The King's Executioner (23 page)

“As you wish, my King,” Gelhard said, “but I would consider that this has something to do with the rumblings that you have wed twice and still have not produced a son, no child at all. There are those who fear Pict rule will end, possibly cease to exist if you do not do your duty and produce a son.”

“It has nothing to do with me having a son. It is those who never wanted the tribes to unify that continue efforts to unseat me. They will see our land and people thrown into chaos again, then the tribes in the south will march forth and claim victory over us and that foolishness is what will bring Pict rule to an end.” His fist came down on the table again. “I will not allow that to happen.”

Paine knew the King as a man of his word. He would do what needed to be done to see that the Picts continued to rule.

“Have the dal Gabran approached you about trading with the Lammok Tribe directly?” the King asked Gelhard.

“The dal Gabran knows direct trade with the tribes is forbidden. All trade takes place at the three gatherings throughout the twelve moon cycles. I have received no such request, nor would I grant it.”

The King nodded at Paine.

“I came across a small group of dal Gabran who claim they were given permission to search our land for a warrior of theirs who had consent from the King to trade directly with the Lammok, as they once did, and had not returned. I also came upon that same troop slaughtered by the Drust, though one dal Gabran warrior survived and looked to be in a hurry to return home.”

Gelhard looked bewildered. “What is the dal Gabran doing here and what do they want with the Lammok if that was truly their intended destination?”

“More questions that need immediate answers,” the King said.

Gelhard’s brow knitted. “You did not share this with Tarn.”

“It will be known only among us here until I say otherwise,” The King ordered and the three men nodded.

Wrath spoke, “If the one dal Gabran warrior met no more Drust and survived his return journey to his tribe, he will inform the chieftain to what happened here. The dal Gabran will be looking for revenge once they discover their warriors have been slaughtered.”

Gelhard shook his head. “The dal Gabran had no permission to be on Pict land. They will need to explain what they were doing here, though they are known to war so we should be prepared.”

“I will not see another war erupt. More is lost than ever gained in war,” the King said. “I want the Drust problem put to rest before the dal Gabran can become a problem. No good can come with enemies at both ends of us.” He turned to Gelhard. “Let me know if you hear any word from the dal Gabran.”

“I will, my King,” Gelhard said, then cleared his throat before continuing. “There is another matter that must be discussed.”

“I know what you will say, Gelhard, but you did a poor job of finding a fitting woman to be Queen the last three times. How do I trust you again to find me a suitable woman who will bear me sons?”

“I give you my word, my King, that I will not fail you again. I will find a woman who will make the perfect Queen.”

“And one that will bear me many sons, for I intend to make certain Pict blood runs in all throughout the land long after me and my sons are dead. Picts will then always live on.”

Gelhard nodded and left, leaving Paine and Wrath with the King.

“Do you think Anin would know anything of the Lammok meeting with the dal Gabran?” the King asked Paine.

“I do not believe so. She was as surprised as I was to see the dal Gabran and she does not know their language.”

“Speak with her and see what she knows of trade between the Lammok and the dal Gabran,” the King instructed and turned to Wrath. “Find out if there is any unrest among my warriors, but let no one know what you do.”

Paine and Wrath went to leave and do the King’s bidding when Paine turned upon hearing the King shout out his name.

“I expect to hear that Anin is with child soon—a son—who will be as loyal a friend to my future sons as you are to me.”

Wrath laughed and slapped Paine on the back. “He will probably have all daughters.”

“Be gone with you then and work on a son, since none of my sons will join with a woman whose mum had only daughters,” the King said and dismissed them with a wave of his hand and a rare laugh.

Paine parted from Wrath and went to find Anin, thinking on what Wrath had said. He probably would have more daughters with Anin than sons, but that did not bother him. They would be strong like their mum and he would see they were skilled in weapons. Thinking on having bairns made him realize how much he missed Anin, though they had not been parted for long. Even so, he felt a strong need to have her in his arms. He hurried his steps and was disappointed when he found Anin was no longer visiting with Bethia.

“I think Anin would make a good healer,” Bethia said. “She discovered what was ailing a small bairn after a few moments of cradling him in her arms. After that, she was going to explore the village, though I think she may have returned to your dwelling. The people have not been very accepting of her. Or perhaps it was that wolf of yours that deterred them from approaching her, since he never leaves her side.”

This was what had worried Paine once joined with Anin. That she would be shunned and treated pitifully, though the worse part was that he could do nothing about it. He could not force the people to be kind to her.

He approached his dwelling and saw no signs of Anin or Bog. He entered the dwelling, expecting to find them there only to find it empty. He stepped outside and cast a glance around. The isolation from the other dwellings never bothered him. He much preferred it that way, though he could see how Anin might find it lonely with her having such a curious nature.

He wondered where she had gone off to and was glad that Bog was with her. That was until Bog trotted around the corner of the dwelling and Anin did not follow behind him.

“You left Anin’s side?” Paine said with a snap of anger.

