The Dragon Ring Ch. 02

She slept the day while I kept watch, waking to complain that she was hungry. We shared what little cheese was left, eating it with the dry bread using the cider to wash it all down.

Sleeping there again that night, the morn saw her ready to proceed. The soreness of the last thorn was, she assured me, completely healed.

We walked the long day through the rough scrubland, stopping only to consume a meagre mid-day meal. A wide featureless plain opening out before us, as the fingers of the ridges broadened and flattened. .

"It's time we found somewhere to rest for the night," I commented as the sun was but a handwidth above the horizon.

Around us I could see only open scrubland with the occasional clump of stunted bushes; a line of small trees marked the watercourse of a stream.

There were no shepherd shelters or winter storehouses visible, and I didn't think proceeding in the gathering darkness was a good idea, which left only the trees for shelter.

"I think the trees over there will offer our best hope of shelter," I said, pointing to the tree line on our left.

We made our way over the rough mixture of rushes and spiky grasses to the side of the stream, where I spread the cloak on the ground under one of the trees. She sat with her back to the tree, looking weary from the day's long walk.

"Do you want to eat?" I asked her, opening the sack and pulling out the last of the bread. She nodded and I broke the bread, and passed half to her along with a strip of the dried meat.

I took a strip of the dried meat and bit a chunk off. Laying back I thought back over our day. I could never even in my wildest dreams have imagined a day like today, it must be even worse for her.

I was already mentally prepared to leave home for my journeyman's adventures. She on the other hand had lost not only her home but her family and in all probability her future prospects.

I looked to the east where the sun was already half under the earth, the evening chill creeping over us. We had a least another days trek before we reached civilisation again.

She broke into my thoughts.

"What is your given name?" she asked softly.

"Rigbetif." I replied.

"Mine is Sisoft."

"I know, the maids called you that when talking about you."

"What did they say of me?"

"My lady, nothing you should hear from my lips."

I changed the subject.

"How are you faring after our long days walk?"

"Tired, my legs ache like I've danced all night long."

I laughed. "Oh but that were true," I exclaimed. "That this were some dream that we should awaken from, warm and cosy in our beds."

"The cold creeps in, can we light a fire?" she asked.

"A fire will be seen for miles. It would draw attention to us, maybe unwanted attention."

"But I am cold."

I got up and lifted the cloak around her, tucking it behind her shoulders leaving only her head free.

I had need to relieve myself.

"I need to use the bushes," I said, "I won't be far away."

I walked a short distance downstream and crouched behind a bush, eased both my bladder and my bowels. The leaves on the tree were too young, newly broken from their spring buds, so I walked to the side of the stream to scoop some soft sand to clean myself.

As I walked back alongside the meandering watercourse I spied a cove, hollowed by some spring flood, that was filled with last year's windblown leaves. A tree, roots exposed, offered cover above.

I picked my pace up and hurried back to tell the Princess.

"My lady, there is a hollow not far that will make a more comfortable place for us to rest."

"I have given you my name to use," she said softly, scolding me as she freed herself from the cloak.

"I am greatly honoured," I returned. "But I dare not use it for there will be ears listening for it."

"Very well, my father called me Sissy," She said favouring me with a rare smile.

Were I a full wizard, she had given me power over her, the power even to capture her heart.

I walked to her and took her by the shoulders.

"You must give that name to no one, your familial name holds power over you if used in incantations," I warned.

Her face blanched.

"Fear not from me, for I am bound to you by oath of fealty to your father," I said softly, "But others might want to bind you a slave for your beauty alone."

Even in the fading twilight I could see her blush.

We ensconced ourselves in the hollow. I created some blankets as our mattress, for under the cloak. A warm straw coverlet, for the top made a cosy bed for the pair of us. We lay huddled together on the thick cloak, that our bodies may warm each other.

"My lady, I have a confession to make," I said, as I half turned to her, for we lay back to back. "My powers though considerable are not limitless... I can carry this illusion of clothes for some time yet, but it is better I rest my mind and conserve my thoughts to the bedding. I may need an uncluttered mind if some peril befalls us."

With the clothes gone I could tuck the bedding into a corner of my mind till the morning, keeping them real while I slept. Should I have need, I had plenty of room to conjure our defence.

