TWO HEADS TWO SPIKES (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga) (6 page)

“Yes, my Princess. Be careful, my brave Princess,” responded Tolaya with a shy smile.

Tolaya pulled open the tent flaps and the Princess emerged into a new day. Either it wasn’t as cold as it should have been, or she was still perspiring from her dream. Tolaya fastened the red cape around Leimur’s neck. It featured a golden tiger in the center. The cape seemed to wave goodbye to Tolaya, aided by the early harvest wind gusts. The Princess walked toward her strong, obsidian destrier. She had named the horse Marius in honor of her great-great grandfather, Marius Leluc. The charger wore a black saddle and light battle armor. Black linen lined the horse’s body with a giant, soaring eagle proudly embroidered on the outside. It only took a few minutes for her to arrive at the front. The lined-up soldiers looked like waves from a sea of humanity as the Princess galloped along the perimeter. Thousands of men chattered and the drums rumbled through the morning air.

Boom, baba ba, boom, boom, boom. Boom, baba ba, boom, boom, boom
.

These songs were the sounds the Princess heard on a daily basis now and she’d learned to enjoy the racket. The soldiers were ever prepared for an attack even though it seemed highly improbably given the current situation. The Donegal soldiers had claimed the high ground, forcing Goldenfield to wait to attack. But Donegal didn’t want to fight Goldenfield on even ground so the two month standoff waged on.

Never get caught with your pants down
, her father used to say. It was one of the few things Leimur remembered from his almighty ramblings. She pulled back on the reins once she spotted General Rigby. The smell of shit, piss and puke permeated the air. But the malodor of dead bodies and rotting horses from the battle six months ago still lingered and overpowered it. Princess Leimur couldn’t decide which stench was worse but she knew one thing; she preferred that to the rank perfumes the highborn wore. For someone reared in a palace she oddly felt right at home on the putrid battlefields.

Death is part of life
.

Leimur approached General Rigby and shouted, “Nothing still?”

“We are still at a standoff, my Princess,” the General responded.

“Let’s convene in the strategy pavilion in an hour’s time. Please alert Captain Salina and Tetine and Sir Pierre as well,” the Princess returned.

“Very well, highness,” said the General.

She loathed being called ‘highness’. At times she even wished she was lowborn.

Power should be earned, not inherited.

Out of nowhere, a giant pot of purple fire flew through the air. It blasted into a large tree about ten feet from the Princess, instantly igniting everything in its destructive path. She checked her body to make sure the fragments from the pot hadn’t hit her. She hurriedly climbed on Marius and galloped away from the burning mass. She passed two men whose primal screams of agony tore at her ears as the hapless soldiers watched the purple fire rip right through their organs. The Princess almost hit a tree branch as she stared in horror at the men struggle while death crept in.

Donegal is still up to these old tricks. Sneaking down the mountain and flinging purple fire is the work of cowards. They have no honor or courage. I have them afraid of a girl
.

All the participants arrived earlier than expected to the meeting so the Princess saw no reason to wait.

“First order of interest,” the Princess started, “I want the whore wagons and tents gone immediately.”

Sir Pierre Trommel interjected, “My Princess, I am not particularly fond of the whores personally, but they are necessary for the men’s morale.”

The Princess quickly snapped back, “Morale? Morale? I watched six men die yesterday, fourteen the day before. Pissing blood was the first sign for all of them. Then their whole body turned green and they rotted from the inside out. They were throwing up and shitting out their insides until they died a painful death. Many of them now ask to be put to the sword after pissing blood. Forty-eight men died after contracting these symptoms last month and every single one of those men visited the whores just weeks before their demise. I don’t have to be brilliant to put this together.”

“But highness, maybe we can find some new, cleaner whores. I do say this for your safety as well,” Captain Leo Tetine warned.

The Princess immediately came back, “Hah, I think I am able defend myself just fine Captain.” She thought for a moment, and declared, “We bring in new whores under this provision: They will be sampled by our most unproductive men first, pages, squires and the like. If nothing should occur to those men, then the soldiers may start using them again. As for these present whores, they are killing more men than the enemy at the moment. We need them removed immediately. Send them over to the Donegal lines with the message that the Warrior Princess will not allow whores in her camps any longer. These girls can be better killers than most of our men at the moment.”

