whenever he had Wole guests. Pure coincidence, of course. Then the two gregarious ladies might become involved in a conversation with these well-travelled Woles.

- "I want to know everything they discover." said Kanitz. "No matter how small the detail, or how inconsequential it seems."

- "It's Esyle's project." I said. "It was all her idea. And she intended all along to share everything she learned with you."

- "Thank you. Please tell her that I appreciate it. And ... thank both sisters for ... tonight."

I raised both eyebrows. "Why? What happens tonight?"

- "Don't play with me, Cook. I'm uncomfortable, short-tempered, and tremendously horny. You'd better be prepared to do something about that."

- "I am at your service, Chancellor."

***

We received a second invitation to dinner from Countess Iloni.

- "A small gathering: only 12 people." said Esyle. "And this time, I'm included in the invitation."

- "She's learning." said Tallia.

- "Please respond politely," I said, "but decline."

- "On what grounds?" asked Esyle. "I can't just say 'No'."

- "Ill health." I suggested.

- "Are you sure, Cook? You could be making an enemy here."

- "She already is. I don't like her, and I certainly don't trust her. Last time we went to her house, Krayt and Berandot were there ... need I say more?"

- "I agree completely." said Tallia.

- "You weren't invited." said Esyle.

***

Aneli gave birth to a boy. Predictably enough, she named him Limset. Poor little fellow.

Tudino was indeed pregnant, and so was Avette. Kanitz was hoping to deliver

her

child before the Royal weddings.

Tallia wasn't jealous, but she might have been a bit ... competitive. She became increasingly demanding. Her cycle had arrived, and she wanted to make absolutely certain that I would impregnate her.

That meant making love to her three or four times a day. It was like a hemmer - without the assistance of additional pheromones. She was sore, and cranky, and I was chafed raw.

On the fifth day, I could only manage to have sex twice. I was utterly exhausted, and I knew that the old soldier just wasn't going to be able to rise to the occasion.

- "I'll be fine in the morning, Tallia." I promised. "I just need a rest, tonight."

She didn't say anything, but I could feel the reproach in her eyes.

Then Esyle's cycle began.

I tried my best. Twice a day with Esyle, once with Tallia. The sisters began to get a little chippy. Tempers were short, and starting to fray.

It was time for a family conference.

I had them sit down. Both were eying me with mild suspicion.

First, I knelt at Tallia's feet.

- "I love you, Tallia. I love making love to you, too."

"I'm doing my best to keep up with you. But I think that you both need to know something about hemmers - from a male perspective."

I explained to them what I'd experienced, from Airta to Avette. Every woman is different, and her hemmer acts differently on her, as well as on her partner. But there were common elements.

For the male, hemmer acts like a super ED pill (erectile dysfunction). It also constantly lubricates the female, to prevent discomfort for both partners. On top of that, the pheromones and chemicals released are astonishing. I'm not even sure of how much effect they have.

I didn't want Tallia and Esyle to feel ... lacking in any way.

- "I can't make love to you eight times in a single day. It's just not possible, for us."

"But we can make love for ten days straight. Or twenty - or a hundred - which

no Westron female can do."

I moved over to kneel at Esyle's feet.

- "Sweetheart, I love you, too. Your sister is going a little crazy right now. And so are you. Can the two of you, maybe ... talk about it?"

They did.

Tallia desperately wanted to get pregnant

now

... because no one knew if or when another war might start. If that happened, we'd be back with the troops, and she didn't want to leave me alone.

Esyle understood. She also knew that she was younger, and that she didn't have the same worries that her older sister did.

Shortly after that, I was able to leave the room, and let the sisters work it out.

***

A week later, they'd both had calmed down, and were either pregnant - or they weren't. We couldn't do anything about it, any more.

So I spent an evening with Kanitz, at the Palace. Her time was drawing nearer, and she was feeling alone. I held her, and listened to her complaints. Then I rubbed her feet.

I rubbed her back, too, until she fell asleep.

It was an amazing revelation, for me. I'd always thought of Wenzla as a spirit of the air: a creature of intellect, rational and coolly calculating. But she was vulnerable now, and her fears and emotions were coming to the surface.

