Chapter 24: The Surgeon’s Wife

A heavy snowstorm swept over the central mountains on November 15, putting an end to travel, foraging, military drills, and just about anything else that involved extended activity outside. The Defenders congregated in the bathhouse and the kitchen, the only two buildings that were adequately heated. Isauria and Danka spent much of their free time sitting on their bed, wrapped in blankets while Isauria practiced writing or doing arithmetic problems. There were not many books in the encampment, but some of the Defenders had brought a few with them, which Danka borrowed for Isauria to read. Several of the Oana’s nymphs were illiterate, so, if Isauria’s book had an interesting topic, for entertainment they gathered in the frigid bunkhouse, huddling under their blankets while listening to the girl practice reading out loud.

Unable to do much else in the snowy hills during the winter, the snowbound Defenders spent a lot of their time making, repairing, and modifying weapons. Oana gave Danka several suggestions for improving Isauria’s crossbow. The blacksmith enjoyed experimenting with weapons, including projectiles, to see if he could improve on their performance. So, Oana frequently sent her nymphs outside to test modified crossbow bolts, to see if any of the new designs might be worth distributing to the entire squad.

During the second half of 1756, the Defenders of the Duchy did not really have a supreme chief, nor were they under the direct control of the Grand Duke’s army. Leadership among officers such as Commander Saupeckt depended on having respect from their soldiers and building prestige through their units’ over-all contributions to the militia movement. The most obvious were battlefield victories, but there were other ways commanders could make meaningful contributions, including bringing in supplies, identifying new resources such hidden springs or new fishing ponds, improving travel and communication, producing and or finding innovative ways to repair weapons, and improving medical care. Commander Saupeckt’s unit was considered a top provider of medical care, give that he had three field surgeons and an alchemist working in the cave, led by a practitioner who had previous experience working with the Followers of the Ancients.

The leading doctor’s name was Ilmatarkt. He originally was from Nagoronkti-Serifkti and had assisted a group of Followers during vaccination campaigns in 1749 and 1751. He was the son of a bookbinder who provided housing to the Followers in exchange for medical training for their children. Because he was the only member of the Defenders who had received formal medical training from the Cult, he was considered the person most qualified to handle medical care for the militia.

Danka first met Ilmatarkt when she helped bring in her wounded squad-mate for a follow-up examination and to have the wound disinfected. Ilmatarkt was impressed with Danka’s work and amazed that a nymph who had sustained such a serious injury in battle had survived and was well on her way to healing. He congratulated Danka and wanted to find out more about her, but the September fighting and October foraging pulled her away.

After the first snowfall, Danka was back in the cave, asking about alchemy ingredients she needed to prepare batches of birth-control paste. Doctor Ilmatarkt, pleased that she had survived the fall campaign unscathed, invited her to share a bottle of ale in a small side grotto he used as his place of work.

They chatted about Nagoronkti-Serifkti, the vaccination campaigns, and the True Believers. Because of his training and association with the Cult of the Ancients, Ilmatarkt suspected that his life was in danger when he heard about the raid against the Followers’ compound in 1752. He fled with his two sisters to Starivktaki Moskt. The sisters went their separate ways: one enrolled in the Old Believers’ Seminary and the other married a blacksmith’s apprentice.

Ilmatarkt could have remained in Starivktaki Moskt, but with his sisters occupied with their new lives and responsibilities, he became lonely and restless. He went to the capitol, set broken bones and performed some surgeries to earn money for traveling, and continued south to Horkustk Ris. Although by that time Horkustk Ris had become a besieged border town, he liked the city and made friends with some of the city guards. When the Grand Duke evacuated the city, he accompanied the guards to assist refugees who needed medical assistance, and in doing so unwittingly joined the Grand Duke’s army. Because his unit remained with the refugees, he missed seeing the battles for the city and the Grand Duke’s victory.

