Westrons Pt. 26

The door was open so that I could see Berandot and Vis. But they could also see me.

And they did.

- Please come in." said Iloni.

Vis came through the door, grinning at me.

Berandot only came as far as the doorway. She was grimacing.

"As you can see, General Cook is here." said Iloni. "He is presently considering whether his interests lie with us ... or in misguided loyalty to an ungrateful monarch."

Vis was gloating, quite happily, but Berandot couldn't even look at me.

At that moment, I caught a glimpse of Iloni's plan. She was trying to motivate me by appealing to my ambition, to my greed, and to what she thought of as my disappointment - or resentment, even - because Maia Matila hadn't rewarded me enough.

On top of that, she tried to fire my lusts, by using her pre-hemmer attraction.

And then, as a bonus, she was offering me Berandot. To torture. To humiliate. To degrade.

That was where Iloni revealed herself. She could only appeal to negative impulses: greed, lust, vengeance. I only had to think of Isa, or Tallia, or Tudino, to reveal Iloni for what she was. A Countess, maybe, but not fit to wash Esyle's feet.

- "Hello, Berandot." I said. "I'd get up to greet you properly, but my feet are tied to the chair."

- "A precaution." said Iloni. "Until Cook decides where his true interests lie."

Berandot curled her lip, in disgust.

- "Looks like murdering Keinarsh has paid off for you, General Berandot." I said.

The Commander of the central front snarled at me. She wouldn't haven't been a General at all, of course, if her predecessor hadn't been conveniently killed in a well-staged training accident.

That was the end of that charming get-together.

Iloni hustled Berandot out of the room, assisted by Vis. Brune's soldiers came to move me, back to the room I'd slept in.

I went to sleep again.

***

Their plot was further advanced than I'd expected, if Vis was here. She was supposed to be under house arrest. Whoever was responsible for her had been suborned, or removed.

They had to be ready to launch their coup - or very nearly so.

Why was Berandot present? From the way Iloni had spoken to her, I had the feeling that Berandot wasn't fully committed to this conspiracy, either.

Maybe I was the prize to buy her support. After all, Iloni had offered to give me Berandot, to do with as I chose. Maybe she'd made the same offer to Berandot, in reverse.

But why were we both here?

They didn't need me and Berandot. Either one of us could have provided the troops they needed. Hell, General Brune could have supplied the soldiers; the troopers guarding me were hers.

But Brune wasn't popular, outside of aristocratic circles. Berandot was a famous duellist, and now known as the General who'd won the Battle of Rassbrook - that counted for much more, with the middle and lower classes.

I could see it. Iloni didn't need me and Berandot - it was a case of me or Berandot. I was more popular; she was more reliable. If they had me, they didn't need her. But if I wouldn't play ball, she was Plan B.

Iloni wanted Berandot to see me - and vice versa - so that we would both realize that she had other options. It gave the Countess leverage on both of us. Did she really need that edge, with Berandot? I thought that they already saw eye to eye.

I was an idiot. Finally, I understood why I was here.

If I would willingly join them, they could profit from my popularity, and use my troops to overthrow the Queen. I would take the blame. And then I would disappear, along with the Queen, Themis, and Kanitz. Tragic accident, overzealous subordinate, vengeful royalist ... something like that.

But Iloni knew - or suspected - that I wouldn't join them willingly, even with the promise of Maia Simonia. So, she had options. Hostages, like Isa and Koroba. And then the fatal lure of her own potent hemmer.

And after all of those, if I still wouldn't join them, I could be held as a hostage myself - to neutralize my army.

They weren't complete fools. If they launched a coup, I could march on the capital with my victorious northern army - and they wouldn't win in a fair fight against me.

Would Langoret march against them? Would the army support her? And what if I was a hostage?

This plot wasn't so ill-considered as I'd first thought. Iloni wasn't banking on me joining her - she was making sure that I wouldn't (or couldn't) oppose her, one way or the other.

***

That night, Iloni came to my room. She had the guards tie me securely, hands and feet. They deposited me on the bed, on my back.

I could smell her the moment she came through the door. She was only a day or two away from full hemmer. My erection took on a life of its own.

Iloni came closer. She grinned when she saw the obscene bulge under my kilt.

She sat down on the edge of the bed.