"What mean you Rigbetif?" She said, a worried edging her voice as she turned to me.

"That, if you would allow me, I would release the illusion of our clothes."

She thought for a moment. "If it must be then let it be," she said finally.

The clothes dissolved, I could feel her warm flesh pressing against mine through my thin nightshirt.

I turn onto my back and she draped her arm across my chest, her leg across my thigh, arm on my shoulder, nestling her head. Pulling the coverlet tight against the chill of the night, I squeezed my arm from under her and clasped it round her neck and shoulders. We lay a while till she asked me about my power of illusion.

"How do you create illusions?"

"You create a picture in your mind and kind of see it where you want it."

"But it feels so real."

"It is real while I hold it in my mind, but it is gone the second I release it, otherwise we would have fine food to eat. The illusion gives us no sustenance, it passes through us like we've eaten stones; it is the power of the Father over the world created by the holy Family."

"I still don't understand, you sound like the priest at services."

"I don't think anyone truly understands except the wizards of the grand council."

She sighed.

"Thank you."

"Thank you?" I asked querulously.

"Mostly, when I ask questions I am told 'not to bother my head about it' as if I'm stupid and won't understand it, even if they tell me."

"There's nowt wrong with your understanding. You have both beauty and brains when you stop and use them, a dangerous combination in most women."

The greater moon had risen casting its pale light and we lay there in complete silence. I felt her stir.

"I need to use the bushes," She said, as she wriggled free of the bed clothes. The coldness of the night made her suddenly aware of her nudity, covering herself with her hands; she ran for cover to the nearest bush.

"Ow," I heard her cry followed by a commotion in the bush. I was out and on my feet in seconds, discovering her lying clutching her foot. She had trodden on a sharp twig or something. I picked her up and was about to take her back when she stopped me.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"I need to toilet."

I swore softly under my breath. Setting her down on her good foot, holding her arm, I led her hopping to the sandy bank of the stream. She knelt, scooping a shallow groove then shuffling over it. She completed her toilet and used the sand to clean herself, then bent and washed her hands in the stream. She stood, putting her arm about my shoulder. Then, with my aid, she hopped back to where we laid our bed.

Back on the cloak, I looked around for a small faggot of wood and, set it afire. I gave it to her to hold whilst I examined her foot.

There was a slight graze to the instep of her heel with a little blood showing, two indentations still in her sole but nothing serious. It might be painful now but it would not hinder her when we resumed our trek in the morning.

"It's alright." I said, releasing my hold. "It's my fault for letting you go barefoot."

She twisted her foot round as I took the flaming faggot from her.

"Hold the light steady." she complained.

I could see her breasts heaving and the grimace of pain on her face as I knelt astride her good leg. She brushed her fingers over the graze and took a sharp intake of breath.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"The skin is barely broken."

"But it hurts."

"It will sting, but that will be gone by morn... We are fortunate.... It will be sensitive but not so much that it will hinder our progress."

I was bringing my eyes back to her foot when I noticed the wetness between her legs. I reached forward and dipped my finger in the small pool as she swiftly moved her hand to protect her private parts. I held it to the light.

"My lady you bleed," I exclaimed.

She looked aghast. "My menses."

She looked at the greater moon, full in the sky.

"It is the time of my menses," she cried.

Puzzled I asked. "What are your menses?"

"It is part of the mystery of child bearing."

"What mystery is this that causes you to bleed?"

"It is how my body prepares to give birth to a child."

"You are with child?" I asked astounded. "I thought you a virgin."

She laughed, and let herself fall back onto the cloak.

"No silly, I bleed every month, until I am pregnant."

I was even more confused as she sat back up.

"It only usually lasts two or three days I am usually warned of its coming by pains in my body here."

She rubbed at the hair between the top of her legs.

"So there is no alarm."

"No, it has happened since these past five years."

"And it hinders you not in travelling?"

"No I can travel if I must. At home I would change my cloths every few hours and bathe every night, but there is no discomfort."

"What cloths do you need?" I asked, "I... I... I...." I stuttered into silence.

"I can go without cloths if we need. But I usually use old nightshirts ripped through, wound around muslin and wrapped around a belt."

As she spoke I created the items letting them fall across my knees.

