Witch Bane (11 page)

Sebastian let his breath out as she leaned
beside him, catching the sharp sound of his father doing the same.
The soft tan robes she wore were tied about her waist and arms,
pulling the cloth tight against her frame. The material seemed to
glide across her skin, revealing the tantalizing shape beneath. His
wounds forgotten, it took Sebastian a moment to realize the woman
was staring down at him, speaking. He caught himself and his eyes
darted to hers.

She smiled at him, sunlight in its glory.
“I’m Karil. Lie back and let me take a look at you.”

Darius grinned at Sebastian. “I’ll be
outside, boy. Call if I’m needed,” he said with a hint of humor and
jovial jealousy in his voice.

“
I’ll take good care of him,” Karil
said as his father left the tent, the only answer a quiet chuckle
from outside.

She set a warm hand against Sebastian’s
chest and he reveled in her touch, keeping his tongue from
mentioning the numerous complaints he’d like Karil to take care of.
His ardor didn’t even cool a little when she drew a thin blade from
her bag and hovered over top of him. She cut the remnants of his
tunic away, tossing the pieces aside, and set to peeling his pants
back from the wound at his hip. Sebastian shifted uncomfortably as
she revealed his manhood, rigid despite his injuries. He looked
away from her fast, his face flush.

Karil laughed easy. “Don’t be ashamed.” She
patted his arm with a gentle hand. “I deal with soldiers all the
time. If your kind isn’t primed to take a life, you’re primed to
try to make one.” She laughed again, no hint of offense in the
sound. “Besides, it’s a good sign. If you’ve enough blood for that,
you’ve enough in your veins to ensure you won’t bleed out.”

Sebastian sighed and let his head sink into
the pillow, his eyes closed. His embarrassment took rein of his
excitement as he tried to ignore it. Karil’s probing the wound at
his hip resolved to dampen it entirely as a searing pain washed
over him. He clenched his teeth and bit back a growl as she pressed
a finger into the hole that Shade’s sword had gouged out. A moment
later her touch was at the groove cut into his chest. She ran her
hand down its length as Sebastian hissed, her fingers at his ribs
just after. He smelled the char of brimstone, light in the air.

“
You were lucky. None of your injuries
are severe beyond the blood loss, which we’ve already determined
isn’t serious enough to kill you.” He heard the amusement in her
tone and kept his eyes closed. “I’ve applied a poultice to numb you
as I work the needle and speed the healing as best I dare.” She set
her hand near the wound at his hip, but he barely felt her touch.
“There’s nothing I can do about this one save for protecting it
against infection and covering it until it scabs over. Your natural
healing will hurry it along. Keep it clean, and should you start to
bleed from the wound, apply pressure with a cloth until it stops. I
don’t suppose you’ll be off the leg long enough to let it
close?”

Sebastian shook his head and glanced up at
her meekly. “Not likely.”

She smiled. “It usually isn’t with you men.”
She drew the blanket over his groin and settled it across his leg,
his injured hip still uncovered. She then reached down and drew her
stitch gear from her bag. “I’ve made the poultice strong, so you’ll
feel a tug, but little more. Rest easy until I’m through.”

He did the best he could. Karil leaned
against him as she worked, the contact a temptation he could do
without. The numbness of the medicine helped him to focus his
thoughts, and he steered them as far from the woman as possible.
After just a short time, having shifted about to reach each of the
wounds, every touch teasing, she took a breath and
straightened.

“
Finished.”

Sebastian opened his eyes while she stepped
back to gather her things. “Thank you.”

She grinned in response. “I’ll have Freya
gather some clothes so they’ll be available when you awake.”

“
Awake?” Sebastian asked, a sudden
yawn stretching out the word. He felt the past few days crashing
down on him.

“
You need to sleep for the spells to
take hold. I’ve added an ingredient to the poultice to help you
rest.” She gestured to the flaps. “Your father is outside, so all
is well. Sleep and heal. Let your will make you right.”

