The Bond

Author's notes: Here I go again. This time I'm getting a bit mid-evil about things...LOL. Okay the legal stuff; this is a copyrighted story etc... and all that implies. No one can copy, reproduce, or otherwise utilize this story, without permission from myself, the author of this story. Although this story does not contain graphic sex scenes it is an adult story and if that offends you, then why are you reading it? For all other, please enjoy.

*****

The Bond

"There is an old saying... 'My word is my bond'. As we all know some people's word is easily broken, while others can never be broken. And then there are the difficult ones where there has to be a certain circumstance for the bond to be broken. Those are the tricky ones."

"Not another lecture... please?" The young voice whined.

"No, more of a story that proves a point... and it is important, so please pay attention." The older voice said firmly.

"Fine... if I have to." The young voice said petulantly.

"Now, where was I?" The older voice sighed.

"What should be an unbreakable bond, the ones between friends, lovers, and mates is often broken too easily by a lot of outside interference. It seems easy to break these bonds that were meant to last forever. Time, life, and history are filled with these broken bonds. What is sad, the bonds that should be broken are the hardest to break. The bonds to slavery, lust, greed... sorry, I promised no lectures." The aged voice sighed. "The bonds that should be broken are the hardest to break, while the bonds that shouldn't be broken are too often the first to break, is the main point of all of this."

"Okay, got it, keep my word. Can I go now?" Was asked with forced cheerfulness.

"No, sit you down and listen... this wisdom was hard won and cost me dearly!" The older, wiser voice said with quiet force. "Fine, since you like those silly stories that are coming into fashion...

"Once upon a time ago in a far away land there was a proud young man set about wedding the love of his young life..." The voice sighed with a hint of frustration.

*****

The young man was happy that he was going to wed the light of his life before the mid-summer day when he would have to stand and be chosen into servitude or make his own life. It was just the way of things. If on that one day after the age of account, a person were with family, then you could make a life in the village. If not, then the Lord of the land could chose of those free of family to work, labor, fight, or serve to the betterment of the Lord's holdings.

It was with his head held high, and chest fill with pride he went to pay his bride price and betroth himself to the most fair of the land. She would give him a life filled with love and children. She would keep his house and family and he would prosper from it. It helped that he had found himself in love with her since they were small children. He always knew there was no other for him but her. He felt from her the same. They had promised themselves this at the age of five and would hold that promise until the end of time.

"You, boy, to the village center!" A harsh voice said, breaking into his thoughts.

"Sir...?" He asked shocked, looking at the knight.

"You heard me lout, to the square... there is war about and you look like a fine recruit!"

"But sir, I must go to my betrothed... the choosing is not yet for after the spring plantings and Midsummer Day." The young man asked impudently. Did not this stranger know the law of the land?

"You have sprit boy... save it for the time of war! The Lord will make his choosing now, so there is time to train you before the first battle is upon us." The man smiled, showing a fine scar trailing down his jaw and neck. "Learn this well boy, never question your betters, and to win a war you must live through it! Now go hence to the village center." The man shoved him in the opposite direction.

After much pleading, shouting, crying, and promises to wait for each other, the young man was chosen to be a soldier in a war he knew nothing about. On the day he left for his training, and one chaste kiss, he looked back not knowing he would only see her once more and never in the same light.

Months of grueling training later, he was looking at his first battle. His heart was pounding in his chest. "Keep steady boys... look at that lot, and smell the fear coming off them, like the piss running down their legs." His captain said to his men. "Use your head and you will keep it attached and your breath still in you! Mind your training, keep your wits and hold the line!"

The battle raged, blood was spilled. Guts were strewn over the field making it slippery. Wounds were given and received and the red haze of battle swarmed the men, but they held the line. The battle was theirs. They pushed the opposing forces back until they were called to halt.

"But sir, we could have..." The young man shouted with battle rage.

