Clans of Luteri Ch. 02

Hey, everyone. So if it's not obvious yet, I had a great deal of fun with this story by making it like a Victorian romance novel, except it has supernatural element that haven't shown up yet and I don't skip the juicy bits. It has many of the same tropes, and, following that, the tone is, overall, romantic. That is definitely the style, so you have some warning, lol. -Harp

Start at chapter 1 if you want to know what's going on.

All characters depicted are over the age of 18.

This fantasy story has themes of non-consent.

The Clans of Luteri: Alveria

Chapter Two

Kane rose from the tall grass, watching the Corsaire woman run, noting what direction she took. He followed, making no effort to catch up with her. He stopped when he saw the mansion, similar to Jaime's.

There was a stable, servants moving around. That was where the Corsaire lived.

He wanted to know who else lived there, what she was doing in Alveria, where her Corsaire kin were. Where were her protectors? He couldn't believe her relatives had let a Tavishi get that close to her.

Unless she was alone here. But that was impossible.

Making his way back to Jamie's estate, Kane walked quickly. He had decided to take a stroll at dawn, as he often did. It was the first sunny day in too long. Winter here was not exactly cold, as if even the weather in Alveria feared to be rude. It was not ice but mud, not snow but endless rain, dim and lifeless, the trees bare. He'd never seen so many shades of colorlessness.

It was prettier now, sunlight and the smell of spring coming and buds on the branches, the little songbirds that lived here, round and fat and fast, colors under their wings flashing yellow and red when they fluttered. It wasn't the stark, dramatic beauty of the mountains of Luteri, his home, but gentle, little brooks chattering and soft meadows. Wandering, he must have slipped into a neighbor's land without knowing.

Kane reached his friend's estate. He opened and walked into the front door, ignoring a startled servant. Luteri had cooks and stable hands, housekeepers and weavers, blacksmiths and healers. In Luteri, everyone did their part, no difference in their status. Kane was the son of the Tavishi high lord and he was kept busy by his role as a protector for his clan. Everybody did the jobs that were needed.

But Kane definitely didn't need people to open doors for him, he'd been doing that most of his life.

"Kane!" Jamie called a greeting from the sitting room.

Yes, this was the sitting room, and over there was the drawing room, and the parlor, and more rooms where the primary activity seemed to be, from what Kane could tell, idleness. And, sure enough, lingering in a housecoat, a delicate pot of tea with delicate cups and delicate saucers and some kind of cookies and sweet cakes in front of him, Jamie idled.

Kane went to one of the many couches—so one could be comfortable while idling—and dropped into it, draping his form over it, since there was the space to do so. Alverians perched on their fat, plush, upholstered furniture like nervous grouse. One expected an egg left behind when they rose.

Jamie burst out laughing.

"You look like a lion in a house cat's dwelling," he said. "It's not Luteri, I know, Kane. Did you enjoy your walk? Up at dawn as usual, I imagine."

Kane made a vague gesture with his hand.

"Always. The countryside was pretty today, house cat," he conceded, smirking. "House cats are the little animals that hiss? The small predators?"

"Yes," Jamie responded, still smiling. "They hiss at you, definitely, I've never seen them dislike someone so much. They are effective for killing mice and rats."

Kane's eyes flashed with interest. Mice were sometimes a problem in Luteri, ruining food stores. The vermin carried diseases. Maybe he would acquire ten or fifteen little house cats when he left and train them, although he really didn't like the little beasts. He could always kill them if they didn't perform the task.

"Who is your neighbor to the southeast?" Kane asked.

"Southeast?"

Kane sighed and pointed.

"That way."

"Ah! Well, I like to pretend he's not there, actually. That would be the estate of Lord Montrose."

"He's not a friend?"

"Most definitely he is not. He is entirely disreputable."

"Not an enemy, though," Kane said.

"No. We are neutral, as you would call it. We avoid each other."

"Do you know if a woman lives there?" Kane demanded. "Dark hair, dark eyes?"

Jamie's face looked strained.

"It's possible that more than one woman lives there, if the rumors are true," he said. Then his tone becoming teasing, as if he wanted to change the subject. "Why, did you see a dark-haired woman on your walk? Were you taken with her? Malvalia will be displeased."

Kane shot him a look.

"I've made no oath to Malvalia," he dismissed.

