Prince Bonir Vol. 04

"I know, I'm sorry, but I've been charged by his majesty King Edelbert III to make sure it does not happen again, and for that I need your help." Invoking the name of the king put her mind in a different state, at least temporarily diverting the tears. I could see her lips start to form the "H" of "how," so I answered before she could ask "I need to know anything you can tell me about who the attackers were, and you alone have seen them firsthand. For instance, when did you first know you were under attack, and what were you doing at the time?

"I was sitting in the house with my parents, two brothers and three sisters," she replied, "mending my youngest sister's frock. All at once we all heard this strange horn sound, not like any bugle I've ever heard. It went ta-daaaa ta-daaaa. My father got up and grabbed his pitchfork, and headed out to see what was going on. Most of the men in town did the same, grabbing whatever they had that they might used as a weapon if needed. We were all watching through cracks in the picket door. Two or three men that had once been guards had old swords; some had nothing more than sharpened sticks. Suddenly there was this din of men shouting, and a stream of warriors rushed up from the direction of the beach."

"What did they look like?" I asked.

"They looked huge. They wore long beards, armored chestpieces, and metal helmets, many of which had animal horns on the sides. They carried shields and large axes. They swarmed on the men of the village, who wore no armor or shields and whose weapons were no match. In minutes they had cut them all down."

"How many of them were there?"

"I saw maybe 20 or 25, but there were probably others I could not see," she answered.

"What happened then?"

"People from some houses tried to flee, but all of our houses have but one door, out the front. They ran out the front doors and tried to make for the woods behind. The men yelled out something like 'Stop,' and when they didn't, archers that we hadn't even seen up to that point cut them down from the edge of town. The others stopped and were quickly rounded up in the center of town."

"Did their shields have any markings?" I asked.

"Many of them had a red coat of arms with a gold lion bearing a war axe on them," she replied. Sounded like the Coat of Arms of the King of Norway, I thought. That was one bit of information we didn't have before.

"What happened then?" I asked gently.

"One man came up to the door of each house in the village. One by one, they yelled into the house, making a gesture like we should come out. If the inhabitants did not, they smashed down the door with a few blows of their massive axes. If anyone tried to resist or moved too slowly, they simply hacked them to pieces right then and there."

"Where did they take you?" I asked.

"They moved us all to the center of town. Once they had rounded up everyone, they started sorting us out. All of the men, boys and older women were marched into the town hall, while all of the younger women down to the age of about five were marched down the path towards the beach. I didn't see what happened then, but later we could see dark plumes of smoke. I guess they burned down the village with the people still inside..." Her eyes winced in emotional pain, as she remembered loved ones that were marched into those buildings and likely burned alive. It actually hurt too much for her to cry.

"What happened down at the beach?" I asked.

"There was a man waiting down there, he seemed to be their commander. One by one, two men would hold our arms while the man stuck his hand down the front of our dresses. If he felt growths there, we were marched over to the side. Each of us had one of them guarding us, holding us gruffly by the arm. Those that were too young were placed in irons and taken on board a dragon boat that was beached just offshore.

Once we were thus separated, the commander took one last look at those of us pulled to the side, holding a torch close to our faces to get a good look at us. When he came to Thera, who was just to my right, he lingered. He grabbed her by the jaw and turned her head to look at her from the side. Then he pulled down the front of her dress, tearing it as he did, so that he might inspect her breasts. Apparently he liked what he saw, because made some nod of his head and turned for the boat. She was dragged forward, put in chains as the younger girls were, and taken to the boat. I guess he was looking for the prettiest girl, and he found her. She had been my brother's fiancée..."

"What happened after she was taken to the boat?" I asked, trying to stave off the tears.

"A number of oars came out of the side of the boat and it started out to sea. At the same time, a second boat glided in closer under sail."

"Did the sail have any markings?" I asked.

"One one of the boats, the main sail had the same coat of arms that I had seen on the shields," she answered.

"What happened when the boat came in?" I asked.

