Strange Bedfellows Ch. 05

"Kalus, you made it." King Tyso said as he glanced at the sunrise. "And on time too."

He sounded disappointed.

"And you brought the wenches that I set you up with." The king continued looking past him. He then 'lowered' his voice and 'whispered'. "I hope they are at least decent lays."

"I have no complaints about either of them your majesty." He gave the king a head bow, then glanced towards to gate in front of them.

King Tyso had assembled all of his commanders at the gatehouse that led to the field which separated King Bracken's castle from the inner wall of Laerten. Behind him was the entirety of the king's guard -- all two dozen of them -- plus nearly a thousand soldiers. None looked like they were from his own legion.

"Is there a plan sire?" Kalus asked.

"There would be if you'd captured that bitch of a princess Shara as I asked." He scowled in return. "I'm pretty sure threatening to take her virgin cunt in front of his castle would've done the trick."

The commander restrained himself from reacting with difficulty. "And now?"

"Well since you failed me in such an easy task, I'll have to think of something else." The king regarded Kalus with disdain. "Come, grab the white flag and we shall dictate terms."

"Aye sire." Kalus took the white flag, not minding the slight as much as he perhaps should have.

The king turned his horse, then glanced back. "Oh, and have your wives accompany us; their guards will not be necessary."

Kalus resisted the urge to disagree and turned towards Octavian. "You are released."

Octavian had his fist clenched and his jaw looked capable of crushing steel if one could fit some through his clenched teeth. Kalus gave him his 'stern commander' look and the man bristled, but nodded.

"Ladies." Octavian gave them a respectful head bow, then led his men a short distance away.

With that, King Tyso started trotting his horse down the cobblestone road that led towards the castle. Kalus chanced a glance at his wives, and unsurprisingly saw flickers of fear in their eyes. He wished he could comfort them, but they were right to fear.

He didn't like that.

The ride to the castle gates took barely a minute. The wall was at least twenty feet high and crenellations lined the top. He could see archers on top of the wall, but they respected the white flag and didn't fire.

"Let me speak to your king." Tyso barked without preamble when they'd closed to within a dozen yards.

"Who requests the honor of his conversation?" Someone he couldn't see replied from the wall.

"The man who's conquered the entire fucking country." Tyso growled in return.

"I shall inform him." The voice replied.

Tyso pointed his hand towards the sun. "And tell him that every finger he makes me wait will cost a dozen townsmen their lives."

Kalus bristled.

It was an old method of telling time near dawn and sunset. If a man fully extended his arm towards the sun, the sun would move about a finger's distance in fifteen minutes. It became less accurate further from sunrise and sunset, but it was enough to get his point across.

Kalus checked his own hand against the horizon and then waited.

The sun had nearly traversed almost an entire finger when an older man appeared at the wall's crenulations wearing a thin golden crown. He looked to be at least fifty, and sixty was probably closer to the mark. He also looked tired. Kalus had known that King Bracken was getting up in years and that the queen was significantly younger, but he hadn't realized how old he was.

"You called, Tyso." King Bracken's voice was strong and confident, but it had a slight waver to it too.

That didn't bode well.

"Open the doors old man."

"Your soldiers have a certain reputation, and the women who live here would prefer to--"

"I don't give a shit what they would prefer." Tyso replied. "You can either open the doors now, or I'll start beheading townsfolk; a dozen every hour until the doors open. While we do that my men will build a battering ram to breach the door ourselves. And should you wait, there will be a lot of... 'breaching' when my men come in."

King Bracken paled.

"Open it up old man." Tyso barked.

"Will... will you promise safety for those of my castle if we surrender?"

"No." Tyso shook his head. "But I will promise no mercy if you make me wait any longer."

Even from as far away as he was, Kalus could see King Bracken swallow hard and take a half step back.

"I will give you ten seconds." Tyso said.

"But the rules of war are--" King Bracken began, but Tyso interrupted him.

"Eight seconds."

King Bracken put a hand on the crenellations, probably to steady himself.

"Five seconds." Tyso continued.