Sebastian blinked, his eyelids creeping
closed like twin portcullises at dusk. He watched the beautiful
Karil through the narrowed slits and yawned once more. Tears
blurred his vision as she moved toward the flaps. His eyes closed
before she made it outside.

~

Sebastian woke with a start. He felt the tug
of the stitches as he bolted upright, his memory instantly restored
at the touch of pain. He settled back before he could do himself
harm.

“
Feeling better?” the gruff voice of
his father asked.

Sebastian rolled his head and blinked the
sleep from his eyes. The flicker of a campfire outside illuminated
the room in dim, dancing glimmers, but it cast enough light to see.
Darius came into slow focus, resting upon a wooden stool set near
the flaps. Sebastian lay silent a moment, taking a mental
assessment of his wounds. He did feel better.

He took his time and eased to a seated
position, his legs dangling off the cot, the fur of the rug tickled
the soles of his feet. The stitches tugged at the skin as he moved;
uncomfortable, though not painful. He felt a bit of tightness at
his chest and side, and only a minor ache in his hip, but nothing
else.

“
I am, actually.”

“
Good.” His father stood and pointed
at a pile of clothing set beside the bed. “Get dressed and meet me
outside. Our host would have a word with us.”

Sebastian’s stomach rumbled. “How long have
I been out?”

“
Only a handful of hours, but they’ve
food and drink for us, so hurry.” His father slipped outside, his
shadow cast against the tent wall as he waited there.

A groan slipping loose, Sebastian crawled
from the bed. He saw that he had been bathed, the blood that had
crusted about his wounds was gone, the stain of his injuries wiped
clean. His stomach urging him on, he dressed as quick as he was
able and adjusted his sword belt so it didn’t rest upon his wound.
Once he had his boots on, he left the tent, feeling the stiffness
of the circumstances that had led him here. He wondered briefly
about the witch whose hospitality he had to thank for his healing,
but that thought fluttered from his head after but a moment. Food
was all he could think of.

His father waved him on, and they’d walked
only a short way before the witch met them.

“
Good evening, Sebastian. How do you
feel?” she asked.

He felt strangely uncomfortable that she
knew his name. “I am well, thanks to you and yours. My deepest
gratitude for all you’ve done.” He nodded shallow, and she smiled
in reply.

“
This is Elizabeth Bourne,” his father
said, taking the moment to introduce them formally. “She was a
friend of your mother from long ago, before you were even
conceived.”

Sebastian looked from Darius to
Elizabeth, having never met anyone who knew his mother, aside from
his father, he felt uncertainty well up. “You were
friends
?”

Elizabeth smiled, the charm of it chasing
away the shadows. “We were…until she was murdered by Deborah Altus
and her crones; such a cruel and traitorous end.” Her smile dimmed.
She waved them on and began to walk toward the edge of the
camp.

Sebastian felt a lump form in his throat,
sickness settling in his stomach at her words. Darius moved off
after her and Sebastian trailed behind, catching up a moment later
when Elizabeth slowed.

“
Alise and I were both upon the
Council, but we were friends long before that.” She glanced at
Sebastian. “I see her in you: your eyes, the slope of your nose.
Your chin, however, is all Darius.” She laughed gently, casting a
smile at his father. Much to his surprise, his father smiled
back.

“
But I’ve no doubt my words pour salt
in painful memories, so I will put them away for now so we might
speak of other things; no less dark, but perhaps more appropriate
to the present. Come.”

She drifted around a tree and strode toward
the shadows of a group gathered in a clearing ahead. Sounds of
merriment floated in the night, a number of voices raised in song,
the blissful melody no less for the roughened throats that called
it to be. There was a contentment to be heard in the voices
Sebastian hadn’t expected. As they neared the large campfire and
the shadows resolved to people, there was much more he hadn’t
expected.

In a half-circle about the fire, men and
women stood hanging on one another, the group swaying in time to
the song they sung. With a passing thought, he realized many of the
women were pregnant, round stomachs pressed against their tunics,
but it was their voices that stole his attention. Amazed that such
a pure sound could come from such hardened people, it took him a
moment to realize what it was they were singing for. His gaze
drifted down to the circle and noticed a huge swath of naked flesh.
He let the image sink in as he questioned what he saw.

