Strange Bedfellows Ch. 04

The king turned and started riding back towards the army with everyone falling in line behind him. Once they arrived at the camp, Tyso looked at his commanders. "I want to occupy that city within the hour and own it by nightfall. Feel free to push out the locals to house the troops and let them pillage and eat whatever they like; that'll help with morale."

The various commanders assented and then departed to carry out their orders.

"How did it go?" Kyselius asked the moment that Kalus returned to his council, and Katia and Lyra were also waiting. The latter looked relieved to see him, the former gave him a half smile.

He gave them all a brief rundown.

"Stupidity." Titus muttered under his breath.

"Aye." The herald agreed.

"We have our orders." Kalus said. "Organize the men and prepare to move out. I want everything coming with us, especially the provisions. The other legions might pilfer food, but our men will be paying for it if they want local food, though issue double rations for tonight's dinner."

"Yes sir." Kyselius replied.

"One more thing." Kalus said. "Are Octavian, Pernilus, and Asikan nearby?"

"They will be in a moment sir." The herald said, then took off.

Kalus busied himself with planning the occupation until his herald returned, which he did only a few minutes later. Behind him were the three centurions who had volunteered to protect his wives before the ambush the previous night."

"Commander." Octavian said with a crisp salute.

"I have a request of you men, but not an order." Kalus began, not quite sure how to phrase it.

"We would be happy to ensure your wives' safety again sir." Octavian spoke up.

"You need only say the word." Pernilus agreed.

"Aye, that's the truth." Asikan finished.

Kalus felt his heart swell. "Thank you gentlemen. I'm entrusting you with what's most precious to me in the world. You have permission to ignore the chain of command in this matter; no one except myself or the king may reassign you."

"Might I have a word sir?" Octavian asked. "Privately?"

He nodded and they walked several paces away before the centurion spoke again. "I know your position on insubordination sir, but you should know; I would find a way to ignore the king's command in this matter. Arrest me and court-martial me if you wish, but that's where I stand. I believe Pernilus and Asikan would take the same position, though they have not expressed it."

Kalus looked at the man for several long seconds. "I don't know whether to commend you or flog you for that Centurion."

"I will accept either and worse." Octavian replied seriously. "My men feel the same. There's not a man in this army that doesn't respect you, but since last night and this morning I believe they love you sir, and I don't only mean in our legion. There's not much love lost between the men and Tyso, no matter how he tries to bribe us to ignore the deaths he caused. The bribe has turned the men further against him rather than endeared him to them."

Kalus nodded. "Is there a danger of mutiny?"

"None, as long as you are a commander." The centurion replied. "Our legion follows you, and you follow Tyso. Their loyalties are thus, and not the other way around."

"Men in this army have been crucified for saying less." Kalus pointed out.

"And that's why my men follow you sir; you wouldn't crucify a man for telling the truth, nor for having an opinion."

The commanded inclined his head in concession.

"I would never ask you to betray the king." Octavian clarified. "But if he betrays you, he would not like the result. Not only from our legion, but perhaps from the others as well, though much less so. A commander should not be made to carry the white flag."

He nodded at the centurion. "Thank you for speaking your mind, though I urge you to let these thoughts go no further. As I said, men in this army have been crucified for less."

"Aye, aye commander." Octavian saluted.

They returned to the group and then the men separated to their assigned tasks.

Lyra came up to him, lean up on her tip-toes, and planted a tender kiss on his cheek. "Be careful husband."

"I shall be." He told her, then looked at Katia.

The former handmaiden didn't react as his second wife did, but she gave him a small smile as she spoke. "I... it would be a shame if our child grew up fatherless. I wouldn't wish that."

It was Kalus's turn to smile.

Katia had told him not to die. True she was more roundabout in her manner than Lyra, but he appreciated that about her. She could be quite subtle and he liked that about her.

"I would not wish that on our child either; I shall take pains to prevent it." He replied.

"I'm..." She looked down slightly, but the corners of her mouth twitched up slightly. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Take care and listen to Octavian, Pernilus, and Asikan; they will keep you safe."

"We will." Katia replied, and Lyra nodded.

