He leaned away from me to greet some newcomers, and I did think about it. Needless to say, I didn’t like the trend of the thoughts.
In another minute, two men walked in together and came directly over to the barbarian. One of them was a good deal younger than the other, but they were both trim fighting men in their prime. They crouched down near us and grinned.
“Aldana, Tammad,” the older man said. “It is good that you have returned. Kerman here has been most impatient.”
Aye, denday” The one called Kerman grinned. “Though had I known you traveled to band a wenda such as this one, I might have traveled with you.”
The older man laughed along with Tammad and clapped Kerman on the back. “Truly said, Kerman.” he chuckled. “The wenda is indeed worth a man’s traveling for. Faddan, too, speaks highly of her in the furs. Are there others of her sort in the land which you visited?”
“Many.” The barbarian grinned, enjoying the blush on my cheeks. “She and her sisters are unused to the ways of l’lendaa and have much to learn, yet should she do well, the others will not prove difficult to take. They live among darayse and welcome the appearance of a man.”
“So you say!” I snapped, finding it impossible not to remember how the women had clustered around him at Jan’s party “My sisters care nothing for great hulking brutes, and would welcome you with the lack of their presence did they but know your purpose!”
The three men laughed at that and the older man said, “She has a sharp tongue, denday, and does not seem to enjoy her place as your belonging. Was she taken during battle?”
“No battle, Loddar,” the barbarian said, taking a strand of my hair to toy with. “She was gifted to me by her father, he knowing full well that the darayse of his land would not challenge my taking of her. Though broken in body her father is true l’lenda. ”
“I do not see Rapan,” Kennan commented, looking around the room. “She has not taken ill?”
“Rapan remains near her furs,” Tammad answered, glancing at the older man. “She insists she will belong to no man, and refuses to join us here.”
“Ah, wendaa,” Loddar sighed, shaking his head. “And she is but the first of my daughters. I wish you joy in the banding of her, Kennan. You may find little joy thereafter.”
“Kennan shall not be father to her, Loddar.” The barbarian laughed. “Therein lies a great difference.”
“True,” Loddar grinned, “and a difference all men may appreciate. I shall fetch her, Kennan.”
He stood straight again and left the room, and Kennan watched him go with a grin. “I see I shall have little peace for a time,” he said to Tammad. “My wenda, too, does not come willingly.”
“It keeps a man from becoming set in his ways,” the barbarian commented, his eyes on me. “Spirited wendaa make the struggle more interesting.”
“The men of my land have more pride than to force themselves where they are not wanted.” I put in casually examining my nails. “Do l’lendaa know nothing of pride?”
Both men stiffened slightly, then the barbarian shook his head. “Fortunate is this one that she was born wenda,” he said to Kennan, then tugged at my hair. “Know, would-be warrior, that it is ever a part of wenda to challenge the man who would take her. To submit meekly would make her slave, and l’lendaa do not care to possess slaves. A man’s true match, however, may be taught to accept him in time, and thereafter give herself to him willingly. It would be foolish to expect such acceptance on first meeting.”
“I have heard that your wenda is called Terril” Kennan chuckled. “Has she also been taught the use of a sword?”
“She must first be taught the lifting of one,” the barbarian answered dryly “Now comes Loddar with your wenda.”
We all turned to see Loddar coming back through the curtain with a struggling bundle of girl over his brawny shoulder. The other men in the room roared laughter and pointed and the three other girls stared in reluctant fascination. Loddar brought Rapan over to us, and set her on her feet in front of him, turning her to face Kennan.
“Know, daughter, that this warrior has purchased the right to band you,” he said with his hands on her shoulders. “He is called Kennan, and shall take you this night.”
“He shall not!” Rapan said stubbornly “If I may not have the man of my heart, I shall have none at all!”
“The matter is one for l’lendaa to decide.” Loddar answered her. “L’lendaa have decided. You may now band her, Kennan.”
Kennan grinned and pulled a small chain from his swordbelt, catching Rapan as she tried to slip away from Loddar’s hands. Loddar made no attempt to stop her, nor did he touch her again, but Kennan didn’t need his help. He forced the struggling girl to the floor, put his band around her right ankle, then removed the band from her left ankle with one surge of his well developed muscles. He handed the open band to Loddar, then pulled Rapan to her feet.
“Now are you my belonging, Rapan,” he said, stroking her long, blond hair. “You shall not regret it.”
“I shall give you no pleasure,” Rapan said through her teeth. “You will not possess me long!”
“He will possess you as long as he wishes to,” Tammad put in from beside me. “Do not forget he is l’lenda. Do you use my house as yours, Kennan.”
“My thanks, denday.” Kennan grinned. “I shall do so now”
Kennan took Rapan by the wrist, then headed toward the curtained exit. Rapan was pulled along, but she turned to give Tammad a desperate, pleading look before the curtain closed her from sight. She was feeling miserable and frightened, not nearly as defiant as she’d pretended to be.
Loddar sighed, sat himself down near Tammad, and helped himself to one of a number of goblets that stood on a nearby low table.
“Kennan shall be a good man for her,” he said to Tammad, “yet her pleasure may be slow in coming. She pines for you, denday, and she is as yet unbroached. Too, Kennan has waited overlong to possess her, and patience comes with greater age than he has yet achieved.”
“The matter will be seen to between them.” Tammad said quietly “Should she be his true wenda, it shall require the effort of none save them to prove.” The two men sat in silence for a minute, then the barbarian tugged harder at my hair. “Come you closer to me, wenda,” he directed. “I am weary from our travels, and the new sun shall show much work as yet undone.”
He pulled me to his chest and folded his arms around me, but I knew it was just camouflage. He had pinched me on the word, “work,” reminding me what I was there for. I put Rapan out of my thoughts, closed my eyes, and went to work.
It’s sometimes difficult for empaths not to be accidentally caught up by and submerged in the sea of emotions always surrounding them, and purposeful submersion is a relief and a release both at the same time. To me, it had always felt like taking a deep breath after ages of being forced to breathe in small, unsatisfying gasps, and I let myself slide into the sea current with a good deal of pleasure. The general sense of emotions swirled and blended and I bathed in it freely, sometimes floating, sometimes swimming against the current. There were so many men there, all feeling relaxed and happy. I touched each lightly, just in passing, moved on to the next, then abruptly stumbled over a well-hidden rock and didn’t need to float any longer. Most of the men who saw the barbarian holding me felt amused over it, some with wry, lighthearted envy, but the last man I’d come to felt no lightheartedness. He was forcing complete unconcern, but underneath was a well-controlled mass of jealousy and hate. There was no loyalty there, I knew, and never would be.