"Calm yourself boy!" He shook the young man. "This battle is over! For fuck sake, on the marrow we will most likely be fighting alongside these sods, as fighting against them! Damn it to hell!" The captain spit on the ground. "Learn well boy. Soon those two bastards, who call themselves Lords, will be kissing each other's arse and buggering their own mothers to win favor of the King. Trust only your company, and never these piss poor trained villagers to have your back! Now, go get you cleaned up, that'll give you a reminder to keep your head cool in battle." The captain slapped his arm, right above the slash a carless block caused.

"Aye Sir." The young man said feeling the pain of the wound he didn't feel until his captain made him aware of it. He did not make a sound as he was tended to, like all lessons learned, he learned this one in silent thought.

*****

Seven long hard fought years later. The man gathered his armor and belongings and put them onto the pack of the second horse. "Where the fuck you going boy?" The older man asked.

"I have paid my way, I have done my time. I go back to the life you interrupted." He looked at the man who had changed his life. The words were not hard but honest.

"Well that's a fucking mistake and a waste of a good knight, let me tell you boy!" The aging Captain sighed. "I was going to bugger off myself now that you could do my job after a fashion. I'm so fucking tired of it." He automatically checked the horses and gear. "You would make a fine Sergeant at Arms and Captain of men, boy."

"I made a promise, pledged my troth, and my word is my bond." The man said, knowing his mentor understood. They were two bolts of the same cloth.

"I hope to fuck that others kept their word as well. Well, never you mind. I have been too long in a Lord's service. Them turncoat useless bastards!" He spat on the ground. "Never trust a noble, they have pudding for brains, and morals that made a dockside whore look pure as new snow!" He clapped the man on the shoulder. "Fair thee well. I won't be seeing you again I am thinking. If things are as I have seen before, they will be. Last lesson boy, never go back, never retreat, and always move forward no matter how tempted to do otherwise. You were the best I have ever trained, and I have trained a lot!' He gripped his arm as an equal for the first and last time.

"Fair thee well." The man said, oddly choked up. Without a backward glance, but a raised fist, he rode his war horse and led two others out the gate. He was going home to claim his prize.

*****

He was oddly restless as he crossed into the land that held his village. Had it been so long? Was this place always so unkempt? Was his memory, the memory that kept him sane through so many battles, false or had blight came across this land to make it look so much less than his memories? He rode with pride and a bearing that the local villages cowered from. They recognized him not, for many were the changes in the man.

He wanted to raise his hand in greeting of the people he recognized, but saw the fear and wondered in silence. He went to the village center and stopped short. There she was. He would know her anywhere. His breath caught... and she turned.

Her face was ruddy with the wind, her eyes bright. Her hair was unbound and fluttered in the breeze. He took in the sight that he longed for... taking every detail in as he looked from her face. His eyes tightened as she faced him and he noticed the swelling of her belly!

"Momma, Momma..." A girl child ran up. "A knight has... oh! Sorry Sir." The girl child lowered her head.

"May I help you Lord?" The love of his life didn't even recognize him.

"I am passing through! He said in a voice gruff with sorrow. "Who is your man?" He pointed at the child and her swollen belly. "Who made you break your sacred vow?" Anger like he had never felt before swarmed over him.

"I have never broken a vow Sir, how could you..." She flushed.

"LIAR...!" He hissed. He took out a piece of cloth and tossed it on the ground. "Our bond is broken wench! May you rot in Hell!" He spun his horse around and looked at the gathered crowd. "May this Godforsaken village burn in Hell, for allowing the breaking of a sacred vow!" He gathered his reigns and looked at his mother. "You will never have grandchildren to carry the name on!" He spat at her feet.

"They said you were dead!" His mother collapsed in recognition.

"Lies, who said this and when did you receive my due?" Fury consumed him.

"They said you died in disgrace..." The woman who gave him birth wailed.

"See these?" He asked, showing his silver spurs. "Do disgraced men wear these?"

"NO...!" She finally realized who was above her looking at her like vermin.

