The Twilight Lord (45 page)

“Nay,” John Swiftsword replied. “Lara does not dislike Hetar. While her faerie destiny called her elsewhere, I have never known her to show disloyalty.”

“Yet she speaks of Terah as her home,” the Crusader Knight standing next to Swiftsword said suspiciously.

“She is wife to Terah’s ruler,” Jonah answered for Swiftsword. “Like any well-born and mannerly Hetarian woman, she has cleaved to her husband’s house.”

“Have you not talked enough?” King Archeron demanded. He knew the Hetarians’ propensity for debating an issue until it was ragged. “Terah and the Shadow Princes have agreed to help Hetar. Gather your forces for transport, Knight Commanders. Day will soon be breaking in the Midlands and you must have your people in place before the first light. Surprise will be your greatest advantage.”

There was agreement around the high board, and as the Knight Commanders moved from the great table to gather their troops into the proper formations, a bevy of Shadow Princes appeared from the darkness in the back of the great hall of King Archeron. Their garments almost blinding in their whiteness, each of the princes attached themselves to a Knight Commander and soon the hall began to empty. Eventually only the Coastal King and Lord Jonah remained. It was then a prince came to the emperor’s right hand and with a bow to King Archeron, transported Lord Jonah back to The City.

Alone for the first time in months the Coastal King sighed audibly. He did not need to be told that Gaius Prospero was through. Lord Jonah’s careful and reasonable speech had already begun rallying the Crusader Knights away from the emperor. But he would lobby with others to prevent Jonah from becoming the next emperor. Hetar needed to return to its old way: a new High Council was needed. That was an idea he would most certainly get behind and so would his brother kings.

But now while the rest of Hetar was busy fending off the forces of the Twilight Lord, the Coastal Kings would meet together and begin ridding their territory of those Hetarians who had usurped their lands. The manufactories attempting to replicate cheap luxury goods in a bad imitation of Terahn products would be torn down. Greenery would be planted again and the sand dunes would protect them once more from the winter seas. The beaches would grow wide as they had once been. It was time to slough off the invaders and return to what they had once been. The new government would be so busy repairing the damage done to the Midlands and to The City itself that little thought would be given to the faraway Coastal Kingdom.

King Archeron smiled to himself. It would soon be time to bring their living vessels from the sea caves where they had been hidden from Gaius Prospero and his minions. Had they possessed such vessels they would not have lost half of their army. It would soon be time to set to sea again and meet the Terahn traders at the midpoint of the Sagitta. Aye, in just a little while life would be back to normal once again.

T
HE FOUR
W
OLFYN MOVED
carefully through the tunnel beneath The City. It had been carved from rock and was dry. How long it had been in existence they did not know. They had found its entrance only by chance when digging a foundation for one of their fire machines for their master, the Twilight Lord. The four Wolfyn were curious to see where the tunnel ended and if there was an exit into The City. If such an entry could be found it would save a great deal of damage and they might present The City intact to Kol.

At last the winding tunnel came to its end and before them was a narrow stone staircase. Cautiously the four made their way up the steps and there at its top was a door. It was locked, of course. There was no key but one of the Wolfyn took his knife and thrust it into the lock, wiggling it this way and that until they heard a distinct
click.
The Wolfyn placed a hand on the door and it opened, its hinges creaking noisily.

Quickly they stepped through the door to find themselves in a cellar filled with wine barrels. They could see on the other side of the chamber another set of stairs.

“Where are we?” one of the Wolfyn asked softly.

Their leader, Ulf, signaled for silence for his sharp ears had picked up the sound of feet coming toward the cellar’s door. He stepped back into the dimness with his three companions. The door at the top of the stairs opened and a pretty female carrying a silver pitcher hurried down and went directly to one of the barrels. Turning the spigot in the barrel’s head to one side she thrust her pitcher beneath it. When it was obviously full the girl closed the spigot, turned and went back up the stairs. Before she closed the door sounds of merriment could be heard coming from above them.

“It is a Pleasure House,” Ulf said. “We must wait for a bit, then we will venture above to see what we can see. Hrolf, go back and tell Lord Hrolleif that we have found a way into The City that has not been enchanted against us. When we know a little bit more of where we are we will come back and tell him.”

The Wolfyn known as Hrolf detached himself from their party and made his way back down the tunnel staircase. The three remaining Wolfyn waited patiently. Several times in the hours that passed a servant girl carrying a pitcher or two would come into the wine cellar to fill her vessels and then hurry out again. And as the cellar door opened and closed the Wolfyn listened to the sounds coming from above them.

Eventually some time passed without anyone coming for more wine. Ulf climbed the stairs, then slowly opened the door into a hallway. It was deserted and the sounds of revelry were now silent. He signaled to the two Wolfyn below to join him.

Cautiously the trio made their way through the corridor until they entered a kitchen. There they found a single servant woman taking loaves of bread from a warming oven and placing them in the baking oven. Coming up behind her they caught her, muffling her cries and forcing her into a chair. Her eyes widened in shock and terror as she recognized what they were and almost instantly she fainted. They roused her with a bucket of water.