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"Open the gate!" King Bracken said, then closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

"Wonderful." King Tyso said. "Prepare a reception in your throne room for... let's say noon. You will surrender your crown personally." He turned to leave but stopped and looked back. "Oh, and tell your men not to interfere with mine; the consequences would be..." He paused, probably for effect. "Unpleasant."

If possible, the king turned even paler.

"Come Kalus." Tyso said much as you might address a servant. "We'll let the men do the brunt of the work and return at our leisure." The king waved towards the thousand or so men that had been waiting at the gate, and they started marching forward.

Kalus prevented himself from curling his lip in distaste at how they marched forward. His own legion wouldn't be caught dead being that sloppy while in formation.

"What of the people sire?" Kalus asked King Tyso

"I've told them to hold their appetites until this evening's celebration." He shrugged. "Can't interfere with the palace guards surrendering, which could delay my fun." His eye glimmered, and not in a good way. Kalus had never met a dragon before, but he imagined that the look in Tyso's eye would be similar to a dragon who had caught the scent of some gold.

That didn't bode well.

* * *

"Are you okay?"

Shara slowly shook her head at her fellow wife's question. She wanted to shout 'I'm not okay!' at the top of her lungs, but resisted. Instead, she glanced into the ash blonde's eyes and let the hurt she was feeling show.

Lyra's face fell. "I'm sorry."

They were some distance away from everyone else, with only Octavian's guards around them since they were no longer with the king. They were currently sitting in an abandoned and ransacked restaurant that looked like it had once been incredibly nice. In fact, she vaguely remembered seeing it as her carriage had driven past before, and it had been fine enough for lords and ladies to dine there.

Now...

Now it was ransacked and in shambles; a perfect example of what King Tyso did to everything.

"King Bracken looked... not well." Lyra whispered delicately.

"He's..." Shara swallowed hard. "The king um... he was already middle-aged when he married my... the current queen."

"After the first queen died." The ash blonde nodded. "They said pretty awful things about her not being able to give him children."

"They said those same things about my-- about King Bracken after he remarried." Shara hung her head. "Queen Hylea comes from a family famous for bearing large numbers of children. When she only had me, and only after several years..."

"I'm sorry." The horsewoman sat next to her on one of the few intact pieces of furniture that was left in the restaurant.

"He looked so tired." Shara hung her head. "I know he's not the greatest king ever, but he really is a good man."

"I can believe that."

"And I know that he and the queen had an arranged marriage because of her family's fertility, but they really do love each other, despite..."

"Despite..." Lyra prompted.

"He was around forty when they married and she was my age." The princess did manage a small smile. "She's not yet forty, but you'd think she wasn't yet thirty if you saw her." She grimaced. "You know what Tyso is like, what if he... She's really beautiful and... and..."

Shara swallowed hard.

"And what of King Bracken? King Tyso might... might actually..." She couldn't bring herself to say it. Tyso wasn't known for mercy and her father had made his life difficult during the long war. What if... if...

"Hey, it'll be okay." Lyra put her arms around the princess as the latter tried not to start crying. For the first time, Shara realized what terrible danger her parents were in. In the back of her mind, she knew that she would be too if Tyso discovered her, but she couldn't get her father's ashen face out of her mind.

She wanted Kalus.

Not the way Lyra constantly did, but she wanted him close right now. She wanted him to hold her. He was so strong and good, and she needed that right now; she needed someone strong to lean on. Sadly, the King had taken him away for various menial duties almost the entire morning. It would've been humiliating for any other commander, but he bore it well.

She needed that stability right now.

"My ladies." Octavian broke into her thoughts. "King Tyso 'requests' that you join him and the commander at the castle."

The two women looked at each other, fear in both their eyes.

"I can't accompany you past the castle gates." Octavian continued. "But I have instructed the rest of my century to spread the word; nearly our entire legion will pray for Illuminar's intervention."

"Blessed be He." Shara and Lyra said.

If the princess was honest with herself, that helped very little with her state of mind. The two women followed Octavian as his men formed a protective guard around them. They walked instead of riding to the castle and the sun was nearly overhead. King Tyso had specified the meeting would be at noon; it was almost that time.

Thankfully, her husband was waiting for her just outside the castle.

Octavian saluted him, then turned to leave after a brief glare in the direction of King Tyso's approaching entourage.