"Then I will see you later, hopefully at dinner." Kalus said, then turned and headed towards Tornado to begin the occupation.

It was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

For Lyra, it had been an incredibly boring day.

Except for the brief excitement when her husband had returned, she had nothing to do. She and Katia had followed the three centurions into the city, but they hadn't been able to see much since they had been surrounded by the soldiers who were guarding them. Neither of the women was tall and their horses were likewise shorter than the military steeds on which their protectors rode.

Katia seemed to relax a bit once they'd entered the city. The former handmaiden looked around a lot and seemed to smile to herself a lot. It seemed like she felt at home here, or perhaps like she was coming home. The ash blonde thought that made sense since a handmaiden would've spent much time with the princess in the capital city. Although if her memory served her, Princess Shara had spent much of her teen years at another castle for her schooling.

The city of Laerten itself was... interesting.

Lyra had never been there before and thus was quite fascinated by the buildings which in some cases towered three or even four stories tall. She had never seen buildings that tall, and especially not so close together.

Also interesting were the people.

Or rather, the lack thereof.

The number of people near the entrance gate was incredibly small. Only a few townspeople were milling about and most of them looked like they didn't know where to go. It was entirely possible that they'd been kicked out of their homes and didn'thave a place to go.

However, the further into the city they traveled -- at least in the direction they were being led -- the more people she saw. At one point they crossed over a small bridge. The other side of the bridge was noticeably shabbier looking than the side they'd come from, and the canal over which it led seemed to be a dividing line between the poor and 'not poor' areas of Laerten.

On the far side -- the poor side -- there were alot of people.

And not just poor people either.

Some of them looked quite wealthy and some even had bodyguards. The mix of wealthy and poor people was rather strange to watch because they were clearly from different worlds. There appeared to be a bit of mistrust between the two social classes, but it definitely fell short of animosity.

Lyra and Katia followed the centurions through the city until they stopped at an especially large building. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it looked clean and had a sign which read 'inn' on it. The centurions stopped in front of it.

"I'll go see if the proprietor is amenable to us staying here." Octavian said, then turned to the ladies. "Would you accompany me? I would not wish to let those I am guarding out of my sight, and your presence will likely soften our image."

Lyra looked at Katia, who hesitated a moment and then nodded.

"We will." Lyra said, dismounting from her horse.

Katia likewise dismounted and spent a moment gently reassuring her horse that everything would be alright. Misty seemed to take comfort from her words, though the horsewoman was pretty sure that the former handmaiden was reassuring herself just as much as her horse. Lyra and Katia wrapped the reins around the hitching post outside the inn and then followed Octavian inside.

The inside was much like the outside. It bore signs of being an inn in the poor part of town, but it was cheery and clean; it looked reasonably well cared for anyway. There was a slightly plump woman behind a makeshift bar. She wasn't young, but she wasn't old yet either. She looked a bit haggard and her clothes had seen better days. They were clean, but patched in more than one place.

"Good afternoon ma'am." Octavian said to her.

She flinched and jumped slightly, even though she had seen them enter. "Afternoon." She replied cautiously, like she expected them to attack her.

"We seek lodgings if you will allow it." He continued.

The woman eyed the two girls, then looked at him again. "Rooms for you and your wives?" Her tone was icy and clearly indicated that she thought he was doing something he shouldn't be doing with the two women.

"No ma'am, these are the wives of my commanding officer; Commander Kalus."

The woman blinked.

She cocked her head to one side and said almost in a whisper. "Commander Kalus wishes to lodge here?"

"Yes ma'am, if you will permit it." Octavian nodded. "We shall pay for our lodging of course, and--"

"You'll do no such thing." The woman said as she breathed a sigh of relief and a smile spread across her face. "I have two daughters, one of whom isn't of age and the other barely is, and both are lookers. I was worried that Tyso's men..." She breathed another sigh of relief. "Commander Kalus can house as many men here as will fit, and free of charge to make sure he stays. I know he'll keep my daughters safe."

Lyra couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, he's good that way."

Katia got a small smile on her face too and she spoke quietly. "He is."

