Chapter 16

Somehow I had believed that I’d take care of this ‘little issue’ without raising any alarms. I’d rescue the girls and return them to their home village with Saga, and get back home as soon as possible. No big deal. Yeah, right. I really should have known better. As soon as our group became visible I could hear some people shouting. Freja. And Tordis. Of course, Siv and Erika told their families what happened. Shit.

The good thing was that after that, I didn’t need to worry about taking care of things, or the girls. The bad thing was that once the mothers noticed that I had been hurt, and had some fever, I had absolutely no control over things. I tried to convince them that, actually, I was feeling much better than I had been a day before. Somehow, that just made my situation even worse, and while Erika, Siv and Saga - who had been both laughing and crying while hugging Thyra - took care of the girls and the horses. Those two mothers took care of me. For some reason, taking care of me required me getting naked and being washed and checked all over.

I had never been a shy person, and for certain I wasn’t ashamed of my body, but still I hadn’t planned performing in front of my possible in-laws. Even if they seemed to be truly worried about me.

“Mother of Earth, those girls didn’t lie.”

“Freja, watch your mouth.”

“What? Like, you didn’t check, yourself?”

Yeah, truly worried about me. I could see that the whole group followed up how I was checked out. Knowing that was enough to stop any unwanted reaction on my part, even if I had to admit that those two mothers touching and checking me felt a bit too good. Luckily, they finally agreed that my wound WAS healing quite nicely, and besides that, there was nothing serious wrong with me. I almost sighed aloud in relief - just to feel a warm hand gently pull my quickly hardening dick. I groaned.

“Tordis!”

“What, Freja? Just needed to check that everything important is still working.”

“I’m sure the girls would have been quite happy to test that.”

“Do you really think it’s safe for our little girls to do that?”

“Tordis, if you break that thing, they’ll probably kill both of us.”

All that time she had been holding me. Even though I wasn’t shy, I didn’t really want to lie there like that. The fact that both women started to giggle didn’t help at all, and when she finally released her grip, I was fully hard - and fully exposed. I managed to stand up, but couldn’t see any clothes anywhere.

“Mother, what did you do?”

“Nothing much, honey, just a quick check that something you care about is fully working.”

Suddenly, both Erika and Siv were there, hugging me in my nakedness, totally regardless of the fact that their mothers were there next to us.

“Oh, Stian, we were so worried about you.”

“We were afraid that we’d never see you again.”

I carefully hugged both the girls back, but I also noticed how Saga looked at us and soon turned her head away.

“I promised you that I’d return with the girls.”

“But you got wounded.”

“Yes, that was my mistake. I’ll promise to be more careful in the future.”

“In the future? Will they come again? To our village?”

“No, I don’t think they’ll come again. For sure, they won’t come for this village, since they are afraid of the Guardians. I seriously doubt that they’ll come for my old home, either.”

“Why? Why wouldn’t they try again?”

All of a sudden I knew that I had made another mistake, since I really didn’t want to answer that question. I could still see the faces of the Trolls I had killed and also the faces of the ones I had threatened and hurt.

“Because they’re so afraid of Stian! He killed three of those monsters and wounded the last two before leaving them there!”

That comment from the oldest of the girls was followed with silence. A long silence, which Saga finally ended.

“Why didn’t you kill them all?”

“I killed the one who hurt Halvor - and I wanted those two to be able to deliver the message of what would happen if they tried ever again.”

I lowered my head, as I really didn’t want to look at anyone right now. Without any warning, I had a woman pressed against me and kissing me on my mouth. Before I could really understand what was happening, Freja pulled away and was replaced by Tordis. A tongue inside my mouth and nice breasts pressed against my form made sure that I was hard again.

“That poor girl told us what those monsters did, how they hurt a little boy and scared all the mothers. Mother Earth, if I weren’t happily married I’d take care of you right here and now just to show my appreciation!”

“Only then you’d need to fight me first, Tordis.”

“Shh, Freja. From what I heard he’d be enough for both of us.”

“Mother, please, stop!”