“Brilliant idea, my Princess”, said Captain Salina.

Leimur just nodded her head.

“As far as my father, I can’t seem to get a response from him about consolidating power in the west. Many letters have gone unanswered and I am afraid we must remain here until we receive word from the Capitol,” the Princess told her audience.

“They must be fighting a war in Sevring that we do not know about,” said an annoyed Sir Pierre.

“Look,” said Leimur as she raised her voice, “Nobody wants to end this stalemate more than General Rigby and I. If we continue to receive no response I will go to the Capitol myself to handle this problem.”

“Would that be wise, my Princess?” asked Captain Rosa Salina.

The Princess turned to the woman and smiled, exposing her jagged teeth. “No, but it may be required for a Princess General. Captain Tetine, what words have you received from the Harbor Valley front?”

The older man with a missing left eye said, “Same stalemate that we have here. They take a couple hundred feet, Harbor Valley takes it right back. It sounds exactly like the letters we are sending them.”

“Perfect. We are exhausting resources on either side of the realm and probably all points in between.” She looked around and told the war veterans, “Thank you everyone, you are dismissed now.”

General Rigby stayed back and addressed the Princess, “Leimur, I have some unpleasant words I feel are necessary for your ears.”

The Princess knew the General had something serious to discuss. He had never called her Leimur before.

“It is about your father,” continued General George Rigby. The General had served in the Goldenfield army for thirty-two years. He was forty-six and scars of battle were visible. The General, a gargantuan man, had many battle wounds. His two missing fingers and knife scars across the back of his neck were constant reminders of having been a prisoner in Livingstone for three years. Rigby’s shaggy, gray hair and short beard matched each other. His gray eyes and several missing teeth completed the haggard look.

The Princess took a seat inside the makeshift mobile office.

“I have received several reports from different sources about your father’s behavior.” General Rigby squirmed as he uttered the words.

Leimur tried to make it easier for him, “I am not a stupid little girl, General. You have seen me kill men all over the battlefield and I have even tortured them in gruesome ways, so do not be shy.”

She spoke in a deep bass voice that proved useful when she had to shout orders over the chaos on the battlefield. Conversely, she rarely raised her voice in meetings.

The General fingered his moustache and stated, “Unfortunately, it seems your father is going a bit mad. I am told he is uselessly drunk at all times and he is bringing whores into the bed of his holy union.”

Leimur hated her mother even more than her father, but even she didn’t deserve that humiliation. “That’s not mad, just disrespectful really,” Leimur responded.

“I was not quite finished, my Princess. It also seems as though he thinks he holds a connection to the Gods. He takes on a different moniker for all seven days of the week.” The General now sat down. “It also appears that he feels that mortals are here on earth for him to feast on. Not only is he taking on whores, but the wives of his council members and family. He is also sacrificing a virgin girl every day in the palace bailey in a mark of respect to the Gods.”

The Princess looked down and shook her head, “Does the public know?”

“All of my resources trust very little is known right now, but that shouldn’t last for long. One of these husbands is going to talk to someone at some point,” the General slowly added.

“Or kill someone? Send me to all seven hells. How can my mother put up with this?” the Princess wondered.

“Damn, I was hoping you wouldn’t ask. I have been told that the Queen has - I am sorry - your birth mother has…” the General corrected himself as he remembered the Princess despised people calling her mother the Queen. “She has become very fond of wine, ale and spirits, I am afraid. They say she wakes to six cups of morning water spiked with heavy spirits and progresses to drink it straight as the day moves on. She is believed to sleep sometimes for a full day at a time. She only wakes to vomit or relieve herself.”

A disgusted look came over the Princess’s face as the conversation angered her the more it went on. She said sternly, “Our realm sits in peril, ripe for sack by outsiders or the general public, and we are stuck dealing with this nonsense.”

He abhorred doing this. Ali-Pari Wamhoff pulled his pants down and welcomed his penis into her mouth. After several minutes of heavy licking and sucking Russell Seabrook was ready to go. The stark naked Ali-Pari slowly stood up and leaned over the bed. Russell knew he had to carry out this burden. The young man settled in behind her. He closed his eyes and envisioned Ali-Gare, the fairest maid in the land, as he inserted himself inside Ali-Pari Wamhoff.