"I don't know when the boat came in, because as soon as the first boat turned away from us, the men that were holding us attacked us. I was thrown to the ground, and in an instant there was a man on top of me, ripping my dress open from top to bottom. One man was holding my hands down over my head with great force while the other forced my legs apart. An instant later I felt a sharp searing pain as he penetrated me. I screamed, and I heard the others scream too. I'll always remember his face—he had red hair and a long red beard with bits of food in it. His eyes seared into me with more hate than lust as he had his way with me. I felt him stiffen then grow soft, at which point he got up and held me down while the man who had previously been holding me took his turn with me. I looked around saw two or three other girls being raped in the same way. One had been tied to a tree at the edge of the beach; she had one man forcing himself between her thighs and another forcing himself into her face at the same time."

"Now the men who had stayed behind in the village returned to the beach. A few men, like the one that first attacked me, headed out to the boat as they were replaced by men coming down from the village. After the second went limp, he again held my arms while one of the new arrivals threw himself upon me. He smelled overpoweringly of smoke. It wasn't enough to him to abuse me as the others had; he kept slapping me hard in the face as he raped me. Tears streamed down my face, which seemed to excite him, because it made him thrust harder. Suddenly the same horns we had heard when the attack began sounded again, only much closer now. It was a signal; at once the men stopped what they were doing. The man that had been raping me got up and pulled a sword, a sword that I recognized as being an Eckoss guard sword. He must have taken it from one of the bodies in the town as a souvenir. I heard another girl's death screech even before he ran me through with the sword. Then he turned and with the other men, as a mass, fled towards the remaining boats." No one said anything as our minds tried to come to terms with the unimaginable horror. "I turned to my right, and saw a bloody corpse almost split in two with an axe. It occurred to me that I was lucky—the man who had been raping me when the horn sounded had taken a sword for a trophy and decided to use it to kill me rather than the axe with which he was more familiar. Had he slashed me I, too, would have died on the spot, but instead he stabbed straight through me, by the grace of God the blade did not kill me. I lay still, playing dead, slowly losing consciousness. Next thing I remember I felt a hand slapping my wrist and heard a voice yelling 'This one is still alive!'"

"Did you see which way the boats went?" I asked.

"They were headed straight out to sea, to the west. I could not see them for very long, though, for I was weak from bleeding and could no longer lift my head..."

"My dear lady, I am so sorry for what has happened to you, and to have had to ask you to live through it all again. It is my job to make sure that an attack like this never happens again. The information you have given us will help us much," I continued. "We know who the enemy is, how strong their forces are, and their tactics. The entire kingdom is in your debt." But she wasn't really listening; she was overcome with pain, physical yes but mostly emotional. The nurse approached, but I did not need to be told that Juriel needed to be left alone.

Outside the door, I reached into my pocket and gave the nurse half of the gold I carried, instructing her "get the poor girl whatever she may want that money can buy, for all the things she really wants no amount of money can return to her."

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It was ten days before I was back in Averic. I stopped in each of the three provinces between Eckoss and Merseinne and began organizing communications and construction of beach defenses. Then I followed in Jauffrey's footsteps through Merseinne and then Barcos; he had already begun mobilization, so my role there was political, ensuring no feathers were ruffled by our presence. Any concerns the Lords may have had disappeared when I recounted for them the story of the attack and Juriel's ordeal.

Back home at last, a fanfare was announcing the return of the lord to the castle as I strode up to my throne. Eve and Arianna were standing as they usually did along the far wall. I stole a glance their direction as I made my way up the aisle, and saw as great relief at my return. Having been away in sum more than two weeks, there were a number of items that needed to be attended to at once. Anything else, though, I put off and returned to my private apartments. Eve and Arianna slipped out the side door; they then had to run around the outer corridor to the back door of my private chamber to see me.

