Chapter 55: A Trek

Ludwig stood in the parlor and looked toward his daughter’s chamber. He was in no hurry to enter. After all, he had learned much earlier that with Annika the anticipation of the punishment was often worse than the punishment itself.

He pondered why his daughter had pushed him so. She had to have known what would come next. Perhaps, he mused, he hadn’t been paying enough attention to his middle child. His youngest child, Pia, had taken up much of this time in the preceding months.

Pia, he thought. She was not like his two older children. The oldest had been lost to him when she was barely walking. Olaf had taken a fancy to his first niece and now she was ensconced in the palace. She sat in the place of power that Ludwig once believed was his birthright.

Annika had always been a handful. Those around the manor said it was because of her bright hair. An old woman had told him once that those with red upon their heads had no spirit in their bodies. He had dismissed the old woman’s claims as fantasy but he now wondered from time to time if the crone hadn’t been correct after all. Annika could never seem to keep a civil tongue in her head. He knew she was the smarter of his remaining children – and the most cunning. He had learned that before she was even eight years old.

But Pia was different. She was ... compliant. He rarely had to raise his voice or his hand to his youngest. She always seemed to go out of her way to please him. She was always the one to bring him a cool drink or to offer an embrace when he returned to the manor. It was no wonder he gravitated toward her.

With a sigh, he pulled himself from his musings and stood. He stopped by his bag to fetch one of the implements of his punishment and walked into Annika’s chamber.

She was just where he’d told her to be.

“I see that you are capable of following my commands from time to time,” he said.

The young woman was on elbows and knees on the thin mattress. She had lifted her dress above her waist and lowered her leggings to her thighs. Her pale bare bottom greeted him as soon as he entered and he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face.

Annika knew better than to answer so she kept quiet. She knew what came next and, even if she hadn’t, the sound of a thin piece of wood cutting through the air would have alerted her. She tensed just before the switch made its first impact on her tender rump but she didn’t cry out. She bit herself hard enough on her wrist that it left a mark. She had many scars on her wrists where her teeth had cut skin but those were old.

The second stripe caused tears to come to her eyes but she only bit harder and suffered in silence. She heard the rustling of clothing and bit back the bile that rose in her throat.

“Open,” her father commanded. Annika was slow to comply and the switch fell again on her backside, this time from a new direction.

“Open!” Ludwig said in a stern voice.

Annika’s head lifted off her arms and she found what she expected to find waiting for her. She parted her lips and admitted her father’s organ into her mouth.

“When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it immediately,” Ludwig said as he pushed his hips forward. He punctuated each word with a hand slap on Annika’s now-red behind. Annika couldn’t nod or speak. Instead, she did her daughterly duty while her father continued to strike her naked bottom with his open hand. At least, she thought, he was being merciful and had put the switch aside.

Ludwig left off the beating for a moment and put his hands to back of Annika’s head. He pushed himself as deeply into her mouth as he could go. When she was much younger, the act would cause her to choke and gasp. Now that she was older and larger, the prong didn’t extend far enough back to reach her throat. Still, she knew what her father expected. She held her breath until her tear-stained face turned fiery red. She coughed and sputtered when Ludwig released her head and withdrew from her mouth.

She feigned gasping for breath but didn’t lower her head. She had angered her father and the man would wish to complete this portion of the punishment before moving to the next.

No, she thought, when he backed away. Her father was showing mercy again. He did not plan to expend his seed in her mouth. That would make the second installment far swifter but no less painful.

She closed her eyes and lowered her head back to her arms, resigned to the next part of her reprimand.

Three swift strikes from the wooden rod caused her to bite her arm again and she wondered what she’d done to make him angry again.

“Part your knees, you stupid girl,” Ludwig said in a hostile voice. Annika complied in an instant and she felt her father’s calves next to hers. Then she felt the head of his prong push between her welted and swollen bottom cheeks and against her opening.

Ludwig’s groan of satisfaction hid his daughter’s grunt of pain and once again Annika bit down hard on her wrist.

“Relax and open for me,” Ludwig commanded. Annika did her best to obey but it was difficult. It had been more than a year since her father had done this to her and her body had grown accustomed to a life without intrusions.

Her father’s hands grabbed Annika’s slender hips and he forced his way into her dry passage. Ludwig found the opening to be even tighter than the first time he’d taken her this way. That had been nine, no he corrected, 10 years earlier. She had been barely six years old at the time. She had cried for two days afterward but she had remained malleable for the next two months.