After the battle of Iyoshnyakt-Krepockt, Ilmatarkt’s unit quickly moved east to attack villages of foreigners still living in Horkustk Ris province. He came close to being killed when his company lost a skirmish with a much larger column of retreating soldiers from the Lord of the Red Moon’s army and the squad he was with became separated from the rest of the unit and was overrun. Ilmatarkt was captured along with one of the guards while the others were killed. The Red Moon soldiers planned to impale their two prisoners, along with a group of captured village women, as a parting insult to the Grand Duke’s army. The invaders had even laid the hooks on the ground in front of the captives to show them what was about to happen. However, because the Red Moon Army commander was absent, the impalement had to wait.

Fortunately for the prisoners, a group of Defenders of the Duchy operating in the area were able to take advantage of the delay to organize a rescue. The Danubians entered the village at night, battled the Red Moon soldiers guarding Ilmatarkt and the others, and escaped with the prisoners. The Defenders lost two of their own men, so even though they had saved their countrymen, they were not sympathetic towards them. They took the women to Horkustk Ris province and abandoned them in a large village held by the Grand Duke’s army. The Defenders drafted the two rescued men to replace the two killed in the fight. Ilmatarkt had been with the Defenders ever since, although his original senior officer traded him to Commander Saupeckt for a man who knew how to make gunpowder.

Danka responded with a heavily censored summary of her life, omitting the reason she left Rika Heckt-nemat and her two years serving the Grand Duke as a concubine. She did feel confident enough around the doctor that she talked about her time with Babackt Yaga. The pair exchanged information and gossip about people they had both known in Nagoronkti-Serifkti and Starivktaki Moskt. When she mentioned Ermin, she found out that Ilmatarkt had worked under him multiple times. At the time the doctor knew him, Ermin’s wife was still alive and she was friends with both Ilmatarkt’s sisters.

The conversation turned to the destruction of Babackt Yaga’s settlement and the True Believers’ effort to consolidate their power in Nagoronkti-Serifkti. Danka described what happened and the sacrifice Ermin made so she could escape and warn Alchemist Fitoreckt in Severckt nad Goradki. The memories of the chaotic fighting and Ermin’s last words came back into her consciousness, as though they had just happened. Unable to continue, Danka sat quietly as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“A lot of me died with Elder Ermin. I guess I loved him, in a way I never loved anyone else, but I never had the chance say anything to him about that. It seems such a long time ago, and yet, it wasn’t.”

There was a moment of silence, before Ilmatarkt slightly changed the subject.

“So, since you were there and bore witness, it’s true, the rumors, that the Cult of the Ancients disbanded?”

She saw no harm in giving the doctor a detailed account of the Cult’s final ceremony and the sealing of the caves. She was reluctant to tell Ilmatarkt about Alchemist Fitoreckt’s revenge against the True Believers’ priest, although she did mention that she had heard the priest later went mad and the townsfolk of Nagoronkti-Serifkti killed him. After the caves were sealed, the Followers dispersed and vanished into Danubian society. She concluded with:

“So, it is true, the Cult did disband, and now I think I know why. Our leaders knew the Ancients had decided to forsake the Realm of the Living. The Ancients departed, and now the Destroyer rules our Realm. Alchemist Fitoreckt understood. Maybe the Ancients warned him they were leaving. Anyhow, the Cult is gone. I was there for the end. As they say: ‘What happens to a breath, after the words that it carried have been spoken?’”

An awkward moment of silence followed. After some thought, Ilmatarkt responded:

“If the words were important enough, people will remember them. If the words are immortal, then the breath’s Path in Life is immortal. You can’t have the words without the breath. So there’s your answer. The breath is indeed gone, but the words of the Cult will remain, as will its accomplishments. You, sitting there in front of me, with your knowledge and memories, are one of those accomplishments, Follower Danka.”

“Follower. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I miss being called ‘Follower’. It was the only time I ever felt my Path in Life had any purpose to it. I was part of something, something very ancient and so much greater than myself. I went in as little more than an ignorant peasant girl, but when I put on my Followers’ dress, people looked at me with respect and awe.”