Bog stared at him a moment then turned and walked around the corner of the dwelling. Paine followed and was relieved to see Anin, her back to him, squatting down as she tended to Bog’s shelter. It did not surprise him when she spoke to the wolf, since she had often done so on their journey here.

Paine watched as Bog went and sat and leaned his furry body against Anin. He was letting Paine know that Anin was part of their pack. He was stunned when Anin wrapped her arm around the wolf and pressed the side of her face to his and Bog did not protest.

“I have cleaned out what the wind had dragged in, though with the chill getting stronger in the air, it would be best for you to sleep inside the dwelling soon.”

Paine scowled. That she had little recourse than to speak with the wolf since no one else would talk with her, made him hurt more for her than angered him.

“Let us go inside and tend the fire pit so it is warm when Paine comes home,” she said to the wolf and stood and turned. As soon as she saw Paine standing there, a smile burst across her face and she hurried to him.

Paine held his arms wide and, once in them, closed them around her tightly. Her lips reached for his, eager for a kiss. It was a soft, gentle kiss, though he felt a hunger for more in it.

“I have missed you,” she said as soon as her lips left his.

“And I you.” He had missed her much more than he wanted to admit. “I need to speak with you about—”

She pressed her finger against his lips. “Later.” She stretched up on her toes to press her cheek to his and whispered, “
Tuahna
.”

Her warm breath tickled his ear and the cherished word that expressed how deeply she cared for him sent a rush of desire racing through him that aroused him quickly. He lifted her off her feet with one arm around her waist and hurried her inside the dwelling, glad Bog did not follow. He cozied up in his freshly cleaned shelter.

He yanked her up against him to capture her lips in a hasty, hungry kiss, then just as hastily said, “My need is too great to go slow with you.”

“I am glad, for I feel I will burst before you can slip inside me.”

Paine tossed her gently on the sleeping pallet and pushed up her tunic, Anin eagerly helped, lifting her bottom. He yanked his tunic up, took hold of her legs to place over his shoulders, then grabbed her bottom and pulled her forward to enter her swiftly.

Anin’s quick gasp turned just as quickly to pleasurable moans and grew as Paine pounded against her. She looked at her husband, his head titled back slightly, his brow knitted, and his jaw set tight and knew each thrust was building his own passion as strongly as her own. And she wanted desperately to feel his passion join with hers.

“Paine!” she cried out, stretching her arms out to him, begging him to come to her so that she could wrap her arms around him.

He felt the frantic need of her body, saw the fiery passion in her eyes, her pleading hands reach out to him and he slipped her legs off his shoulders and dropped down over her. He positioned his hands on either side of her head, holding himself just above her as he thrust into her again and again.

She could not get her arms around him, so she grabbed onto his taut arms and cried out when his passion hit her, ran through her and connected with her own. Her body responded, demanding from him as much as he was demanding from her. After a moment, they were no longer separate, they were one in every way.

She did not need to hear his rough groan to know he was close to bursting. She felt him soar along with her, felt them step to the edge, and together plunge quickly, bursting into divine pleasure that shot through their bodies over and over until they were both left spent.

Paine shuddered as the last of his release faded, then he rolled off Anin, taking her with him as he went to rest against him.

Anin never felt so content and she sent a silent blessing to the spirits for gracing her with such a good and wonderful husband. She rested her hand on his chest and was pleased to feel that he felt the same, and a soft sigh escaped her lips.

Paine took her hand on his chest and locked his fingers with hers. “Tell me something, Anin, do you feel what I am feeling when we join together?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “I feel it all and it is the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced.” Her smile vanished. “Are you angry that I feel everything you feel when I touch you?”

“I am not angry at you and I do not mind that you touch me in that way when we join. I envy you. I wish I could feel what you were feeling as we joined.”

“Endless pleasure and a release that is... magical,” she was quick to tell him.

“I am glad I please you so thoroughly, but I am concerned about you always touching me and feeling what I feel.”

“I wish there was a way I could control it, but I cannot stop it. I have never been able to stop it from happening. It is why I touched few people through the years. My mum thought I pushed it away, never to bother me again. I let her believe that so I would not have to hear about my curse, how bad it was, and how I should not surrender to it.” She ran a finger slowly across his lips. “At least with you, there is no hiding, no condemnation no—secret. I want no secrets between us. Not now. Not ever.”

He had to tell her. He could not keep what he had learned about the Wyse Tribe from her any longer, though he would not tell her what he suspected. Hopefully, she would come to the conclusion on her own.

“If there are times you prefer me not to touch you...” Anin could not bring herself to finish, the thought of not being able to touch him freely caused her heart to ache.

“No, Anin. You are free to touch me whenever it pleases you and it would please me if you touched me often. I asked because I worry about you feeling my anger, my concern, and my heart when it hurts for you.”

“I do not only want to share your good feelings, but your sad and hurtful feelings as well, so that I can be there for you and help you through them. I spent too many years alone with my feelings, fearful of telling my mum or da and be scolded me for my nonsense.”

He slipped one finger under her chin and lifted it. “Never will you be alone in your thoughts or feelings again. I do not care if you chatter endlessly about them. I will listen.”

