The Ties of Kinship
Fahmeen's POV:
There is unrest. I walk by my people and I can see the questions as if etched onto their foreheads. Eyes, uncertain yet inquisitive as they watch me walk amongst them. I thought to give Rolf privacy the rest of this morning as he took his meal outside as well as those papers. I shake my head as if to disperse the thought of them. Privacy. Concern. The latter may force me to act unfairly. I pay for the apple and cheese, presented to me neatly wrapped in parchment. For when I got hungry.
"Before you go your highness."
I turn back around to the stall-keeper. He appears nervous, scratching the skin where the apron clung onto.
"No matter what, our loyalty is forever yours." Before I could question him on his peculiar statement, he is distracted by another customer.
I disguise myself as per usual, and try to momentarily forget the uneasiness of such words. In no time at all, I am back in the forest. We never did give it a name. It was as simple the forest, as the ocean was the ocean. My bow hugged my back and the ocean air sieved through the leaves, making for a soft wind. I remember the night before my wedding. Coming here and seeking beyond. I have ventured further than I could have dreamed, but I am more uncertain now. Everyone around me harbours something I am not supposed to know. A crow alerts me to its presence.
"What is it with you animals and your sense of entitlement?" Even as I scoff at him, I can't pretend to forget its recurring imagery in my dreams. Even from the most recent of nights. Always the same place. Maybe it is why I have come here. Those same beady eyes watch me from a high branch. As if taunting me that I could not return intimidation.
"I've no wish to, though you are the one that always brings me bad luck." I make a soft bed of moss and fallen leaves and sit for a moment. I think of the trees I wish to turn into targets and game I may hunt and offer to the market. The crow screeches before taking off. It clearly seeks attention. Funny creatures.
Oko's POV:
I wake up and I don't remember. I don't remember inviting this girl into my bed as the last one I could recall was Daisy. There's a strong scent of lavender in the air as the girl tries to get closer to me, presumably to share body heat as it was cold out here on this island.
"Good morning general."
I look over her, the roundness of her ass demanding my attention and my cock. I stretch my limbs and climb over her. Whatever happened last night, it definitely took some work.
Fahmeen's POV:
"Thought I'd find you here."
From the shadows, he appears bright as the day, leaning back on a nearby tree.
"Morning." I laugh, hiding the jump I was just about to do.
There is a warm smile on my husband's face and he beckons me to near him. I am as always, entranced by the honesty of his expression. I stroke his cheek and he hugs me to his body. We both sigh. Contentment.
"Sorry I couldn't catch you earlier." From nowhere, Rolf weaves a small, pink flower into my hair.
"I like when you do that." I tell him. I do, as it makes me think of how gentle he'd be with our daughter, braiding her hair. Telling the stories of how hands, hardened with battle can stay soft, to our son. Or when preparing them for a fight or to rule.
"I want a baby with you." I can't help but tell him. Emotion overwhelming me as I study the plains of his face. Soft wrinkles, tiny scars only I could find.
"I know. We will." He presses warm lips to my forehead so gently, and holds my face in his hands.
"I want to give you what you want. Need." There is a sudden roughness alongside the earlier voice now. My heart quickens when I see the expectations in his eyes.
"Make love to me." I pant, telling him what I need. He takes my mouth in a hot kiss and backs me up against the tree. His hand is quick to find wetness under my dress, and I moan against his lips. Things heated up so quickly with him. I stopped finding logic where logic ceased to exist.
"It's all I've been thinking about." He grunts upon thrusting into me.
"Filling you with my seed."
The birds cry over us and the trees give us privacy. I lay by his side, as naked as he. Out here, I feel the most freedom. Rolf does something I would never expect. He sits up, his face set and ready. Reaching into his trousers beside us. Then lays two pieces of parchment between us.
"Wait, is this-
"Yes." He confirms, staring at my face. He appears without anxiety or resistance, so I allow my eyes to fall freely upon these papers that have seemed to both awaken and disturb my husband for weeks. Upon first observation, it is a correspondence. Unfamiliar hand, but I knew the language as one the Northerners used.
"It is Freydis. Not her hand but her words." A letter from his mother.
"I recognise Ivar." I look up at him. It is then Rolf's face falls into a familiar expression, one he wears when he thinks I do not see him during the blanket of the night. One of sorrow.
"She explained everything. Any questions or doubts I might have had about my brother. It is strange." He lies back, eyes watching the birds.
"How I know him well now, yet I do not know him at all." His voice turns almost silent.
"I cannot help but curse fate every night."
My heart sinks hearing him, the pain particularly. I leave the papers for now since I could only make out parts, and lean over him.
"I wish to take this sadness from you." I lay my hand over his heart, even now it beats steady compared to mine.
"Like you have done so for me. Like you will do for the rest of my life. Tell me how I could make you happy again."
He holds my hand that rests on his chest.
"I am happy. I am sad also. I am satisfied yet thirst for one more fight. This is life, my wandering queen."
Oko's POV:
How she found me I do not know. She must be a witch. Enchantress, I smirk. Gave me something for the night and disappeared. Now it is I who shall chase her. Either way, she wanted my attention and now it seems, she cannot escape it.