There before him, on carpets of fur, were
dozens of women crawling about on their hands and knees, giggling
with wide eyes and bright smiles. Sebastian shifted uncomfortably,
too surprised by the unexpected view to be aroused. In the center
of the women were two young men, just as naked, but clearly with
none of Sebastian’s restraint. The women pawed at them, hands
floating like butterflies across their bodies, sparing no part of
them the lightness of their touch. Their kisses were just as
plentiful, the men buried in the attention, their eyes mirrors to
the bliss they felt within; their manhood, banners that stood
without.

Sebastian nearly choked on his tongue when
the first of the girls, a beautiful brunette with wide, shapely
hips straddled the nearest of the men, taking him inside her
without shame or reserve. She rode him with intent, her arms
clasped about his neck, her breasts doing their best to drown him
in their mass.

The rest of the women playfully fought over
the other young man, who Sebastian unconsciously recognized as
Devlin; the one Elizabeth had sent off for Karil. The victor of the
battle wasted no time claiming her spoils, climbing onto Devlin’s
lap to the rambunctious cheers of the crowd around them. The young
man grimaced in pleasure as he settled in her, his head lolling
back with a grunted laugh.

Though he knew he looked the fool, Sebastian
stood and watched, unable to turn away. Despite his earlier
reluctance, he felt his borrowed pants grow tighter. His life spent
in the waste lands, learning to fight, far from the charms of women
of any kind, he was quite unprepared for the carnality so brazenly
displayed before him. He’d never seen a woman naked, let alone
witnessed one having sex. His gaze was locked on the antics in the
circle as he imagined himself in place of the two young men, the
women’s attention all on him. It was a pleasant fantasy.

He didn’t notice his father’s voice until
Darius grasped his shoulder and shook him roughly. As though caught
with his hand beneath the covers, his eyes popped wide, and he
looked at his father who motioned for him to follow. Sebastian
sighed and cast another glance at the decadence splayed out before
him, then moved off stiffly after his father, hoping no one would
notice his unease.

Near the edge of the trees, just out of
sight of the orgy by the fire, Darius came to a halt. Elizabeth
stood before him, and Sebastian trudged up alongside, planting
himself in the shadows cast by the nearby tree. He couldn’t bring
himself to look up at the beautiful witch. His body still played at
revolt, and he didn’t trust it not to betray him.

“
I’m no puritan, Elizabeth, but
neither am I blind. I see what you intend with this sordid
display.” He waved toward the campfire.

She sighed. “I’m sorry, Darius. I have lived
too long in the wilderness, and have lost the way of honest
speech.”

“
Then think of me as I was in your
previous life, and speak clear.” He shook his head, anger pulling
at his lips. “You tempt the boy shamelessly to cast your net. I
will not have it.”

Sebastian realized his father meant him. His
gaze shifted to Elizabeth in confusion. It was her turn to look
away.

“
I only hoped to show you what life
was like for his kind here, Darius. Is it too much to yearn for a
few moments of happiness amidst the chaos of our world?”

Darius laughed, but there was no humor in
it. “You call this happiness? I call it sprinkling cinnamon on shit
and calling it dessert. You mean to breed my boy as though he were
a bull stud. This is not about him, but about how many of his kind
you can birth and raise into an army.”

It hit Sebastian right then what his father
was saying. “The two, in the circle, are warlocks?”

Elizabeth gave a slow nod.

Darius’ gaze settled on Sebastian so heavily
he could feel its weight.

He took a moment to compose the words that
raced to explode from his throat. “Like that fool from the woods,
you would have me join your resistance, my own interests be
damned?” His excitement died off, a candle snuffed beneath a
taper.

“
That is not the way of it,” she
argued. “Though I will not lie and say we would not benefit from
having you part of us.”

Sebastian growled, but she continued on.

“
Your mother was the greatest witch
I’ve ever known, her power a burning sun in a sky of twinkling
stars—”