Had she not been the Queen's Chancellor, I might have married her. But the mere fact that I thought of her as 'Kanitz' more often than 'Wenzla' was telling. It was unlikely that she could ever give herself to me completely.

No matter. I could love her without calculating the percentages. She was friend, advisor, lover ... wonderful lover. There would probably always be a part of her that I couldn't reach; I just had to accept that.

***

I travelled to the barracks where the Aneli regiment were housed. Many of the troopers would be away, on leave. Major Faregil had been dropping in more regularly, but they needed to see their Colonel from time to time.

It was a week's journey, just to get there. Tallia had volunteered to come along, but I asked her to stay with Esyle. This visit was purely to re-connect with the troops; I didn't need her administrative expertise on this occasion.

And yes - I needed the rest.

It was just my four bodyguards and me. Ishana still kept her distance, but she was a first-class professional. Madze knew her job, too. Nasta made me laugh. And Koroba ... well, she was a piece of work. I enjoyed having her around.

The troops grumbled about the food, their accommodations, the duty officers, the price of wine ... in other words, they were fine. Soldiers who

weren't

bitching about something would worry me far more.

Just to mess with their heads, I took them on an overnight route march. I made them bring the 3-pounders, plus several hundred 3 lb. cannonballs. They cursed me all morning, but I set a gruelling pace, so by afternoon they were too winded to complain as much.

It nearly killed me, of course.

But it was much harder on my bodyguards. Madze dropped out early; I picked out two troopers who were flagging, and had them stay with her. Madze wasn't out of shape; she was just so big and strong that she was built more for fighting than running.

- "Bring her along when you think she can make it." I told them.

Ishana grit her teeth, and toughed it out. Nasta was in great shape, but even she was gasping by the time I called a halt. Little Koroba was breathing hard, but she seemed to have enjoyed the experience.

- "You do have ... endurance ... Colonel." she said. "That's good ... because .. you're going to need it ... when I hemmer." She was smiling when she said it.

- "I'll be there, Koroba." I said. "But you'd better live up to it; you've been raising my expectations for a while now."

I was too sore to sleep properly, so I walked around the camp, checking the sentries. Of my bodyguards, only Koroba was awake enough to accompany me.

- "Why did you do that?" she asked.

- "Do what?"

- "You sent that corporal ahead, to warn them that you were coming. Why?"

- "Because if I found them asleep, I'd have to punish them - severely. Most of the women fought at Limset. They haven't had to march like this since then."

"Besides: who do you think is on guard duty?"

- "What do you mean?"

- "Take the four of you - my bodyguards. Imagine that you were a squad, and that one of you had to stand sentry tonight. Who would it be?"

- "Me." Koroba didn't even need a second to think about it.

- "Exactly. So if I sneaked around, and caught you with your eyes closed ... would it be fair to punish you, when you were covering for your squad mates, who are even more exhausted?"

The sentries were all alert when I came around. I was happy to discover that I recognized most of them, and could recall their names. There were a couple I couldn't remember. I didn't try to fake it.

When I was a kid, we had a neighbour who called me 'Scout', or 'Chief'. I thought both nicknames were cool, until I heard him calling another kid the exact same thing. He just couldn't be bothered to remember our names.

Obviously, the soldiers would have preferred that I remember

their

names. But if I recognized a face, and could recall that they'd been with 9th Company in that goddamn barn at Limset, where Major Chardeia was killed ... then they were proud to tell me their name when I asked.

I didn't sleep that night. In the morning, I gathered the regiment.

- "I'm pleased." I said. "Pleased to see that you can still run."

Then I looked them over. "You were probably wishing that you'd never heard of me, or cursing my name, yesterday. Well, that's fine."

"Here's my offer for today: twenty minutes of rapid fire, by platoon -

and

the three-pounders. Show me that you remember how ... and we'll take the rest of the day off. March back tomorrow. What do you say?"

They liked the idea.

"6th Company - you should be loving me, right about now, because we're going to fire off some of the cannonballs that you would've had to carry on the march back to camp."