"I'll show you to my best room." The woman said, looking at the two women as she stepped out from behind the bar. "Mind you, it isn't exactly grand, but it's the best I have."

"You don't have to do that." Katia said. "I don't think our husband would want--"

The woman interrupted her. "Oh tosh girl; I want my daughters kept safe and he wants a room; I'm going to give him the best room I have to make sure he stays."

"Thank you." Lyra said.

The woman looked at Octavian. "I'm happy to provide the lodging, but if there will be a lot of you I might not have enough food without some coin to buy more."

"We will fully compensate you for the food, rooms, and--"

"Nonsense." The woman replied. "Just pay the cost of the food and I'll take care of the rest." Octavian looked like he was going to argue, but the woman continued before he got a chance. "I'll show the girls to their rooms, you just have your men come in and make themselves comfortable. Most folks fled with Tyso's army coming, so any bed is available."

Octavian nodded, but he accompanied them upstairs to the room anyway, insisting on checking the room out before letting the women in. The room wasn't large, being significantly smaller than Kalus's rather large field tent. The bed was barely larger than the field bedding and there was a small table with two chairs, though if the table was moved someone could sit on the bed to seat three.

After checking out the room, Octavian called two of his men up the stairs and charged them solemnly. "These are the commander's wives; guard them with your lives."

"We will sir." They said with a crisp salute, and Lyra almost thought they looked happy to have this assignment.

"You really don't have to do that." Lyra said. "The innkeeper seems nice and I'm sure we'll be safe."

"You almost certainly will be safe ma'am, but these men here will remove the 'almost' element. I wouldn't be doing my duty if I didn't ensure the commander's wives had every protection possible."

"Thank you." Katia said. "I think I'm only now beginning to understand just how much you all love him."

"Every man in his legion would take an arrow for him ma'am, and more than one outside of it would too I would wager." Octavian said firmly. "He even trained most of the king's guard, and I'm pretty sure they feel the same."

"Illuminar really blessed us with our husband, didn't he?" Lyra smiled.

"Aye ma'am." He nodded. "Now, I must see to other matters. You're not to leave this room without armed escort, understand?"

"Thank you." Katia gave him a small smile, but a genuine one.

"Ladies." He gave them a respectful head bow and then turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Once the door was closed, Lyra turned to Katia. "Remind me, why did you hate our husband so much again?"

"I think I blamed him for Tyso forcing us to marry and forcing us to share a bed." Katia sighed, sat down on the bed, and looked down at the floor, swinging her legs slightly and gently tapping her heels against the bedframe. "I wish I could go back and change things, treat him differently."

"My father always says that you can't change what's already been done, but you can change the present so you needn't look back with regret in the future."

The former handmaiden gave her a small smile and nodded but didn't reply.

"Look." Lyra walked over and sat beside her fellow wife, wanting to see her as deliriously happy being married to Kalus as she was. "Our husband truly likes you and I'm sure he would be happy to hear you say this."

"I don't know if I could say it." The amber-haired girl looked down and examined her shoes intently. "I just..." Her cheeks went pink. "I don't feel like I could ever say the right thing."

"Well, then don't say something; do something." The ash blonde suggested. "You know what they say: talk is copper, actions are gold."

Katia inclined her head in concession, but didn't say anything for several seconds. "But what would I do? Whatcould I do?"

"Um, maybe just keep an eye open for an opportunity?" She suggested. "I can too, and if I see anything I'll let you know."

Katia looked at her and smiled. "I'm really glad I ended with you as a fellow wife."

"Aww." Lyra leaned in and gave the other girl a hug. "Me too."

* * *

Shara spent a not-inconsiderable part of the afternoon trying to figure out what she could do to apologize to Kalus. She couldn't think of anything and didn't know what she could do.

And then there was the other side of things.

He was still a commander in the army that had just occupied her father's city, and tomorrow Kalus would either be attacking her father's castle or occupying it. She also didn't know what Tyso would do to her father and mother and she was worried about that. Tyso had a reputation and her mother was a beautiful woman. She was also a queen, so that might make it less likely that Tyso would try something, but she was still worried.

