Chapter 4

Throughout the greater part of the day we mingled among the town’s folk. After the evening’s feast I was told our stroll had more than reassured the guest workers and recent arrivals, and they were celebrating and congratulating themselves at their smart choice to move here. I didn’t really understand how a crowd’s mood could swing so broadly from fatal resignation over one calamity and then to sweeping happiness. Yet, hope was the fire that fed their emotions, even when a brief squall dumped a bit of rain on us.

It had been strange to see how many temporary accommodations had been set up since my unexpected rescue; furthermore, the orchestra of ringing axes dropping trees east of the town had impressed upon me the numbers of new settlers. Derwen had screened a multitude of refugees in Convey and shipped them over on the Lady of Truth. The new cabins going up were the largest safeholds I’d yet seen being built, the consequence of a richer class of arrivals.

Merchants and gentry had filled the tavern, begging for time to have proper introductions and to give their loyalty oaths. Their stories were all similar. Driven out of the northern ports of Convey during the mini-invasion, they wanted to rebuild their lives under my protection. Derwen had successfully planted enough information in the northern counties about our forces blunting the raiders that her freehold was the talk of her island nation. From the new industry I had seeded in Convey, in combination with the success of her own business ventures, the Solon estate was becoming doubly wealthy; hence, our success spilled over to allow more resources for Juniper Hills. As a result, our friends praised my island wife’s brilliance as an economic and political strategist.

The clouds had parted between weather fronts, which offered a wonderful sunset that my family said was a good omen. When the orange, sinking sun cast great pine-tree shadows, my lovers reminded me to come inside and lock up the tower. Consequently, after some consultation my wives set up a game of stones and we took turns playing games until all the natural light had disappeared. Hand lamps full of oil gave us just enough light to run another dozen games.

A knock at the front door succeeded in saving me from the loss of my match to Key. I ran to the door and opened it; a woman wearing leather armor and a gray wolf-head cloak stood there with a crossbow on her back and a set of hand axes hanging from her belt.

“I am the turret guard’s relief, Lord Solon.”

“Ah.”

I waved her in, and she ran up the stairs. The guard had been in my training classes, having passed her beginning martial art forms. All the tower guards had to pass the class, but I was surprised at her choice of throwing axes. We didn’t have any specific requirements for weapons, other than the turret guard had to have either a short bow or crossbow. The door guards had to have short swords or spears. They were all completely loyal members of the clan.

It didn’t take long for the other guard to run down the stairs and leave the tower. We locked up after that. During the guard change, the game of stones had been put away, and Hazel and Celine lit candles around the main room. Laudus and her sisters went upstairs too, claiming it was time to check on the babies. Swarta and Palus said they had to rest from the excitement of the day. Grimm made no pretense; she pushed me into our loveseat, kissing me like I was the last man on the planet. All the women seemed to get a kick out of pushing me around.

“Have a nice night ladies,” Hazel said, waddling upstairs following her bellyful of baby. She gave us a reassuring grin, confident in what was going to happen.

“Good night,” I replied reflexively.

“Oh, we will,” Celine answered, slipping out of her dress revealing her bronze skin. “Good night, mother.”

Grimm stood up and promptly dropped her dress too. Baring her ebony bounty for my eyes, she ignited a lust that pulsed in my pants. Just for a moment, she supported both milk filled breasts with her hands, emphasizing what was available to me.

“Someone is overdressed,” Grimm announced, waving for Celine to take care of my shirt as she pulled my pants down.

“We won the most games of stones,” Celine added. “So you are our reward.”

Celine’s mouth grinned above mine. She always enjoyed getting a height advantage. She was still growing and wasn’t as tall Grimm. I braced a hand behind her head and pressed her lips to mine. She didn’t resist; it was an old dance between us and she melted under my tongue’s contact. Grimm attached her warm mouth to my favorite toy, freezing me up, so I released Celine. I let my black lover take me to a world of pleasure, before I returned the favor. In the candlelight, wild abandon filled the night. My women drained me for a few hours before allowing us to make it to bed. There we cuddled in the temple of each other’s love, before falling into a deep sleep.