"Octavian." Kalus called after him.

"Yes sir." He turned around smartly.

"I shall not forget your kindness and loyalty." Her husband said. "And if I cannot repay it personally, then I ask Illuminar to bless you mightily for your faithfulness."

The centurion smiled. "Thank you sir."

"Dismissed." Kalus said with a respectful nod of the head.

"Lucien." Shara addressed her husband as she tried not to shiver, and not from the cold. "I... I'm..." She couldn't finish.

He swallowed. "Me too." He reached down and gave her hand a comforting squeeze, then did the same for Lyra. "I know not what this day will hold, but I have been blessed to know you both."

One of the tears that had been threatening to fall all morning finally managed to slip out of the corner of Shara's eye. It traced a slow path down her cheek as she took a slightly shuddering breath. She sniffled slightly and reached up to wipe the tear away, but he beat her to it.

Kalus gently rested the palm of his right hand on the line of her jaw and softly wiped the tear away with his thumb. "Someone so lovely should not be made to cry."

Her breath caught.

He leaned in and tenderly kissed her forehead. She made a sound halfway between a whimper and a sigh.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Whenever you desire, merely ask and you shall have it again." He replied.

She nodded.

He turned to Lyra and smiled, though it was a slightly pained one. "My beautiful, spirited bride; I wish that had time to 'run' with you to your heart's content."

The ash blonde blushed at the reference to what she'd said on their wedding night.

He continued. "But since we don't, know that I wouldn't trade my time with you for anything."

She nodded, looking somewhat happy.

Shara wasn't.

Not at all.

She knew what was going on, why Kalus was saying these things, and why he was being more vulnerable and open now than usual. He didn't think he was going to survive the day and was preparing for that. She felt her throat get tight all over again as she realized what he was doing.

He was saying goodbye.

* * *

Kalus couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding as he walked into the castle with his wives behind him. The portcullis was raised and for some reason felt ready to crash down on him as he passed under it. It was silly of course, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something momentous was about to happen; something not good.

He was also keenly aware of his wives following him and the tiny life growing inside of Shara. He wanted to make sure they were safe more than anything, but he had no idea how to accomplish such a difficult task. He was especially unsure of how to keep them safe in the situation they were now walking into.

As they walked down the gray stone corridors of the castle, he was struck by how bleak everything looked. King Tyso's soldiers looked to have pulled most of the gold and silver ornamentation from the walls, otherwise he very much doubted they would look this bare.

He stopped outside the large double doors to the throne room.

There were a half dozen Har'peton guards outside, all standing at attention. Kalus couldn't help but notice that their uniforms and equipment were barely within regulation and not nearly squared-away enough. If he would've seen one of his own men so attired, that man would've had latrine duty for a week.

His wives flanked him; Shara on the right, Lyra on the left. Curiously, the opposite of the sides they usually slept on. Both glanced at him and both had their 'brave face' on, but both also held fear in their eyes.

He didn't blame them.

King Tyso arrived a few minutes later followed by all two dozen members of the king's guard. The swagger in his step and the Cheshire grin on his face did nothing to relieve Kalus's sense of foreboding. The king was up to something. He didn't know what, but he was up to something.

"Kalus my boy, I'm glad you're here." He sounded cheerful, which was almost disturbing. "And you brought those two little wenches I got for you; good."

He leered at them and they both responded with a polite curtsy. Shara was the picture of refined elegance, and even Lyra only had a small scowl on her face as she looked at him.

"They still draining your balls on the regular?" The king asked, nudging Kalus with his elbow.

"I have no complaints." Kalus replied evenly.

"I'm glad to hear that." Tyso said almost jovially, which was unsettling because it wasn't his 'I'm happy' version of jovial; it was his 'I'm about to do something devious' version of jovial.

That didn't bode well.

"Come on, let's get this party started." King Tyso said walking forward and pushing both of the double doors to the throne room open.

The inside of the throne room was as one might expect. It was a large rectangular stone room covered in tapestries with many windows to let in light. Some of the windows were stained glass and all were beautifully done. This room appeared to have been spared the looting that had taken place elsewhere, as evidenced by the golden candlesticks around the room.