"This place has played me false. Everyone is equally guilty in allowing this. Nothing will ever prosper from this." He pulled himself in, remembering his lessons in battle. "You are nothing to me." He said quietly. "I am just passing through, but will look for another place to take my rest. Someplace clean perhaps." He was coldly calm. "You are dead to me. This place is dead to me. I will be leaving now." He turned his horse and left in the opposite direction he came, hearing not the weeping and wailing of the bitches and curs in the street. He rode away wondering if this was a battle won or a battle lost.

*****

He made his way by teaching men to fight. Teaching Lording's how to protect what was theirs. He learned the way of the mercenary and it paid well. He was a free man beholding to no Lord and after a time, no land. His name was respected or feared, depending on which side of the battle field he was on. The only thing that kept him sane was the bond of his word. Once given, it was never rescinded without due cause. It was a lesson that had him on the run when a Lord broke it and learned the hard way, the cost.

He found some land bordering two lands. Owned by neither and set up a simple place to call home. He knew every warrior needed a place to call home. He heard through meeting other warriors, his old captain had been felled in a poorly planned battle trying to protect the useless Lord's son who once held his bond.

"I need to get out of this business." He sighed once, in the thick of a battle that was not his.

After the battle was won and wounds tended, he collected his wages, and went about packing his gear. "Where do you think you are going?" The Lord asked him, coming up unannounced. "There are more battles to fight. This war is far from over!"

"For you maybe, but not for me, I am done!" He went about his business unfazed by the loud man.

"I order you to your post!" He was incensed that his best captain was abandoning him right as the tide was turning.

"My contract with you is done. I am done. I have never sworn my allegiance to you or your cause. I have trained your men for a price. They are a good fighting unit now. Treat them with respect." He checked his gear. "Think well before you touch that sword." He warned before mounting.

"You will pay for this insolence!"

"Learn this well." He sighed. "Never let your anger control you, especially facing a better trained man or army. You will keep your head attached a lot longer. I let you best me in training so you did not lose face in front of your men. But, I could have spitted you in a second if I chose to." He loosened his hip sword and dirk. "This last lesson is free. Take it with grace or blood, but I am leaving."

It was there in his eyes. Sighing, he had his sword at the Lord's throat before the Lord's blade made it half out of the scabbard. "A reminder to keep your head cool at all times Lord. Something to think about before you make another mistake." He pulled his blade back leaving a cut that would scar. "Don't send men you cannot afford to lose. They respect me more than they fear you." He scabbard his blade and turned his back to the sputtering Lord. He waited a moment and then heeled his mount into motion. He rode past the guard with a raised fist in salute.

*****

He built his home in front of a cave that led out the back side of the hill. It gave him a hidden route in and out of his dwelling. He was tired when he crested the opposite hill looking over the fertile valley hidden by the sharp rocks of the border land. Very few people knew this valley but a few did. There was no place completely hidden, but it was private enough for him on most occasions. He smelled the change in the weather and knew he got home just in time. With the supplies he had picked up, he would make it through the winter months and would start seeding the valley the next season. He wondered if all the things he knew as a child would come back to a man who had spent too many years fighting and killing.

Only in the loneliest of times did he ever think of what once was and could never be. He learned too well the whimsical nature of women and their inability to keep their word. He no longer held it against them. It was just the way of the world. To be honest, most men had stopped keeping their word also. So, if women learn by example, then the ruin of mankind was well in the works.

He smelled the smoke from a fire... his fire...!

"Damn it to hell. Not what I want!" He cursed under his breath. He worked himself around to the hidden entrance in the back of the corral for the horses. He opened it slowly noting the dust was undisturbed. Sighing, he led his horses into the back of the cave and dumped some grain into their feed sacks.

"If I have to spill blood on my own floors there will be hell to pay for those who violate what is mine!" He swore an oath and kissed his blade.

He locked the interconnecting doors to keep his animals safe. He knew the path by feel and the dark did not bother him. He stopped and reached for the lock and listened for the sounds from his dwelling. He listened to the soft footfalls of one slight person, and wondered who invaded his home. He heard a soft voice singing in one of the bordering languages he knew not.

'What was a woman doing all the way out here?' He wondered, listening hard to see if she had company.

