The next morning a delivery was made to the Julia Manor addressed to the wayward Saurian from ‘Mila’s Stitches’ the name of the Harpy’s tailoring business. It was a fine charcoal black shorts like pair of loin cloths embroidered with the seamstresses logo on the front flap, upon putting it on Marduk couldn’t but agree with the sentiment that the fabric was durable and appropriate for most weather when he began testing the second one that arrived like it might try to eat him in his sleep.
While glad he wouldn’t have to see the woman in person again, it wouldn’t stop him from being wary of the gift and generally scared of going near her for fear that she’d control him again.
With a handful of compliments as to his new wear he took to the training yard Sophus’ sons used, they trained in it for many hours of the day only taking breaks for lessons in arithmetic, bartering and other mercantile skills that were otherwise beyond the scope of the Saurian. Though the news of his ability to understand everyone was now centre stage causing his host family to get more confident with speaking to him since he woke causing a handful of issues already seeing as they’d forgotten he couldn’t respond properly.
For the most part he had spent the morning ignoring Minerva still feeling betrayed by her lack of conviction about keeping his so-called Blessing between them and of course for her part in causing him to feel the vile touch of being used like a marionette.
Back to the training yard, he stood in a rather wide stance opposite Leon the first son, the only way that Marduk could tell him apart from his brother Cesare was that their dominant hands were opposite. Leon was right dominant and Cesare was left dominant.
The yard was a dried out dirt pitch with a stone circle as the border, it was large enough for a Centaur to get in a full charge and right for a Saurain to not worry about stepping out of the designated area too much with it being about thirty metres each way.
Both men stood with wooden training swords or at least Leon did while Marduk wielded a log cut down to size.
“Begin!” A voice shouted from outside the ring.
Leon kicked off the ground storming toward the Saurian at a full gallop with a wide grin and his sword held to his right with the tip pointed towards the other man and his right palm flat against the pommel.
Marduk stood still with his log baton held in front of him and his left hand held out in front of it adopting a somewhat more hand to hand stance than might have made sense for the weapon he wielded.
The heavy rumble of the hooves was punctuated by the booming clap of the two wooden weapons colliding with a small shower of splinters, the grin of the young adult Centaur turned to a grimace then snarl as he used all his upper body strength to put pressure on the almost casual defence the Saurian was giving with his arm barely raised in front of him to hold off the offence.
“That face of yours is really fucking annoying at a time like this!” Leon spat angrily as he shifted backward and began a torrent of strikes fired off at a rate that would have otherwise been a blur to onlookers.
Thwack thwack clap-thwack!
With each powerful swing made by the Centaur the Saurian caught and blocked them without much effort, by no means was he bored with the spar but he certainly wasn’t entertained.
‘This is so much slower and weaker than training with my brothers and sisters’ He noted internally remembering the training he’d gone through in the Ahkula growing up. Being prepared to fight giant monsters that moved faster than average human comprehension did that to a person he supposed.
For that reason though he could understand the sentiment of the young Julia especially when he knew all too well how emotionless Saurian faces could appear.
The pair spared like this for almost an hour until Leon called it quits realising he’d never be able to break the guard of the Lizardman who could only shrug when asked how he had gotten so strong and good at fighting. But he wasn’t really in a position to explain that it was because of his upbringing as a Sukkal, knowing how to defend himself was a large part of that too of course.
Though his lack of explanation was mostly because it had only been two days since they had arrived here so he still needed to learn more, Rome wasn’t built in a day and languages weren’t learned in less than that.
In any case when they finished the pair moved to sit in the second garden with the pond being served by a pair of slaves who had brought them a platter of food and a pitcher of some sweet ale that they’d served with each meal Marduk had with any of the family. He didn’t mind the flavour too much but it was too sweet for his taste buds as it was so he only hydrated himself with it sparingly and chose the more bitter flavoured wine they had.
