Adalwulf: The Two Swords (Tales of Germania Book 1) (22 page)

I was not alone.

The dream had ended, but the lovemaking continued. There was a shadow straddling me, breathing heavily.

I gasped, and immediately rolled and pushed the figure, thinking the Marcomanni had surprised the village, but no, it was not the Marcomanni, but Elisedd, who held her thighs around me, not letting go, and I was inside her. Her eyes bulged with surprise as I was above her, and then she laughed with a strange, victorious note and grabbed my bare ass, and held me savagely, pulling her legs even tighter around me. I gasped, and struggled, but that only excited her more, and she kept me there, inside her, between her legs, and pulled me over her.

I was so confused. I loved Gisil, perhaps Ingrid, and he fact I had just made love to both in a dream, allowed me to feel less restraint about what was taking place. It had already, had it not? Gods knew how long I had been inside the Celt.

To my shame, I chased off the restraint.

She was fair, I was a man, and while I was betraying my feelings for Gisil, the mad woman would not let go, and so I let Elisedd kiss me ferociously. Then I thrust inside her, not looking at her eyes, and she was panting, squirming, and grinding against me. We kept at it until she scratched my back in ecstasy, threw her arms to the sides, shook and stretched while gasping, and so did I, experiencing a wonderful fulfillment.

When it was over, I lay on top of her, and she was laughing softly, holding my hair. “More,” she said, and pushed me up, turned around to her belly and pulled me over her, and I obeyed.

Later, I was exhausted, and so were she, but not enough to go to sleep. I gazed at her, saw devotion there, and knew the pains of having a conscience again. I knew I didn’t desire anything more than what had taken place, and hypocritically regretted even that. I begged Woden she would be satisfied with what we had shared, and would not share it with anyone. I felt guilty enough without explaining myself to others.

“Adalwulf,” she purred. “A dirty Marcomanni from the wrong side of the River. But quite nice for a murderous enemy, eh?”

“I’m a Chatti, Elisedd,” I answered. “But I do hope I am nice. Was.”

She climbed over me and sat on my chest. I tried to keep my eyes on hers, but could not, and she chuckled. “You were. Don’t fish for compliments. Your first time?”

“Yes,” I answered, that bothered me greatly. I had hoped my first time would be with someone I truly cared about.
Wyrd
. Too late for that now.

“I hear the Chatti do it with their goats,” she teased me. “If so, you are well-practiced, and your goats must miss you. It was delicious.”

“Oh, we only have cows and horses,” I said, and blushed, as I realized what filth she had meant. She didn’t miss the opportunity to giggle at me. I gazed to the side, where Iodocus was asleep, and at the door, by which her husband’s shed was. I knew if he had been awake, I’d have an enemy.

Unless he hoped to be rid of her, of course.

In which case, he was probably jubilant and thanking gods tearfully.

There was suddenly something desperate and ferocious about her eyes. “Look around, boy. You see how I live, no?”

“Seems a pretty good life to me, but am I missing something?”

“The fool, that … thing in the shed, that’s what,” she said with such scathing hatred, I had sympathy for the poor man, and half wondered why he was not dead yet. “I am not the sort of a woman to waste my life like this. I want changes.
Great
changes to my life. I want a better hall. Finer clothes. A man with ambition. Children. Perhaps that is now taken care of.”

My breath stopped for a moment until she snapped my forehead.
Surely not
, I thought.
Yes, of course it was possible,
I decided, and all that had passed felt somehow not worth it right that moment.

I put my hands on her hips, hoping to push her away, but she twitched with pleasure, pushed her hair out of her eyes, locked herself there with her powerful legs and kept speaking. “I want to move away. With you.”

“Oh?” I said with confusion, looking into her devious eyes. “Without your husband?”

She gaped at me with astonishment. “With
you
, I said. Of course without
him,
you fool. I want to forget him, never to see or hear of him again,” she hissed. “And for that, I need two things. One is a man. A fine, strong man, a fighter who braves enemy shields and spears and does not squat over filthy hooves all day. I have that sort of a man, I think, right between my legs,” she said proudly.