Again, Ludwig began to long for his lovely Pia. She was the youngest and would be celebrating her 12^th summer. She was slim and petite, almost like a boy, but she came to him willingly and often. He did not need to use this as a punishment for his youngest daughter. There were no tears or wails of pain. She would often find a way to entice him into taking her – even when her mother was nearby. He did not have to use the rod on her tender flesh before using his rod on her back opening.

No, he thought, that was solely Annika’s doing. She was the one that fought him and cajoled him into this. He often wished Pia was as pretty as her older sisters. She was a plain child, more like her mother. Annika was a beauty and he often wished he could have a child with Annika’s looks and Pia’s temperament. What fun he would have with that girl, he had often thought.

Annika’s hair color and complexion were rare for Denaya and, thus, she was considered a prize. Pia’s hair was the color of wet straw. Her lips were thin and her nose was crooked. She would never be considered a catch. He thought that a pity. He had hoped he could marry her off quickly in order to use the opening he preferred. That wasn’t possible if he wished to ensure a marriage to benefit the family. She would need to be unbroken on her wedding night because there was little else she had to offer. The same was true of Annika. He had permitted both girls to retain their maidenhead – despite the numerous times he had longed to rip it from them.

He wished he had gotten the chance to sample his oldest child. He had seen her from afar as the years passed. She had grown into a beautiful woman that turned heads throughout the capital. He had no doubt that the king used his child frequently and that galled him. Nadia was even prettier than Annika. Her hair was not as bright as the younger girl’s. Instead it was a darker hue but it was still a color not often found in his country. Ludwig wondered if Nadia turned her beautiful green eyes toward Olaf when he mounted her.

No, he decided, she would look away in horror at having that foul man atop her. Ludwig smiled to himself when he pictured his oldest daughter turning her lovely eyes and wonderful smile to him, beckoning him to make her his. It was a vision he kept in his head for the nights he had to have relations with his horrible wife.

Annika felt her father pick up his pace. In order to end the ordeal, she began pushing back toward him to speed his release. He lifted his hands from her hips and grasped her hair roughly to pull her head backward. She heard a loud grunt just before she felt the burning in her bowels that signaled her father’s eruption. Soon after, the pressure and pain faded as Ludwig went limp. She felt him sit back on the bed, panting to catch his breath and was left with humiliation and sadness at what he had done to her again.

She dared not move until he gave a command. The last thing she wanted was to have him put his organ back into her mouth after it had been in her back passage. He had done that before and then thrashed her severely when she had retched and vomited.

“Get me some water to clean this up,” her father ordered. Annika scrambled to rise but the pain from the welts on her rear and from the further abuse she’d suffered made her slow.

She heard the rod cutting the air again and felt the stinging sensation through her thin dress as she managed to stand. Her eyes searched the room for something, anything she could use to end this man’s life. She found nothing. Her father knew better than to permit her access to something that might be used as a weapon.

“Quickly, Girl,” Ludwig hissed. “You’ve made a mess of this. Fetch me water and a rag or you can clean it another way. I have much to do today – thanks to your insolence.”

“Yes, Father,” Annika said through her pain. She moved as fast as her trembling legs permitted. She found a water pitcher in the parlor and a cleaning rag next to the tub. She hurried back into her chamber to cleanse her father’s limp and sticky prong.

“While I am gone, do not leave your chamber,” Ludwig said, tapping the switch on the bed menacingly. “Do not permit anyone to enter – even to bring you food. I wish for you to spend the remainder of the day thinking of a few things.

“You spoke flippantly to the soldier at the docks. All must see you as a friendly person that views life as the idiots here view it. It would serve no purpose for them to see the spiteful, ignorant girl I’ve managed to raise. Now I must track him down and arrange for him to have an accident in order he does not speak of your ill-conceived words. The king believes everyone has rights. It is a ludicrous thought and one I’m sure he will reconsider in time but it is how he views things now. He must never learn of how you spoke of his advisers. The soldier’s death is on your head and do not forget it.”

“Yes, Father,” Annika said meekly. Once she had completed her task she had put her cheek against his thigh, just as he liked it. He began to softly stroke her hair as he spoke.

“Do not forget this, Child,” Ludwig continued. He wrapped his hands in Annika’s red mane and pulled her hair until she squeaked in pain. “The king will not return for several weeks. I can beat you to within a moment of your death and you will heal before the king arrives. If you vex me again, I will not hesitate to cause you far more pain than you’ve experienced so far. Once I dispatch the soldier, none will know we are even here. If I must, I will kill you and drop you in the harbor. You will be just one more unknown whore who met a poor end as far as anyone is concerned. Then I will find another girl – one prettier and smarter – to assume your place. You are expendable, Annika. I have another child and there are thousands of young women who would love to have all I give to you.”

