To Lunambra Pt. 01

"How many of you are there?" Baeden hissed at him.

"Ow, there's another thirteen of us, but-" And the Prince cut his throat. He lay gurgling for a moment, then leaned back, dead.

Baeden looked to the treeline, at Marina, who was crouching hidden in a bush watching his interrogation. She stepped out, looking at him fearfully. "Did you really need to kill him? He told you where the Queen was."

The Prince walked to Marina, sheathing his blade and placing his hands on both her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes. "Listen to me and understand, Marina. These men are not knights, this is not a Joust or Tournament. They lack any and all honor or dignity, and they can not, under any circumstances, be underestimated or afforded mercy. They will torture and ransom me, they will rape you and sell you into slavery, and while you may already consider yourself a slave, I promise you that your new owners will not treat you as the Royalty of Lunambra does. I know you have never experienced warfare, and resent me if you must but I cannot hold back against them." She looked back at him, and to his surprise, she nodded wisely.

"I may not be accustomed to death, but I understand the danger that we face. Do what you must."

"Thank you. Now stay close to me." They trudged through the forest for another thirty minutes, and finally came back to the road they were traveling on. They could see the abandoned carriage sitting still a few hundred yards in the distance, and the castle town looming miles away.

"Should you not get to the castle and muster a force?" Marina asked.

"I'm afraid not. Even though we know where my mother is, all of these old outposts have tall watchtowers and underground escape routes. A number of men approaching would quickly alert them, and they would flee before we reached the gates. I must sneak in and rescue her quietly. Listen, Marina. You should not come in there with me, it's no place for a noncombatant. Go back to our carriage and rest until I return."

Marina glared at him. "Bugger that, I'm far better off at your side than hiding in a glorified meat barrel for some bear to find." Baeden knew perfectly well that these lands were inhabited by bears, wolves, and many other dangerous creatures. He decided her response was fair enough despite the crudeness of it, so he nodded.

"Very well. Olsha is about half a mile off the road, to the west. I know these forests, but stay close." So they continued to trudge through the slush and snow, stopping once to refill their canteen again. After nearly an hour of slowly navigating the forest, Baeden held out his arm to stop Marina. Silently, he pointed two fingers at his eyes, the universal symbol for 'Look at this', then pointed forwards and up, through the tree canopy. Marina squinted to see through the sunlight, but her eyes quickly adjusted and she saw a stone turret towering over the pines. She nodded, and followed as Baeden moved quietly towards the fortress. They soon reached a clearing, a stone plateau rising above a small ditch littered with bushes and small trees. Suddenly, Baeden pushed her down against a prickly bush. She looked at him, flustered, but he just motioned for silence and pushed her harder against the painful shrub. She almost let out a moan, but froze as she heard footsteps sloshing through the snow no more than two feet above her head. Without moving her head, she moved her eyes upwards so far that they hurt, and saw a man dressed in thick leather armor carrying a crossbow passing their hiding spot.

Right after he passed, Baeden peeked out of their cover, glancing in every direction. Deciding it was clear of other threats, he drew his dagger and vaulted onto the plateau. The bandit heard the jingling of his chainmail, but Baeden moved with such speed that he never had time to call out. Rolling to his feet, Baeden jumped through the air, flying an incredible distance for the amount of armor he was wearing. As he impacted the bandit, he plunged the dagger into his throat, and the bandit crashed into the ground. As the ground was stone, and the bandit was wearing leather rather than chain, his falling made nothing more than a soft thump. Baeden landed gracefully, but his armor still made far too much noise. Marina eyed the dead bandit.

"He looks just about your size. If we're trying to handle this quietly, you need to lose your armor, it sounds like a boar in a potter's shop. Put on this leather, it's protective enough and much quieter, not to mention darker in color." Without a thought, Baeden began pulling off his tabard, then stopped. He stared at Marina, realizing that she delivered her words in a manner that could have come straight from one of his Knights. Again, she reaffirmed his opinion that she was no light-headed servant girl.

"You speak to me as an equal, without fear. I am not angry about it, but I am curious as to why you are so casual with me. All of my servants fear me, bend to my every whim. What is it that allows you to see that I am not like the other Royalty?"