“I—”

She put a finger over my mouth, smiled, and moved my hand on her round buttock. My fingers found her ass pleasant as she moved to sit on it. She was very persuasive, I had to admit. I closed my eyes, and tried to control the lust. “Second,” she said huskily, “I need a man who will make
us rich.
In a quick way. Perhaps by taking, rather than waiting?
”

And at that, I knew what she wanted. She wanted me to rob Seisyll, and to run away with her. I opened my mouth to deny her this wish, but she was faster, and moved from my chest to my face. I shut my mouth, and did what she wanted me to do, no matter how mad and dangerous she was.

***

In the morning I awoke with a start, and found Iodocus was sitting across the room from me, grinding wheat on a quern-stone, and the girl was not around. I stared him incredulously. “What in Hel’s name is that?”

“Food,” he snorted.

“You make food? Bread? Where is the girl?” I asked, not sure if he had heard us that night.

“She’s about,” he said with a smile. “Yes, I’ll fix us something to eat. I’m bored out of my mind, anyway.”

“Five days?” I asked him, rubbing my face and pulling on my clothes.

“The young one can count,” he noted dryly. “Day five. If Bero’s away, it will be many more days before anything happens. If anything happens anyway. It might be they are no fools, and Bero is just taking the loss like a woman. Weeps himself to sleep, eh?”

“I cannot believe they’d stomach losing what we took,” I said hopelessly. “Perhaps they fooled us, crossed the river elsewhere last night, hoping to surprise us, and are lost. They are riding around like blind drunkards, weeping, hoping someone might tell them where to find Seisyll.”

“Perhaps they did,” Iodocus said with a snort. “Relax, it’s going well enough. We will sit here until we go crazy, or until Seisyll tires of the game. We have time still. Relax, relax some more, and heal that wound of yours.” He squinted, and gave a guttural laugh. “But then, you did relax last night, didn’t you? However, that sort of relaxation likely didn’t do any favors to your wound. She was quite enthusiastic. I bet she woke half the village. And you did as well, you goat.”

I held my head and looked at him unkindly. “I didn’t. And I regret it. Sort of.”

He laughed. “Oh, you did wake them up. A boy brought us water. He said you were panting like a dog in heat. He lives two houses that way.” He nodded vaguely out the door.

I looked around, gathering my tunic. “You know, she has this plan—”

He shook his head like a father might. “It’s going to be awkward, Adalwulf,” he stated and pointed a steady finger at me. “Unless you really are contemplating on running away with the vixen and the treasure? Then it’s not awkward at all.”

“You heard that discussion, eh?” I said sheepishly. “Its
her
plan. I only planned on pleasing her in bed. And I didn’t even plan for that. She sat on me while I was dreaming of someone else.”

He stopped for a moment, and smiled maliciously. “Look, Adalwulf. I didn’t hear a thing. I slept like the dead. Even if the rest of the village were awake listening to your adventures, I was out of it. I saw her when she left you this morning, that’s all, and the boy told me most of it.”

I stared at him. “Then how did you know what she wants from me? How did you know she aims to run away with me? And the treasure?”

“She will want a man.” He made a surprisingly passable mockery of her face. “She’ll need an ambitious man who will make her rich! And he must not wait for riches to come to him, no. He must
take
them!”

I blushed. “You
did
hear it!”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I did, kind of. About an hour before she came to you. There’s a reason why I was so exhausted and slept like the dead. She probably sat on my chest like she sat on yours, and told me she wanted to elope.”

We sat there, and I held my head. It ached, and I had a sour taste in my mouth. “She came to you
before
me?”

“She sure did,” he chuckled.

I thought about it. “She sat on my face. I licked—”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m not sure how to apologize.” He chortled and then roared with laughter, and I could not help but join in. When we were done, he offered me water and gruel, wiping his tears. “At least I said no to her plans. She was smiling when she left your side, so I assume you didn’t have the balls to deny her the mad dream?”

