Memoirs of Kitty Siam Ch. 21

The last two guards advanced toward me, one had pulled his sword and was waving it about while the other drew a short handled throwing axe from his belt and hurled it spinning end over end toward me. The axe was easy enough to dodge just by twisting to my right and stepping backwards. The axe sailed harmlessly past my face and embedded its self in the chest of a painting of the King that hung on the wall behind me. I looked at the axe then reached into my hair and pulled out one metal spike with a long black ribbon attached to the back end. I launched the projectile towards the man who had just thrown the axe. The point pierced his leggings and imbedded its self deep into his thigh. I could tell that I had hit bone as the dart hit the center of his leg and sunk in a good two to three inches. The guard stumbled down to one knee and gripped at the metal peg. As he pulled the sharp peg from his leg, the blood flowed unobstructed from the wound and created a red stream down his leg staining his brown leggings. I did not intend to seriously harm any of the Royal guards, but he did sling an axe at me, and he had to suffer some for doing that.

I turned to Sir Tausin and snickered out, "I did not kill him!"

The Reeve laughed and pointed to the last guard advancing on me with his sword drawn. I pulled my katana and took a fighting stance; feet shoulder width apart, my left side facing my attacker. I brought the sword up over my head and readied myself to strike. The guard stopped in his tracks and looked me over, the sword in his hand wavering. I could tell he was having second thoughts about this as he kept glancing at his fallen comrades. I brought the sword down hard and fast, slicing at the air so that the blade made a loud "whoosh" as the air was cut. I brought the sword back up high over my head, looked at the guard and said, "Lets do this!"

The guard looked back at his Captain, and with a look of anger on his face the Captain admonished the guard, "She's a little girl, get her!"

I looked at the Captain winked then challenged, "Why not come get me yourself?"

The guard took a step toward me, so I brought the blade down even with his chest, the sharp point aimed at his chest's center. It was then that Prince Vortak stood up and shouted, "Enough, I have seen enough!"

The Captain of the Guard looked at me with hate in his eyes. I looked back at him with confidence in mine and taunted, "Guards should be prepared to give their lives in service to their Prince, your guards are not worthy."

I returned my sword to its scabbard on my back then moved to stand with Sir Tausin. The Prince came toward us and extended his hand in greeting to the Reeve. The two of them shook hands and embraced. The Prince extended his condolences to the Reeve on the loss of his brother. Prince Vortak turned to me then laid his hand upon my shoulder and said; "Now I see why Lord Hetch and his men wanted you dead. I am do glad to see that you have recovered, I feared you would not survive your wounds."

I nodded and thanked him for his kind words, then he turned to Sir Tausin, "You are right my friend, I accept her as my protector." With that said the Prince turned to the Captain of the Guard and ordered him and his men out of the room, and then he called for his scribes and the rest of his Royal Court.

Several men entered wearing plain brown robes followed by several men and one lady. I assumed then that the men were Lords of similar stature as Lord Hetch as they were wearing similar gold decorations on their tunics. The Prince moved back to the chair he was sitting in but remained standing as he spoke in a whisper to his new entourage. When the huddle broke he called Sir Tausin and myself to him and commanded us to kneel before him. As we knelt before the prince, our head bowed in respect, he tapped me on the head with the palm of his hand and asked for my sword. I tilted my head upwards; my eyes met his as my hand reached for my sword. I pulled the long blade from the scabbard, then taking the handle in one hand and the tip of the blade I held the sword over my head and presented it to the Prince.

The Prince accepted my sword and smiled down to me as he inspected the craftsmanship of the blade and the handle.

He held the sword in both hands, and then as I knelt before him he turned the blade sideways and brought it down slowly to tap my right shoulder, and then my left. In a commanding voice he spoke so that all could here, "I grant upon you the rank of Captain, and from this day forward you are assigned as my personal bodyguard, and protector of the Royal house as recommended by Lord Tausin."

I looked up at him in disbelief, I was in total shock. My eyes must have been wide as saucers and I was at a total loss for words until the Prince offered my hand and chuckled then whispered, "It is customary for you to kiss my ring."

I giggled softly then placed my lips to his ring and kissed it. As I withdrew my lips from the heavy gold ring I looked up again into his eyes and told him, "My sword is yours."

He tapped me on the head with his hand and commanded, "Stay there, I am not finished yet."

