The Trikingdom Ch. 12

Kalas woke up with a start and found the bed empty beside him. This was usual since the assault on his wife. The first time he had panicked and had run naked through the manor searching for her. He had found her in the study with a book of spells. She didn't seem to care about what had happened and always changed the subject when he attempted to broach it. Other than that she seemed to be dealing with it better than he was.

He suspected her newfound dedication to study was her way of coping with the trauma, but a part of him wondered if she was just trying to ignore the incident altogether. He expected her to be melancholy or angry but she displayed no change in her emotions whatsoever. He started questioning his own mental strength because the incident still haunted him. It was hard for him to banish the image of the man rutting behind Careena as she cried and begged. The ecstasy on the assailants face as he sodomized her was etched into his mind. If he could, he would kill the three of them all over again.

For some reason, the three he had killed first had a much different effect on him. He felt guilt over how he had disposed of their bodies in the sea. They would never be found and somewhere he knew they each had someone who would always wonder what their fate had been. He knew it wasn't logical to feel guilty over them and not the others; they would have raped his wife as well if he hadn't ended their lives.

The only person they told about the attack was Cilas. The assassin cleaned up the mess quickly and assured the Duke and Duchess that no one would find out about the incident. That was the only part of the incident that gave the Duke some measure of relief.

He tried to comfort his wife, but she insisted she didn't need any and that she wanted to focus on making sure it wouldn't happen to her again instead of crying over it. He was sure this was more denial on her part but he couldn't get her to see it. She was very stubborn, and he knew from experience that it was futile to get her to change her mind.

She had shocked him the night after the attack by initiating sex. He thought she would need time to recover from the ordeal and that sex would be many months away. He started out gently, but she urged him to be harder and rougher. When he didn't do it quite like she wanted, she screamed at him to fuck her like a whore. He reluctantly complied. When they were finished, she explained that she wanted to show him that she was all right and that the rape hadn't affected her, but the roughness of their lovemaking told him otherwise.

They made love every night after that. Careena couldn't seem to get enough. Sometimes she wanted it rough, sometimes she wanted it soft and gentle. He complied with what she asked for. He wasn't sure what she was looking for in the sex, but he was sure it wasn't a normal reaction to rape. In his mind it was further evidence that she was in denial even though she appeared genuine in her need for sex.

Kalas got dressed and headed out to the training yard. It helped him clear his mind and focus for the day. Paladins were trained fighters, but most weren't highly skilled and relied on the magical abilities granted by the gods to win fights. Kalas was an exception. He had received the same martial training as his brother and was an expert swordsman. It had been a few years since he had trained this hard and this often, but the soreness in his muscles felt good and reminded him that he needed to work out more often.

As he was finishing the first half of his training regimen in the yard, he heard a commotion out front and what sounded like an approaching carriage. They weren't expecting any company so he slowly strolled to the front of the manner filled with curiosity about who could be approaching. He was surprised to see a carriage flying his family's banner approaching. As it got closer he could discern that it belonged to his brother and he immediately smiled at the thought of a visit from him.

The carriage stopped, and as the door banged open, Kalas prepared to shout a jest about sending word before appearing at his doorstep, but it stopped in his throat at the sight of the hulking form exiting the carriage behind his brother. Kalas quickly recovered from his shock and went down to one knee and bowed his head.

"Father," he managed to find his voice, "if you had sent word of your visit I could have arranged a proper reception."

"Get up Kalas," his father barked. "My sons don't need to bow to me, and if I had wanted a 'proper reception' I would have asked for one. Besides, we haven't time to go through all the formalities."

"We must speak with you immediately," his brother said quietly as he helped him up. "Send someone to fetch Careena too; we need to speak with both of you privately."

As the trio headed towards the Duke's study, they encountered Cilas who had been hurrying to attend to the unexpected visitors. He was sent in search of the Duchess. The three men were seated for only a few quiet moments before Careena came rushing in. Kalas could tell she had been studying again. Her hand was stained with ink and her eyes had the tired look she got when she had been reading for hours on end.