“Well, here, among the Defenders, your life will have a purpose. And when we go south, and you’re riding your horse with a squad of armed nymphs, the women of the Kingdom of the Moon will look at you with respect and awe. Remember, the Kingdom’s women don’t fight. They don’t do anything other than serve their men. So when they see the infamous Danubian nymphs, women carrying weapons, it makes them wonder about their own Paths in Life. And as far as being part of something much greater than yourself, among us, you will be. We’re defending the Duchy. You, a mere woman, have taken up arms and are defending the Duchy. You can’t be part of anything more important than that.”

“I know, but it’s not the same for me, as my service to the Realm of the Living when I was in the Cult.”

“Of course it’s not the same. When is anything the same? But are you telling me a nymph’s skirt is any less honorable than a Follower’s dress? Different, yes. Less honorable, no.”

Danka knew that it would be getting dark shortly, and that she needed to get back to her squad. As much as she wanted to continue her conversation with the doctor, she had to cut it short. Instead, she asked about various ingredients, his chemistry supplies, and if there was anything in particular he needed when she was out foraging. He smiled and responded:

“Ha! Here you are, claiming that you need to get back to Oana, and you’re asking about topics that will take us all winter to cover. There’s always tomorrow: the snow and the cave are not going anywhere.”

“You want me to come back? Just to talk?”

“I’d be honored.”

Danka returned the next day with Isauria. The doctor seemed disappointed that she had not returned alone. However, he welcomed the apprentice and introduced her to the fundamentals of alchemy. He then disposed of her by assigning one of his assistants to talk to her about medical procedures and to visit several patients recovering from injuries and sicknesses.

As soon as Isauria was gone, he talked to Danka at length concerning her experience as a chemist and field surgeon. They compared their training in the Cult and impressed each other with their knowledge. As the conversation progressed, it became clear to him that Danka had participated in the Grand Duke’s campaign in 1754, even though she was trying to give him the impression she was studying at the university in Sebernekt Ris at the time. The doctor did not press her on the discrepancy in her narrative.

Throughout December, Danka spent most of her time with Ilmatarkt. They worked in his laboratory preparing medicine, teaching each other details about alchemy and improving each other’s skills. He showed her some experimental glassware he had ordered from a local glassblower, while she shared the inventions she had seen at the Followers’ settlement, the most important of which was the iron stoves for burning cave-charcoal. They chatted about other topics, such as politics, the Kingdom of the Moon, and religion. Danka shared much of what she had learned from Babackt Yaga and from her time at the university with a man who was genuinely interested in what she had to say.

At first Danka tried bringing Isauria into the cave to learn about medicine, but the girl felt more comfortable hanging out with other apprentices or practicing her crossbow with Oana’s squad-members. They continued to sleep together for warmth in the nymphs’ frigid cabin, so everyone still looked upon Isauria as being Danka’s apprentice. However, during the days Danka and Isauria usually went their separate ways as the girl increasingly spent her routine away from her former owner. Danka was not bothered in the least by Isauria’s growing independence. She still viewed herself as cursed, so the sooner Isauria’s Path in Life moved away from hers, the better it would be for both.

Meanwhile, Danka spent as much time as possible with Ilmatarkt and his assistants. They prepared medications, exchanged various experiences as medical practitioners, and tested modifications of recipes to see if they could be improved or if the preparation could become more efficient. Danka shared Babackt Yaga’s discovery about the rat plague and the poisonous fleas, to which the doctor responded:

“That is a mystery we’ll have to investigate. It seems, from what you’re telling me, that not all the fleas are poisonous, just some. It seems they become poisonous for a mysterious reason, that they are not that way naturally. Something makes them poisonous, and only occasionally. What would that be?”

“Wouldn’t it just be a trick of the Destroyer?”

“No. It’s something else, something from the Realm of Nature. We need to find out what change or event can make fleas become poisonous.”

“How would we do that?”

“We’ll have to look at the fleas themselves, and I know for a fact it can be done. If magnifying lenses are lined up in a certain way, it is possible to see very small things, strange moving things, everywhere. Especially in water. If we can find the right combination of lenses, we could study the fleas.”