"Your servants need only see you as a fixed point, my Prince. They've never fought with you, they've never survived with you. I've seen your strength, your love, your drive, your ability. I've seen you at your most vulnerable, and you at mine. I feel as though there is no need to behave as a servant to you anymore. I know you won't have me beheaded for speaking my mind, and I know that you find me worthy of your chivalry. There is simply no use in attempting to behave properly, we are out here together, trying to save the Queen, trying to stay alive."

At her words, Baeden was overcome with a surge of lust. He reached out, gripping Marina's arms. She stumbled into him, her breasts pressing softly into his chest. He moved his left hand upwards, brushing her cheek then sliding his hand to the back of her head. He leaned in, and so did she. As their lips were about to touch, Marina's eyes drifted to the right, to the body of the bandit that still lay bleeding. He came crashing back to earth, and pulled away from her. "I apologize. But you are correct, my armor isn't proper for this sort of thing."

Baeden stripped down as Marina looked on. She eyed his front, seeing that his body had again failed his intentions, causing his manhood to press forcefully against his light underclothes. He looked up at Marina and turned red when he saw her staring at his erect member as she smiled innocently at him. Despite this, he equipped the dead bandit's leather armor. Handling the body caused his organ to calm down quickly, and he was able to shove it down into the leather greaves. He piled his expensive chainmail and plate boots and gauntlets under a tree to retrieve later. "Come on," he said, and he grabbed the bandit's crossbow and quiver and moved towards the fortress with Marina following behind.

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Chapter 5- Training

Slinking through the trees with the agility of a cat, the Prince pressed himself against the stone wall surrounding the fortress. Marina came in behind him, much less gracefully, and stood by his side. Baeden stood tall and jumped, grasping the top of the wall and pulling himself up enough to peek over it. He glanced around, then dropped back to the ground. "The gate is on the other side of the fortress. I don't see any men, lets get over this wall quickly." He held out his hands to Marina, and she stepped into them. He lifted her with ease, and pushed her up and over the wall, where she crash-landed with a loud thump. He then jumped again, hauling himself over and climbing down next to her. "Listen Marina, I mean no offense, but you move like a wounded cow," he said, half as a fact and half as a retort to her 'Boar in a potter's shop' line. She stared at him indignantly, but he ignored her glare and continued. "You need to stay low, keep your legs loose. When you step, put down your foot heel-first and then roll your foot into the step. Watch and feel for branches or crunching leaves as you walk," he whispered into her ear.

"Alright, I understand," she whispered back. They circled around the fortress, Marina doing her best to follow Baeden's instructions and remain silent. As she tried to loosen up the muscles in her legs, she felt the pressure in her bladder. She had been drinking from the canteen a lot more than Baeden. She squeezed her legs together for a few seconds, then continued to follow Baeden to the base of the fortress tower, and he peeked around the corner. He held up his hand, and again performed the 'Look here' gesture, and she crawled past his legs and looked where he pointed. Two guards stood a short distance away, positioned on small guard platforms built onto the stone walls. Looking around, she could see nobody else. One of the guards began to turn in their direction, and Baeden grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her back into cover.

"Marina, I hate to ask this of you, but do you think you can handle a crossbow?"

"Well I've...I've never fired one, I've never killed-"

"I know that, but are you willing to in order to save my mother?"

Marina inhaled deeply. Despite the Prince's earlier words, she knew of war. As the Queen slept or was being handled by other servants, she had read many tomes on battlefield tactics, the use of weapons such as bows, crossbows, longswords, and ballistas. She was afraid of what she may feel if she killed a man, but she was also adamant about saving the Queen and, if she could be of any help, aiding the Prince. "I will do as you ask. You must pull the bow for me though, I fear I lack the arm strength for it."