"An emissary from the bear-men has appeared in Strellheim," King Bromen said without any preamble.

"The bear-men?" Kalas asked in astonishment. "I thought they were only legend."

"Everyone did," Duran agreed, "and it was quite a shock when their small party showed up unannounced. Strellheim has sent invitations to every kingdom south of the Dragons' Wastes for ambassadors to travel with the emissary back to the bear-men's kingdom to meet with their king."

"They have their own kingdom?" Kalas asked.

"Yes," King Bromen answered. "Apparently not all of the legends are true. They aren't savage beasts roaming the frozen wastes scavenging for food. From the description we received they appear as civilized as we are."

"Why must we go there?" Careena asked. "Why did they only send one emissary if they want to meet with so many kingdoms?"

"It's too hot for them," Duran responded with a smirk. "That's why their emissary stayed in Strellheim. From what we've heard, their party is even having trouble with the heat there."

"Strellheim is freezing!" Kalas exclaimed. "There is no heat there to speak of."

Duran shrugged at his younger brother. "You have to remember, they live so deep in Southern Wastes that everyone believed they were myth. Imagine how cold it is there."

"I can," Kalas groaned. "We'll have to bring lots of warm gear. I don't even know that we have everything we'll need."

"Why don't the two of you get with Cilas and check on that," King Bromen said pointing to his two sons, "while the Duchess and I go over our objectives for the meeting with their king."

Careena's back stiffened when she realized she was going to be alone with Bromen, but Kalas and Duran didn't notice. They were already talking about what could and couldn't go. Her husband was lamenting that he wouldn't be able to bring any of his armor and wondered if he could get fitted for leather before they had to leave.

"I wanted to speak with you alone," King Bromen said once his two sons had gone.

"Why?" Careena sneered. "So you can force yourself on me again?"

King Bromen waved his hand dismissively and leaned back in his chair. "I have no pressing need to get between your legs again," he said seriously, "but I won't turn you down if you're offering."

"So I'm not good enough for you to chase after anymore?" she asked angrily.

"No, you were very good," he said honestly, "but my desire for you has been slaked."

She was trying to get angrier but it was hard while he was remaining so calm. "Slaked?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes," he said with a shrug. "We don't really have time for this, but since you seem to require an explanation I'll try to give you one," he said sighing. "I crave variety," he explained. "Once I've had someone or tried something I don't feel the same compulsion to have them or try it again. Don't get me wrong, I would never turn down an invitation from a beautiful woman, but I would never pursue her again."

"So you truly have no desire for me anymore?" she asked incredulously.

"I wouldn't say that," the king said with a smile. "You are a very beautiful and sensuous woman and I will always desire you on some level, but the world is full of beautiful and sensuous women who I've never been with."

"And you'd rather spend your time and effort pursuing them instead of me?" she asked.

"Precisely," he said with a grin.

"I'm not sure if I should be offended or not," she said honestly.

The king shrugged again. "Take it anyway you like, but it's the truth," he said. "You must have felt something similar when you were in Remar; that unquenchable desire to have a woman no matter the cost. Before I had you it was unbearable, but now I can control my lust for you. But trust me, if you were to offer yourself to me right now, I'd be on you before you finished removing your clothing. Now can we move on?"

"I suppose," she said relaxing back into her chair thinking about what he said. She had carried anger for King Bromen and the price he had extracted from her for her marriage to Kalas for a long time. This conversation didn't alleviate that anger, but it was starting to shed light on where her anger came from. She often wondered why it angered her so much. She had traded sex for favors since then and felt nothing. Was it because he was her husband's father? Was it because she had gone back to him night after night until her husband was due to return? Maybe her anger was misplaced; was she angry at herself for succumbing again and again? Whatever the cause of the burning hatred inside her for the king, she decided she could put it aside for now and listen to what he had to say. She would do anything to serve the Trikingdom.

She had indeed felt that desire he spoke of. It had almost overwhelmed her and driven her mad. She felt remorse for the way she treated Zella while under the power of that lust. Why couldn't she forgive King Bromen for succumbing to the same lust? Did she view it differently in her mind because she was the victim?