She laughed softly. “You might regret you said that.”

“I will not regret it. I speak the truth to you.” His own words reminded him what he wanted to tell her, needed to tell her... was time to tell her.

“What is it that you wanted to speak to me about?”

One kiss and a whisper and he had forgotten all about what the King wanted to know from Anin. He turned on his side so they lay face to face, draping his arm over the curve of her waist. “What do you know of the Lammok Tribe’s dealings with the dal Gabran Tribe?”

The question surprised her, though she answered it easily enough. “The only thing I know about them is that my mum’s tribe traded with them regularly before the tribes unified.”

“You were never present when the tribes traded?”

“At the last gathering, I watched as my mum’s two sisters traded with them. Why do you ask?”

“It would seem the dal Gabran we met were not truthful with us. They were never given permission to search for one of their warriors they claimed had not returned after being granted permission to trade with the Lammok.”

“The Lammok are loyal to King Talon and would never go against his edicts. The Lammok respect strength and courage and hold the King in high regard for having an abundance of both,” Anin said concerned that the King would think her tribe disloyal.

“Worry not. Your tribe has served the King well. It is more the dal Gabran he has concerns with.” He felt a shiver run through her and not sure if it was from relief or a chill that was settling over the room, since the fire had dwindled, Paine pulled the blanket over them.

“I know nothing of them and as you know I do not speak their language, so I could not participate in the trading.”

Paine suddenly flew over his wife as the door burst open, ready to protect her.

Wrath hurried in. “Tarn caught three Drust and one has broken free of his ties and hides somewhere in the stronghold.”

A horn sounded at that moment, warning of danger. Anin shivered, having heard the sound in her own village and knowing that some of the women and bairns would be running for shelter while other women joined the men in grabbing their weapons, ready to fight. Her mum would be ready to fight alongside Anin’s da and so would her brothers. She would be left to seek shelter alone in their dwelling.

Paine looked to his wife. “Do not leave this shelter. I will leave Bog outside the door.”

Anin nodded, wishing she was as brave as her mum and as able with a weapon as her mum, then she could join Paine when danger presented itself. Instead, she was soon pacing around the fire pit, waiting for her husband to return safe and unharmed.

~~~

“You let a Drust escape within the stronghold?” the King said his strides rapid as he approached Tarn with his sword gripped in his hand and his personal guard keeping stride with him as he entered the feasting hall. His hand went up when Tarn went to speak. “I will hear no excuses. I will speak to you when this matter is settled, though if one person is harmed because of your failure, you will suffer for it. Tell me the other two Drust you captured have been secured.”

“They are well secured and heavily guarded as they await the executioner,” Tarn confirmed.

“They better be,” King Talon snapped and looked around at the other High Council members who had hurried to the hall at the sound of the horn. “You know what to do. Sweep through each of your sections with your men and find the Drust before he can do any damage.”

The men hurried off. Wrath remained by the King as did the King’s guard.

The King turned to Paine. “Your wife can help us get what we need faster than the tools of your trade can. Is she at your dwelling or gone with the other women to take shelter?”

“She is at the dwelling with Bog guarding her,” Paine said.

“We can stop for her along the way,” the King said and they all followed him.

~~~

With the dwelling sitting off on its own, farther away from others, Anin heard nothing but silence. It only served to worry her more. She stopped suddenly when she heard Bog growl.

The wolf was warning someone away.

She listened as his growl grew, then jumped when she heard him cry out in pain. He growled again and once again cried out. He was being harmed in an effort to draw him away from the dwelling. The wolf would not leave her unprotected. He would not charge the person trying to harm him.

A thud to the dwelling made her realize that someone was throwing rocks at Bog and the rocks would not stop until the wolf was so badly injured, he could protect no longer. Anin would not let that happen. Her dagger and lack of skill in using it would do her little good, but if she could charge the attacker, Bog would follow her.

Instinct had her alerting her husband with a frantic thought.
Paine, help! Help!

She hurried to the door, threw it open, and ran out screaming as loud as she could.

~~~

Paine stopped abruptly as Anin’s plea for help echoed in his head. “Anin is in trouble.” And as he went to run, her scream split through the air like a mighty roar of thunder. He took off, the others following.

~~~

Bog did as she thought he would—he ran straight for the Drust warrior along with her. The warrior did not hesitate, he ran at them. Bog lunged at him, his teeth sinking into the Drust’s arm, but not before his other arm grabbed Anin around the neck.

The three went down on the ground hard. Anin grabbed at the Drust’s arm that squeezed at her neck tighter and tighter, but try as she might, she could not budge it. Bog let go of the arm he had and circled around to sink his teeth into the Drust’s shoulder. The warrior screamed, but still would not let go of Anin.

She not only gasped for breath, but at his feelings and thoughts that rushed through her. He wanted her dead and did not care if he died with her. His task was to kill her. She could not survive. No woman of the Wyse Tribe could be allowed to wed the King or serve the King. It would ruin everything if she did.

Woman of the Wyse Tribe
was her last thought before she fell into darkness.