Chapter 8

"Wil!" "You're home!"

Henna and Marin ran across the yard and threw themselves in their husband's arms.

"Where's the other one, What's-Her-Name?"

"Inside with your new baby daughter." Marin said

"I bet she's not happy about that."

"She won't admit it. We kid her that, because of all of your seed that that she swallowed, her little Wilhanina will be a great shield maiden one day."

"Wilhanina?"

"She insisted." Henna said.

Wilhan rolled his eyes.

They went into the house and found Freyna breastfeeding her two month old baby.

Wilhan kissed her and looked at the babe. "She's beautiful, just like her mother. You did well, my wife. Are you well?"

"Yes, very, but I'm afraid that I may not be as snug a fit for you as before."

"I'm told that it will be back to normal if I stay out of it for a full year."

"Don't you dare! I want you inside of me as soon as you get cleaned up; you smell like a sweaty horse..." she made a show of sniffing him, "that has been making love to a goat."

Wilhan couldn't argue with that. He had been riding for days and he had stopped at the edge of the farm to look over some of the livestock.

All three of the women had been without their man for several months, so before he was even dry from his bath Wilhan found three backsides with moist fuzzy slits staring him in the face.

"What's this?"

"We couldn't decide on who got you first. This is a compromise." Marin said.

Wilhan had gone without a woman for the whole time that he was gone, less out of a desire to be faithful to his wives -- which was not something that was expected of warriors off fighting -- but from that fact that he preferred willing partners, and the strain of command had his mind on more pressing matters. But he had been thinking about it for the last two days so it didn't take long for his cock to get hard at the sight.

He went from one wife to the next without stopping -- thrusting for a while and then moving on. Henna was in the middle and soon found that she was getting twice as much attention as the other because he went from left to right and then right to left and back again. Henna's pussy was also the most sensitive to his cock, even after having a baby, so she reached her peak first and collapsed down onto the bed; that took her out of the lineup.

When he was close to his climax Freyna said, "Finish in Marin. It's her turn to get pregnant."

Henna was recovered by then, and quick to get between Marin's legs to lick her clean, but rather than swallow she took her reward to Marin's lips and shared it with her in a kiss. "So that the baby can be strong." they giggled.

"They've been between each other's legs constantly while you were gone. Henna even carved a cock out of an elm branch. But I've been saving myself for you." Freyna said, as if it somehow made her superior to the other two.

"You saved yourself because your pussy was broken." Henna retorted.

"Well, there was that." Freyna said as went to her knees to suck Wilhan's dripping cock clean. "My next baby will be a boy. This one was a girl because I sucked your spend out of them. Next time I'm going to get it all straight from you ... twice a day."

Rather than sell his many slaves, Wilhan leased many of them out to families who had lost sons and farm workers; they needed help with harvest and spring planting. A large portion went to the 'Fexmark' where they cleared land all winter and planted in the spring. The share of crops north of the ridge from leasing the slaves out helped feed those down south over the winter. The following summer many of the new slaves were taken up river from the Fexmark to begin clearing the land and rebuilding the castle in the new 'Wilmark.'

Wilhan used the female slaves and livestock he had captured as enticement for settlers; for every unmarried warrior that moved to the Wilmark and pledged himself to Wilhan above clan and family, he would be given land, a cow and a wife -- while supplies lasted. The influx of slaves into the upper territories meant that the rich families got richer, but the younger sons of the yeomen class were still where they always had been, stuck working the family farm for their eldest brothers. Wilhan provided an opportunity for their future. Similar provisions were made for widows.

The slaves, the remnants of Wilhan's army, and the new men coming down, quickly developed the land, and within five years Wilhan had a thriving farm community around his rebuilt castle. He then sold Lorgar's farm to sever all ties to the clan.

The dragon creatures were fairly common in the southern borderlands and seemed to be in direct competition with bears. They were not above killing livestock so Wilhan kept busy with dragon hunts. His sword was the only thing that could easily kill one of the beasts. As a result of those hunts, Wilhan began presenting his best and most trusted warriors with dragonscale armor as a reward and mark of distinction.

Tarmiz and Ranis both married rich young women shortly after the war; marriages Lord Edbil had a part in since one was his daughter and the other was his niece.

Ulius was able to win over both Toria and her grandfather, ... after Edbil had a discussion with the old man and pointed out how much money young Ulius had as a result of the war and how much he stood to gain from his position with the new marklord.

Tobsil's farm was large and prosperous, and because of his role in helping Wilhan organize the frontier army and everything that followed, he was the defacto leader of the frontier farmers in the west. He grew rich from all of the grain and cheese that his sons bought from him. It was a formality since Fexrem would inherit the farm, but the money was needed to make improvements. Improvements enabled Tobsil to sell more grain, cheese, and livestock to his sons. That made him more money for more expansion, and Tobsil had never been one to pass up an opportunity.

Once he had enough men settled to defend the community against raiders from across the river, Wilhan took an armed trading/exploring expedition up river to find out about his neighbors. He knew from the little contact with men coming downriver to trade that they were not Nwevii, and he didn't want enemies on two sides of him right then.

Above the rapids, the Aydren River calmed down and wound through a wide valley between mountain ranges. To the east were rolling hills rising to the moderate heights of the western range that bordered Juxan territory. To the west of the valley, the mountains rose up quickly and were snowcapped year round. Juxan tribesmen had never pushed far into the low mountains, so they hadn't come into contact, or conflict, with the people that lived on the other side.