"Of course," he said, "but first I want to give you a quick idea of how to use this thing." He handed the unloaded weapon to Marina. "Pay close attention to me. The guards are about fifteen meters away, and I estimate the draw weight of this crossbow to be about 130 pounds. The bolts have heavy iron broadheads. With all these variables, I anticipate a drop of no more than three inches during the bolt's flight. You need to brace the bow against your shoulder and look through this notch right over the bolt's fletching. Line up this notch with the nail on the tip of the bow. When you have an accurate sight picture, you need to slowly exhale and then gently rub the trigger, this metal bar right here. Do NOT squeeze it or jerk it, or you will lose all of your accuracy."

Marina did as he said, pressing the weapon tightly to her shoulder and looking down the sights. She aligned the notch with the nail, and when satisfied with her handling of the bow, she slid her fingers down the trigger until the string lock made a soft click, then lowered the bow. "I think I get how it works," she said tentatively.

"I wish you could take a practice shot, but we only have three bolts, we can't waste them. Listen, I'm trusting you with our lives here. Do not fire unless you know your aim is true. I'm going to circle the wall and take position underneath the guard on the left. You target the guard on the right. When you see me get underneath him and I wave, you can fire when ready. As soon as he falls, I'll take out my target before he can yell. Are you sure you can do this?"

Marina nodded reassuringly. "Yes. Trust me, I can do this." Baeden nodded, and took the bow from her. He placed his foot through the stirrup, effortlessly pulling the string into place and sliding a bolt down the body of the crossbow. He then pressed outward on the trigger until it clicked into place, ready to fire. He handed Marina the weapon and began to quietly sneak around the tower. She watched as he moved like a panther, so low to the ground that his chest brushed the leaves under him. He reached the short guard platform, and slid under the wooden supports. He gave her a wave, and watched for her attack. Marina lifted the bow, pressing it to her shoulder. Again she aligned the sights of the bow, and she leveled the front nail with the top of her target's head. Lifting her aim another tiny amount to account for gravity, she slowly reached for the trigger. Every bit of her focus was on her aim, and she began to slowly exhale. Just as her fingers brushed the trigger, the bolt released. It flew at an unexpected speed, burying itself into the back of the guard's head. As soon as he fell, Baeden lunged upwards, grasping the second guard's ankle and hauling him off the platform. He fell beside him, rolling into a choke hold and stayed there until the bandit stopped struggling. And with as little mercy as he had shown the others, he plunged his dagger into the bandit's throat to stop any chance of him waking up later.

Marina gasped, falling backwards against the fortress wall. She was visibly shaken, breathing heavily and beginning to tear up. Baeden sprinted back to her, and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Marina. You shouldn't have had to do that."

"No it's...I know I had to..." Marina suddenly felt something and looked down. She realized just now that she was wetting herself, liquid pouring from the rear of her leather pants. She placed a hand over herself and squeezed, stopping the flow quickly. She just sat there and cried lightly as Baeden held her and they lay against the wall, Marina's head resting on Baeden's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I needed to, but I didn't want to...again..."

"It's alright, Marina. You did a great job. However, we need to keep moving. Wait here a moment." Baeden ran off again, and returned in a few minutes carrying a set of leather armor. "You're going to have to put this on."

Marina squealed and shuffled backwards. "I can't wear a dead man's clothes, it's-"

Baeden laughed. "Don't worry, it's not from them. I found it in a storehouse on the other side of the tower, see, no blood at all." Marina looked them over, and deciding they were indeed clean, agreed. "I took the smallest set I could find, but I'm afraid it's still much too big for you. Do what you can with it, though." He politely faced away as Marina began to change.

She kicked off her boots and pulled down her tight, wet pants, then she unbuttoned and discarded her leather coat. She stood there, completely naked with Baeden only a few feet away. She had not given him the courtesy of looking away as he changed, but such was the honor of a Prince. She picked up the leather greaves and pulled them up her legs, where they hung loose and the armored panels slid over her kneecaps. She then tried pulling on the cuirass, but the straps hung low and swung freely behind her. She looked at Baeden.

"Excuse me, my Prince. I am inexperienced in the proper way to wear this sort of thing. I'd be very grateful if you would be willing to help me." Baeden turned, seeing her draped in the extremely loose armor, the cuirass hanging low so her left breast was exposed to him. He grinned involuntarily and walked behind her.