"You can enter, I can hear you breathing!" The voice held a tinge of fear. "I am not alone and well armed!" She added in warning. Expecting a trap, he shifted his position and came in the other door, for there were many. He stood there behind the woman noticing her nakedness and the strain of trying to hold one of his swords. He noticed the big dog at her feet and set it to heal, with a look.

"Well legged and arsed too." He parried her almost too good of a thrust. "I'll take that... and SIT!" He ordered the grumbling hound, knocking the bladed down embedding the tip into the floor.

Her breasts heaved with every breath. Her eyes shown with the light of fear and determination. "Why have you bothered me? What are you doing here?" She asked not trying to hide her nakedness, but use it as a weapon.

"I could ask the same of you?" He leaned back, still on his guard. Comely she might be, but some poisons are the sweetest in taste.

"It is you who have come upon me unawares in my privacy, so explain yourself!" She ordered with all the haughtiness of a noble.

"I explain nothing in my own home!" He barked, already getting tired of the game.

She pulled back shocked. "You are smaller than I have been told." She looked him over from head to toe, relaxing her grip on the borrowed blade. "I will take you at your word for now since not too many would know of the secret way into this home. It took me long enough to find it." She pulled a cover from the bed and wrapped herself. "Close the door, it is drafty." She ordered.

"Who are you, what are you doing here, and how fast can you make yourself ready to leave since there is a storm coming and I do not wish to be trapped with a stranger on my first night home in far too long?" He asked in one breath, stepping up and snatching the blade from her hand and setting it back to the place it belonged.

"My name isn't important, I am here to recruit you into a cause that needs your skills, and I cannot leave until I have your cooperation in these things." She shook her long hair in denial.

"And if I say no?" At least she was honest... was his first assessment. "There are many other farmers in the area. They could help as much as I can."

"I am not here for the farmer. I am here to recruit the best Sergeant at Arms in the lands. And if you say no, then I must entice you, or my family is to be killed." She dropped the blanket again.

"Why would your Lord think sending me a whore, even a comely one like yourself, would sway me?"He asked insulted.

"I am not a whore!" She launched herself at the warrior, claws and fangs bared. She slapped scratched elbowed and kicked with wild abandon, showing him she knew more than one way to fight.

"Enough!" He tossed her onto the bed. He took one step forward and instantly the biggest dog he had ever seen with the longest fangs was between them, hackle raised and a menacing growl in his throat. "What type of cur is that before I have to kill it?" He grabbed for his dirk. The dog was almost as tall as he was.

"Kahn, down!" The woman commanded and covered herself again. "Kahn is a Dire-Wolf and you couldn't kill him if you tried. Although, if you mean me harm Kahn will kill even one as deadly as you." The wolf lay at her feet keeping his eyes on the man. "He is one of the last of his kind and a Kingly treasure!"

"He is a king by name!" The man stepped back. "But, you attacked me first and in my own home." He crossed his arms and held his ground.

"Only because of the insult!" She hissed.

"Hey, you offered yourself to me... You are naked in my bed and you offered your body to me in payment for..." He rubbed his head. "Get dressed, and call him to heal. You are going back to..." A loud crack and a howling wind stopped him cold. "Fuck!" He cursed. "Too late."

"What was that?" Her eyes got big.

"The storm has hit and the way out is closed... for now." He sighed. "Get you dressed and prepare for questions to answer once I bring in the supplies. And your bed is in the stables guarding my horses!" He ordered the huge dog. He slammed out the door he entered and went back to the packs.

"Khan, stay." He heard her voice and decided to keep walking to clear his head. This was not the solitude he was longing for. She scrambled to follow the man's orders. "Smaller than described, he might be. But, the fierceness ti's not exaggerated." She told her long time and only true friend since she found him.

He kept silent as he went about setting his supplies and grooming his animals. He took the extra time to clip their hooves and remove the iron shoes for the winter. It took him too long to regain his even temper. He could smell his guests and felt their eyes on him as he moved with efficiency, settling himself in for the long cold. He wanted to wash the road off him and relax not...