She directed me how to assemble it and, rising to her knees placed it between her legs and secured it with the belt. I used the remaining portion of the nightshirt and wiped the blood from the cloak as best I could.

We were both now shivering with the cold. I spread the cloak back out, and we wrapped the coverlet tightly around us and lay, arms around each other till we fell asleep.

The sun was already an eighth in the sky when I awoke. I could feel her breathing softly in my arms. It was such a satisfying feeling that I was reluctant to wake her, instead enjoying the closeness of her warm body.

Nature won out though, with my bladder driving me to seek the bushes to relieve its ache. As I moved to loosen the bed clothes she tightened her arms around me.

"I need to toilet," I protested. She reluctantly let me free of her arms.

She followed me, the tenderness of her ankle now gone or forgotten, as I sought the privacy of the leaves.

I turned to her, "My lady, I must expose myself."

"You have thoroughly seen the mysteries of my body; it is only fair that I see yours," she said. "I have not seen any man naked."

Unabashed I pulled my nightshirt over my head and holding my penis released a golden ark into the spiky grasses a yard from my feet. She looked in wonder.

"Can I hold it?" she requested, reaching forwards.

Reluctantly I yielded to her hand; she waggled it, sending the ark hither and thither across the grass.

"When I was younger, maybe eight, I watched the boys make patterns in the snow, I was envious of them, they were having so much fun."

My penis was stiffening as the final drops squeezed out, I could see her astonishment at its growing size.

"How can all that fit inside me?"

"That's a mystery for another time," I said as I caught her wrist, freeing my penis from her grip.

I looked at her. "Do you need fresh cloths?"

She nodded reaching to the belt and releasing it. Free of the belt the cloth dropped to the floor, dried black clots crusting the edge with bright red still stripped across the centre. I saw her crotch was in a similar state as she picked my discarded nightshirt, and walked to the streams edge to wash herself.

The bread was finished so we breakfasted on the dried meat and biscuits, washed down with water. I changed our appearance to look like young sheeplie herders, and we followed the stream as the sun rose ever higher in the sky.

We stopped at high sun to change her cloths, rest, and eat a little bit more of our meagre rations.

My thoughts that morning had mostly been about her body. The smoothness and texture of her skin, the curves of her hips and her shapely legs.

But mostly the shape of her breasts. I had seen the wet nurses in the kitchen feeding their charges with their fat bloated breasts, which hung flat to their bodies when the babes finished their suckling. Hers were rounded orbs of beauty, her nipples pointing slightly outward and skyward. I would be envious of any child that clung to that teat.

I looked over at her; she was sitting, boot off, with her leg across her knee examining her foot.

I swore under my breath, as I leapt to my feet and hurried over.

I had neglected to think of her injury. I had passed every other part of her body through my mind. From her soft blue eyes and full red lips, the full ripeness of her breasts, down to the mystery concealed by that wiry bush of hair between her legs. And on to the shapely calf, that had felt soft but firm beneath my hand the night before.

"How is your ankle faring this morning, my lady?" I enquired.

"It is fine, I hardly noticed any inconvenience."

I stood to her side and, bending, gently took her foot in my hand; there was a slight white blemish of scraped skin, but no swelling or redness.

"I am sorry that I caused so much fuss about it yester evening."

"And I'm sorry that I let you wander bare foot."

"No, I should have stayed by the streamside instead of going into the brush."

"My lady, you are in my care, it is my du...."

She placed a finger to my lips.

"Stay your protests of duty to me; it was my foolishness that so nearly brought disaster."

"Not foolishness my lady, only inexperience."

"Rigbetif, you are determined to excuse me... so be it... the entire fault is yours, are you pleased now."

She looked smiling into my face; specs of dust and dirt streaked across her forehead and cheeks, hair tangled, yet she looked the most beautiful I had seen her.

"I will be more careful in the future," I said dropping to my knee.

She freed her foot from my hand and replaced the long furry boot, rolled away from me to her knees and stood.

"The sun is descending; we have a long way to go yet."

Her voice was stern, yet I detected a twinkle in her eye.

"Yes my lady, as you command."

The stream grew to a rivulet, the trees more fulsome and the grasses less hardy, as the afternoon gave way to evening.