“Whose house is this?” Ulf asked low. “And if you make any attempt to rouse help you will be killed. Cooperate and we will spare you.” He nodded and the Wolfyn whose hand covered the serving woman’s mouth removed it.

The servant’s mouth opened and closed several times with her fright.

“Speak up, woman! I grow impatient,” Ulf growled.

“Lady Gillian!” the woman finally managed to gasp. “You are in Lady Gillian’s house. Ohh, do not kill me!”

“It is a Pleasure House?”

“Yes! Yes!” the servant said.

Ulf nodded curtly and the Wolfyn behind the woman quickly strangled her. She slumped forward in the chair. “The Pleasure District is near to the center of The City,” Ulf said. “If we can secure this house then the tunnel may be used freely by our soldiers. With enough of us inside The City we can fight our way to the main gates and open them. First we must take all here prisoner. We will go floor by floor.”

“What will we do with those we find?” one Wolfyn asked.

“Kill any men. Put the women in the cellar. Pleasure Women are valuable,” Ulf said and led his men upstairs. But to their surprise they found no one in the house until they reached the top floor. There, in a spacious suite with a large terrace that offered a magnificent view of The City, they discovered two women whom they roused. Both recognized them for what they were, yet neither screamed.

“Who is the lady of the house, and if this is a Pleasure House why are there no other women here but you two?” Ulf demanded. “We heard sounds of merriment last night as we waited.”

“I am Gillian and this is my sister, Vilia. We have just been retired by the Guild. Last night we were feted by our women and clients. The house is empty because it will be given to another Pleasure Mistress to run and she will want to choose her own women. Now I have answered your question, you answer mine. How did you get in here?”

“I do not have to answer your questions, Pleasure Woman,” Ulf told her. Then he reached out and drew Gillian to him. His hand fondled her large breast. “I have always wanted to take pleasures with a Pleasure Woman,” he said. “And if you were the mistress of this house then you must be skilled beyond an ordinary female.” He ripped away the sleep garment she had been wearing and, pushing her away, looked at her admiringly. “You have a fine body, woman.” He grinned, showing his sharp teeth. “What think you, Fernir? Rolf? Shall we have a little taste of one of The City’s Pleasure Women for ourselves before the rest of our Wolfyn arrive to enjoy them?” He fumbled with his garments and drew out his male organ. “What think you of this, Pleasure Mistress Gillian? Is this not a fine sight to set a woman’s heart aflutter?”

Gillian reached out and stroked him. “Indeed it is, but of course I have seen bigger,” she smiled as she moved next to him and stroked his face with a silken hand. “Vilia, go and fetch us some wine and bring some restoratives for I expect we are in for a long session, are we not, my lord Wolfyn?”

“Rolf must go with her,” Ulf said.

“Of course,” Gillian purred, turning to face him, her large breasts rubbing against his leather breastplate. “Ohhhh, I love the hard feel of leather on my nipples.” She cast Vilia a look that told her companion she was going to have to save herself and if possible go for help.

“Do not use them all up,” Vilia responded provocatively. “I want my share, too, Sister.”

Ulf growled his laughter and, twisting Gillian about, bent her over the arm of the salon’s couch, kicked her legs apart and thrust into her. “You won’t miss a thing, Pleasure Woman. I have plenty for you both.” And then with a grunt he began to move himself upon his helpless victim.

Her heart pounding with a fright she managed to conceal, Vilia walked from the apartment in the company of the Wolfyn called Rolf. She almost ran the three flights down the stairs, her companion right behind her. When they reached the bottom of the staircase he grabbed at her, ripping the front of her night garment away, and pawed at her breasts as she struggled. “We must get the wine, you wicked beastie,” she protested.

“Let me have a little taste,” he growled. His fingers pinched at her nipples.

“Oh, you are so fierce,” she flattered him as she attempted to squirm out of his grasp. “But we must fetch the wine and the restoratives if we are to spend time enjoying ourselves. Pleasures are best enjoyed over a long period of time, Rolf.”

His hand pushed between her legs and two fingers dove into her love sheath. “You’re wet!” he growled low. “Take my member in your hand, woman!”

Vilia saw a slender brass vase on the table near where they now stood. If she could just get her hands on it. But until then the Wolfyn had to be distracted. She reached down and drew his male organ from his leather trousers. “Ohhh, you’re so big,” she cooed at him. “I am so little and you are so big. Oh, I do not think I can take such a big rod in my tight little sheath.”

“Aye,” the Wolfyn snarled. “Aye, woman, you can!” And before she realized it Vilia found herself impaled on the Wolfyn’s long thick member. Surprised, she almost swooned with the pleasure it was offering her. Well, she thought, I might as well enjoy the ride this creature is going to give me. The Wolfyn groaned and whined with his lust as he pistoned the female in his grasp. He realized she was obtaining pleasures from him from her little cries and he lifted his head, howling as his crisis approached.

And it was at that exact moment that Vilia reached out, her slender fingers wrapping themselves about the brass vase, smashing it down as hard as she could upon her assailant’s head. Then she hit him a second and a third time before the Wolfyn slid away from her, a large gash in his head bleeding profusely. Vilia didn’t stop to see if she had killed him. She headed immediately for the door of the Pleasure House, stopping only to open the trunk in the entry that held outerwear and snatch up a cloak to cover her ripped garment. Then she fled the house.