Inside, I walked at a leisurely pace, but directly towards the door, imagining how far they had to scurry and where they might be. I paused when I reached the door and had to wait no more than sixty seconds before the knock came. I opened the door, and my two little minxes jumped on me. Eve at least thought to kick the door closed, but Arianna hugged me and did not want to let go. Both of them showered me with kisses. I felt Eve's nimble fingers sliding towards my member first. She freed it and stroked it, soon joined by the slender fingers of Arianna. It was stiff as iron after two weeks of chastity. Arianna feel to her knees and welcomed me back with her tongue. Eve responded by hastily undoing the top of her dress to "feed" me the breasts I so enjoyed to taste. Arianna could sense that she could have easily climaxed my overcharged penis, but by now they were getting good at sharing me, so instead she stood up allow Eve a turn caressing me. As Eve sheathed my sword with her throat, Arianna loosed her own dress and then in one movement tossed the whole thing over her head and onto the floor. She was completely naked underneath, which made me do a double-take, as this was not her usual manner of dress. Her face reddened slightly, and she sheepishly admitted "I have anxiously awaited your return, my lord." I held her slender frame in my arms and kissed her while Eve's work on my organ threatened to buckle my knees.

"Please, my lord, I've so missed you," Arianna complained, sitting down on my desk and parting her thighs in anticipation. Seeing the dark red hair of her crotch, I was temporarily reduced to my animal nature, and without thought brought myself over to her and plunged deeply in. She spread her slender thighs far apart under me and held on to my torso with both arms lest my lust-blinded thrusts literally throw her across the room. Eve came over and gently ran her fingers along my back, but did not clamor for a turn of her own. The more worldly and experienced of the two, she recognized that with the wanton lust that absence had caused, and at the pace I was going, I would likely be spent before she could even be prepared. But at that time I was scarcely aware of her presence, so fixated was I on the warm, wet, inviting orifice into which I reached. Eve proved prophetic; within minutes I was spasming in orgasm, filling Arianna with so much seed that excess spilled onto the floor when I withdrew.

Arianna raised herself up on her arms, legs still wide, suddenly remembering Eve. "Oh, I'm sorry...you didn't get the chance to..."

"It's all right," Eve said softly, "his lordship had needs following his absence; this was not a time for patience. There will be another time." I kissed her, appreciating her understanding.

I ended up going to dinner, making love to Arianna again at a more leisurely pace, studied maps of the west coast for two hours, then retired to my bedchamber where Eve awaited me. She was lying on her side in my bed, head propped up on her arm, wearing a robe. When I entered, she said "Welcome home, Your Grace" while slowly, enticingly pulling on its belt. It came loose, and the lower half of the robe fell, exposing her left side.

Her breast seemed to wink at me. "It's good to be home," I sighed wearily, stepping in. Eve stood up and helped me remove my clothing. Then she had me sit on the edge of the bed while she massaged my tired back. "Mmm, that feels good," I sighed.

"Anything for my lord," she answered—then teased me by sliding her breasts along my back along with her hands. She then slid her hand forward expecting to find my staff at full attention, but in truth I was still worrying about the defense of the realm, and it was not. Eve knew something was on my mind.

"Your Grace is worried," she commented, lying back down as she had been when I walked in. I lay down on my back next to her.

"Indeed, I am very worried," I admitted. Between her perceptiveness and her frequent access to me in a vulnerable, post-coital state of mind, I had few secrets of which Eve knew not. "The armies of the provinces are so depleted, even if I had full use of them I'd be hard pressed to defend the entire coast, and I only have command of half. As quickly as the Vikings attack—unless the army happened to already be in the town, they would never reach it before the attackers fled."

"Can you enlist the villagers to help?" she asked.

"Indeed I must, but I have not yet determined how," I replied. "And then there's Averic. I will defend the realm at all costs and gladly go if the ultimate sacrifice must be made, but then what of Averic? My sister has shown that while she's a wonderful lady of the court, she's incapable of ruling. I do not blame her, she has no training in such things. And I have no heir. If I were to be killed now, Averic would fall into turmoil." I looked to her and gently touched her face. "And you...you, Arianna, the girls at the Abbey—who will protect them if I am gone? I fear that my death may the death sentence for the lot of you as well!"

"What constitutes an heir? If you do not marry, can you have no heirs?"