- "What a lovely welcome." she said. Her voice was husky with desire. She placed a delicate hand on my bare thigh, just above the knee. The kilt should have covered that area, but it was ridiculously tented, directly over my erection.

She was wearing a thin, filmy shirt, which was almost transparent. It was altogether more enticing than if she'd been naked.

With a major effort of will, I turned on my side, away from her.

- "Ohh ... you don't really want to do that." she said.

Iloni knelt in the middle of the bed, and tried to pull me back to my original position. She was nowhere near strong enough.

But the temptation ...

The power of Iloni's hemmer - and she was still a couple of days away from her peak - was simply frightening.

I'd experienced hemmers with several females - but nothing like this. I had to grit my teeth to fight it. I strained against my bonds, frightfully and painfully erect.

- "I'm here to help you, Cook." she said, in that throaty voice that promised so much.

She slid her hand under my kilt, reaching for my ridiculously tumescent organ.

I rolled off the bed.

That was a truly stupid move, I realized a split-second later. If I landed face down, or at an angle, I was going to snap my dick in half.

At the very last instant, I contorted my body, and landed heavily on my hip. It hurt like hell - which actually cleared my head for a brief moment.

- "Oh, no!" said Iloni, as she scrambled to follow me. She sounded genuinely concerned.

"You mustn't hurt yourself." she chided me.

Iloni tipped me onto my back, on the floor beside the bed. She straddled my legs, pinning me to the ground. With a major effort, I might have been able to throw her off. But then what?

If she wanted to, she was certainly capable of having soldiers tie me down. If she did that, I'd be completely at her mercy.

- "I don't want you hurt." she said.

I made the mistake - again - of looking her in the eye.

"I need you." said Iloni. "You have no idea how important you are to me."

Lies. All lies. But I was powerless to resist when she slowly slipped her hand under the kilt, and very deliberately took hold of my erection.

I could've bucked, and tried to throw her off. I regret to say that I didn't.

She stroked my dick, murmuring softly. I don't know if she said anything in words - it didn't matter. Her fingers were magic. Her soft little hand was my destiny.

Iloni slowly lifted the kilt with her other hand, without releasing her hold on my erection.

- "Oh, my." she said. "Aneli wasn't exaggerating."

She continued to stroke me, bringing me to the brink of the most explosive orgasm in the history of the Westron Kingdom ... and then she stopped.

"Mmm ..."

She delicately raised my kilt, and draped it over the top of my painfully swollen penis.

"Perhaps I shouldn't do this ... against your will."

Iloni stood up, and looked down on me.

"I'm sorry." she said. "Forgive me?"

I was incapable of coherent speech, at that point. I could only grunt.

With a little smile, Iloni left the room.

***

Worst case of blue balls. Ever.

***

The guards came for me the next morning. They untied my hands and feet, and helped me to stand up.

I'd had all night - including a painfully erect first hour - to think. It's not that easy to fall asleep, lying on the floor with your hands and feet tied, and your dick standing at attention.

I came to the conclusion that Iloni had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. With males, anyway. She was probably accustomed to simply overwhelming Westron men with her beauty, her scent, her voice, and her pheromones. It was a potent combination - no doubt of that.

But she relied too heavily on her big guns, so to speak. Persuasion and diplomacy, I guessed, she reserved for females.

The moment she left the room, I began to recover my senses. I worried about Isa. Koroba. Madze. I wondered what Iloni's allies were doing.

And I tried to think of ways to frustrate their plans.

Brune's soldiers half-dragged, half-carried me down to Aneli's dining room. Once more I was tied to a chair, and then served breakfast.

To my amazement, the same soldiers returned a short time later, and dragged another prisoner to the table. They sat her down, directly opposite me, and tied her feet to the chair she was sitting upon.

It was Berandot.

***

Berandot threw her head back, and let out an unbelievable, unearthly howl of rage and frustration. It was wild enough to set my teeth on edge.

She strained at her bonds - as I had, several times, over the past few days.

Then she subsided. She was utterly still. I couldn't even hear her breathing.

She didn't move. I sat back in my chair, trying to make sense of this latest development. I closed my eyes.

What was Iloni hoping to achieve, by sitting Berandot across from me?

We'd tried to kill each other. Berandot hated me, and I despised her. Was Iloni trying to set up a competition between us? She obviously didn't know what had happened at Rassbrook.