Mission Log

I devoted 0.0345 seconds to considering the meaning of “Little Bit.” A bit is a basic unit of information in computing and digital communications with a value of 0 or 1. The child’s name is a notion for less than whole or not yet complete. The name is more likely an endearment than an interpreted value, but Solon is clever with his clues. Much like our mother, he challenges my understanding of humans. A further 0.0009 is given to why my co-father shares such data streams upon returning?

Planetary-based communications that weren’t from Solon One had roused my primary circuit’s attention. The shuttle uses different frequencies and clearer modulation. Furthermore, brief communications between hand units was a new development for the primitive planet that I was protecting. The standard diagnostic check of my spy satellite established all systems were operating under satisfactory perimeters, confirming that the short communications were pinpointed from Von Solon’s primary habitat. It had surprised me that new data streams were available to me from the communication devices, and they were from pre-pubertal children.

I have concluded the children’s medical data was for studying and that my co-father had a logical purpose for it. By monitoring the changing data on the devices, I can compare it to our genetically enhanced children when they reach the same stage of development. Ultimately, with the sample data, my children’s genetic inheritance can be compared to other biological factors and the environment of Haven. Once again, my primary charge has exhibited long-range thinking that has threads of genius. A normal human would have given technological devices to adults first. I created fresh execution files to continuously monitor the new medical data. In addition, analysis suggested Solon might be trying to teach me about children, so audio monitoring was added to the children’s surveillance routine with interaction protocols. A father must learn to talk to his children.

Under a shared bedsheet, Grimm and Celine didn’t stir from their warm lair while I dressed for the day. A quick peek through the gap in the shuttered window gave me a glimpse of a flash of lightning. The scent of the rain I heard outside confirmed my disappointment.

My body had awakened me to take care of its need to get rid of some excess water before dawn. Consequently, I heard a low rumble of thunder and felt the dampness of rain. Webster had downloaded the weather conditions for the area in my dreams, so the poor weather didn’t surprise me. We were in the center of the worst part of the large storm system that had defied probabilities by turning inland. It really wasn’t the typical day we had hoped for, when my wives from the ESC Entous had agreed to let me get things under control in the town before coming down from the top of the butte. We had wanted a grand entrance for them to firm up their position and establish their equality in magic, strengthened through a highly visual approach on their gravity boards.

Our plan wasn’t to be. After an early breakfast, my excited household wasn’t eager to go outside and stand in a downpour. Any hint of the dawn’s light was locked away behind thunderheads and thick sheets of rain. The servants who had delivered our breakfast were still wet and drying by the fireplace. Someone had strung up a line in front of the fire and a number of dresses hung there. Laudus had given the naked women towels, which they had used, but most of those women had wrapped the towels around their hair, air drying the rest of their bodies by the fire.

Laudus had moved Swarta and me from the breakfast table to the loveseat closest to the fire. Three golden brown teens that served us didn’t blink an eye, as my eyes roamed their naked bodies. All three serving women chatted about the village party around the Women’s Center last night.

Swarta smirked when she caught me admiring the young women and their cold pointed nipples. “Makes you want to touch them, doesn’t it?” she asked.

“Of course. They are pretty,” I answered, turning to look at my wife. “I wouldn’t put it past you ladies to have selected these young women to serve us this morning.”

“Of course we did,” Palus injected taking another chair. “It isn’t often sea-wives have a chance to have a day off from fishing. You told us last night there was a good chance for bad weather today.”

It took a second for her comment to sink in, which made the perky looking teens laugh. None of them were interested in me. They were in a relationship together. One of them looked at me, as if to say, “You’re sweet but not my type.”

We all laughed, and then the three teens went back to chatting, drifting towards the front door. Another, older serving woman had just slammed the heavy door shut, with her butt, her hands full of wood for the fire. The teens helped her.

“They are cute,” Swarta whispered, before bouncing up and dealing with a coal that had spit out from the fireplace. My wife checked the damp dresses next, feeling the material. Satisfied, she came back to me and sat on my lap.