I'm generally a reasonably intelligent man; I don't know why Eve's thoughts are so often three steps ahead mine, and I do not see what is coming until I have already stepped into the trap. "No, if there are no legitimate heirs, any son of the Duke can inherit the throne..." It was not until I uttered the words that I heard exactly what they might mean to their recipient. "Wait, no, Eve..."

"When you arrived home today, you made love to Arianna without use of the sheath," she said matter-of-factly.

I was taken aback. "I...I was so consumed by lust, it completely slipped my mind." I stammered.

"My Lord," she said softly, running her fingers along my chest, "I wish you to lie with me and forgo the sheath. I understand that any child I bear to you would be a bastard, and would have no claim to the throne when a legitimate heir is born..."

"It's not that simple," I interrupted. "Illegitimate children are the seeds of revolution. Do you dislike the Duke and wish to unseat him? No problem if there's a bastard heir. Simply kill the rightful heir, and your man rises to the throne. That's what happened with King Armen, Duke Casten..."

"Do you think that I wish to rule Averic?" Eve asked. I didn't, but she was so cunning I could not completely rule out the possibility. "You have no heir, and as you are not married, you won't be having one soon. You've said yourself that you need to save yourself for a marriage of political advantage. Well, what if that day never comes? What if you are slain before you have the chance to marry? We don't know when the Vikings will return; we don't know if you will be killed fighting them. And as you say, Princess Elizabeth is not fit to rule. I should know; I very nearly starved to death because she could not be bothered to make sure the prisoners in the dungeon were being fed." I remembered how and when I first found her in the dungeons when I took over as Duke; I had forgotten about her state of neglect under the temporary rule of my sister. "And yet here you are, procreating every day with Arianna and myself. Would it not be better to dispose of the sheath, and see if God wills it that we bear you an heir? I cannot speak for Arianna of course, but I would be honored to carry Your Grace's child."

My head was swimming a little. I wasn't sure I was ready to even think of children—but the question of succession had suddenly become a very pressing one. "Yes, it would have been nice if I had a house and a husband before bearing children," she added, "but I know that Your Grace would provide for a me and my child better than any peasant could, just as you always have."

"I...I don't know..." I replied.

"Think not too much of it," Eve reassured, sliding her hand lower and lower until it was gently stroking my awakening stallion. "If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, then God does not will it so. All I'm saying is, let us stop using the sheath and see what comes of it. Besides, it's not like you haven't ever done so before..." she slowly bent over, bring her face closer and closer to my groin. My organ seemed to be stretching towards her as she approached. "And you've always said," she added, then slipped me into the warmth of her mouth for a moment before releasing me to finish the thought "you've always said you prefer the sensation when you're not wearing a sheath..." With that she slipped me into her mouth again, a little at first but gradually deeper, deeper, deeper. I closed my eyes and enjoyed her attentions. Beginning with that night, I no longer wore a sheath when making love to Eve.

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It was six weeks before the Vikings inevitably returned, attacking the town of Meerside in Merseinne. Fortunately, the defense plan I had instituted worked. At the sound of the first horn, the village had abandoned their houses and fled inland towards one of several camps where I had guards stationed. Two designated runners, taking different routes lest one be captured, raced to a hidden cove where a small but maneuverable fishing boat had been pressed into spy service. Oars covered with cloth to muffle the sound, the small boat crept out to where it could just see the Viking ships on the horizon. While the townspeople hid in earthworks dug for the purpose, the guard moved to intercept the attackers. As they approached the blared their trumpets in their best attempt to mimic the Viking signal.

The invaders must have been rather confused. Rather than a sleeping town, they found an all but abandoned one. The began stealing what they could until they heard the horns—we'll never know if they ran off because they wished to avoid direct engagement or if they mistook them for the return to the ships signal. Either way, they left before they finished ransacking the village, and rather than the organized conflagration there were but a few small fires started by thrown torches that were easily put out. There were only three casualties in Meerside—two that were too feeble to outrun the attackers, and one notoriously sound sleeper. And two Vikings had been slain by booby traps that the townsfolk had spontaneously placed in the attacker's path. The town of Meerside had been saved.