The entire room had been very tastefully decorated. The tapestries, stained glass, and decorations were obviously of extremely high quality, but they weren't ostentatious. The whole room had a refined elegance about it that reminded him of his first wife; it was refined and understated, but wonderful if you took a moment to look.

Anyone with good taste would appreciate it.

"Man, this place is a dump; it looks like a poor house." King Tyso said, not even bothering to keep his voice down. "I think some redecorating is in order."

There was a collective gasp of breath from the people in the room, which Kalus assumed was the King's court. There were perhaps three dozen men lulling about near the throne. The room's design aesthetic seemed to extend to the people as well.

At the far end of the room, King Bracken sat on his throne. The throne was like the room itself: refined and understated. It looked like it was carved out of some dark wood and had gold inlay in places but wasn't covered in gold. It was firmly attached to a stone pedestal that raised it about a foot above the rest of the floor.

Shara's father looked old.

Not just in age -- he was about sixty -- but also in temperament; King Bracken looked world-weary. He was wearing the same robes as earlier, which were nice but a bit rumpled. His face had a day or two's worth of graying stubble and his heavily-salted salt-and-pepper hair was completely out of place.

"Ah, Bracken." Tyso said, walking up to the throne and leaning into the king's face. "I think you're in my seat."

King Bracken closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded and pulled himself to his feet. He wasn't overweight like Tyso was -- though Tyso wasn't terribly overweight -- but it looked like it took some effort.

"Did you forget something?" Tyso asked as Bracken started to step down off the raised platform, then glanced at the older king's crown.

King Bracken hesitated a moment, then slowly and haltingly, he reached up and took his crown off. Without a word, he slowly extended it to Tyso, who took it before it had even been fully extended.

"Well now, isn't that better?" He grinned around the room.

No one smiled back.

"I said, isn't that better?" He repeated more firmly as he looked around the room.

A smattering of polite applause broke out, but nothing more. King Tyso flopped down on the throne, then lifted one of his legs and draped it over one of the armrests. There was a collective gasp from nearly everyone in the room, including one or two of Tyso's king's guards. Such disrespect was simply unheard of.

Kalus found himself chafing in his position nearer to the door.

"Now, let's have some entertainment, shall we?" King Tyso said, then looked around. "Where's the queen?"

Nearly everyone in the room sucked in their breath.

"Sorry, I meant theformer queen." Tyso chuckled mirthlessly. "Where is she?"

"King Tyso, you have already--" King Bracken began, but Tyso cut him off.

"Where is your wife Bracken? I've heard tales of her beauty and would look upon her myself."

Next to him, Kalus heard Shara suck in her breath. His hand found hers and she gripped it tightly. He also thought he heard Lyra move closer to her fellow wife, but didn't chance a look.

King Bracken looked at Tyso for a long moment.

"Now Bracken, or you both will regret it." The usurper threatened.

King Bracken hesitated, then nodded and said in loud voice. "Hylea, come."

Several members of the court parted to reveal Queen Hylea in all her beauty, and shedefinitely was beautiful. She had clearly dressed down, wearing a simple dress will full coverage and no makeup, but she was beautiful nonetheless. Her amber hair was the exact same shade as her daughter's hair and their features were much the same. Hylea Bracken was incredibly beautiful, just like her daughter.

King Tyso glanced towards Kalus and got a wicked grin on his face.

Then his gaze shifted.

He was looking at Shara.

The tyrant looked back and forth between Hylea and Shara several times and then frowned.

He wasn't stupid.

Evil yes, but not stupid.

"Clear the room." King Tyso ordered, standing up and scrutinizing Kalus. "Not you Bracken." He said without looking at the deposed king. "You and your wife will stay, and Kalus and his wives will stay. Everyone else, out. Now."

The king's guard didn't move of course, since they were always the exception to such commands unless the king told them specifically to leave. Everyone else looked at each other for several seconds before they all began to leave, one by one. Eventually, it was only King Tyso, King Bracken, Queen Hylea, Kalus, Shara, Lyra, and the king's guard.

Tyso looked at the queen, then Shara. "You two, come here." He pointed to the floor about a dozen feet in front of him.