Upstairs as Ulf continued to labor over the now almost unconscious Gillian his companion grinned hearing Rolf’s howl. “Looks like Rolf couldn’t wait for his pleasures,” Fernir said. “It will be a while before we see that wine.”

Ulf grunted in agreement.

Vilia ran as fast as she could to the gates of the Pleasure District, and roused the guard there. Recognizing her, they snapped to attention. She quickly explained that three Wolfyn had somehow managed to enter Lady Gillian’s house and that the lady was keeping them entertained while she had allowed Vilia to escape to warn the authorities.

“You’ve been injured, my lady,” one of the guards said.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m fine,” Vilia said impatiently. “You must go to Lady Gillian’s and learn how these creatures entered The City. They cannot have come over the walls or through the gates, for they have been enchanted to protect us. You will find the one I injured, killed perhaps, in the front hallway. The other two are in Lady Gillian’s apartment atop the house.”

“I have heard stories about old tunnels beneath The City,” said one of the older guardsmen, a retired mercenary.

“There is a wine cellar in the house!” Vilia cried. “Perhaps this tunnel is there.”

“More than likely,” the old guardsman said.

“If the Wolfyn can enter through those tunnels they can circumvent the walls and take The City. We must stop them. Oil! We need several vats of cooking oil. We can pour it into the tunnel and set it afire! It’s the only way until we can destroy that tunnel. And you must kill the two Wolfyn in Lady Gillian’s house. They cannot be allowed to live,” Vilia said angrily.

Guardsmen were dispatched to fetch the barrels of cooking oil, and others returned to Lady Gillian’s house accompanied by Vilia. Rolf was not dead but before he might get his bearings again the old guardsman slit his throat. Vilia remained in the hallway while the cellar was inspected and the entrance to the tunnel confirmed. The barrels of oil were carefully brought in and taken down into the tunnel to be emptied onto the hard dirt floor. The empty barrels were left at the foot of the staircase. It was then that the old guardsman, a wily fellow, discovered that the steps from the tunnel were not stone at all, but ancient hardened wood. The steps would be drenched in oil and set aflame once the tunnel was fired. It would stop any immediate invading force. They had but to wait until they heard the Wolfyn approaching.

A second party of guardsmen crept up the stairs to the top of the house. Bursting into Lady Gillian’s apartments they slew Ulf, who was sprawled exhausted in a chair, having satisfied his initial lust, while Fernir vigorously rode Lady Gillian, seeking his own glory. Fernir’s throat was slit before he might howl with either his surprise or his emotions and his lifeless body was dragged from Gillian.

“My lady! My lady!” A guardsman sought to rouse the obviously abused woman, but then to his surprise she arose, naked and so beautiful that his eyes bugged from his head. Never had he seen a Pleasure Woman of this rank! He would always remember this if he lived to be a hundred.

Gillian walked slowly across the chamber and opening a wardrobe, drew out a garment that she quickly wrapped about herself before turning a brilliant smile upon the party of guardsmen now crowding into her apartment. “Thank you,” she said simply.

“Are you all right, my lady?” the guardsman who had dared to touch her asked.

“I have in my day entertained far more vigorous lovers,” Gillian said. “Is Lady Vilia safe? She was keeping me company when those creatures burst into the house. Do you know how they got in, guardsman?”

“I believe one of the old tunnels beneath The City was used,” he said.

“Of course,” Gillian murmured. “That is how they would have circumvented the enchantment of the gates and walls.” She moved quickly past the guardsmen and down the stairs into the cellar where Vilia stood with a second part of guardsmen. The two women embraced. “You are all right?” Gillian asked. “How did you escape your guard?”

Vilia’s voice was soft and low. “I let him have his way with me and when he was fully involved I hit him several times with that lovely heavy, brass vase in the hallway. Let that be our little secret, however.”

“Was he as lusty and satisfactory as my Wolfyn were?” Gillian murmured and Vilia laughed softly. “You are obviously a very bad girl, my lady Vilia.”

“I used to help Anora whip Gaius and I must admit to quite enjoying it,” Vilia answered. “What a pity there are no Pleasure Houses for women to visit. While I love Jonah and will be ever loyal to him, I do enjoy a bit of variety now and again. I expect that most women do if they would but admit it. Why should we be censured for it? Men are never censured for desiring change.”

“Now there is something we might consider in the new Hetar,” Gillian replied low. “And it would certainly solve some of the employment problem, wouldn’t it?”

“I hear something,” the old guardsman said softly. He crept down the steps into the tunnel, looked back at them and nodded. Then he tossed the lighted torch as far down the tunnel as he could and scrambled back up the stairs just a moment before the oil in the tunnel blazed fiercely up. Suddenly frantic screams were heard from the tunnel as it filled with flames. One enormous guardsman hacked with a great ax at the wooden landing, leaping back through the door just as it gave way and the stairs to the tunnel collapsed partly, catching fire. The flames, however, were not high enough to reach the door of the cellar, so the house was safe.