"We've received reports from Strellheim and the outlaying areas of bands of ice trolls moving southeast," King Bromen began. "I believe that whatever is causing the trolls to move is what has brought the emissary north."

"Very likely," Careena agreed.

"I think we can assume the king of the bear-men wouldn't have sent his emissary if there wasn't some threat," he continued. "We are agreeable to an alliance, but we must know the complete truth about the threat."

"I doubt their king will be completely forthcoming," Careena remarked. "If they're in danger I'm sure he'll try to keep it from us."

"Of course," Bromen said. "Who would want to ally with a kingdom in such an inhospitable climate with little incentive and extreme risk?"

"We allied ourselves with Remar," Careena commented.

"Remar has wealth and resources," the king said with a smile. "We don't know what the bear-men have. That's the other part of your mission; find out everything they have that's worth trading for."

"Why are you telling this to me and not Kalas?" Careena asked skeptically.

"Because I heard about your trip to Remar," the king said with a smile, "and I know you'll do whatever is necessary to get the information we need."

"How did you find out about that?" Careena asked easing back in her chair.

"King Airon and Prince Loqui aren't the only ones who have spies. My network isn't as extensive as theirs but it didn't need to be with the amount of fuss Loqui was making. He was very upset you didn't accept his proposal," King Bromen said with a laugh. "He's always been a bit of a whiner when he doesn't get his way."

"I'm glad you found that amusing," Careena said. "Loqui's always irritated me."

"Is that why you turned him down?" the King asked. "After what you went through, it would have been a smile price to pay to insure his silence."

"I saw no reason to acquiesce to him," she said with a shrug. "Kalas and I had come to an understanding. He would have been upset, but it wouldn't have been as disastrous a as Loqui imagined. I've already told Kalas everything about that adventure."

"I wouldn't mind hearing the details of your trip myself," the king said with a laugh, "but some other time. You and Kalas must get ready to leave. I assume you'll need extra clothing as well, and you should be prepared to purchase more in Strellheim when you arrive. They will have materials better suited for the cold," he advised.

They left the room in search of Kalas and Duran, and while they weren't arm in arm, the tension Careena had felt had dissipated. For the first time she thought that it might be possible to forgive him.

***

Four weeks later, the Duke and Duchess arrived in Strellheim eager to meet the emissary of the bear-men. It was far colder than either of them imagined when they left the relative mild climate of Genoise and the first thing Careena intended to do was find warmer clothing. She thought she would have been able to handle just the cold, but the freezing wind that pierced through her clothing and sapped the warmth from inside her body was too much to bear.

She felt sorry for the guards that had accompanied them. At least she and the Duke and been able to button up the carriage to keep most of the cold out. Their guards were all on horseback, except for the carriage driver who seemed to feel the cold more than any of them. She had no desire to see them suffer, and was determined to get them warmer clothing as well.

Lina had accompanied them as well. Careena frowned when she thought of the untrustworthy former slave. She hadn't wanted to bring the young woman along but she had few options. Cilas would be too busy to keep an eye on her and she had been making too many inquiries into Zella's whereabouts. She needed to bring a maid and reluctantly chose Lina. She also hated to separate her from Jaco, for his sake, but the young artist seemed to take it well.

Kalas was nervous and on edge the whole ride. He felt naked without his armor, but after the third week it had gotten too cold to wear anything but leather. He had managed to find a nice suit of leather before they left, but it wasn't the same as his heavy plate mail. He wore it only because it seemed to keep him warmer than his regular clothing. It grew stiffer in the cold and made movement difficult. He couldn't imagine going into battle with it on; he could barely turn around.

They were welcomed at the castle. Two of their guards were allowed to accompany them during their stay while the rest were shown to the barracks. Kalas worried about having so many armed men from different kingdoms in one city but knew the Trikingdom's alliances would make them a poor target for any attack. An ambassador from Daarkscrag was already here, and ambassadors from Lesquia and Remar were set to arrive any day. They didn't have any quarrels with the other kingdoms in attendance, but they didn't have any formal relations with them either.