“No,” I said miserably. “My balls were all spent. She wants that treasure, and I want neither her or the treasure, but I didn’t tell her I’d pass.”

We heard a clatter on the doorway.

She was there, looking at us, her face blushed and wrathful, and we both looked down like true cowards. She had heard us. It was clear as Sunna in the sky. I was begging gods she would accept what I had said, and dared not look at her Eventually, she let out a noise, a hissing, enraged one, like a horse when it’s preparing to kick another stallion. Then she left.

“Well,” Iodocus breathed. “That’s settled. Though I’m not sure we are safe. I’m preparing the food from now on, I guess. I’m practicing, at least.”

“Has our contact send us any word?” I asked him, desperate to escape the hut.

He laughed. “No. Why should he? It’s not evening. Nothing since yesterday,’ he murmured, regretting the fact as well. “We must stop worrying. Nothing’s changed. Did you notice while there has been no news of Bero’s wrath, neither has there been anything bigger afoot? Balderich has not been told of the thievery. Bero would hate to, since that would reveal the full extent of his riches. Probably would make the old man, the high blood of Aristovistus, livid with anger and jealousy, should it be learnt there is a richer warlord in the village than the great Balderich. They haven’t mentioned Seisyll, not at all. No, Bero will come, but only when he is ready. He is scouting the place. He will know all he can about the village, surrounding villages, men camped near, but with any luck, they won’t know about the extra war-band in the village. Or whatever else Seisyll’s planning, and yea, there must be more. It will be bitter struggle. It’s up to you and me to capture Leuthard. We just have to endure my cooking and the she-demon.”

“I wish I knew what Seisyll is planning,” I complained. I didn’t trust the man, not one bit. He wanted the riches, but would he honor the agreement. And so, I had another idea. I looked at Iodocus and smiled.

“What?” he asked, worried.

“We need a plan for Seisyll,” I stated.

He sighed and nodded in agreement, as he lifted an eyebrow at me. “What kind?” He kept grinding the flour.

I shook my head as he nearly dropped the whole affair to the floor. “That’s going to taste as bad as it looks.”

Iodocus grimaced. “You’ll learn manners, or you’ll not eat. I won’t cook for you, unless you learn to be polite,” he said as he grunted with the effort of grinding. “What kind of plan did you have in mind?”

I sat down on stool next to him, and looked deep into the crushed wheat. “If you think I’ll starve, you are wrong,” I told him, and looked aghast at his efforts. “I rather eat grass than that gritty bread of yours. I see a stone!”

He scowled. “Some stones fall in, every now and then. I’m not perfect.”

I counted with my fingers. “What did Seisyll disagree on with Teutorigos?” I asked him. “Originally. Why is Teutorigos a Marcomanni?”

Iodocus shrugged. “Teutorigos displeased the Romans. Killed a publicani, a man who was from a rival tribe. Seisyll took the opportunity to rob him of his lands and rulership.” He glanced at me. “I know that mischievous look. What are you thinking about? Out with it.”

I thrummed my fingers on the desk. “Well. You did notice Seisyll looked like a fish on a dry land when he looked at the coins. He means to keep them.”

Iodocus stopped grinding. “Yes. I bet that’s the deal, anyway. He doesn’t give a duck’s shit about Cerunnos. That’s the price of his help. The coins. Probably more, I think. Teutorigos will give him everything he has after Leuthard is dead.”

I stared at him. “He gave it all to the gods.”

Iodocus laughed. “He had it fished up after he knew it would be needed. He is a cursed man, Adalwulf. Driven. Willing to insult the gods themselves if only he can catch a hold of Leuthard.”

I looked at my nails, nervous about the whole deal. “I think we need Seisyll properly motivated to stay true to our goal. I say, when the battle begins, you sneak to his hall and get the treasure. You take it, hide it, and if things don’t work out, we can bargain hard. There it is.”