Blind to Men (3 page)

"I said buckskins aren’t
for your kind of woman. If you must know everything, they're for mine."

Now she understood. She
may be a farm girl but a single day around Kylor had taught her much.

"You mean women with
a cock between their legs?"

As quickly as that, the
smile was back on her companion's face and her eyes alight with mirth.

"That's it."

They ate breakfast
heartily, both enjoying each other’s presence. Gathering their few belongings
didn't take long given that she had departed the farm empty-handed, but she
figured they'd reach Palance soon. When they were all set to leave, her
guardian lifted her face.

"Stay near me, and
don't speak to anybody."

They crossed the tavern's
main room to go down to the stables, women making way for her protector.
Whether young or older, she caught them looking at Kylor with a twinkle in
their eyes.

She recognized this
particular glimmer now. It had to do with the kissing, licking, and caressing
she experienced the previous night. Still stunned by the revelation of these
incredible sensations, she wondered if she also regarded her companion with
desire.

The rain had stopped. Sunshine
flooded the village and attracted women to the beautiful marketplace beside the
inn. Deserted as it had been a day earlier, the street was much livelier now.

A few horses without
riders pushed their way amidst the crowd of women pulling carts, setting up
stalls, selling or buying goods, and yelling at their daughters to come help
them.

Mindful to keep up with
Kylor, she nonetheless observed everything with intensity. At home, she was
forbidden to talk to anyone she might encounter in the fields, or even to walk
to the nearest settlement.

Her mother always went on
her own to the village, so she had kept to herself much of her eighteen
springs. She'd met a young tribeswoman once on her way to the river. They'd
exchanged a few words, but not enough for her to learn about what lay beyond
the fields she knew by heart.

The girl seemed in a
hurry, worried about being late to meet someone she called the … of the Clans. As
usual, she felt like fretting over her bout of deafness. Later that evening,
she narrated her adventure to her mother who confirmed the existence of various
tribes.

Where and how did those
women live? In small farms like herself, or in bigger places similar to the
houses she glimpsed when her impulse led her to go for a stroll by the edge of
the woods?

On several occasions,
she'd gone to pick daisies and tulips in the countryside, or to collect chestnuts
in the forest, and she had heard women chattering about her from a distance.

"Who’s that girl? Is
she from the village? Hush, she’s the girl from the haunted farm. Let’s be on
our way."

She felt lonely at times,
but her mother’s love and teachings filled her childhood. Her daily chores also
kept her busy. Still, she had to admit that journeying was wonderful.

Discovering landscapes,
villages, and life outside the farm was exhilarating, although she didn't care
much for hard riding. With help from the mighty gods, she would soon lay eyes
on Palance.

Though disconcerting and
a little scary, traveling with her protector proved daunting. The way Kylor kissed
and licked her body was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

She blinked as they
entered the stables, the rather gloomy shed contrasting with the bright sun
outside. Kylor didn't waste time to mount her steed. Tall and proud astride her
magnificent black horse, golden rays shining through the straw roof in her fair
hair, she looked like a great warrior.

She extended a hand,
easily lifting her so she'd rest her back against the strong chest. She smiled,
basking in the safety of Kylor’s arms.

"I saw horses
without riders in the street. Women shouldn't let them loose in a place so
crowded. Don't you think they might hurt a child?"

She watched her protector
take up the reins and grab them tightly before replying in a low tone.

"I can assure you
those animals aren't loose in the streets. They belong to someone."

"Who?"

She must have asked the
wrong question because her protector just clucked her tongue and directed the
stallion out of the stables. They rode all morning. In the heart of the woods,
they dismounted by a stream on the edge of a clearing. Kylor tied her horse to
a tree and rifled through her saddlebags.

She handed her a few
strips of dried meat and some yellow-looking cheese topped with apples and
nuts. She also produced a grey goblet that she refilled from the clear stream.

"Eat and drink,
because we'll ride till dusk."

Once she had spread her
long cloak on the grass, the woman waited for her to sit down before she
squatted by her side. Birds chirped in the woods as a light breeze blew across
the clearing.

Satisfying if not very tasty,
the cold food sated her hunger and the fresh water sluiced off dust from the
country roads. She was chewing on the dried meat when her companion suddenly stiffened.

Hand on the hilt of her
sword, she seemed to be listening to something inaudible. Then Kylor relaxed,
but a most peculiar thing occurred. She stood up, bowed briefly, and started
talking to emptiness.

"She's here with
me."

With a tilt of her head
and a large sweep of her hand, her guardian indicated the long cloak she sat
on.

"I feared being
delayed, but we've made good speed. We should reach Palance in due time."

No answer. Not a woman in
sight. A gust of wind stirred branches, the stream ran its course, the air
smelled of fresh grass.

"I know . . .
."