Annika gulped and felt fresh tears as her father pulled her hair even more roughly.

“Consider my words today and we will discuss this again when I return,” Ludwig commanded. Annika knew the discussion would entail a repeat of what had just taken place. “I have put too much effort into this to have it fall apart because of a willful child that cannot learn her place!”

Celestine and Marcos were standing at the tavern bar talking to the owner when she heard someone descending the stairs. She turned and saw the inn’s only patron – Earl von Schuman – as he entered. The man saw the soldier and stopped abruptly but Celestine saw the gleam of triumph in the newcomer’s eye.

It was a second action that caught her attention more urgently.

“Ah, how fortuitous,” the earl said brightly. “I had hoped to find someone to direct me to my emissary’s abode and here you are.”

Marcos turned and took in the man he had just been discussing with the innkeeper.

“Would you be so kind as to escort me, young man?” the earl continued. “I fear I would get lost in the maze of streets if I attempted to locate it on my own.”

Before Marcos could reply, Celestine interrupted.

“I am headed that direction, sir,” she said. “I would be most happy to lead you to where you wish to go. Marcos was just telling me it was time he returned to his post.”

Ludwig’s face darkened for but an instant before he spoke.

“I fear it would be unseemly for a man to be seen alone with such a comely young lady,” he said.

For all his effort, he could not hide his displeasure when Celestine merely laughed.

“We would be in public,” she said dismissively. “It is not as though you invited me to somewhere intimate. Besides, in Azkoval, we have the right of free association. I am an adult and no one will think anything untoward is occurring.”

“Of course,” Ludwig muttered. “I fear things are somewhat different in my land.”

“It is understandable,” Celestine replied. “Enlightened thought is often slow to spread. Allow me to say my goodbyes to my friend and I will lead you where you wish.”

The earl obviously did not like to be dictated to – particularly by a young woman – but the eyes of the innkeeper and the soldier were upon him so he merely smiled and moved toward the door.

“I do not like the thought of you alone with him,” Marcos whispered.

“Better me than you,” Celestine replied. Marcos bristled at the inadvertent slight so the maid continued. “When he saw you he immediately checked to ensure his concealed blade is in place.”

“What?” Marcos asked in confusion.

“Perhaps he let something slip that he didn’t mean for you to learn,” Celestine told him. “As soon as he recognized your face, he got a nasty look on his face and he put his left hand to his right forearm.”

She picked up Marcos’ limp hand and put it in the exact same spot on her arm. He felt something beneath the sleeve of her dress.

“It is a blade,” Celestine informed the soldier. “With a slight movement, I can have it in my hand. You would never see the strike coming.”

Marcos was a trained soldier. He had spent three years with Johan the Merciless and his army before spending the previous three years with King Joseph. He still couldn’t help from glancing over Celestine’s head to the man at the door. Thankfully, Earl Ludwig von Schuman had his back turned. He cast his eyes back to Celestine. He knew of some of her abilities but he hadn’t known that she was an assassin until the meeting at the castle.

“Be aware,” Celestine said. “Do not allow your guard to falter for even a moment or he will have you. I have seen men such as this. He will kill without remorse. I see it in his face and in his eyes. He plans to kill you, Marcos.”

“Will you...” the soldier stammered.

“Not yet,” Celestine replied after considering the question. “I must learn what he knows. He does not wish to see the emissary. I believe we can agree on that. I will lead him away so you may make your way back to your barracks.”

“I can attend to myself,” Marcos said archly.

“I know you can,” Celestine said with disgust. Men could be so petty. “You are a capable warrior. No one doubts that. But this man, he is not a soldier. He is like me. He is someone unconcerned with the rules of civilized combat. He will not face you as a man. He will stab you in the back or poison your meal or catch you when you sleep. I could never best you in a fair fight and neither could he. That is why we would not fight fairly. Now, do as I say.”

“Please,” she added belatedly.

“What of your safety?” Marcos pressed.

Celestine’s face, harsh as she rebuked the soldier, changed in an instant. Her eyes widened and she assumed a look of innocent stupidity.

“I am just a poor maid without the sense to pour piss out a shoe if you wrote the instructions on the sole,” she said. “Fear not for me, Marcos. While the idiot pictures himself slipping his flesh dagger between my thighs, I will be picturing myself slipping my steel one between his ribs.”

She spun away without another word.

“Ready?” she asked innocently.