Malvalia was in Tavishi Hold. They shared pleasure, nothing more. Kane had given his oath once when he was young, only nineteen. But Jaime didn't know that.

"What is wrong with this Montrose man's reputation?" Kane asked. "What has he done that is so bad?"

Jamie looked uncomfortable again. Kane eyed him. It wasn't like Jamie to be so evasive. It must be about sex. Jaime was always uncomfortable when their conversation turned to sex.

"I really couldn't say, Kane. It's all rumor and conjecture. You know I don't trade in that."

"I am hardly going to gossip about him here, Jamie," Kane said. "There is nobody who would listen. Tell me."

Jaime's eyes searched for servants. He was always doing this. Jaime had the strangest relationship with these people. He'd known many of them for years. They lived together. They saw each other every day.

Jaime's had explained they weren't family so he didn't feel that way about them. Kane still found it so strange, because sometimes it seemed like they feared Jaime, and sometimes it seemed like Jaime feared them.

Jaime's voice was lower when he spoke.

"All right, if you must know. Some people have said they believe, unpleasant as it is, that my titled neighbor is a sadist and that he peddles female flesh."

Kane stared at him, his eyes narrowing.

"Sadist. Peddles flesh," he echoed, not understanding.

"Sorry. I mean to say that the common rumor is that this man has appetites that involve receiving sexual pleasure from hurting, in this case, women," Jamie said, not raising his voice any higher, gesturing vaguely, "and that other lords who have similar tastes come to his estate to engage with the women he keeps there for that purpose, and that Lord Montrose trains the women in this particular mode of passion, and that Lord Montrose sells these women to those men."

Kane blinked his way through that. It had taken him some time to get used to Jaime's way of talking. Jaime was Alverian, very proper, mannerly. When he had first met Jamie, Kane had believed Jaime was a liar for it. He had changed his mind, but it still fascinated him how the man could go toward and back away from his meaning at the same time.

"You allow this man to sell your women to hurt them for sex?" Kane said, confirming.

"I do not personally allow it and they're not my women. Remember that Alveria has many more people than Luteri, Kane. We don't organize our society in clans like you do. It is likely these women are very poor or orphaned. Perhaps they would have no other place to live. They might starve otherwise, and liberating them would not necessarily improve their situations. These are not Luterian women. They are not separated from their clan. They simply have none. Nobody is searching for them."

Kane was silent, staring at him, appalled.

"I knew you would react poorly if you learned this," Jamie said. "Don't look at me that way, Kane. I know Luteri has brothels."

"Prostitutes sell their skills at Luterian brothels for wealth and they choose it. They aren't shamed like they are in Alveria, and they certainly aren't seized and hurt for pleasure against their will. Don't Alverians have laws against slavery?"

Jaime's jaw clenched.

"We do, but it requires proof, and hearsay has it that these women are reluctant to speak against Lord Montrose. They have no protection from retaliation. And the wealthy men who participate in these activities—well, it would be a terrible scandal to be known to have gone to one of Lord Montrose's parties. It's my understanding that the bidders who go to shop for a companion there are masked to protect their identities."

Kane eyed him.

"You received an invitation," Kane concluded.

Jamie smiled wryly, glancing for servants. He abruptly switched to Luterian. He was fluent in it, as Kane was fluent in the Alverian language, Jaime teaching it to him. Luterians learned languages easily, although not as fast as Siblin.

"When Lord Montrose came to live here," Jaime said in Luterian. "I hadn't yet heard about him. When he came to my home to introduce himself, I welcomed him. Lord Montrose must have seen this as a sign. He offered me a personal invitation to one of his private parties."

"Did you go?" Kane asked in the same.

"Even the fact that I had been invited could have damaged my reputation if it were known. I declined, of course."

"Could you get another invitation?"

Jamie gave a short, incredulous laugh.

"Probably, but I wouldn't. I have said, the man is shunned from polite society. I would tend to avoid doing anything that might cause his name to be linked with mine."

"Could you get me an invitation?"

"Why the interest?" Jamie shot back.

Kane got up from the couch, standing in front of the table Jaime was sitting behind.

"I hate it when you loom over me," Jaime said irritably. "Never mind. Certainly don't tell me if you enjoy whipping your lovers, I have no desire to learn that about you."