Something he was initially unsure of was the Slaves about the residence who naturally coming from place where it was illegal and no longer a part of daily life found it uncomfortable to order someone around knowing that they couldn’t argue against anything he or others asked or demanded of them. But in some ways he understood things remained the same in the modern world he left behind, even though they were paid there were many men and women who worked jobs that were all but Slavery in name.
Though he couldn’t help but find the novelty and usefulness of an attendant like the ones serving him and Leon something he was glad to have, he’d yet to see or hear about any slaves of the Julia being disciplined or reprimanded so he assumed with some good faith that things were going well for them. At the least they seemed well treated and he barely noticed their presences which was something of a novelty in itself the way many of them blended in with the background.
He’d probably consider investing time in a slave if he found travelling alone boring or thought that they could make up for something he was missing, though being able to fluently speak their language or them speaking his would be a necessity otherwise he’d be better off alone.
Though… there was an idea there about acquiring one with whom was of one of the other prominent cultures of the world that could help share their knowledge with him, like a teacher of sorts.
Something to think on, he supposed.
“So how was Minerva?” The Centaur across from him asked with a grin on his face.
If he’d been eating anything he would have choked on it and if he’d been drinking he would have spit it out at the question.
“What. Mean?” He asked back hoping that he’d misheard the boy's intention.
“It’s hard not to notice how much she fell for you the moment you showed up and then that first night you both spent it alone- so I assumed you slept together?” He made his point clear.
“...” Staying silent Marduk looked away not wanting to discuss the matter with the boy, but he wouldn’t get off so easily.
“I mean it must have been good you guys kept the whole house up with all those noises.” He could hear the smirk on the tone of the Centaur as he kept talking.
“Why. Matter?” Marduk asked, turning back to the dark haired young adult.
“C’mon dude you gotta have more reaction than that! I’m dying here! You beat my ass without any sweat off your back and now you’re not even going to react to me provoking you!” Leon complained with a shake of his head grumbling under his breath.
“Maybe he just doesn’t have the words to explain his embarrassment- I mean I can see it clear as day on his face, he didn’t even know we were that loud.” The voice of the woman in question cut into the conversation as she slithered into view from the doorway nearby that entered the home.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Well then can you tell me about how good he was then Lady Minerva?” The crass youth asked with a smirk hoping to fluster the woman.
Coldbooded as she was she didn’t bat an eye as she answered easily and seriously. “He was my first so I can’t speak to the quality of others, but he certainly knew how to make a woman lust for another round.”
‘That sounds like a lie, she said she had experience with other Saurians when she convinced me to sleep with her.’ The pure doubt of Marduk was palpable to the woman as she made a shushing gesture when the Centaur got flustered and looked elsewhere sputtering about not thinking she’d actually admit such a thing.
“Now that you are thoroughly convinced of his skills both in bed and out of it, I need to borrow him for now, so we will be on our way Young Master Leon.” With a curtsy she took the hand of the Saurian and pulled him with more strength that he’d expected and dragged him along after her.
He’d had just enough time to forget for a period about the incident that had happened in the town the day prior, but being alone with Minerva alone immediately resurfaced the memories again causing his somewhat uplifted mood to drop.
Once they were out of sight and still feeling betrayed, Marduk ripped his hand from the woman and left her, going about his day trying to snuff the thoughts from his mind. Her saving him once wouldn’t recede the damage to his trust she’d done, Saurians lived by their trust and loyalty and he couldn’t just turn off the way his lizard wiring told him not to be near her.
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By the end of his first week in the town of Óðal Marduk had come to the conclusion luxury was nice, but moderation was key as the saying went.
This came about when he realised eating anymore ‘superior quality’ cuts of meat as they’d begun to sicken him, it was too much fat and the opulence mixed with not moving around much beyond sparring with Sophus’ children meant he didn’t need to eat nearly as much as he was being pushed to eat at each of these meals.
He’d also been refraining from leaving the manor walls which lead to the start of his second week in the town where he was invited to speak with Sophus alone with Adalgard as his translator.
