Chapter 10

It was early the following day when Luke and Marion woke the group up. The sun was just starting to light up the eastern sky, but everyone in the group was used to getting up this early. They made sure to cook up a hardy breakfast since they didn’t know when they would eat again. Over the previous month, the scared, weak, concubine girls that had traveled out of York with Luke had been replaced with strong, confident women who thought like soldiers and fought like lions. Now, they all carried swords and knives and knew how to use them. They also wore a leather overcoat that they could wrap around themselves to protect against swords or even long-range arrows. Under that, they wore a green shirt and pants. Sewn inside each shirt and pair of pants were light steel and leather armor plates that Luke had designed to deflect blows. They each also carried a radically different helmet than anything currently in use. It looked like a cross between a World War II German helmet and a modern US military helmet. He had designed it this way to give maximum protection with the materials available. Gabriella also carried a bow that she had gotten very good with. She was good enough to put an arrow into someone’s eye from fifty paces. Luke was incredibly proud of the ladies and Tom.

Tom had helped train everyone in sword usage and had grown to love each of the women like sisters except Stella. Her; he loved romantically. Moreover, she had also fallen in love with him, and they had slept together for the first time the previous night. Tom was armed like all the women and loved this new gear. It was lighter than his old gear and protected him far better.

It was a warm morning when they set out, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The seven of them made quite a sight, Marion, Luke, Tom, and the four women who were “supposed” to be Luke’s whores. In that group, there was from oldest to youngest: Stella, Pollyanna, Alice, and Gabriella. Stella was the leader of the group, being the oldest among them. Pollyanna was showing signs of wanting to become an engineer like Luke. Alice was interested in medicine, while Gabriella was the sharpshooter, and Luke thought she might make one hell of a sniper. One of the other things that Luke had started teaching them was how to read and write because soldiers needed to know how to read orders and make out reports.

It took the group almost half a day to reach York. They had to hide once during their trip to avoid a large patrol that Richard had sent out. Yes, they could have taken the patrol out, but it was now far more critical for the group to get to York undetected. When they got to the gates, Luke had to talk fast to get through. Once through, the group was deeply disturbed by what they found. The city had gone further downhill, with people now little more than walking skeletons, and the streets were filthy. Soldiers walked around, took whatever they pleased, and had their way with anything they pleased. Marion vomited at the horror that was before her. Still, they had a mission to accomplish. All the ladies were well aware that every soldier had their eyes on them. Many soldiers whipped out their cocks and waved them at the women. Marion snickered at some of the tiny cocks waved at her; Luke’s was far larger. ‘At least I’m still feeling good enough to snicker,’ thought Marion, even if she wondered if her snickering wasn’t just to cover for her disgust at what had happened to her home.

Finally, the group reached the castle. Luke told the guard who he was, and they let him in. They remembered him. Once in, the group was in for another surprise, especially Tom. Richard was in the middle of an orgy, Tom’s daughters were in it, and his youngest was in the process of getting triple penetrated by Richard and two of his buddies. Luke had to act fast to keep the group under control, for Tom was furious, and Luke’s “whores” were about to gut Richard where he was. To keep them under control, Luke sent them to his chambers before they could attack. The problem was that too many of Richard’s loyal men were in the room, and they wouldn’t have made it out, even with their skills. Plus, with all those women in the room, Luke didn’t want to kill any of them if they didn’t have to, even though death might have been better for them. They had to release the men loyal to Marion first if any of them were left.

The first thing that Luke had to do was to make his report. Richard wasn’t happy that he was being interrupted mid-orgy, but he did stop long enough to listen. While Richard was distracted, Tom’s youngest daughter got away from Richard but got picked up by one of his other men.

“I am sorry, Milord, but we traveled to London and did not find a trace of William. We heard rumors about him but could not find him.”

“Well, you may go now, but I shall want to talk to you more later about this matter.”

“Yes, Milord.”

Luke turned around, got out of there, and returned to his chamber. Once there, he found Tom puking his guts out while Stella was trying her best to comfort him. The ladies were white as ghosts when they saw the fate that, so far, they had avoided. Marion was the worst in the group; she was puking and crying her eyes out. She had known some of the women in the orgy. That is, even if you could call them women anymore. Most of them now looked like walking skeletons, and Marion wondered if it wasn’t better to kill them now and put them out of their misery. Luke knew they had to move fast, for he figured it wouldn’t be long before Richard came for “his” women as well. Within an hour, Luke got a message that Richard wanted to see him immediately, so Luke alerted the rest of the group and left to meet with Richard.

“Ah, Hildyard, Good to see you.”

“It is good to be seen, Milord.”

“So, you found no sign of my son or his men?”

“No, Milord, and we traveled to London. If they had been there, we found no signs of them. We returned a different route and still found no signs of them.”

“Now, tell me about the whores that came in with you.”

“Well, traveling fast does tend to make any fat disappear, and they travel faster when healthy.”

“By my count, you left with four, but I could have sworn that I see you come back with five.”

“The fifth one is my intended, Milord. I also must report the loss of one of my men. We were ambushed on the road. Tom and I had to fight hard to get out. By the time we did, there was no sign of Michael. We think the bandits took him because we searched afterward and found only some of his gear.”

“So, you couldn’t find my son, and you lost one of my men in the process; Hildyard, if you disappoint me anymore, then I will take back the whores and might even have to take your intended. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Milord.”

“Good, now get the fuck out of my sight before I change my mind.”

Luke was glad to get out of there. Richard smelled terrible. Not only was he super obese, and he reeked from that, but he smelled of awful body odor, stale sex, and cheap booze. Luke went to make his way back to his chambers but stopped before he got there. He had to do some recon. He explored the castle from top to bottom and chatted with the guards he encountered. Luke quickly gained a reputation for being polite and considerate. Any maids he crossed paths with didn’t fear being attacked by him. Instead, they all stopped to have a quick chat. Through all this, Luke learned that Richard was very unpopular with the men and women of the castle. He only stayed in charge because he had the support of about a dozen key men. Luke also learned that the last men openly loyal to Charles or Marion had been killed a few weeks before. Still, the general opinion was that it was for the best, for they had long ago resigned from the human race and had become animals to survive.

Finally, after some hours, Luke returned to his quarters. He found the others very tense, and it didn’t take long for Luke to find out why. Richard planned to leave within a week and demanded that Luke’s women accompany him back to his regular home.

“Well, that decides it. We have to act tonight.”