Some of her protector's
words were imperceptible, and she knew she was once more suffering from a bout
of deafness. As frustration threatened to make her fingers twitch, she heard
Kylor again.

"It'll be done
tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll tell her."

Dread crept in her
stomach at the sight of her guardian conversing with thin air. After the
blissful moment they'd shared last night, she couldn't bear the thought of her companion
turning into a madwoman.

"Who are you talking
to?"

Kylor appeared to freeze
for an instant. Then she held a hand up, but didn’t glance over her.

"Hush, Anya, trust
me."

A twig snapped not far
from Kylor, but she ignored the sound and resumed her private discussion.

"Where's the royal
guard?"

Her muscles tensed with
frustration at hearing only one side of the conversation. Silence ensued,
quickly broken.

"Well, that should
give us enough time."

The woman bowed again
with a respectful gesture. At last, she turned to her, assessing what she
assumed to be a look of concern on her features and uncertainty in her eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't
mean to upset you."

"Were you speaking
to someone?"

She tried to keep her
voice from sounding distressed or panicked as her protector stepped nearer,
looking ill at ease but not insane.

"I was. To a person
you can't see."

"Why?"

Was the woman now going
to tell her she was also blind? Weird things had happened of late, yet she
didn't believe so. Surely, she would have noticed this predicament before.

"Am I blind as well
as deaf?"

The day was warm and
beautiful, the last one prior to summer solstice. Kylor sat beside her, grabbed
an apple, bit into the fruit and took her fingers in her hand.

"Not in the
least."

Shivering in spite of the
nice day, she stared at her protector’s open face. A long-delayed explanation
was coming her way, and she feared her life would never be the same.

"You've been cursed,
Anya."

Eyes wide, mouth agape,
she couldn't think of anything but repeat the woman's upsetting words.

"Cursed. How?"

"A powerful witch
from Palance put you under a spell."

She recalled the
conversation that had taken place a day earlier between her mother and
protector. They’d talked about breaking a curse, and for some reason,
she
was the person who had been afflicted.

"I don’t remember
being cursed. When did it happen?"

"Eighteen springs
ago, on the day you were born."

"Why? What's the
purpose?"

"That's a long
story, and one I shouldn't yet divulge. But I firmly believe the time has come
for you to understand."

Her guardian retrieved
her hand gently to grab the goblet. She gulped some water down, and looked into
the distance.

"First I need to
explain the situation in the Four Kingdoms. At that time, the … and the queen
ruled over the whole territory of Palance."

The what and the queen? Seeing
her mouth opening, Kylor sealed her enquiry with a finger.

"No questions, Anya.
Please, listen to my tale."

She wanted to know who
else ruled but she'd have to wait. As she pressed her lips together, her
protector resumed.

"The land was rich,
and as a consequence, people lived well. There were skirmishes on the borders
sometimes, that's to be expected, but peace had settled in. Then one summer
solstice, huge, great rocks dropped from the skies. They crashed through the
forest near Palance, and the devastating impact set fire to the woods. Half of
the trees burned down that night. Although few people got hurt, everybody
feared the end was near."

Picturing massive blocks
of stone falling from the ethers, she couldn't help but interrupt.

"Rocks don’t fly. What
were they?"

"Nobody could tell,
but people started whispering about a punishment from the mighty gods. As you
can imagine, consternation quickly grew into fear. That's when a powerful witch
came out of her hole. Her name was Melisande. She hadn’t been seen for a very
long time, and her appearance disturbed many people."

Her heartbeat jumped up
with excitement at the mention of a sorceress. Eyes widening, she leaned
forward.

"A real witch?"
What did she look like?"

Kylor chuckled and raised
her eyebrows, probably entertained by her spontaneous reaction.

"I never laid eyes
on her."

A vague disappointment
grazing her stomach, she gestured to her guardian to go on.

"Melisande claimed
the flying rocks were a warning from the creators. She foretold that eighteen
years would pass before endless night plagued the land and killed all source of
life. As it was bound to happen, her prediction struck terror into many
souls."

Kylor took some kind of
object shaped like a V from her haversack, and cracked a few nuts before
continuing.

"The witch also said
that the terrible downfall could be prevented if a human sacrifice was offered
to the mighty gods. The queen and her counselors wouldn’t hear of it, but it was
too late. People already believed they were going to die. To prove them right,
Melisande abducted a newborn."

"Oh, dear spirits."

Throat dry, she dropped
the hand holding nuts and winced at the intensity of her companion's tone.

"The witch marked
the baby girl and cursed her. She was to stay a maiden until the exact day of her
eighteenth spring. In order to stay pure, the girl wouldn't see nor hear—"

At this point of the
story, Kylor reached for her knee, seemingly looking for the right word.

"Nor hear women with
cocks."

