The two weeks initially planned for the mission had elapsed. Lucon and Trajan stood on the palisades and looked at the road. Only 85 of the 104 recruits had returned.
Lucon’s eyes appeared empty, just hulls. His mind was somewhere else entirely.
Trajan knew where.
“Lucon. This isn’t your fault-“ he tried to speak to the commander who shut his friend up with a gesture of his hand.
“I know.” He mumbled. His voice was hoarse and emotionless.
“Regardless. 19 men have died. My men. They were my responsibility.” Lucon’s jaw clenched.
“Lucon! This isn’t something you could influence. Who would know that after 15 years of repeating this mission, this year something like this would occur, hell, we still don’t know what actually happened. We can only report it and wait for orders.” Trajan attempted to ease Lucon’s mind, yet no matter what he said his friend wasn’t listening to him.
Lucon shook his head and turned around.
“It seems the last 2 years of peace have made me weak.” Lucon was bitter. A cruel smile formed on his lips.
“It’s time to perform. I’ve allowed my mind too much emotion already.” He turned around and left Trajan standing on the palisades alone.
Trajan bit his lip and looked after his friend.
“War has destroyed you, my friend. It’s good to see the old Lucon back, though I hate what powers him.” Trajan muttered when Lucon was already gone.
‘The two weeks have elapsed. It’s time for them to return to Vostrim Castle.’ Lucon thought and went to look for one of his officers. He did not allow himself emotions, locking them away. He had learned this the hard way in war.
After the conflict, he had allowed himself to heal from what he had seen and done, but now that the situation required him to perform, he had to forget his own emotions and work towards the mission goal.
‘Duty.’ He thought as he marched towards his officer's tent. The air around him had changed. There was no more kindness. His figure was as straight as an arrow. His sharp facial features and grim expression combined with his scars made a fearsome commander and veteran out of the man.
Without announcing himself he entered his officer’s tent, and they were playing dice. When they saw his expression, they immediately recognized it and were alarmed. They jumped up and saluted.
“At ease.”
They didn’t dare to relax.
“In twenty minutes, we will depart to Vostrim Castle. We will walk through the night and arrive tomorrow evening. Clear?” he explained nonchalantly without unnecessary details.
These officers had all served under him before. They knew what Lucon’s state meant. This was not the time to ask questions. They nodded at one another before clicking their heels and leaving the tent.
Lucon took one of the cups on the table, filled it with wine, and took a long sip. From outside of the tent, he could hear his officers shouting commands followed by a bustling noise of several dozen men preparing to leave the camp.
‘The raid half a year ago, several more border incidents… now this.’ Lucon grunted.
The picture of the Blood Warrior he saw all those years back appeared in Lucon’s head.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
‘War is coming. And something will be different.’ He thought grimly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Vostrim Castle
The sun had disappeared when Schenk and Mirabella retired to their chambers. Mirabella let her body slump down onto their large bed and spread her arms away from her.
‘What an exhausting day.’ She thought and sighed.
Schenk sat on a table, lighting up a candle. He poured two cups of wine.
“Been an exhausting day.” He mumbled before taking a sip.
“Yeah. I was busy all day.” She groaned as she stood up, closed the door, and finally let her hair out of the ponytail. It flowed freely down over her shoulders. She was wearing a blue dress beautifully accentuating her firm chest and hips.
Schenk leaned back in his chair and with a hum of approval eyed her body. She enjoyed the attention and graciously walked over, sitting down on his lap.
“Wine.” She said with a playful smile and Schenk passed her a cup.
“Thank you.” She emptied the cup in one go, placing it on the table again. She then readjusted herself on his lap so that they could look at one another.
“How was your day?” she asked him and put her hands around his shoulders.
His expression melted and he smiled.
“Probably less exhausting than my lovely steward’s.” he snickered.
“Mhm.” She hummed and brought her forehead to his, closing her eyes.
“Every day I look forward to the time we get to spend together. Be it a walk, looking at the stars, or simply talking with you.” She whispered and they both smiled.
They opened their eyes and lost themselves. They had lost track of time. They didn’t know if they had remained in this position for an hour or mere minutes.
“I have seen so much in my life. Yet there is nothing more beautiful than you.” He said and her eyes radiated when she heard his voice. They were so truthful. She melted into his embrace and held her.
“I fear for Leona. Shouldn’t they have returned by now?” Mirabella asked after a brief silence. It had bugged her several days already.
Androcles caressed his wife’s face and nodded.
“They should have. But in case it takes some groups longer to return they have a second week to return to Caurium. They have 3 more days until they need to arrive here. Trust me, if our daughter had been missing Lucon would’ve sent me a rider within the same hour.”
That seemed to satisfy her. She closed her eyes and smiled.
“It's that time of the month.” She whispered eventually.
He raised his eyebrows.
“That time?” he asked suspiciously.
“That time.” She giggled sweetly.
“I want another child; did you forget already?” she whispered into his right ear before standing up.
She walked away from him and looked over her shoulder coquettishly.
“Or do you not want another child with me?”
Schenk stood up and smiled at her.
“You already know the answer to that.”
Without another word, Mirabella giggled and slipped off her dress. It came off surprisingly easy and revealed a sight many men would die for. The candlelight danced on her body before she turned around and looked deep into her husband’s eyes.
There was not a trace of shyness on her face. Confidence and elegance radiated from her body, even without the linen covering it.
She opened her arms wide and smiled lovingly.
“What are you waiting for?” she asked him and giggled cutely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30 minutes later
The chamber had become a mess. The table and chairs had been flipped over, the pillows were spread throughout the room and the sheets were partially pulled off the mattresses.
In the middle of this chaos, Androcles and Mirabella were on their bed.
Her face radiated utter happiness. She was practically beaming at her husband.
“What are you thinking?” she asked him with a dreamy voice.
“Just how lucky I am to be the one man to marry you.” He chuckled.
She laughed and wanted to retort something, but they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“You can’t be serious. What could it be at this hour?” Schenk groaned while Mirabella scurried off to wrap herself in a bedsheet. He stood up, grabbing a pillow to cover himself before shouting. Mirabella was already hidden under a sheet. He had checked.
“I HOPE YOU HAVE A HELL OF A GOOD REASON FOR DISTURBING US!”
The door opened a crack, and he could see a servant outside, blushing profusely as he saw his lord only covered by a pillow.
“So, who the fuck disturbs me and my wife at this time of the day?” Schenk asked, annoyance visibly showing on his face.
The servant opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. He was shaking and sweating. He just pointed at somewhere out on the hall where Schenk couldn’t see.
‘Who the hell could make Titus so afraid?’ Schenk grabbed a long knife which he always placed next to his door.
Yet before he could repeat his question, he heard a familiar voice from the hall that caused him to turn pale white.
“It is I who dares to fucking disturb you at this time of the day.” Alexander Argorus spoke as he appeared behind the servant with a smile.
“I have come to visit my dear friend. I wish to talk. It’s urgent.”