The Prince raised my sword over his head then brought it down to touch both shoulders of Sir Tausin then passed the sword back to me. The Prince laid his right hand on the Reeve's head and spoke, "Lord Tausin, you have been a loyal friend to the crown for many years. Your service to this Shire, my family, and this Kingdom has been exemplary. It is because of your dedication and tireless service to the crown that today I bestow upon you the title of Lord of Grimsod and I hear by deed to you all lands and rights formerly held by Lord Hetch. Arise Lord Tausin!"

Lord Tausin stood and embraced the Prince then took my hand and lifted me to my feet. I was so proud of the new Lord and could not hold back the tears of joy. I was so wrapped up in the joyous moment that I did not notice as Teela came running up from the back of the room to hugged her new Lord tightly. She was beaming with pride, as was I. I placed my sword back in its scabbard then took a step back, letting Teela and her owner have their moment together.

The Prince let them have their moment as well and walked off to have an out of the way conversation with his administrative staff. I leaned backwards resting my tiny butt on the edge of the table trying to register everything that had just happened. When I woke up this morning I was worried about life in the Shire without my collar, and now I was charged with the safety of the Royal house. A million things were going through my mind when one of the Royal administrators came to me, took me by the elbow and began discussing living arrangements, dress and behavior requirements, and such. He asked me of my lineage for the Royal register. I went over the details of my background and how I had become stranded here. Of course I gave him the condensed version and left out all of the things that he would not understand or would get me burned at the stake.

The administrator informed me that living quarters were being prepared for me across the hall from the Prince in the wing of the castle that was being used by the Royal court for their stay in Grimsod Castle. I was informed that Lord Tausin and Teela would be taking Lord Hetch's wing of castle as soon as his things were removed. We chatted for a while, I was informed as to what my position would entail and that I would be working closely with Lord Tausin and the new Reeve once the position was filled. I mentioned to him that I had already been working with Lord Tausin and that we had discussed ways to better prepare his constables to defend the Shire should the invaders to the South make it this far. He nodded in approval and suggested that I brief the Prince on our preparations.

The administrator walked me around to the members of the Royal court and the Prince's administrative staff and introduced me to them. They were not the stuffy royal types that I thought they would be. They were rather friendly and open to my questions. I had learned so much from my conversations with them throughout the day.

The official day ended with a tour of the inside of the castle, well at least a tour of the important areas. We ended up back in Lord Tausin's new office, and that is when the administrators bid us well and left us on our own to discuss the events of the day and such. I opened the conversation by thanking the new Lord for having such faith in me to recommend me for such an important position.

He told me that the way things were going in this country, there are very few people that he could trust and given the events of the previous week, he was even beginning to distrust a few of his hand picked constables.

I agreed with him on that point. I was about to make a request of him when he cut me off.

He offered to transfer four of his most trusted constables to me as replacements for the four guards and the Captain that I had met earlier today. I was just about to make a similar request as I knew that those jokers were out of shape and totally inept and were probably patronage appointments.

I accepted his offer gratefully but asked if I could make one more request of him.

He looked at me, smiled and bid me to continue.

I thought for a minute on how to phrase my request, then just started talking in the hope that he would not be put off by my request. I told him that I needed someone to work with me directly and to finish what I had started in the area of castle defense. I explained that Teela and I had been working on this together and that we would make a very good team together.

He was not expecting this but he was honored that I thought so highly of his girl. He said that he would give it some deep thought and get back to me shortly on it. He asked what I had in mind for her and expressed his concern for her safety.

The answer I gave was not what he wanted to hear but he accepted it. I described what would happen should the invaders from the South reach the castle and how all of us, even Teela would be at risk. I described her prowess as a huntress and her skill with horses. I followed up with the need to combine my archery skills with her riding skills to develop a unit of mounted archers. I explained that with my new duties protecting the Prince, I would need her skills to help train the unit.

Lord Tausin was stunned that I had come up with this sort of plan and had included Teela in it without his permission. He took a minute to compose his thoughts, then led with how he had put his carpenters to work on the bow parts and the blacksmith was working on the arrow points. The more he thought about it, and the more we talked his words seemed more positive toward this whole idea, though he was still hesitant to involve Teela. We ended the conversation on this topic when he suggested we get something to eat as we both had missed breakfast and lunch.

Speaking of food, as we ended our conversation, Teela came bouncing in munching on a chunk of warm bread that she had liberated from somewhere in the castle. She reminded us that we had not eaten yet today and that dinner was being served in the grand hall, we were all invited to dine with the Prince this evening.

Lord Tausin stood, and made for the door, without breaking stride he spoke back over his shoulder, "Come on you two before the hungry hoard gets all the good stuff.."