Ilmatarkt showed Danka a strange contraption he had been working on, which allowed the user to see items such as pollen and dead insects in amazing detail. When the doctor showed her a couple of dead fleas under the lenses, she was horrified by how ugly and scary-looking they were. She commented that something so monstrous could only have been a product of the Destroyer. The doctor gave her a skeptical smile:

“Perhaps. But, ugly or not, the fleas contain a mystery we need to solve.”

Oana was increasingly irritated that Danka was gone most of the time, but she was not about to confront Ilmatarkt concerning her squad-member’s absence. Instead, she confronted Danka over the fact that she had left Isauria’s training to the rest of the squad. Danka, still annoyed that Oana had denied her any chance of recovering a portion of the three-and-a-half gold she had paid for her former servant, responded:

“We agreed I have no claim over Apprentice Isauria’s life. That’s in her emancipation certificate, of which you have a copy with my original signature. As you’ll remember, you ordered me to kneel before the Priest with 35 silver pieces, half of which I had to give back to you, and swear I had no rights over her. So, she’s not really my problem, is she? You’re the squad leader and you need to train her. I now have other duties with the medical staff.”

Oana was offended that one of her subordinates would dare speak to her in such a manner, but she could not fault the newcomer for helping the militia’s doctor, and everything Danka had said about Isauria’s emancipation was true. In her haste to cancel Danka’s ownership over Isauria, Oana had ensured that any further relationship between them would be voluntary. However, she had not expected Danka to take on responsibilities outside the squad that would allow her to leave Isauria behind.

Danka’s insubordination was only one issue out of several irritating the squad leader. By the beginning of the new year, morale in the squad had deteriorated because the nymphs were bored. Some of her squad members had obtained ale from the men and were drinking too much of it, some were neglecting their training, and some were gossiping and trying to discredit each other. Worst of all for Oana’s reputation as a leader, she discovered that four of her nymphs were abusing their new sexual freedom by charging their male lovers a silver piece for each encounter: to put it simply, they had become prostitutes.

Oana was so livid when she discovered the prostitution that she wanted to whip everyone in her squad. She ordered all of her nymphs, including Isauria, to strip inside the cabin, place their clothing in a pile, and stand by their bunks. However, as she brandished her switch, she decided that whipping the entire squad would be impractical and would further jeopardize her leadership. Instead she snapped:

“I’ll do all of you a favor. Since you want silver so badly, why don’t I make it easier? After-all, your customers have the right to see what they’re purchasing. That’s only fair! So, I’m changing your uniforms, to allow you to properly show your fine wares in the marketplace to your buyers.”

The squad leader angrily dug through the clothing pile and confiscated all of the trousers. Until further notice, the nymphs would be naked between the tops of their boots and their waists so they could “properly display themselves to their clients”. She made an exception for Isauria who, because of her young age, did not share any responsibility for the scandal. The unhappy squad members retrieved their remaining clothing while Isauria stood next to Oana. As she watched the humiliation of her squad-mates, the apprentice had a smug expression on her face: the first time Danka had ever seen her like that.

The squad leader was not finished dishonoring her subordinates, because she had reserved a special humiliation for the four perpetrators of the prostitution scandal. She ordered them to assume “the prisoner’s stance”; standing with their legs spread and their hands behind their heads. She announced that she needed to check the condition of the “goods for sale” and make sure her squad was offering “only the very best for our loyal and hardworking men”. She ran her fingers though each culprit’s pubic hair before exploring her vulva with sensuous fondling. She shoved her fingers into the offenders’ vaginas and teased their clitorises.

“So tell me, do you become aroused when a man touches you for silver, or do you prefer to just act and pretend? Remember, ‘the Destroyer enters the Realm of the Living through the mouth of the liar’, or I guess in your case, through the cunt of the liar.”

