3.04: Revelations – 2 (🌶🌶)
‘Lothar’ went flying backwards, and hit the ground hard, sending pebbles skittering.
The soldiers stared from a distance, shifting uneasily, looking between their Supreme Leader and the General he had thrown like a ragdoll.
Humiliating their leader in the open wasn’t good for discipline, but I couldn’t care at the moment.
“Jack! What happened? Why did you hit him?” Aprilia came screaming.
I didn’t answer.
He pushed himself to a sitting position with a groan.
“Got your anger out?” he croaked, getting up.
“No.”
He stiffened. “Do I need to remind you that you are as strong as a bull? I’m going to have a large bruise tomorrow.”
“Oh, poor you,” I said bitterly, then pointed to open space far away that people wouldn’t hear my shouting. “This isn’t over.”
“I’ll be bedridden if you hit me like that again.”
“Welcome to middle-age. Now move.”
Aprilia stepped between us, glowering. “What happened?”
“Personal matter.”
She stared daggers at me, but I wasn’t in the mood to act nice.
“You aren’t—”
“I won’t hit him again. I promise,” I said, squeezing her shoulder.
She pulled it free, then stood to the side.
‘Lothar’ sighed. “If that is what you need.”
We walked further inland, away from the onlookers. Wind rolled from the coast, carrying salt, ammonia and the sound of waves.
I stopped when we were far away to not be overheard, then turned to face him.
“Mind giving me an explanation, Visc—”
“Don’t say it out loud!” he hissed, eyes wide.
I almost popped a vein. I had thought a man died so I could live, but here he was, right in front of me, just in a different body. Either in cahoots with that God, or his pawn.
He took a long breath. “What’s there to explain? Aren’t you thankful you got another chance at life?”
“Don’t deflect. Why did you hide your identity from me?”
“I wasn’t permitted to tell you.”
“Permitted?”
His expression tightened.
“You met Him?” I said, pointing upwards.
He looked like he wanted to nod.
The night grew colder.
For a moment, the wind and the waves vanished.
What the hell is He doing? He didn’t have me make a promise.
Well, there was that quest condition.
I took a long breath, then released it.
No point in spinning the wheels. It’s not like I could do anything.
All I could do was live my life. I looked at the original Jack.
“You have nothing else to add?”
“No. I’m not supposed to tell you.”
“Your mother and sister are fine, by the way, and so is Eirica.”
He visibly relaxed, then looked up at me.
“Her little one?”
“Safe. Grunric tried to capture them, but Eirica managed to flee in time.”
His face blanched.
I raised a hand. “Godwin’s men found her and brought her to Falkenheim.”
“Godwin?”
“The commander of the mercenary company.”
“What happened then?”
“Eirica had proof of Grunric’s crimes. I confirmed it. When he came strutting, demanding stewardship of the barony, I arrested him. We went to Mondgrove, where we held a trial. Then I beheaded him.”
His chest fell in relief.
“Thank you for that.”
“No big deal. I was just taking care of my people.”
He smiled embarrassingly.
“You did it yourself?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“No need. The man was a menace.”
He nodded in understanding.
Crickets and other critters began singing in the grass.
His face lit up with another annoying smile. “I noticed you call Eirica by her name.”
I looked towards Cradle. “Nothing happened between us, if that’s what you want to know.”
“I didn’t ask.”
The smile remained on his face.
“You’re not the best at hiding your emotions, Jack.”
I shot a glare at him before clearing my throat.
“Apparently bodies retain feelings, even when the occupant has changed.”
“I know,” he whispered.
“Those feelings weren’t mine, so I pushed them aside.”
He smiled weakly.
We didn’t say anything for a while.
The temperature began dropping as the night descended fully upon us.
“So, now what?” he asked.
“I was hoping you would have answers. Why am I in your body, and not you?”
“You can keep it. It’s yours now.”
“Ha ha. How did it happen?”
“I died.”
“Stop evading my questions! Why did you abandon your House and your inheritance, defying your father to join some refugees? I can feel you really wanted to, but not the reason.”
“I can’t answer that.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Can not or will not?”
He remained silent.