The three of them were in a side room of the house, one of few with an actual door, this was crucial to the secrecy of the conversation the head of the Julia wished to have. It was with regards to Marduk’s stated wariness of the Corvus that he’d heard twice, once from the Half-Spriggan and then at the dinner where his ‘blessing’ was ousted.
Thankfully however his blessing was still held within the walls of his hosts and hadn't leaked out as far as he knew or at least wasn’t stirring problems for said hosts.
Seated in a triangle the three began the conversation when the last slave left after laying out cups and a pitcher full of boiled water.
“Your instincts are well founded and you should trust them.” Sophus started with as he sat down his cup after sipping from it. “The Corvus are more than they seem, just as you surmised.”
“How so?” Adalgard asked for the Lizardman.
“You are familiar with Count Fel aren’t you?” He asked the woman and her eyes went wide with surprise.
“I- surely not?” She questioned sounding aghast.
“Count Fel, so you are filled in Marduk, is the current ruler of the town presiding in the palace built separate from it. He has served as our leader for almost sixty years, but he has not aged a day in that time.”
‘A Vampire?’ The Suarian wondered while waiting for the man to continue speaking.
“The Corvi are his familiars, magically contracted creatures that serve him, by no means are they anything more than his eyes and ears to the city, it is how he governs us, he keeps tabs on everyone down to the last rat in the harbour.” The more he explained the more Marduk felt like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be privy to this information anymore.
“Though my home and two of my close friends are warded with protective spells to keep us free of his familiars, you may have noticed a few of them within the walls however-” images of the few on the roof when they’d first arrived came to mind. “They aren’t of any harm to you, they are those which I captured and with the help of a magician contact of mine turned into my own familiars to go out and collect information for me.”
“If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em?” Marduk said, though it had to be translated for a moment and the other man nodded his head.
“Yes, exactly that.” His reply was followed up by a sigh. “I have seen you sparring with my sons, and I appreciate your willingness to give them that much, but it has also made it clear to me that despite my boys being some of the best swordsmen in the whole town they are like fleas compared to you.”
He wasn’t really sure what to make of having it pointed out that everyone around him was infinitely weaker, it was an uncomfortable feeling.
“I’m not asking you to help us fight him right now but just asking for your support should the time come that we could make an attack on his position and dethrone him from power while you’re still in the town?”
“I can do that.” His simple reply made the older man smile.
“Good I knew I could trust you, now there was something else I wanted to mention… you and Minerva are close are you not?” Sophus’ question made Marduk mentally grimace.
“It could be called that…” Adalgard’s expression looked somewhat incredulous as she translated his response.
“She has been living here as my wifes guest for almost two years now, but living in the city is no different from living in a cell for you and her people is it not?” The Saurian nodded his head not really sure what his own opinion was on the matter yet. “Why not travel with her? She speaks several languages and you have a connection- I understand your journey is merely to see as much of the world as possible so why not- when you leave that is- take her with you?”
Marduk let the words sit in the air for a while as he thought of a response, he was still annoyed with her, he didn’t want to say or promise anything that he couldn’t keep. So he came to the conclusion that he would just have to say-
“I will think about it.”
“That’s all I ask then.” Sophus was about to conclude the meeting and stand up when a spark of remembrance flickered across his face.
“Actually I have lied there is one more thing.” He breathed a sigh. “It feels silly that I could have forgotten this, but Count Fel is a vile scar on this town and as such if you are ever tailed by or accosted by his guards do not give them reason to arrest you, you might be strong but killing guards will only turn the people against you and worse wherever they take you afterward I promise wholly and surely that you would never see the light of Sol again. So please be careful when you take to the town, take someone with you, be they one of our slaves who can show proof of our protection extending to you or Minerva and Adalgard, both women are well respected and known friends of my family.”
“I understand Sophus, I won’t do anything to draw attention to myself.”
“Of course you won’t, you’re a lizard brain but you’re not an idiot.” The Half-Spriggan replied to him in Suran before translating for him and then the meeting concluded.