The four culprits broke down crying as the other squad members tried to look away. It was difficult for Danka to watch her battle-hardened peers in their current condition: so embarrassed they were reduced to tears. The most humiliating insult in traditional Danubian culture was for a person to endure having his or her genitals touched by member of the same sex, especially a superior. The treatment was absolutely the worst way one woman could inflict dishonor on another. The nymphs were completely debased, not only by having their genitals fondled by their female leader, but also knowing the other squad members would have to spend the rest of the winter running around bottomless due to their behavior.

With the icy wind punishing her bare bottom and thighs, Danka casually walked out of the cabin and made her way to the kitchen to pick up some ingredients needed by the medical staff. Unlike the other nymphs, she was not embarrassed at all by presenting herself with the lower half of her body on full display. She had been naked in public throughout much of her life, so her biggest concern was the cold, not the embarrassment. The fighting men and the kitchen workers stared at her, but she did not react nor attempt to turn away to hide anything. Inwardly she enjoyed the attention.

She felt differently about her situation as she descended into the tunnel to visit Ilmatarkt. She knew that he was attracted to her and wondered how he’d react upon seeing her naked from the waist down. It was obvious he enjoyed looking at her, but at the same time he tried to not make his staring too obvious. He respected her, so he was reluctant to do anything to further embarrass her. She explained what happened; that the entire squad was being punished because four of its members were charging men to have sex with them. She added that she had been naked for extended periods of time in her past, so Oana’s punishment really did not bother her. Ilmatarkt commented:

“If you were from Rika Chorna, it would be different: you’d be much more upset and humiliated. In the Vice-Duchy, among the True Believers, what Oana is making you do would be considered a very severe punishment, excessively harsh indeed.”

“I’m not worried about it. I’d much rather be naked than be whipped, or have my hair unbraided, or have my food taken away from me.”

As she placed her supplies on the table, Danka noticed her companion looking at her uncovered backside with a hungry expression. She bent over to better display the curves of her bottom and her muscular thighs. She wanted to show herself to him and see what might happen. The doctor moved behind her:

“Your squad leader certainly did me a favor by punishing you. You are very pleasing to the eye.”

Ilmatarkt placed a hand on her back to silently instruct her not to move. He explored her bottom with his other hand, massaging her uncovered backside. Her skin was cold from having been exposed to the outside elements and covered with goose-pimples. She enjoyed the feel of his warm hands on her chilled skin. Wanting more, she spread her legs and arched her back, lewdly displaying her body and inviting him to explore her vulva.

“I’m a total hypocrite, you know.”

“In what way?”

“I emphasized to Apprentice Isauria that she needs to avoid using the position I’m in now. I think she’d laugh if she could see me.”

“We’re all hypocrites, each in our own way. You’re no worse than anyone else.”

Ilmatarkt’s fingers explored Danka’s vulva. As he teased her clitoris and gently pushed inside, she moaned and became wet. She couldn’t resist. It had been six months since she last had sex with anyone, and that last time didn’t really count. She had seduced a man not because she was attracted to him, but to find out if all of his fine words about family loyalty really meant anything.

The doctor took off his clothes. Danka was surprised that he would take off his shirt, given how cold it was in the chamber. He put his shoes back on and positioned himself behind her. Following protocol, Danka did not move once she had committed herself to having sex. She was his to use and enjoy. Oddly enough, the feeling of abandoning herself totally aroused her. She was more than ready when he entered her and started to vigorously thrust. She struggled to keep her voice as quiet as possible to avoid drawing attention of people working in other parts of the cave.

Danka ended up staying with Ilmatarkt the entire night. He had a very nice bed; much more comfortable than the one she shared with Isauria in the women’s cabin. The bed alone would have made her want to stay, but she also wanted more sex. They made love two more times before wearing themselves out. She fell asleep and remained unconscious well into the next day.

While Danka was sleeping with her new lover, Oana became increasingly upset over her absence. The squad leader was in a foul mood anyway over the humiliation from her subordinates’ whoring, and now she had to deal with a member who was AWOL. At sunrise the next day she sent her nymphs to find out where Danka might be. One of the kitchen workers mentioned that she had taken some supplies to the medical staff, had gone down into the cave, and had not come back out.

