Chapter 10

"She has me all confused."

Felek could not help but chuckle as he sat beside Issa on the wagon. His friend gave him a brief glare.

"I'm serious," Issa said. "I have no idea what the hell she's doing. Hell, I don't know if SHE knows what she's doing. She certainly can't know what it's doing to ME."

"Oh, she knows," Felek said. He leaned back on the wooden bench, enjoying the change from riding horseback as he watched Ruta ride Horse. It was not an imaginative name for his mount, true, but it amused him as much as it seemed to annoy Anelie. So, he was amused twice with one name. Three times when he remembered she had given her stallion the female name Toria. That was being efficient.

"Then why is she doing it?" Issa looked back through the wagon. Felek let his own head roll that way. He could see Ofure sitting next to Jaromira in the wagon behind them, the Kikker girl seemingly quiet. From his angle he briefly saw Adanya come into view, riding double with Bogdi. Their heads were together. Felek looked away, blushing a bit at the intimacy of the moment. Ruta was looking back at him, smiling. He'd have to suggest her riding double with him. There had been little time for such things between them.

Issa hit his arm. Felek chuckled.

"Sorry."

"So?"

"So she's a woman." He shrugged. "I don't know Kikker women, but it seems to me she's doing the same thing you try to do to Polish girls, except she actually means it."

"I do mean it." There was hurt in his voice. He paused as the wagon went over some obstacle, the two trying to mitigate the damage to their tender buttock's. "I mean, I mostly do." He turned to Felek. "You mean they think I don't?"

"I think most of them think you're just teasing. You do come on a bit thick. Almost like you're mocking Polish guys."

"I am, a little," he admitted. "It is all rather silly. I still think your women are beautiful, though." He paused, considering. "It's the hair, I think. I ... I just really like hair. If Zuza was my age, I'd be in heaven!"

"Because Bogdi would have sent you there."

"True. Don't tell him I said that."

"I won't."

Anelie's mount drifted back down the line towards them. Felek leaned forward, giving her his full attention.

"You notice?" she asked, motioning towards the trees around them. He gave a nod.

"Awhile ago."

"I don't like it."

He glanced again, seeing the brief flash of sunlight hitting metal. The leather clad bandits watching them had been replaced by copper armored soldiers, pikes the length of a human held in their clawed hand. This ... was bad. Not for them, perhaps. It meant, after all, the overgrown wagon trail was taking them closer to whatever Watu civilization looked like. No, it was his homeland for which this could mean trouble. Were the bandits NOT the rogue criminals they had thought? Were they, in fact, acting on the orders of one or more of the Watu city-states? If the raids around the border were actually acts of war ... Felek frowned. His Grace had to be told. Even if it meant detaching two of their soldiers to go back with the news. The information could not wait on the uncertainty of this mission's success.

"I haven't seen armor like that before," Anelie said. Felek nodded. From the glimpses he had managed, the Watu seemed to wear coats of copper squares, fastened together with what looked like leather ties. Very different from the steel plate or chain the Polish wore.

"I have, a couple times. A merchant who came to Court had guards wearing the stuff." He laughed. "His Grace for some reason found it funny that he was named 'Wicket'. He wouldn't tell me why, though. He just muttered something about 'fucking Ewoks' and moved on."

"Shanna can be the same way," Anelie snorted. "She'll find some word hilarious, and not say why. Some sort of in-joke only those two can understand, I guess."

They shared a glance, a twinkle in the redhead's eyes. Felek had never really noticed her eyes before. They were ... pretty. She looked away, gaze again taking in their surroundings.

"Another break in half an hour. Switching back to your mount?"

"I think so. This was a nice change, but I'll be back up front with you."

"Good. Your girlfriend is boring."

Anelie sat against a rock, watching the sunset as camp was set up around her. They had the system down by now, even with the changes this cross-country detour had thrown at them. Fortifications were minimal, unless the terrain was really open. This evening found them on another hilltop, so they contented themselves with a stake filled ditch across the most accessible ways up. With regular army tracking them, they were either in no danger, or about to be overwhelmed.