The King and Queen of Strellheim was an older couple that Kalas guessed were in their seventies. Strellheim was a quiet kingdom that rarely involved itself in the squabbles of their northern neighbors so their monarchs generally lived to an old age. They were kind and warm to the Duke and Duchess at the dinner that was held after their arrival.

They also got their first look at the bear-man emissary that evening. Careena was surprised to find that he appeared very human. In her mind she had imagined some mixture of man and bear similar to a centaur or satyr. However, he was proportioned just as they were from head to toe, but his body was covered in fur much like a bear's. He was bigger than the average man but he was about the same height as Kalas with a lot more bulk. When you looked at him from behind, he did give the impression of a small bear standing on its hindquarters. His face was shaped just like theirs but the same fur covered it as well. The only visible part of his body not covered in fur was his lips.

The Duke and Duchess were surprised to find that he was the captain of the royal guard for his kingdom, and not an ambassador, but he explained that few of his people could stand traveling that far north. "It's too hot," he complained in his strange drawn out accent. "Most of my people wouldn't last a week in this heat."

Careena was pleasantly surprised to find that the emissary, Captain Gorceck, was quite intelligent. He was well versed in his peoples' history and knew quite a bit about theirs as well. When Careena asked about the origins of the bear-men, he insisted that they were not faery creatures as most assumed. He said that they were human and had been changed by the cold. Careena was skeptical, but Captain Gorceck insisted.

Kalas started asking the captain about battle in the frozen south. Captain Gorceck explained the dangers and the best strategies. Kalas was surprised to find out that they had virtually no swords; they weren't very useful against icy opponents and they tended to freeze to their sheaths. Blunt weapons worked best. There was a paladin chapterhouse in Strellheim that he was going to have to visit to get a different weapon.

Careena turned the subject towards the social structure of the bear-men. Politically they were very similar to any other kingdom, but their family structures were vastly different. Several generations of one family lived in one house and they all slept together in the main room. Apparently it was warmer that way. When she asked about relations between a man and a woman the captain just shrugged and said that everything was done in the open and that they often swapped partners.

"I'm sure my father and brother are helping to keep my wife warm while I'm away," he said proudly. "We don't have the same taboos your people have about sex," he explained when he saw the shocked look on her face. "It started out as a way to generate heat and evolved from there."

Careena wasn't sure she believed him, but he seemed sincere. "What about the king?" she asked. "Does he live with all the members of his family as well?"

"Oh no," the captain said. "King Kirlick keeps himself warm with all his wives," Captain Gorceck explained nonchalantly.

"How many wives does he have?" she asked unbelievingly.

"Twenty-two, when I left," he said, "but he was preparing for another one."

"How many wives do you have?" she asked afraid to hear the answer.

"Oh, I have just one. The king is the only one with multiple wives. Our kings try to marry a woman from each major house," he explained. "It helps keep the peace, and insure the succession of the line."

Careena was finding it all hard to believe but it made a twisted sort of sense the way Captain Gorceck explained it. In her mind she could see the way it would have evolved. She decided not to pass judgment until they were in the bear-men's kingdom and could see how everything worked.

***

Kalas stumbled in the snow and nearly lost his footing. He cursed silently and kicked at the uneven snow underneath his foot before taking another step. It had been eight long, cold days since they left Strellheim but it felt like more.

He was one of the few ambassadors walking; most of them remained huddled under several blankets on the large sleds being pulled by the snowy mammoths the bear-men had brought with them. It was not the bear-men's preferred way to travel, but it was the only way to get all the ambassadors, most of who were not used to such harsh conditions, the long distance to their kingdom.

Kalas was impressed with the bear-men's abilities in the snow. They moved with grace over the slick, uneven ground in spite of their size, and they didn't seem to feel the cold. They were also able to provide fresh fish to the party every night by breaking holes in the thick ice. Captain Gorceck and his men all walked as well, guiding the mammoths on their path. Kalas wasn't sure how they knew which way to go in the seemingly endless field of ice, but the Captain assured him they were making good progress.