And then there was also the baby growing in her womb. She didn't know how to be married to an enemy commander and carrying his child while also remaining loyal to her father and country. She wished there was a way though.

The sky outside the window had started to darken when they heard someone outside the room.

It was Kalus, and he looked tired.

"How did it go with the city's occupation?" Shara asked, hoping her people hadn't suffered too badly under King Tyso.

"As well as can be expected." He replied. "Nearly the entire city that couldn't flee migrated to the poor section, so the rest of the capital is a ghost town. Tyso isn't pleased and many of the troops are pilfering to their heart's content. Still, most of the people are safe."

"Because you warned them." She said, her eyes getting slightly watery as she remembered his plan for helping the citizens of Laerten.

"Does the king know?" Lyra asked fearfully.

"I think he suspects." Kalus replied. "He can't prove anything of course, but I think he suspects."

"What now?" Katia asked. "If he holds true to form, he won't let this go unanswered."

"No, he won't." Kalus sighed heavily. "I fear what he has planned, but that is a problem for tomorrow. As the Book of Light says: Don't borrow problems from the future; today has enough troubles to worry about'."

"How are the people doing?" Shara asked, almost fearing the answer.

"Oddly, they are inviting soldiers from my legion into their homes." Kalus frowned. "They seem to believe that having my soldiers present will keep the rest of Tyso's men at bay."

"The innkeeper here thought the same." Shara nodded. "Your reputation proceeds you."

He looked at her, a sad smile on his face. "I wish it had preceded me a bit better in certain circles."

"Me too." Shara replied, not meeting his eyes. "But the princess didn't hear much of the war, and it seems only the worst bits when she did hear of it."

"Propaganda; it's as old as war itself." Kalus replied, then took a deep breath. "Regardless, it is time for dinner. The innkeeper has volunteered the dining room for my command staff and you ladies."

"I'm starved." Lyra beamed.

"I could eat." Shara smiled.

They went downstairs and through a doorway into a dining room with a table long enough to fit Kalus, his wives, and the senior command staff with several chairs to spare. Shara noticed that the men had left the chair at the head of the table unoccupied, as well as the two chairs closest to it on its right-hand side.

She smiled.

Lyra took the lead and sat down so that Katia could sit closest to Kalus, though the princess wasn't sure why. The food was good, or at least much better than the military rations she'd been eating since her castle had fallen. The conversation was mostly about business between Kalus and his men or about running the city.

About halfway through dinner, a man wearing Har'petonian clothes entered and addressed Kalus. "King Tyso requires your presence at sunrise tomorrow for the final push to the castle."

"I will be there." Kalus replied.

The messenger didn't leave.

"Something else?" Kalus asked.

The messenger frowned, then looked at Shara and Lyra, then back at their husband. "The king wants you to bring your wives as well."

Kalus's eyes narrowed. "Did he say why?"

"No commander, and..." The man hesitated. "May I offer a personal observation?"

"Go ahead."

"The king had a curious expression on his face as he told me this." The messenger frowned. "I would not normally presume to advise a capable commander such as yourself, but it's possible -- given the incident with the white flag -- that his intentions are..." The man looked around as he trailed off, as if he was worried about being overheard.

"Understood." Kalus replied, sparing the man from having to complete the sentence. "Tell the king I will be there with my wives at sunrise."

"Commander." The man saluted, then left.

The moment the door closed behind him, Kyselius spoke up. "That king is planning to kill you all."

"It's possible." Kalus put his fork down and looked around the table. "Opinions?"

"Leave." Shara said.

"You can't." The scoutmaster said. "Tyso has men who are personally loyal to him at every exit from the city. You'd be spotted and executed on the spot as deserters."

"Hide?" Lyra suggested.

"That will only prolong the inevitable." Titus shook his head. "It's rarely a good idea to jump to conclusions. Tyso might want your heads, but he might merely have some other humiliation in mind."

Shara looked at Kalus, fearing for her new family.

That was the moment.

She hadn't realized it before, but somehow she had grown to think of Kalus, Lyra, herself, and her baby as a family. They were one of course, but she hadn't really thought of them that way before. Now that she had...