Oana was more than furious. She already considered Danka the most rebellious and disrespectful member of her squad, and now she was going AWOL with the medical staff. Some suppressed snickers and mocking looks from her half-naked subordinates worsened her mood. It seemed she had lost the respect of her entire squad, and in doing so had lost control over her authority to command.

All of the women, especially Danka, needed to be taught a lesson. Oana decided to formally flog her in front of the rest of the squad. Maybe severely disciplining one of her nymphs would restore some order. The squad leader threw some chains with cuffs over the cabin’s main support beam and sent Isauria to the unit commander to ask for his whip. When Danka returned, she would face an entire evening of being restrained and whipped.

After hanging the chains, Oana turned around and noticed her squad members staring at her with hostile expressions as they whispered among themselves. There was no doubt about it, she had lost their respect. What she did not realize was how close she was to facing an open mutiny in the cabin and that her plan to flog a squad member was making the situation considerably worse.

Oana was missing two of the things needed to “teach her squad a lesson”; Danka and the whip. The only whip in the unit was with Commander Saupeckt, since flogging was reserved for the severest offenses and only he had the authority to allow its use. Oana assumed that, because she was his lover, he’d lend it to her. She also needed to retrieve Danka before her temper subsided or before the other nymphs could object to what was about to happen. She decided to send the lowest-ranking member of her squad, Apprentice Isauria, to ask the commander for the whip. As soon as she had it, she’d fetch Danka and make her return to the cabin.

Isauria wanted to warn her former mistress, but did not know where she was. Instead, she ran around the snow-covered compound looking for Commander Saupeckt. He was not in any of his usual locations, so she decided to try the cave. One of the medical assistants told her that the commander was not there, but confirmed that Danka was present, sleeping in the side-chamber that had been taken over by lead doctor. Isauria was relieved that she could warn Danka before resuming her search for Commander Saupeckt. She burst into the doctor’s sleeping area and surprised the lovers in their bed.

When the apprentice delivered the news about the impending flogging, the doctor calmly stood up. He did not bother to try to cover himself.

“Apprentice, your squad leader will do no such thing to Defender Danka. That woman has gone mad, thinking she has the authority to lay a hand on her. You can continue searching for the commander and deliver his whip to your squad leader; in fact, I encourage you to do so. But, I guarantee Defender Oana won’t be using it. Instead, she will receive a lesson in humility.”

Ilmatarkt noticed the frightened look in Isauria’s eyes. He added:

“Don’t repeat anything I just said. Just find the commander and deliver the whip, as you’ve been ordered. But rest assured Defender Oana won’t be using it.”

As soon as Isauria left, the doctor turned to his lover. His next words totally shocked her.

“How would you feel about marrying me?”

“What?”

“Marrying me. Right now. We’d make good partners. Our Paths in Life are compatible. And, you have good reason for marrying me today. Oana can’t flog you if you’re my wife.”

“I, I don’t know, this is a bit sudden.”

“I was planning to ask you anyway. Your squad leader’s latest bout of temper changed the timing of my proposal, nothing more.”

Danka took a deep breath, trying to absorb the shock of the sudden development. She didn’t love Ilmatarkt, but he certainly was the most compatible man she had known in a long time. She enjoyed talking to him and working with him. He had just proven himself as a good lover. Assuming they both survived the war; he would earn a good living and would provide her with a good life. Most importantly, she respected him. And, he was right about Oana. If she was married, her squad leader would lose much of her authority over her. The pending flogging would not happen if she could show Oana a marriage certificate. Whether or not she loved the man, under the circumstances it was logical to accept his proposal.

Danka forced a smile and nodded, kissing his hand.

“So you accept?”

“Yes, my love. I accept.”

Ilmatarkt put on his clothes. He handed Danka an extra pair of trousers to put on, figuring that she probably would not want to go before the Priest to get married with the lower part of her body uncovered. The doctor again surprised Danka by opening a small wooden box containing three pieces of jewelry: a silver headpiece, a silver ring, and a silver necklace.

“So, as you can see, I was serious about asking you to marry me.”