A newly arrived ebony woman also took off her dress and hung it up by the fire. Her frame was slim at the waist while having flared hips that called attention to long powerful legs. From a life of hard work, the naked woman was muscled every where, her slim form marred only by a few angry scars on the back of one leg. Laudus handed her a towel and then walked upstairs. I shook my head inside my thoughts. “What a beautiful naked world.”

Swarta patted the empty spot next to me. “Lorn, come sit next to your master.”

Unconcerned, the thirty something woman sat with us, placing her hands in her lap. “Good morning, Lord Solon and Milady.”

“Good morning to you too,” I responded, avoiding the impulse to stare at her flat chest. For a woman she didn’t have much breast tissue, but her black nipples were lusciously long and extended. Her puffy areolas captured my interest, I couldn’t help imagining my lips on them.

She lifted a proud chin waiting on my wife’s next words. “Lorn was Lady Becket’s lady-in-waiting, her lover and servant.”

I lifted out of my chair. “What! The assassin’s companion?” My rage didn’t startle the naked woman, but it upset Swarta, who hadn’t risen to her feet as I had.

“Von, she was her slave. Calling her a companion isn’t fair for what she went through. Lorn is just like Laudus, a noble woman transformed to survive. Sit down, she has shared a world of information about the Caldavian queen and her court.”

I sat. Swarta hovered over me while holding Lorn’s hand. “Don’t worry, dear. You remain welcome in our home.”

She sighed. “I’m accustomed to outbursts of distaste--even scorn.”

I felt my words had been a bit harsh. Although her mistress had almost killed me, she was dead.

Palus ran over to the fireplace and tipped Lorn’s head to her. “We believe you. He is just surprised.”

Before I knew it Key and Hannah had come to her defense too. My loved ones surrounded us on the loveseat. All of them soothed Lorn’s agitation and scolded me. Key explained Lorn had been an acquaintance of her family on Convey. Lorn’s family were minor nobility on the eastside of the island and they had attended a few events together with Laudus, who was Lorn’s age. The woman had gone missing after a ball, and everyone thought she’d runaway with an unknown lover. However, she’d been kidnapped by Lady Becket not long before Laudus and her twins had been captured while traveling on a merchant ship. In short, Lorn had been in slavery for six years. Key had found Lorn in a daze, walking around our town after Lady Becket was killed and I had disappeared.

Key dressed Lorn and took her upstairs. Hannah took Lorn’s place on the loveseat. “The snake assassin was a nasty witch that twisted and played with Lorn’s mind. That poor girl isn’t all there, if you know what I mean.”

Hannah wasn’t one to shy from the truth when discussing slavery, even her own experiences.

“She seems a little stronger each day. From what she says, her mind at times is like a fog rolling along the ground. Lorn has moments of confusion, where she isn’t sure who she is or if things are real,” Hannah explained. “Have you ever been lost in the fog? It can be scary.”

It was a simplistic analogy but I understood Hannah’s point. She continued by reminding me in detail about the ugliness of her life before the rescue at the coal mine. For obvious reasons, Hannah spoke of the slavers’ cruelty, their mind games and their contempt for captured noble women.

Swarta had let Hannah do most of the talking, since the former slave was expressing herself passionately. When Hannah ran out of steam, Swarta added, “The snake priestess raped her mind, as well as her body. She is being watched closely; nevertheless, we will do what we can to give her peace and stability. Someday her mind will be clear and free, perhaps it might even take wizard’s magic.”

I nodded, giving Lorn the benefit of the doubt for the moment, while ignoring the hint about body magic. We all hated the Caldavian raiders. They are beasts that treat people like objects rather than humans. Laudus or her sisters were bound to get Lorn to tell me her full story sometime in the future. All the same, I had Kate, Merritt, Julia Fitz and Julie to think about, and the storm hadn’t let up since breakfast.

With an almost deliberate slowness I declared, “It’s time for me to greet my other wives.”

Laudus heard me as she came down the stairs with a couple of brown blankets. She wrapped one over her head, and then tossed me the other summer-wool blanket as I walked over to my tablet that rested on a table. Thumbing the screen on and calling up the communication application, I began contacting the shuttle as we had planned. After a minute the line was opened.