We did as any two young and very hungry subordinates would do, we followed after our Lord without delay. We followed... I should say that, "I followed" Lord Tausin to the grand hall... Teela already knew her way there. The castle was like a maze and I was counting on the mapping capabilities of the PDA to keep it all straight for me for a few days until I could absorb all of the new things that were suddenly being thrust upon me.

The hall was filled with people, some I had met before, some that I had not. Most of the ones that I had not met yet turned to take an extra long look at the armed Asian girl walking with the newly appointed Lord of the Shire. I was amazed that even on this backwards world, they knew about buffet dining. The table at the back of the room was set up with most any kind of food available in the Shire. There were breads, vegetables, bird, and beef for the taking. We took our place in the line and fixed our plates as we passed by the food trays. There was a table reserved for those of Lord Tausin's station, and tables off to the side and in the back for those of us of lesser standing.

Teela and I found our own table and let Lord Tausin take a seat with his peers, while Teela and I did the same. Unfortunately when I tried to sit with Teela, I was ushered way to another table. It seems that the table Teela was sitting at was for the owned girls of the castle, not for us working people. I was escorted to a table closer to the Lords and Ladies by one of the wait staff. I found myself sitting at a table with several Guard Captains who worked for the other Lords and Ladies in attendance. There were also several scribes and Royal administrative types at the table with me. I have to say that I got quite the look over by the other Captains, but the looks were respectful, not the leering sort that one would get in a pub or other nightspot. It seemed that being in the employ of the Royal house had its perks, and a level of respect as well.

I could see why us security types were seated together as I observed a table holding a large cache of shields, swords, knives and other assorted weapons. One of the men at the table wearing civilian attire, but also wearing a pin that designated him as a member of the House of Tosk stood and introduced himself as Yashu and offered to take my sword as my hands were holding my plate and a cup of wine.

Yes please I said and let him slip the sword off over my head, he attempted to remove my knife and scabbard as well but could not figure out how to work the release that held the knife to the scabbard attached with Velcro to my right leg. I set my food and drink down then removed the knife and handed it to him. He smiled and me and laid both weapons carefully on the table.

The scribes and administrators kept to their own conversation about administrative functions and the gossip from their departments. The conversation on my side of the table started out with a grilling about my weapons and the odd clothing I was wearing. I explained that the suit was similar to their chainmail but of a different design that was much lighter and flexible than standard armor. I was complimented on my sword and knife, and the men with me admitted that they had never seen such workmanship before. Yashu asked if he could touch my armor and was still hesitant even after I said it was ok.

Seeing his discomfort and his desire to be a gentleman about this I slipped off the jacket and presented it to him for his inspection. Several of the other men reached over to Yashu to inspect the jacket so I suggested that he pass it around. The jacket made its way around the table but several of the men were still trying to get a better look at the part of the suit that I was still wearing. I realized that when I looked down that I dressed without a bra this morning, and the skintight battle suit showed off every bump and curve, especially those of my breasts and now hardening nipples.

I tried not to look flustered as I took back my jacket and slipped it on. The others went back to their conversations about the women here, their position in life, and the makeup of my suit. There was even a conversation going on across the table as to how I get the suit on as they could see no buttons or closures of any kind. Yes, my feline hearing capabilities were getting a really good workout this evening as I took in quite a few of the conversations going on at our table.

Yashu and I struck up a conversation over dinner, and he did his best to keep my cup full of wine. After the food was gone we filled our cups, collected our weapons from the table and went out on the balcony that over looked the castle's courtyard. The moons were on the rise and the sunlight had all but faded but for the dim red light on the horizon. Yashu was a kind man for an armed guard Captain and did his best to shower me with compliments whenever a believable occasion would arise. I did not know if he was trying to get in my good favor because I worked for the Prince, or if he was trying to get a closer look at what was inside my battle suit. Remember a while back I was talking about a certain itch... even before the wine I was thinking that Yashu would make a good scratching post.

Our conversation was interrupted when Lord Tausin stepped out on the balcony with Teela in tow. As Lord Tausin spoke, Yashu snapped to attention as I was told to accompany Teela back to my room and change into something less armored and more fitting a trip to the bathhouse. I assumed that someone had brought my backpack to the castle when they brought Teela here this morning.

As I turned to leave with Teela, Yashu asked if he could meet me at the bathhouse later on, and I was about to answer, "yes" when Teela chimed in with, "yes, she will meet you there" which brought a chuckle from Yashu.