They laughed at that - especially 6th Company.

Of course their performance was 'acceptable'.

"Day of rest." I declared. "We march at dawn tomorrow." Nobody had to know that it was the Colonel and his bodyguards who needed the rest most of all.

***

After a week with the regiment, it was time to head back to the capital. Soldiers are the same as most employees: they like to know that the boss cares about them, but they don't necessarily want him or her breathing down their necks (or looking over their shoulders) on a regular basis.

It took longer to return to Cercen, partly because we were travelling against the current, drawn by teams of oxen. But the last stage took even longer, because the teamsters and their beasts were curiously absent. We had to wait an extra day while substitutes were drafted.

Truth be told, I didn't mind the delay. I was enjoying the trip, away from the politics of the capital. Primarily, I was happy to become a little closer to my team of bodyguards.

Ishana disapproved of me. She was a true conservative, a sexist, and a borderline xenophobe, so that I was anathema to her, on so many levels. She didn't say much, but her facial expressions were revealing.

Yet we had a mutual respect, based on appreciation of skill and integrity. I didn't openly challenge her assumptions; I just left that up to her.

Nasta continued to make me laugh. She was eager to please, but suffered from a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. Her malapropisms were very entertaining.

Madze was coming out of her shell. She had a dry sense of humour, and a powerful sense of loyalty, but it took time to gain her confidence. She'd known the two blondes for four years, and was only just beginning to trust them. It was obviously going to take a little longer with me.

Koroba was a revelation. Most Westron females, when they weren't in hemmer, had little interest in males. They were still interested in sex - they

loved

to talk about it - but their curiosity was purely intellectual (or gossipy - does that qualify as anti-intellectual?).

Countess Iloni, obviously, was something of an anomaly. And Themis, outside Tonol, had volunteered to give me hand jobs, or blowjobs ... out of love - not because she was aroused.

But Koroba flirted. There's no other word for it. She would lean over the boat's rail, as if she was watching the water, and then suddenly turn her head, to see if I was checking out her ass - which I usually was. Then she would grin, and stride away, swinging her hips.

She often tried to 'spice up' our conversations. That only embarrassed her squad mates: Madze and Nasta had boyfriends, while Ishana ... well, 'nuff said.

She was a little troublemaker, and I was already looking forward to her hemmer. She deserved a spanking, but if I was to tie her down, and tease her mercilessly, that might do the trick ...

With all the delays, we arrived just outside the capital near dusk. Rather than look for an inn, Ishana and I agreed that we should push on.

We hired a link boy (a lantern bearer) to light our way through the streets, just in case it got really dark before we reached the Belere.

I was looking forward to my reunion with Tallia and Esyle, so I was a caught off-guard when Ishana suddenly stopped.

- "What's that?" she said. The others had heard something, too - they drew weapons and formed a circle around me.

We all heard the scream. It came from the next street over. Then came the sound of a pistol shot.

- "Let's go!" I said.

- "We'll deal with it!" snapped Ishana. "

You

stay here. Madze - stay with him."

Ishana and the two blondes ran off into the gathering dark, towards the sounds. I didn't like the idea of being left behind, but Madze blocked my way with her arm.

- "We should follow them." I suggested. "We're all safer as a group."

- "She said to stay."

- "I know, but -"

I became aware of two things at that moment. First, our hired linkboy was backing away; I could tell because the light around us grew dimmer. As I turned him to ask what he was doing, I saw half a dozen shadowy figures approaching - they had us surrounded.

The leader was hooded, and was pointing two pistols at us.

- "You're coming with us." said a female voice. "Don't try anything stupid."

I wasn't about to - not with two loaded pistols, at close range. I had only my smallsword. Madze had a more functional weapon, but she wisely made no move to draw it.

I could see two other hooded people, to the left and right of the woman with the pistols. They were carrying weapons, too. But those weren't pistols, and they were too short to be swords. There was no glint of metal. Clubs? Cudgels?

- "Take their swords, Number Two." said the pistol wielder, to someone behind us. Then she addressed Madze and me again. "Don't resist - no one has to get hurt."