"Of course I'll help you," he said quietly. "I'm going to be tightening everything up so don't start fussing or you'll get your skin caught in a buckle." She smiled back at him, and stood still. He started by removing the cuirass completely and focused on the greaves, saying: "We need to get these on right or the waist of the armor won't sit properly." He pulled her greaves up hard, and she felt them almost click into place, the armored panels resting on her thighs and shins as they should. However, the hard leather dug into her womanhood causing a good deal of discomfort.

"Hey, wait. The pants are digging into my, well, you know," she said, blushing slightly. "It hurts." Baeden grinned again.

"First thing, when you're talking about 'pants' with armor on them, they're called greaves. And the 'shirt' would be called a cuirass. The gloves are gauntlets, and the boots can either simply be called boots, or be considered a part of the greaves. And let me see what I can do about your problem there." He ran off again, and soon returned with a small sheet of cloth. "I think this is a table napkin. It was folded and clean, so I say it's good enough." Without hesitation, he pulled the greaves halfway down and pressed the cloth hard between her legs. She gasped and almost stepped back, but held her ground and smiled at the Prince. "Here, hold your legs together to keep it in place." She did so, and he pulled the greaves back up as high as they would go, the cloth stopping the leather from rubbing directly against her body. He tightly tied the rope behind her, stuffing the remainder down by her rear.

Marina couldn't stop grinning, she loved being handled as such by the Prince. She felt like she should be less submissive, but at this point she would let him do anything he wanted to her. She trusted that he would never harm her, so she let him fiddle around with her body as he put the armor on her. Next came the cuirass. He leaned in and whispered in her ear: "You know, the cuirass is supposed to go over a thick shirt or coat, you didn't have to take it off."

She blushed, and he bent over to pick up her leather coat. He placed it over her shoulders but did not yet button it. He placed his hands on her hips and ran them slowly up her torso, stopping just under her breasts. He allowed himself the quickest touch of them, then buttoned up her coat. He lifted the cuirass over her head, and tied the many knots and buckled the many straps going up her back and arms. He gave the final strap a hard tug, pulling the armor tightly against her breasts. Luckily they were small enough, or it would have been very uncomfortable. Finally he slid the gauntlets onto her hands and tied the final knots. She looked over at the last piece of the armor set, the boots.

"I didn't think about it when I grabbed them, but those boots will never fit you. They can't simply be lifted or tightened like the rest of it. Luckily you were sitting down when you relieved yourself, so your own boots stayed dry." He handed them to her, and she pulled them onto her feet, tying them tightly. She stood straight and swung her arms around, and shook her legs a bit. She tried crouching, running, and jumping. Once she had a feel for the armor, she took her place at Baeden's side again. "There's one more thing you need," Baeden said, and he ran off once more. He returned quickly, holding his right hand behind his back.

He held out his hand, which was holding a beautiful, shining silver shortsword. It had the royal crest engraved in the handguard, and the blade curved elegantly to a fine point. The blade was mirror-polished, but thick and heavy, radiating an air of lethal functionality. "The Queen's own blade. Small enough to hide under her robes should she need it. Fat lot of good it seems to have done her though, I saw it in the storehouse where I got your armor. Here, you keep it in the baldric there," he said as he pointed to the iron loop hanging from the side of her armor. "Sadly there's no sheath, as it's sewed into the Queen's robes. Just be careful of where you're swinging your hands."

She took the blade from him. It was heavier than it looked, but not too much so. She held it out, and swung it clumsily through the air. The Prince laughed again as she turned a light shade of red. "This is much easier than the crossbow. Firmly grasp it, but don't press the top of your hand into the handguard, leave about half an inch of space. Most of your grip should be in your middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Leave your pointer finger loose, it makes it easier to handle. It's a one-handed sword, but your hands are small enough where you could use two for more power. It's a slashing blade, but it's perfectly capable of thrusting if it needs to. When you swing, turn your elbow towards your target, then snap your hand forward, rather than just swinging your whole arm. This makes your strikes less predictable as well as gives you extra speed and power. When you stab, turn your right shoulder and hip into it and thrust the blade horizontally. This makes it much more likely to slide between armor plates or under a helmet, as well as feels more natural, like a punch."