In Defence of the Keep
Copyright© 2025 by James Girvan
Chapter 18: Arrivals and Departures
Action/Adventure Sex Story: Chapter 18: Arrivals and Departures - Laird Nathanial was once a Hero of Chaos and Crossroads but tonight is under attack in his family’s Keep by his brother and a small army of mercenaries. No longer welcome on Crossroads after breaking the rules of chivalrous combat, he hatches a plan to both defend his lands and travel back to Crossroads. Can he survive in either world?
Caution: This Action/Adventure Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Heterosexual
The widow D’Orsay took the news resignedly. We had no idea if her marriage to the late D’Orsay was one of love, lust, or just convenience but any day that you aren’t executed and get to live in higher society must be counted as a good thing.
Uncle and I rode back with the mounted men to deliver the news to Tours of a complete (yet bloodless) victory. Ellen and J.C. Seemed to be the only ones happy about this, the rest wanting retribution (or more likely the spoils of victory).
The next morning my former Exchequer and his son opted for a painless (as much as possible) execution and gave up the location of the stolen silver and gold that was left. I was dismayed to learn that more than half of it had already been secretly smuggled out of the Keep and into the hands of the Mercenaries. We had recovered some from the bodies of the leaders I had killed but nowhere near what had been taken. I didn’t even try to ask the other fighting men what they had looted from their kills; that would be asking for trouble I didn’t need. ‘Gerard’ probably had enough gold on hand to buy a Lairdship and that was a good enough reason for me to publicly announce I would chase him down.
Uncle performed the beheadings since he was not yet Laird and we agreed that it would be a good idea to let the general public see that he was not afraid to get his hands dirty if need be. Rupert did not wish to attend and I granted him that permission, sending him on to Ains with heavy guards so he didn’t have to hear the event unfold. I could use a man I trusted there ‘looking over the books’ for a while anyway.
Ellen was present for the executions (as was I) and managed to portray an air of distaste over the entire affair, while watching the whole thing. This apparently had the effect of throwing those who bet on how she would respond for a spin. Common knowledge was that my little wife had a weak stomach and J.C. made off like a bandit with the winnings from bets she had made after learning what Ellen had been through on Chaos.
The two of us had to wait until after the marriage between Tim and J.C. Before I could abdicate and we could leave. We spent the week in mundane meetings, preparing the Keep for the transfer and were so busy that we only met in bed. That time was well spent though, and although I would never visit Crossroads again I consoled myself with Ellen’s newfound experience and enthusiasm that she had picked up there.
Following a fairly lavish (for earth) wedding, the newlyweds relocated to lands under the direct control of Ains. That removed one distraction from my people in Tours before the news of my departure was announced to the important men of the area. I was surprised and more than a bit pleased that my abdication was met with real regret by others. I had tried to base my rule and my treatment of the landowners and officers on the instructions of my ‘father’, ensuring they supported me by ensuring that gold and silver flowed into their purses. Father used to call it ‘cupboard love’ but their display of real affection for me seemed genuine and was a pleasant surprise.
Messages and invitations were sent between Ellen and her mother earlier, so by the time the general announcement was made and the handover of the ceremonial shield was completed our small group was ready to travel.
Riding my horse out of the gates of the Keep of Tours for the last time felt like being reborn.
“ ... and so the expulsion of disgraced hero Nathaniel from Tours and the installation of his real father to power there is considered to be the end of the ‘Wild Times’ of the Hero program. Following this date the rules for Heroes were properly understood, codified, and implemented correctly and they have been basically been unchanged since then until this day, approximately six hundred years of time.” Former Greeter Sheila lectured. “Like the coward he was, former Hero Nathaniel skulked out of the Keep and followed his wife back to her family. We have little information about him from that point on.”
Caretaker candidate Leslie listened in the audience of the lecture room with a frown. More than fifty of her fellow candidates leaning on their desks in rapt attention to the commanding voice of the statuesque older woman at the front on the dais. The other candidates wore revealing robes of silk and practicing their various poses which were obviously sexual in nature, having been taught in ‘Sex-duction’ class that had just preceded the ‘History of the Heroic Endeavour’ lecture she was now enduring. Having copied down the file codes that the lecturer was quoting from, she had had little doubt what she would find when she read the full transcripts. Every time she had done this before, the pattern was the same: quotes and actions picked out to support the institution’s rhetoric and taken strongly (if not wildly) out of context.