"They whip women at this party?"

"I imagine, among other horrors, yes. Look, Kane, what's this about? Are you just curious about Alverian sexual practices? Surely these things are not entirely foreign in Luteri. If they are, I can point you to some brothels in the city. I'm sure there are women there who specialize in that kind of thing."

"Of course we know about it," Kane retorted, pacing. "You obviously have never been to a Luterian brothel. It is just that all parties usually willingly participate and enjoy it."

Kane stopped in front of him.

"Doesn't this bother you?" Kane demanded. "That not far from where you sleep, from where your heirs will perhaps play someday if you give your oath, women are being enslaved and brutalized?"

Jamie made a disgusted face, standing, switching abruptly to Alverian as he did when he was upset.

"Of course it does," he snapped. "But even if I knew for certain that was happening, which I do not, unlike you I cannot go to war with my neighbor for three hundred years or appeal to a clan leader for a judgment. I rely upon the laws and those who enforce them. It's not an perfect system. Some people, especially those who are disadvantaged, pay the price for that. It is a part of a larger problem. You know how I feel about this, Kane—."

"My apologies," Kane interrupted him stiffly in Alverian, bowing slightly. "I know that you hold those views and that you are a good man. I know that customs are different here. I didn't mean to question your honor."

Jamie blew out his breath, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm the one who is sorry. I shouldn't be defensive. But you're right, I don't like it. To answer your question, it does bother me."

"Someone should just kill him," Kane said bluntly. "Does he have anyone who would avenge him?"

Jamie looked at him grimly.

"You must hear me on this, Kane. This is not Luteri. You cannot go and kill this man, regardless of what rumor says he has done. It is speculation. Even if the authorities learned that he was guilty after you killed him, it would not absolve you of murder. Only the law can decide his guilt here, and only the law can decide his punishment. It is his right to due process. The law itself would avenge him and they don't forget a crime."

"But these authorities, as you call them, do nothing for these women."

"Not unless the law can determine a crime is being committed."

"I want an invitation," Kane said.

Jaime's eyes slid to the doorway again, the possibility of servants.

"Will you tell me why?" he asked in Luterian.

Kane eyed him. He might need to bring her here.

"This dark-haired woman I saw there is Luterian," Kane answered in the same.

Jamie gave a snort of laughter. Then his eyes widened.

"You're serious."

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Very."

"Is she alone here? How is that possible?"

"I don't know and I don't know."

"What clan?"

"Corsaire."

Jaime sucked in his breath, seeing some of the implications. Not all of them, Kane thought. No, there were things he'd never told Jaime, things Jaime didn't know about him, about Luteri. Things they didn't tell others.

"I see," Jaime said slowly. His nose wrinkled briefly, a sign of disgust in Alverians, what Luterians did when something smelled bad. "Do you want me to come with you to this party?"

"You would do that? Risk your family name?"

"You're my friend, Kane. Of course I would, without question."

Kane grinned fiercely, reaching out to clap Jamie on the shoulder with a dull thump. Jaime staggered a bit and recovered.

"You're my friend too, you red-haired savage. No, I don't require you there. Just get me an invitation."

Kane turned and swept out of the room, startling a servant coming around a corner, who froze in his position with his tray held in front of him, his eyes fixed as if he thought if he held still enough, Kane wouldn't notice him.

"You're not going to kill him though, right?" Jamie put his head out of the doorway to call after him in Alverian, startling the same servant again, who was just entering the room. "Kane?"

"Probably not," Kane sent.

"Lord Verain is coming for supper, please don't forget! Kane!"

Kane climbed the stairs to the room he'd been given, ignoring a maid who eyed him with a combination of fascination and fear, flattening herself against the wall as he passed. These people treated him as if he were about to break out into unprovoked violence, kill their men and brutalize their women and steal their valuables. It was insulting.

They didn't like his size, didn't like the length of his hair, what he wore, and it frightened them that he went armed, like he was just going to grab it and start swinging. Telling Alverian polite society that a Luterian clan warrior never went unarmed, as Jamie had tried to explain to them, did nothing to alleviate their anxiety.

The fact that Kane's civilization was far older, generally wealthier and much better educated, more advanced, most definitely more successful in keeping its people healthy and happy and fed, and that he was the son of a clan high lord with a bloodline he could trace back almost three thousand years didn't impress them either.