Was that important?"

I may have dozed, for a while. Then, I thought I heard Berandot say something.

- "Hmm?" I grunted.

- "I didn't know."

- "Didn't know what?"

- "That Keinarsh was assassinated." said Berandot.

- "Keep your voice down." I said. "There are four soldiers in the room, listening to everything we say."

Berandot glared at me, but she spoke again. "You were right: they did it deliberately, so that I could take command of the army."

I snorted. "You didn't know."

- "That's what I'm telling you." she said. "I didn't know."

- "Just like you didn't know that Krayt was set on me. Or that they tried to kill me multiple times - along with Tallia and other innocent people."

Berandot was quiet for a while. I could hear her breathing, but she didn't say anything.

"If you didn't know," I said, "then how did you find out?"

- "I asked."

- "You went up to Iloni and said 'By the way, did you assassinate General Keinarsh?"

- "No. I asked Vis."

- "And she just admitted it?"

- "Yes. She was proud of it, in fact." said Berandot, bitterly.

I wouldn't have put it past Iloni to set Berandot on me, like some kind of double agent. But Berandot sounded genuinely angry, and embarrassed at the same time.

- "You're only catching on now? Just beginning to realize that your precious friends are ruthless and unprincipled? That they routinely use murder to further their aims?"

- "It wasn't like that, before."

- "Don't be an idiot, Berandot. Who do you think killed the servant that set up the first assassination attempt on me? Who do you think had Krayt killed?"

- "That was Kanitz!"

- "Oh, grow up." I said. "You're more naive than I am. Kanitz was having Krayt followed, to find out who he reported to. She was the last person who'd want to see him dead."

"Who suggested that you take him to Iloni's party, as your escort? That's the person who used you to come after me."

She mumbled something inaudible.

"Pardon?"

- "Vis." she whispered.

She had just discovered that her so-called allies, her political intimates, were liars and murderers. She had to be feeling completely disillusioned.

Naturally, I used that opportunity to twist the knife a little.

- "Avette said that you conservatives disapproved of everything: the direction of the war, the old Queen naming Maia Matila as her heir, and her choice of Kanitz as Chancellor. She also said that your party claimed to represent the traditional values: honour, loyalty, and truth."

"So much for that pile of ox shit."

Berandot and Avette hated each other, because of what happened at Limset. They'd fought a duel over it. And now Berandot was being forced to swallow a bitter pill: Avette had been right. She was the one who'd acted with honour.

"What did you say to Vis, when you found out? Something about honour? Is that why you're in here with me?"

Berandot didn't answer.

"Why are you here with me?" I wondered, aloud.

- "Perhaps they hope that we'll kill each other." Berandot sounded more sad than hostile.

- "No. They need one of us alive, for their coup. Someone to provide the troops. A figurehead. My money's on you. I'm more popular, but you're more reliable. And if you truly join them, they don't need to have you killed afterwards."

- "What are talking about?"

I didn't bother answering. She could damn well figure it out for herself.

I was busy trying to understand why Iloni let us talk so long. The guards were too far away to hear us, unless we raised our voices.

Why did Iloni want me to talk to Berandot at all? She may have expected that we would insult each other, or that we'd realize that we were in a competition - the winner to become a participant in the coup.

And for the loser ...?

We sat in silence for a while.

Then Berandot mumbled something.

- "Pardon?"

- "I did the calculations." said Berandot.

- "What calculations?"

- "When I found out that you fought Kesmansha on the 9th."

- "What are you on about now?"

- "Kesmansha was on the 9th. Rassbrook was on the 27th." she said. "That means that you re-organized your army, and then marched over 400 leagues to come to our aid. In 18 days."

I noticed that she'd said 'our' aid, instead of 'my'. But I'd already done similar calculations of my own. I knew that my army had achieved something unprecedented.

We'd pursued the Crolians for a day, after Kesmansha. We rested for another day, after that. Then Votuda and Cyrte, Neslann and Yna, Avette and Semmana, and Faregil and Frad had covered 420 leagues - 250 miles - in time to arrive at the battle of Rassbrook.

That included a day of rest, at the river Vonau, and then Neslann's exploit on the bridge at Smund. I would have to hold a parade, or a review, for those regiments: they'd surpassed the achievement of Davout, Napoleon's 'Iron Marshal'.