That brought out giggles from both mothers, while Siv and Erika groaned. The group of girls who had followed this discussion had their eyes as big as saucers. I used this short break to try to move to one of the chests in order to get some clean clothes for myself. Only this time, I was stopped by Erika and Siv who probably decided that they should get hotter kisses than their mothers. Somehow, my hands found their bottoms and the back of their heads. Yes, I had missed my kittens. It was my stomach that saved me from embarrassing myself in front of the audience, and after a few moments, I was dressed again and there was a group of women making something to eat, for me and the girls.

After the dinner, both Freja and Tordis headed to their own homes, anxious to tell the good news to their husbands. I was on my way out to check the horses, but I was ordered to rest. So, I took a nap in front of my fireplace, instead. To tell the truth, I was a bit too tired to take care of the horses.

My nap was only a nap, but I felt a whole lot better afterwards. I probably would have wakened anyhow, since both Bjarke and Jarl had decided to visit us. They also had brought some clothes for the girls, who were now in various stages of undress or wearing some of my shirts. I had a bit of an uncomfortable feeling that some of them were also doing their best to flash me parts of their small bodies. There wasn’t much worry that anything would happen, since either Erika or Siv seemed to be close to me all the time, protecting me from any possible danger.

It was some time later when both fathers convinced their daughters that I’d be safe with them, while we agreed that I could pay a visit to my stable to see Luna. I was sure that Tariel also understood what was happening, since she took the opportunity to sneak outside with us. Before that, she had enjoyed some pampering from five girls and she had only barely paid notice to the fact that also I had come back. Traitor.

“So, you alone attacked five Trolls, killing three of them and incapacitating the last two - and almost got killed yourself while doing it. That doesn’t sound very sensible plan of action.”

I grimaced when I heard Jarl say that. Putting it that way didn’t really sound very sensible. I shrugged.

“There was no other way. Had there been any more delays, they might have been too far ahead to reach. I don’t know the mountains that well, and it’s quite possible that there could have been a pass a bit further away. I couldn’t take that risk.”

“That young woman is your ex-fiancée - I thought you didn’t like her anymore.”

I had to admit that Bjarke had a point, and I had to agree.

“Maybe I don’t like her so much anymore, but I did love her for years. Besides, her little sister and kid brother never did a thing to hurt me. To be honest, I’m glad to have shown their fearless village leader how to protect people. Besides, I’m sure that my mother would come back to haunt me if I didn’t help those girls while I knew I had a chance, even a small one.”

Both men were silent a while, but once we got to the barn Jarl turned to me again.

“You said that you knew you had a chance. Have you seen those monsters - Trolls - before? While you were with those Guardians?”

I was sure they saw my face harden.

“Yes, I have.”

“Was it a same kind of situation?”

“Yes.”

“Did you save the girls back then?”

“The younger sister, yes. The older got killed earlier when she tried to kill the troll who had...”

I didn’t finish my sentence. There was no need, and both the men cursed. They knew the stories, even if some of the people didn’t really believe them, it didn’t make them untrue. Bjarke took a bottle from the sack he had been carrying, and offered it to me. I don’t usually drink but right then, I appreciated the taste of the liquid that warmed my throat on its way down to my stomach. Both the men took healthy swigs after me.

“You weren’t alone back then, were you?”

“No, I was assisting some Guardians.”

Bjarke just shook his head.

“You’d better not do anything that stupid in the future.”

“Trust me, I have no plans for that.”

Luna was certainly happy to see me, and I was equally happy to pat my horse. Tariel also did a tour around the strange horses, making it look like she was the princess among her inferiors. Damn, that cat had some ego. Both the men curiously studied those small, but sturdy foreign horses that had had no problems adjusting to my stable. Once we got outside again, Bjarke asked me one more question.

“So Stian, you had killed Trolls before, right?”

I could feel how the contents of my stomach rotated. I could only take a few steps away from them before I threw up, leaning on the corner of my stable. Threw up hard. It took me some time to calm my stomach and without saying anything, I walked to my well and let Jarl help me get some water so that I could wash my mouth and face. Then, I took a swig from the bottle Bjarke was offering. A bigger one this time. Only then, I nodded to them.