Not, she thought, that her men couldn't handle a good number of Watu. Sure, these were better armed, but she had never seen a Watu with a bow, and the little fur balls would be no match physically. The tallest would probably barely come up to her breasts, unless they grew them taller here. Which, she had to admit, was possible. It would not do to be too cocky, this far from home.

High pitched giggling drew her gaze towards the wagons. Bogdi held Zuza upside down by her ankles, her hands barely touching the long grass. Her skirt had fallen down, white panties exposed. How often had her brother done that to Anelie? Never in front of other kids, though. Bogdi would never have embarrassed Anelie like that. Zuza probably didn't even think to be embarrassed in front of all these soldiers. Actually, would Anelie have been embarrassed? She didn't know. She may not have been, back then. Certainly she hadn't seen herself as much different than her brother and his friends, apart from the size thing. Given how proud of her body she was now, the embarrassment would probably come from having let Bogdi catch her unaware.

She bit her lip, taking another look at the pair. Maybe he'd try it, if she just casually walked by...

"Aunt Anelie?"

James stood beside her, holding a book. She smiled, patting the grass beside her.

"Sit. What's up?" She resisted asking how he was, if he felt OK. That had to get annoying for the poor boy. He plopped down beside her.

"I have something for you." Opening the book, whose title she couldn't read but which seemed to have a few pictures, he pulled out a folded sheet of paper. Laying the book on the grass beside him, he unfolded it. She leaned over.

"What is it?"

"A map." His voice was proud. She gave an appreciative sound. Yes. She could see it was a map. Alternating between shaking and smooth lines, probably depending on if the marks were made when the wagon was moving or still, he had traced out their path. Each camp was marked with a little drawing of a campfire and tent. He had obviously misjudged how long they would be traveling, as the distance between camps became shorter as their eastward path took them towards the edge of the page. Overcompensating, the northward trek had only an inch or so between camps.

"I like it." Anelie placed a finger on the page, tracing the route. "You did this yourself?"

"Zuza drew the trees, and that bird, but I told her where to put them."

"Very nice. Felek is doing his own map, but if we lose that we can use this."

His cheeks colored a bit as he folded it back up, placing it in the book. She now saw it was a children's biography of King James, purporting to tell of his childhood. She wondered if there were any actual facts besides his name in it.

"How long until we get there?" There was a tiredness in his voice. Reaching for him, she mussed his brown hair.

"We don't know. We should, if we are where we think we are, hit another east-west road sometimes tomorrow. Then we'll find out what our new direction is."

"I'm tired."

"I know." She lowered her arm, hugging him against her. She was glad she had removed her breastplate. His slender body felt good against her, his arms wrapping around her body as his head fell onto her breasts."

"You're soft," he said. "Softer than Mommy."

"Thank you." She mussed his hair again. He was not as softly cuddly as Shanna's fully human twins, but naturally she loved him more. Anelie kissed the top of his head.

"Lady."

Anelie looked up. Klocia stood before them, body casting a long shadow in the setting sun.

"Yes?"

"The mounts are all tended to, Lady. Kazik's is favoring one leg a bit, but it looks like it was just a stone and we got that out. The foot seems OK."

"Keep an eye on it," she said, nodding in approval. "We are going to lose horses, but let's put that off as long as possible." She adjusted her position a bit, James moving against her to keep in full contact. "Anything else?"

"No, Lady. Camp is all set up. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Good. We'll be there in a bit."

Klocia nodded. Anelie looked down at James. His eyes were closed, breathing subtly different.

"I think he fell asleep on me."

"You must make a good pillow."

It took a moment for Anelie to recognize the other way that statement could be taken. By the time she looked up, Klocia had all her attention focused back on the grazing horses, her face a dark shade of red. She felt her own cheeks heat.

"As long as he doesn't try to fluff me," she found herself saying. Her heart was beating faster. Klocia's eyes widened, Anelie swearing she saw the girl bite her lower lip. Damn, she was cute. No. Not cute.

Sexy.

James moved, relaxing his hold on her. Anelie gently moved his arms, freeing herself. She raised up, slowly, laying his head on the grass. Klocia squatted down beside her.