Anger reared its head again.
“You just ruined the reunion I have been waiting for,” I growled.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“You should be.”
I exhaled the tension away.
“You look worried.”
“It might end up in a break up,” I croaked.
“Break up?”
“Things happened in the capital and Nobart that Aprilia might not like.”
“Then don’t—”
“No.”
“You sure? Our nation is rather new,” he said carefully. “A fracture in your household could spill outside.”
“Compromising on morals is a slippery slope. I already do it too much for my own liking. I won’t do it when it’s not necessary.”
His shoulder relaxed. “Your choice, sire. Come find me if the worst happens. I’ll have some drinks ready.”
“Hmm. Does anyone else know about your true identity?”
“No. Yours?”
“Aprilia, your mother, Eirica and Reshma.”
His eyes widened. “That many?”
I nodded.
“Why? How?”
“I didn’t want to hide it from Aprilia and Reshma. Your mother began suspecting me and got very close, while Eirica figured it out herself.”
His lips curved in a wistful smile. “Eirica’s always been smart. Will she be fine in Mondgrove, all by herself?”
“I left forty soldiers behind to guard her. She can handle the rest. Reshma was quite impressed by her.”
“Who is this Reshma?”
“The queen’s aide.”
“Why did you reveal yourself to her?”
I hesitated.
Whatever ‘Lothar’s’ plans were, they didn’t include betraying the Cha and me. Telling him would be fine.
“She’s also my lover.”
“What?” he nearly choked. “Why would you risk your relationship with the Queen and Chadom’s future like that?”
I raised my hands. “I haven’t. Laira’s the one who pushed her onto me.”
His eyebrows scrunched as much as they could. “Why?”
“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell. Don’t repeat what I told you to anyone.”
He seemed to understand my meaning. “You lucky bastard.”
I indeed was. Now I had to see if I would remain as such.
“Let’s talk about the rest later,” I said, mentally tired from the reveal.
The anger, no, frustration, had been replaced by something that had been plaguing me for some time.
Anticipation.
How would she react?
We walked back to Aprilia, who stood next to my carriage. Her hair shone brown in the torchlight, just like it had the night we met.
She looked between us for answers.
“Nothing?” she asked.
“Later. I’m tired,” I said.
She huffed, then climbed into the carriage.
I followed.
‘Lothar’ didn’t move.
“You coming?”
“I’ll be on my horse.”
As I was closing the carriage’s door, the asshole piped up again. “Don’t destroy the carriage in your enthusiasm. It was expensive.”
I flipped him the bird, then closed the door with a thud.
Darkness swallowed us.
The suspension creaked as the horses began moving.
We need better sources of light than candles. Those lamps with metal meshes should be safe enough for indoors.
I had just sat down, with those thoughts in my mind, when a warm weight landed on me.
Aprilia straddled my lap, as her hands cupped my face. Then her lips claimed mine, desperate for contact.
Mine, they whispered.
I kissed back with equal enthusiasm, drinking in her flavor.
My hand slid into her hair, and she gasped into my mouth.
The world vanished.
No politics. No Gods. No plans.
Only her warmth and her scent.
She shifted to move closer. Her warm, soft body fit against mine perfectly.
──────── ⋆✩⋆ ────────
The dark helped.
Had there been light, Aprilia might have hesitated; asked questions about the tension behind his eyes. Or was it reluctance?
The dark helped her forget about it.
She had sorely missed her Jack.
His stupid smile, his wit, his strong arms and his vigor.
The way his eyes seemed to be looking at a better future for them all, and how he steered everyone around him towards it.
The reluctance in his eyes resurfaced in her mind. She drowned it with his taste.
Hungrily.
He kissed her back with equal passion.
Relief flooded through her like cold water.
Still mine.
His fingers slipped through her hair and tugged lightly.
A thrill ran down her spine.
He remembered.
Heat gathered in her belly.
She shifted to be closer to him. He helped, his large hand cupping her behind.
His rising hardness pressed against her swollen lips through the layers of clothes.
Her core throbbed as the ache she had been holding for weeks sharpened.