We had stopped once more when her cloths became uncomfortable, resting for a while in the shade of the trees, after she changed and washed. She swore that she had seen fish in the water. I promised to try to catch some when we rested for the night.

We found a place where an old tree had fallen, leaving a hollow in the ground, just before the sun kissed the earth.

I dropped the outer guise as shepherd folk, but kept the warm clothes.

We spent a while scooping out stones and levelling the earth for our bed with our hands, before laying the cloak down. I fashioned a crude net with a forked branch, and a pair of pantaloons with tied off legs I conjured up. She laughed long and hard when I showed it to her.

"Only stupid fish will be caught with that monstrosity, and I'm not sure I would want to eat of such a fish," she said, full of amusement.

"You'll regret saying that when I catch a fat one," I retorted.

It took me a bare ten minutes, knee deep in icy water with my net lying flat on the bottom, before a large fish swam across it. I snatched the rod up and was rewarded with the sight of the tail flapping against the waistband.

Wading ashore I waggled it in front of her face where she lay resting. She tried to snatch it and chased me back to the hollow as I ran laughing.

She caught me as I crested the rim and we both rolled down into the basin, ending up with her pressed on top of me as we reached the bottom. For a brief moment I was tempted to draw her down and kiss her, instead I pushed her off and retrieved the fish.

"I caught it you can cook it."

"How do you cook fish?" she asked.

"First you gut it, cutting the head off if you want, then roast it over smouldering coals. We'll have to use dry wood instead," I said, "Would you rather prepare the fish or collect the wood?"

A knife appeared in my hand and I offered it to her.

"I'll go and gather the wood," she said, climbing out of the hollow.

It would soon be dark, as the sun was a finger width of kissing the horizon.

I wanted to get it cooked before full dark fell. I quickly followed her over the rim and used the tree to cut the head off, and rip the stomach open extracting the guts. I trimmed the fins and removed the tail. Pleased with myself I looked around for Sissy.

She was approaching with an armful of wood.

I skipped back down and arranged a ring of stones to contain the fire. She had brought only small faggots. I dispatched her once more to find a greenwood branch to spike it on.

I was sitting, laying wood onto the small fire I had started, when a long green branch thudded by my side.

"You should have told me what you wanted the first time." She complained, as she scrambled down the embankment.

"We have all we need now," I said picking the branch up.

"Come and tend to the fire," I ordered, "Feed it slowly so it doesn't get too big, but fast enough that the ashes below don't burn up."

"Yes master," she intoned sourly.

I set about shaping the branch, sharpening the thin end. I removed the bark and side branches down about a foot. Picking the fish, I speared it just above the backbone and pushed it firmly on.

She sat on her haunches tending the fire.

I passed her the spit.

"I'll tend the fire, hold it about six to eight inches above, turning it slowly."

With a stick I pushed the fiercely burning wood to the edge, leaving a circle of glowing embers.

"Over the centre," I told her.

The fire started to sizzle as the fish cooked. I pushed the outer wood in, Adding more round the edge; I watched the fish cook for a few more minutes before a flash of realisation struck me. We had no plate to serve it on. I looked round franticly .

"What you doing now?" she asked.

"Looking for a platter," I said walking to the edge, where we had thrown the stones earlier.

"Something else you forgot," she quipped.

I refused to reply.

I found a suitable stone, and hurried back.

Washing it with water from the cider jug, whilst scrubbing it with my fingers. I laid it next to the fire, and leant forward to examine the fish.

"It should be cooked now," I proclaimed.

She laid the fish down. I scraped the skin off, laying bare the pink flesh. I cut a chunk off and pushed it toward her.

"It's going to be very hot. Watch out for bones."

"I know how to eat fish." There was that sharp edge to her voice again.

I took a portion for myself, blowing it in my fingers to cool it. We ate slowly and in silence. Twice I saw her grimace, and remove bones from her mouth. I chewed a big one myself. We soon devoured it, the fish tasted delicious and I could have consumed another easily. I wiped my hands on my smock, pulling the last jug of cider from the sack. I cracked it open, offering her the first drink. She drank two big gulps, before using the third to swish around her mouth to dislodge any remaining particles of flesh. I took one and swilled my mouth out, taking a longer second one before placing the jug between us.