“Ooohh,” she moaned in her deep voice. He started slowly until Ali-Pari reached back and pinched his thigh, saying, “Pound me young man.”

I guess this is the price I pay for being knighted at sixteen.

Russell’s eyes remained closed as the sensual slapping of skin got increasingly louder.

Sir Russell Seabrook was a bewildered young man of seventeen. He always thought he had greatness within, but wasn’t sure of what his destiny had in store for him. Russell had shaggy, curly brown hair offset by brilliant blue eyes. He was tall and strapping but still appeared younger because he couldn’t grow facial hair. He had a slight speech difficulty and tended to stutter when stumped or ruffled. Russell served as one of only a few lowborn knights in the realm. His mother worked in the castle kitchens of Duke Tyus Etburn. Duke Etburn was eighty two and cared little for Russell. When he had refused to knight the boy, Ali-Pari threatened to take the boy to Falconhurst to let her brother, King Ali-Stanley, knight him. Duke Etburn ultimately caved in and carried out the wishes of Ali-Pari.

Ali-Pari Wamhoff had always taken care of Russell Seabrook. Even though she had married Duke Etburn, everyone still called her by the Wamhoff name. He never knew his father and she took him in after his mother died when he was eight.

Russell opened his eyes and looked at Ali-Pari’s wrinkled skin bouncing around. She was a dazzling woman, but at age seventy, new shortcomings arrived every day like uninvited guests. Ali-Pari’s once vibrant auburn hair now grayed, matching the dull walls of her room. She had been nicely shaped, but those days were only fading memories. Russell focused on the wrinkles and blue marks on her legs. After about ten minutes of rough sex Ali-Pari started convulsing and screamed Russell’s name at the top of her throat.

The Duchess of the castle released her taut grip on the sheets and said, “Oh Russell, you are my favorite.”

Russell was simply glad it was over. He felt grimy having sex with the Duchess of Waters Edge, right under her husband’s roof.

I cannot continue this
.

Russell put his clothes back on while Ali-Pari lay back, smiling in the bed.

“Oh why are you so sad, Sir Russell,” poked Ali-Pari.

“I’m not sad, it’s just...”

“It’s just what?” interrupted Ali-Pari, suddenly annoyed.

Russell carefully continued, “Well it just feels wrong to do this to Duke Etburn.”

A direct Ali-Pari said, “My child, that man is deader than a ghost. He couldn’t satisfy me when he was in his prime. And every woman, although she will deny it, has sexual needs just like a man.”

That doesn’t make me feel better at all
.

“As you say, my Duchess,” Russell offered.

“Oh, Russell Seabrook, I cannot have you mad at me,” she said as she got out of bed and walked over to a fully attired Russell.

Russell loved Ali-Pari like a grandmother. She took care of him when no one else was willing, but he still needed to figure out an alternative that would convince Ali-Pari to terminate this adultery.

She hugged Russell, kissed him on the cheek and whispered in a raspy voice, “Goodbye, my brave knight.”

“My Duchess,” Russell bowed and slipped out the door. He withdrew from the castle as fast as he could.

The smell of dirty, salty seawater lofted through the afternoon air. Although Elkridge, the Capitol of Waters Edge, lay inland from the Sea of Green, it still caught some of the ocean smells that drifted in. A huge crowd of people thronged the castle. Some traded goods from the early harvest. Others just drank and exchanged boisterous stories. Food and essentials were the main items traded since luxury goods were somewhat forbidden by Duke Etburn who preached against living in excess as he believed it may burn the soul.

There was a strong belief in the afterlife in the kingdom of Donegal. They called it the forever-life because it was expected to last for eternity. The worshippers believed that they would be judged by their actions on earth to determine their status in the forever-life. Would it be heaven or hell? After death, a person either ascended into heaven or descended to hell. There were seven steps of heaven and seven gates of hell. A test at each step or gate determined if you went to a better heaven or worse hell as each step multiplied the results. The people called them the heavens and hells. The church had also convinced worshippers to repent their sins on earth to the Faith of Eternal Light with the promise that you may enter the tests of heaven with a clean soul. Usually it took a monetary transaction to have one of the Brothers of the Faith of Eternal Light absolve your earthly sins for the Day of Judgment.