The need for him to fill the emptiness in her. To fulfill the promise he had made.
But, beneath the need lurked something ugly.
Fear.
The Queen.
The reluctance in his eyes.
No.
Not now.
She wanted him first.
Needed him.
Answers later.
He shifted his hips, pressing his hardness against her.
She gasped.
The carriage rocked beneath them as she ground herself against him in an insistent rhythm.
She could feel herself getting slick.
God, she had missed this. Him.
Frustrated that their clothes were getting in the way, she was about to pull her dress off when he pulled her head back by the hair.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
Take me. Right here.
She imagined him ripping the expensive dress into two with his immense strength and claiming her before they reached Cradle.
Instead, he stopped.
She made a sound of protest as he eased her away.
Her hips involuntarily bucked toward him, seeking the lost contact and friction.
“We can’t go any further,” he murmured.
She put her forehead against his. “Why not?”
“There are going to be stains on our clothes.”
Too late for that. She could already feel wetness clinging uncomfortably between her thighs.
Embarrassment and frustration tangled within her.
“That ship has already sailed.”
He chuckled.
Her heart tightened.
She had missed him so much.
“You can stay here, while I meet everyone,” he whispered, kissing her nose.
A whimper escaped her.
She hated that she sounded so needy.
She reluctantly slid away from his lap and retreated to a corner of the opposite bench. Any closer and she would lose her resolve.
As the carriage hurtled toward Cradle along the shore of Wendau, her heart began racing again.
Not from anticipation, but dread.
The question that had sat in her throat even before he left for Nanhon.
Jack’s shape was barely discernible in the moonlight leaking through the shutters.
Still and restrained.
Gathering her courage, she gave it voice.
“The Queen…” she whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Did you tell the Queen about us?” she forced the words out.
“Yes,” he said immediately.
“And?”
“She is fine with our relationship,” he said.
“Really?” she asked in disbelief.
“More than fine,” he said, chuckling lightly.
She breathed out in relief.
Still, there was something wrong.
His voice was controlled. Guarded.
Her gut clenched. There was something he wasn’t telling her.
“You want to tell me something?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you about it in detail. Once we’re indoors. After meeting everyone.”
Her spine prickled.
“No. I don’t want to talk once we’re inside.”
His silence made her heart flutter even more violently.
“What is it, Jack?” she asked.
“Afterwards,” was all he said.
Her chest tightened.
Jack delayed difficult conversations only when he feared hurting people.
They remained in the oppressive dark, as the carriage rolled over the dirt road.
Feeling suffocated, Aprilia opened the shutter to look out.
Cool night air rushed inside.
Cradle lay ahead, bathed in moonlight.
Skeletons of insulae greeted them. She could still smell the timber and lime mortar.
Then came a dozen almost finished buildings, already occupied. Far grander than the hovels the Cha used to live in.
Behind the buildings rose her home.
The castle.
A hundred meters in diameter, the massive gray shell keep glowed in the moonlight. Bastions jutted outwards from it at equal intervals. Firelight flickered atop each.
The limestone wall was now more than two meters tall. Behind it rose the wooden palisade, three times as tall.
If they could finish it in time, the castle alone would house 1500 people.
Not that the Cha wanted that anymore.
Not after finding out about the insulae being built for the immigrants.
She understood.
Her people had suffered so much.
It hurt thinking about Nanoans getting to live in mansions the Cha were building, while they themselves might have to huddle together in the castle throughout the winter, as if they were under attack.
Hyde hadn’t wasted time exploiting that resentment.
Her eyes flickered to Jack’s figure, highlighted in the light.
He had taught them how to make steel out of stone and how to turn it into deadly weapons. He had sent them seeds, sheep, chickens and cattle.
They could now produce their own food, clothes, tools and weapons.
Their future was ensured.
Without him, the free Cha might not have survived at all.
But gratitude did not erase fear and envy.
The carriage kept rattling forward.
What are you hiding? Why would you hide it from me?
Before the thoughts could circle endlessly in her mind, the carriage slowed down with a jerk.
She peeked outside.
Torches.
A forest of them.
Hundreds of people were gathered outside the castle.
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