“Yes, I have.”

I didn’t tell them that I could still see their faces when I closed my eyes. I didn’t look back at them, but instead I looked southeast, in the direction of the last incident. Of course, I couldn’t see anything but the tree line where the forest started, yet I knew what had happened there. Maybe the memory would fade with time. Maybe. Neither of the men said a thing but instead they also took drinks from that bottle. When the bottle was offered to me I took another swig - a smaller one this time - and closed my eyes when the liquid found its way down to my stomach, which now seemed to be calming down.

“We’ve heard that those monsters look really ugly and scary. I guess that’s true.”

I almost wanted to protest that once dead they looked quite human to me. That the scariness was a way the Trolls protected themselves. However, there was something in Bjarke’s voice that stopped me from explaining that their scariness wasn’t the reason for me to throw up.

“Why didn’t you just kill them all? After all, you could have done that.”

Now, I was sure. There was disgust and fear in Bjarke’s voice. I didn’t like the Trolls myself, but meeting the Elves had helped me to understand the reasoning behind their actions. No tribe wanted to become extinct - but explaining that to Bjarke and Jarl now was probably not a good idea.

“Had I done that, the rest of them would not have known what had happened. I wanted those two to deliver a message. I wanted them to be in fear of me when they delivered the message - and trust me, they were really frightened.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw how both men nodded at my words. In a way, I could understand them. Here, the Trolls - and Elves, too - were part of the fairy tales. They weren’t something that would come to your village and capture one of your children. In a way, their world was shaken and shattered. Mine had been shaken and shattered a year ago.

“You are eighteen now Stian, is that correct?”

I turned to look at Jarl wondering what he was after.

“Yes.”

The older man put his hand on my shoulder before continuing.

“You know, when my friend here and I were young men we had almost decided to join the Guardians. It had gotten so serious, that my father organized a meeting with a patrol that occasionally visited the area. Back then, we didn’t care so much how things really were, but we more or less wanted to believe in those fancy stories that were told to all children.”

I had seen both Erika’s and Siv’s grandparents who lived in small houses close to the center of the village. They all were in decent health, but they had recently moved away from their old farms although they still occasionally helped. It had been the girls who had broken the news that they were wooing the same guy - me. I remembered that they all had felt quite sharp despite their age - and instead of being condemnatory. they had looked amused. I nodded to Jarl, who had had a break in his story, as though he was collecting his thoughts.

“My father organized a meeting where we both listened to an older Sergeant. Oh boy, that was brutal! That guy managed to strip away all the glory about being a Guardian in one afternoon. Okay, he did admit that they were protecting the people against all kinds of beasts and monsters - and tying not to get killed while doing it. Most of the time. he spent sleeping in the cold, wet forest. The only benefits were occasional visits to some cities and villages, in which you might find some loose women - who had probably slept with several other Guardians before you.”

Jarl laughed a bit.

“Now, I understand that it was a set-up, but I also know that what he told us wasn’t that far from the truth. I’m also sure that our parents were still a bit afraid that we could do something stupid, and therefore they didn’t really prevent Tordis and Freja meeting us. Once the last benefit was gone, well - there weren’t many reasons to leave.”

“At the time I was with Guardians, I thought that I was happily engaged, and didn’t enjoy any benefits.”

It surprised me that there was no bitterness in my voice when I said that. I knew that I had loved Saga - a part of me still loved her - but I would never have sex with her again, not as long as she was married and I was in relationship with Erika and Siv.

“That’s what we’ve heard - but trust me Stian, even if you had enjoyed the benefits, we’d not judge you.”

“Thanks. However, I’d be afraid that my mother would come back to haunt me if I had done something like that.”

In a way, I was surprised that it hadn’t already happened after my encounters with all those Elves. Damn, that was something I really needed to talk with Erika and Siv about. Soon. I grimaced at the thought, but I didn’t say anything to Bjarke or Jarl.