month! It’s been days since I had a good time. I’m a hedonist at heart, you realise.”
“What’s a hedonist?” asked Kat.
“A skunk’s arsehole,” said Kell.
“Funny,” snapped Saark, raising his glass. “Here’s to getting out of Jalder alive.”
Kell lowered his glass. “I don’t need to toast that. It’s the past. What we should think about is the future.”
“No problem,” grinned Saark. “Well, let’s toast these fine young ravishing women beside us. They are the future!”
Warily, Kell toasted, and Nienna and Kat drank their own glasses of port. Nienna, who had never before experienced alcohol, felt her senses spin. The room was a pond of swimming colours, and warbled sounds and fluctuating smells. Suddenly, her belly flipped, felt queasy, but she fought the sensation for her mind was filled with liquid honey, and Saark was looking surprisingly handsome, now she really thought about it, he was tall and dashing, witty and charming, and when his eyes fell on Nienna she felt her heartbeat quicken and her legs go weak at the knees. She glanced over at Kat, but Kat’s topaz eyes were fixed on Saark.
One of the innkeeper’s daughters arrived. “You ordered hot water for a bath, sir?” she enquired.
Kell nodded, and stood, feeling the whisky bite him. Damn, he thought. I should never have drunk it so fast! But then, two little whiskies couldn’t hurt him, could they? He was a big man, an experienced man, and Saark-damn his fancy ways-was right. It was a miracle they were alive. They deserved at least some normality…
He nodded to Saark. “I need this bath. Don’t get in any trouble when I’m away.”
“You’re right, you do need the bath,” agreed Saark. “And don’t worry about a thing. I’ll look after the ladies. We were considering dessert; some kind of sugared sponge cake, covered in cream. How about it, ladies?”
Kat nodded, licking lips in anticipation. It was rare she got such a treat.
Kell followed the innkeeper’s daughter across the crowded room, aware that eyes were on him, curious but somehow…disconcerting. He hated being any centre of attention; the gods only knew, it had happened enough in his life. Usually during combat.
Halting by the stairs, he called the girl back, and checking to see Saark and Nienna weren’t watching, told her to bring a bottle of whisky to the bathing room.
“We don’t usually…” began the woman.
“I’ll pay you double.”
“I’m sure it can be arranged, sir,” she said, and Kell was gone, stomping up the steps, days of sweat and blood itching him now that a promise of hot water and soap were reality.
After their cake, Saark reclined, patting his belly. “By the gods, I think I’ve put on a few pounds there.”
“Me too,” laughed Kat.
“Does port always make you feel like this?” said Nienna.
Saark nodded, and grinned. “How does it feel?”
“I feel like the room is moving. Spinning!”
Saark shrugged. “You’ll get used to it. Listen, I have a fancy to go out back to the stables, to check on the horses. Will you two young ladies be fine by yourselves? Feel free to order anything you like to eat or drink.”
“We’ll be fine,” said Nienna, waving her hand.
Saark stood, checked his sword, and left the inn. Nienna missed the meaningful look between him and Kat, and so a minute later, when Kat whispered, “I need to pee, I’m going to the ladies room,” Nienna simple smiled, and nodded, and reclined in her own little world of honey and swirling sweet thoughts.
Kat stepped into the snow, but felt no chill. Excitement was fire in her blood, raging in her mind, and she crept around the outer wall of the inn, hearing the noise and banter inside as a muffled backdrop, a blur of sounds rolling into one strange, ululating whole.
She reached the corner, which led to a short opening and the stable-square beyond. She could see nothing.
“Saark?” she whispered. Then louder, “Saark!”
“Yes, princess?” He was behind her, close, and she felt his breath on her neck and a quiver of raw energy rampaged through her veins. She did not turn, instead standing stock still, now she was here, out in the darkness with this beautiful man, and suddenly unsure of what to do.
“I thought you really had gone to see to the horses,” she said.
“Maybe I did,” he said, and kissed her neck, a gentle tease of lips and tongue, leaving a trail which chilled to ice in the cold air.
Kat shivered. A thrill ran down her spine.
“Did that tickle?”
“It was wonderful.”
“Shall I do it again?”
Kat turned, looked up into his eyes. They were wide and pretty and trustworthy. They shone with love. They shone with understanding. She felt her heart melt; again. “Do you really think I’m beautiful?’
“More beautiful than the stars, princess, more beautiful than a snowflake, or a newborn babe.” He reached forward, until his lips were a whisper from her own. She felt his hands come to rest lightly on her hips, and again a thrill raged through her, pulsing like energy with every beat of her heart. Her head spun, and she wanted him, wanted him so badly she would risk anything to be with Saark right now, here, in this cold place of snow and ice…
He kissed her.
He was gentle, teasing, his tongue darting into her mouth and she grasped his head in eagerness and pressed her face into his, kissing him with passion, kissing him with a raw ferocity; his arms encircled her waist and she felt his hardness press against the front of her silk dress and it thrilled her like nothing in the world had ever thrilled her before…
He pulled away.
“Don’t stop,” she panted.
“You’re an eager little fox,” he said.
“Kiss me,” she said. “Kiss me everywhere! Touch me everywhere! Please…”
“Oh, my princess,” whispered Saark, eyes glinting in the darkness, “believe me, I will.”
Kell sank into hot water. It slammed him with a violence he welcomed. He poured a huge glass of whisky, balanced it on the rim of the old, ceramic bath, and allowed the oils in the water to fill his senses with pleasure.
You cannot drink it, said Ilanna.
Go fuck yourself, mused Kell, and sloshed in the bathwater. I’ll do what I damn well please. You’re not my mother!
You cannot return there!
I can return to whatever piss-hole I like. I am Kell. They wrote poems about me, you know? You were in them as well, but I was the hero, I was the legend. Kell’s Legend they called it-sour crock of deformed and lying shit it really was.
Please don’t drink it, Kell.
Why do you care? Because I won’t perform? Because I won’t kill as efficiently for you? To supply your blood fantasy? Your blood-oil craving?
You misunderstand.
What are you? My gran? Kell was mocking, his laughter slurred. He took the whisky. He drank the large glass in one, felt it swim through him like tiny fishes in vinegar. His mind reeled and he welcomed the feeling; glorified in the abandon.
It had been a long time.
Too long.
Nienna is feeling ill, said Ilanna, playing to the one emotional fulcrum she knew.
Kell cursed, and stood, water and oils dripping from his old, scarred, but mightily impressive frame. Most men grew stringy as they aged, their muscles becoming stretched out, their strength gradually diminishing. Not so Kell. Yes, his joints ached, yes arthritis troubled him, but he knew he was as strong as when he was twenty. Strength was something which had never failed him; he was proud of his prodigy.