Not that Kane cared. Overall, Alverians were a rude, small-minded, nervous, insular, short-lived, cruel people who didn't know, in the most basic sense, how to share what they had with one another. They never failed to shock him, and now this enslaving and brutalizing of their frail, timid women conducted in plain sight, with no efforts to stop it.

If it weren't for Jamie, he would have left these shores long ago. He had five months left in his stay before the ship arrived to take him back to Luteri.

Kane closed his door and went and leaned against the window frame, looking southeast. A Luterian woman enslaved in Alveria, this savage land. It was monstrous. Where was the clan who should be with her? Who had failed her so badly? How could nobody even be looking for her?

A Corsaire woman.

While it was disturbing as a Luterian, his situation wasn't a bad thing for Tavishi, his clan. He had three options.

His first option was the least cruel. He could leave her here. Then, when he arrived in Luteri in eight months or so, he would get word to Kavini, the Corsaire High Lord, that a Corsaire female was the sex slave of an Alverian savage. The High Lord would go mad to learn it.

Directly after that, the Corsaire clan, or at least a portion of them, would come straight to Alveria to retrieve her. She'd have been sold by then, but they wouldn't stop until they found her. They wouldn't hide themselves, wouldn't come in stealth. They'd be as subtle as a boulder coming down a mountain, with no regard for these Alverian authorities, killing anyone they determined had harmed her.

These authorities Jaime spoke of had never seen anything like Luterian clan warriors, especially if Ruthe of Corsaire came, and he would. Alverians had no idea what they would face.

Luterian men didn't abandon their women, and certainly not to a primitive people who bought and sold them like animals instead of people. And her clan wouldn't fear retaliation from Alveria. Luterians didn't fear anyone. Luteri was a small place, but her borders were secure. The Five Clans would rise to defend Luteri from outsiders regardless of feud. And any clan would do the same if it were one of their women.

When the five clans rose together, all kinds of things were possible. Nobody who had ever entered Luteri with evil intent had ever escaped it. They disappeared, regardless. The whole world knew it. Luteri hadn't been attacked in a long time.

That wouldn't be good for Jaime, though. Alveria was his home. If Jaime hosted a Luterian and then Luterians attacked Alverian citizens, Kane didn't think these authorities would be pleased with Jaime at all.

Kane's fist clenched against the window frame. Leaving her here would be the merciful option, and Kane didn't feel particularly merciful toward Corsaire, not at all. Three hundred years of bitter feud lay between him and mercy.

There was a second option, but it was bad. A part of him was completely appalled by it and another part of him wanted to, very much.

He could just leave her here. He didn't have to tell the Corsaire clan he had found her. He didn't have to tell anyone. She was in a foreign land where women were left unprotected, openly enslaved. It would be a perfect revenge for what Corsaire had done to Helene. Kane would tell them in fifty years or so, when Jaime was old. They could retrieve her then, if there was anything left to retrieve.

Kane had no obligation here. He wasn't that dark-eyed bitch's protector. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was her ancestral enemy. If they were in Luteri, Kane would be one her clan would protect her from.

And that was his third option. He could take her prisoner. He could bring her back to Luteri and publicly hand her over to Bache, the Tavishi High Lord, Kane's father.

That would be the most cruel of all.

Most likely, Bache would ransom her to Corsaire. Wool stores. Horses. Luterian sheep, which bred very slowly, each animal worth its weight in precious metal. In Luteri, honor had its own value, and Corsaire would want her back badly, would pay a great deal.

But while no woman had been killed in this feud since it began, it didn't mean it couldn't happen. His father, Bache, would be within his rights to order her execution in the courtyard.

And things had gotten so bitter between their clans.

Killing her would be a devastating blow, better than ransom. She'd been left unprotected by her clan, completely exposed. It would be the kind of dishonor that Kavini, the Corsaire High Lord, might not recover from.

For the sake of Tavishi clan, taking her prisoner should be Kane's choice. And it would be his father's decision, not his, what would be done with her. All Kane had to do was get her there.

But it was still difficult for him to ignore the fact that he would potentially be delivering the woman to her death. Kane knew his father wouldn't feel any more comfortable with it, but that didn't mean his father wouldn't do it if he judged it was best for Tavishi clan.