She couldn’t imagine
enormous rocks falling from the skies, or baseless predictions. Although this
incredible event had taken place, she didn’t deem it as divine wrath. The
mighty gods had given them life in the first place and they wouldn’t waste
their time eradicating their own creatures. The idea just came across as being
senseless and ridiculous.

On the other hand, the
witch had obviously derived an advantage from a natural disaster. Her personal
profit had led to her blindness and deafness regarding women with cocks between
their legs.

"Does it mean there
are women I can't see?"

Letting go of her knee,
Kylor smiled while she filled the empty goblet with fresh water.

"Yes, a lot of them,
and they can't see you either."

She was instantly
reminded of the invisible weight attacking her back at the farm, trying to
strangle her. Kylor hadn't been pummeling the ground after all but saving her
life.

The assailant probably
had a difficult time locating her. Deprived of the usual means to spy on
someone, that woman with an extra body part in her buckskins must have
established her presence and pinpointed her position thanks to the bucket
beside her. Which explained many things, yet still left unresolved the matter
of Kylor's ability.

"Why can you? You
belong to the other kind of women, so you shouldn't be able to see me."

"True. There is a
reason, but it isn't mine to divulge. I believe you'll know soon enough
though."

She'd have to bide her
time once more before finding out everything about her past and the people
involved in it.

"I don't like your
story much. It's frightening."

"I know, Anya, but
you must hear it."

Her protector was right,
of course. She might have tarried, but something in her kicked, stronger than
her fear. The need to know pushed her, tempted her to ask about everything she
didn’t understand.

"What's a
maiden?"

"To explain it to
you, I need to use words you won't hear, so just listen to me for now. The
witch Melisande took the baby girl to her lair. She intended to raise her until
the day . . . ."

Kylor gripped the hilt of
her sword, her face a mask of coldness as she fought to continue.

"Until the day where
she'd be put to death to appease the gods."

That horrible sorceress
must have been out of her mind. Shaken by the ominous words, she whispered.

"Am I that baby
girl?"

"You are."

"It can't be."

The idea of her dear
mother as an instrument of evil was revolting, causing Anya’s stomach to roil.

"My mother loves me,
and she's no evil witch."

"She isn’t. Someone
didn’t believe Melisande’s prediction because … thought she wanted the child
for herself. That person lived in the castle of Palance and was able to wield
magic. In great secret … stole the baby girl from Melisande, then gave her back
to her rightful mother."

Struck by a new bout of
deafness, she shook her head while taping against her ears, angry and
frustrated by the unwelcomed hindrance. Seeing her discomfort, Kylor slowed
down.

"Using magic, … hid
the baby girl and her mother in a secluded place. A farm where nobody would
ever find them until the day of the sacrifice."

"So, my mother is my
real mother?"

Kylor nodded while
displaying an appeasing smile. Immense relief flooded her at the sight of her
guardian's grin, spreading warmth and comfort in her heart. But curiosity soon
won over.

"What happened
after?"

"This person spent many
years trying to discover a way to break the curse. Far away … journeyed to find
old scrolls, manuscripts, and prophecies written by the Ancients. A very long
time … searched for answers when the solution was plain from the beginning."

As though she wanted to
ascertain a delicate point, Kylor leant towards her and lifted her chin.

"If the maiden loses
her virtue on the very day of summer solstice, the ritual can't be performed."

The woman obviously meant
to reveal a shattering truth, yet she didn't have the slightest clue as to what
Kylor was going on about. Fidgeting on the cloak, she spoke with animation.

"Please, tell me
what a maiden is? What's her virtue?"

"Again, there are
some things I just can't explain to you because you won't hear them."

"All right, but what
about endless night and destruction?"

"People must be
shown the prediction is false. The day following summer solstice the sun will
shine, and the former maiden will be officially presented to them. Then they'll
know the prediction was nothing but a tale. With any luck, we might be
witnesses to a witch hunt."

"Whatever her purpose,
she doesn’t deserve any less."

She tightened her fingers
into a fist, heated by feelings of vindictiveness and revenge. The sorceress'
plan had to be thwarted. Now that she knew the hard facts, a particular
instance still nagged her.

"I don’t understand.
Is it so difficult to be a maiden?"

"I must say it usually
is when you are pleasing to the eye and you live around haystacks."

Despite the grin
stretching Kylor's lips, she had the impression that the woman was leading her
straight to her doom.

"So, you really are
my protector?"

"My sword and my
life lay at your feet, my lady."

Her guardian's voice and
manner brought tears to her face. Wiping them from her cheeks, Kylor took her
in her arms to brush her smooth brow. She raised her head, losing herself in
the blue gaze.

Their hungry mouths found
each other, their lips joining in a passionate kiss, tongues fervently rolling,
and stroking. Crushed against her body, she felt Kylor's cock hardening in the
tight buckskins.