The expedition soon came face to face with a small army that was easily large enough to defeat them. Wilhan didn't have a great gift for diplomacy, but to make up for that fact, he had brought skilled traders along, men who had been downriver trading with the Nwevii, Helvezii, and others. He rode forward a short distances to show that he wanted to talk, not fight.

The warriors facing Wilhan had dark hair, brown for the most part but some black. They didn't speak a dialect of the Werimar language shared by light-haired tribes of the north -- the Juxan, the Sarvalk, the Helvezi, and others -- nor was it a dialect of Nwevian, a people who had originated in the west. These people called themselves 'Aron.' The two parties came to an understanding rather quickly for not understanding one another well. Five men could proceed to the Aron camp.

Wilhan was introduced to the Aron leader, Ziridav. Wilhan's traders presented the man with gifts -- more than Wilhan thought necessary, but he trusted his men. Ziridav seemed to be open to trading, but at some later date, and he made it clear that Wilhan would have to remove his men from Aron territory immediately. Wilhan agreed to the request since he had no reason not to and no desire to provoke a neighbor.

The expedition was escorted to what the Aroni decided was the edge of their territory. Wilhan had his men construct a cairn of large rocks to mark the boundary.

Two weeks after his return, a small trade delegation of Aroni arrived at the castle. With them was a boy of about sixteen named Stivic who the delegates said was Ziridav's son. He was there for an ambassadorial hostage trade -- as a show of good faith and to learn the language.

Wilhan was in a spot since he had no son old enough to trade, and it would have been an insult to Ziridav to send someone not of noble blood. Ulius understood that.

"Wilhan, I should be the one to go. They will accept your brother-in-law."

"Ziridav will, but Toria, Marin, and Freyna won't, especially if you get killed."

"Toria is busy with the baby, and it will do me good to get away for a few months. This is important. She will understand."

Reluctantly, Wilhan agreed to let Ulius go, knowing that he would probably pay for the decision. He hoped that the price would not be too high or too soon in coming. He sent one of his trader's sons along, a boy named Hanen, because Wilhan knew there was no way that Ulius could be a long-term ambassador. Stivic had a man with him as well, so sending a hostage and a servant/companion wouldn't raise any concern with Ziridav.

Trade looked promising, in that the Aroni seemed to have plenty of iron as well as some mined silver and gold. Wilhan's craftsman from Harvik had found clay deposits that made fine pottery, and that along with honey, beeswax, copper, and bronze, were the main things that the Wilmark could offer at that time. It was not much, but it was enough to ensure a friendly border.

Once the language barrier was broken, Stivic explained that his father was a clan chief, and as Stivic was pressed for information about his tribe Wilhan found out that Aron legends told that the tribe had once been a great people who lived along the river, and that Wilhan now lived in one of their castles.

When asked about his tribe's relationship with the Nwevii, Stivic said with pride, "They, like others before, tried to come in and kill us, but our magic is too powerful. We beat them off so now they leave us alone. We trade with them on the other side of the river, but now you put a stop to that so we trade with you."

"If your magic is so powerful why don't your people come out of the valley?" Wilhan asked him.

"Black magic caused us to fight amongst ourselves down here. It nearly destroyed us. The Upper Valley is our ancestral homeland. It is where we are strong. It is said that we are cursed below the rapids."

Juxan stories and songs told that evil spirits had forced them out of Werimar, but that move was recent enough that some people still knew the truth. Hunger and pressure from other tribes had pushed them out.

One day Stivic got a good look at Wilhan's sword and asked about its origin. When he got the answer he proudly said, "We make magic swords with a ring for a pommel," and then added, "but our legends tell of a different kind of ring sword that brought both freedom and destruction to our people when we lived here below the rapids."

"What can your magic swords do?" Wilhan asked.

"They bring good luck in battle and do not break. Some are said to bring wealth, or love."

Just like the Aron swords Stivic described, almost every good Juxan sword was said to be magical, but no swordsmith ever claimed to put magic into the metal; that was something that the gods did during the forging process or during battle. Wilhan showed Stivic that Oakheart could produce light to prove it had true magic in it. The young man had already heard the stories of it being the only sword that could easily kill a dragon, so he believed that Wilhan was chosen by the gods to find the ancient sword and live in the castle. Wilhan's success in battle simply confirmed it.

Wilhan didn't have the time that Stivic did to learn a new language, but he had applied himself and could get by speaking Aron to the boy. Stivic stayed with Wilhan for three years learning the customs and language, and he became somewhat of an older brother to Wilhan's children. Wilhan taught him swordsmanship during that time.

Ulius only lasted one year with the Aroni before domestic pressures forced Wilhan to recall him. Another man was sent in his place, but Hanen stayed for the entire time. By then trade back and forth between Wilmark and Ziridav's clan was well established.

Engruth had stepped down once it was certain that Ruther had enough support to be voted clan chief. Further north word was that Arfald was getting close to stepping down for Arnek, who had gone on to subjugate most of the Sarvalki through a combination of force and diplomacy.

Ruther wanted to open trade with the Aroni once he found out that there was a pass through the mountains that led from Elksen territory into the upper Aydren Valley. He was doing all that he could to stay on good terms with Fexrem and Wilhan because his clan territory stood between the two rivermarks and the rest of the tribe, and he knew that he stood to make a good profit as a middleman on those trade routes.

After three years, it was time for Stivic to go home and be initiated as a warrior. He asked Wilhan to accompany him as his sponsor and trainer. It was a great honor because Stivic was the son of a headman. Usually such an honor was given to an uncle or a great warrior who had accepted responsibility of training a boy.