"All of that, in time to win the battle at Rassbrook." said Berandot.

- "It was your battle." I said.

- "Which I would have lost, had you not appeared in the enemy's rear."

- "We were coming to help Keinarsh." I said, just to kick her once more while she was down.

- "I know."

She fell silent again. I felt a moment's guilt: for the first time since I'd known her, Berandot was trying to say something halfway decent, and I was kicking her in the teeth.

Then I remembered what she'd said just before our duel: 'I'm glad that one of your little whore bodyguards died at Limset. The fewer hybrids about, the better.'

That killed just about any sympathy I might have had for Berandot.

- "Would you ..." she said. "Would you have come, if you'd known that I was in command? Instead of Keinarsh?"

- "Probably." I said. Then, after a moment, I added: "Yes."

- "Even after ... what I did at Limset?"

- "Yes."

She needed a while to digest that thought.

- "Even after ... the duel?"

- "And what you said before it? I'll never forget those words, Berandot. But winning the war comes first, second and third. Embarrassing you doesn't even qualify for my top ten."

That might have been even harder for her to hear.

She mumbled something again.

- "Pardon?" I said - for what felt like the fifth or sixth time.

- "I'm sorry." she said - softly, but audibly.

- "Sorry? For what?"

Her head was down.

- "For ... everything. Limset. The duel. What I said ... I was only trying to make you angry. To throw you off."

- "To make it easier to kill me." I said.

- "I'm sorry."

- "You know, this apology would feel a little more ... sincere, if you were to include Avette, and then make it publicly."

Berandot's head snapped up.

- "Again? Another humiliation? Limset - Iloni's party - the duel ... I wish you'd killed me, instead of firing into the ground. And now Rassbrook? How much do you expect me to suffer?"

- "Her name was Oshide." I said.

- "What?"

- "The bodyguard who died at Limset."

There was no answer to that. Berandot didn't even try. But she didn't shy away: her eyes were fixed on me.

"She was clever, and brave." I said. "She risked her life to save me - and lost it. She might have been pregnant at the time."

"The second bodyguard - who you also wished was dead - was Yehla. She and our child are well. She named the baby Oshide."

Berandot didn't answer. But this time she lowered her head.

***

Four of Brune's soldiers came to collect me. They ignored Berandot, which I found ominous.

- "Why am I sitting here, tied to a chair?" she snapped. "Untie me, at once!"

- "I'm sorry, General. We have our orders." said one of the soldiers.

- "Orders? From whom? Who here outranks me?"

They didn't answer, but concentrated on untying me, and lifting me to my feet.

As they led me out of the room, one of them snorted.

- "Phew!" she said. "He stinks."

- "Fuckin' hybrids." said another. "They all do."

They dragged me outside, where they stripped and washed me. One of them scrubbed me, roughly, while another poured bucket after bucket of water over my head. They used soap, and then scrubbed and rinsed me again.

I was dried off, and they draped a loose shirt over my shoulders. My kilt, which had been trampled into the mud, wasn't returned to me.

- "Nice shirt." said one of the soldiers.

- "He won't need it for long." said another.

- "What d'you think she's going to do with him?"

Two of the soldiers started laughing.

They took me to a wing of Aneli's estate that I'd been to before: Aneli's private chambers, where she'd waited for me, naked, on the occasion of the first hemmer she'd invited me to share with her.

The soldiers tied my hands, and then my feet, before tossing me onto the bed, on my back. They chuckled, and made a few ribald comments.

Iloni was coming into her full hemmer - and I was completely at her mercy.

***

She came into the room alone, wearing an even more diaphanous shirt, through which I could see her shockingly erect nipples, and her surprisingly large areolae.

Iloni was smiling, and her eyes were shining. They seemed unnaturally bright. Was it an effect of her hemmer, or had she been drinking?

She carried a knife in her hand.

I could see her. Smell her. Feel her. My erection manifested itself immediately. But I couldn't fail to notice the knife.

Iloni put it on the night table, well out of reach. But she saw me looking at it.

- "Have no fear, Cook." she said. "It's only to cut you free, once you're ... fully committed, so to speak."

She sat on the edge of the bed, and looked down at me.

"I'm looking forward to the whole experience. I have been since I first heard about you. And then, when we finally met ... I knew that I had to have you."