Strange Bedfellows Chapter 4.g

For Lyra, it had been an incredibly boring day.

Except for the brief excitement when her husband had returned, she had nothing to do.  She and Katia had followed the three centurions into the city, but they hadn't been able to see much since they had been surrounded by the soldiers who were guarding them.  Neither of the women was tall and their horses were likewise shorter than the military steeds on which their protectors rode.

Katia seemed to relax a bit once they'd entered the city.  The former handmaiden looked around a lot and seemed to smile to herself a lot.  It seemed like she felt at home here, or perhaps like she was coming home.  The ash blonde thought that made sense since a handmaiden would've spent much time with the princess in the capital city.  Although if her memory served her, Princess Shara had spent much of her teen years at another castle for her schooling.

The city of Laerten itself was...  interesting.

Lyra had never been there before and thus was quite fascinated by the buildings which in some cases towered three or even four stories tall.  She had never seen buildings that tall, and especially not so close together.

Also interesting were the people.

Or rather, the lack thereof.

The number of people near the entrance gate was incredibly small.  Only a few townspeople were milling about and most of them looked like they didn't know where to go.  It was entirely possible that they'd been kicked out of their homes and didn't have a place to go.

However, the further into the city they traveled -- at least in the direction they were being led -- the more people she saw.  At one point they crossed over a small bridge.  The other side of the bridge was noticeably shabbier looking than the side they'd come from, and the canal over which it led seemed to be a dividing line between the poor and 'not poor' areas of Laerten.

On the far side -- the poor side -- there were a lot of people.

And not just poor people either.

Some of them looked quite wealthy and some even had bodyguards.  The mix of wealthy and poor people was rather strange to watch because they were clearly from different worlds.  There appeared to be a bit of mistrust between the two social classes, but it definitely fell short of animosity.

Lyra and Katia followed the centurions through the city until they stopped at an especially large building.  It wasn't particularly fancy, but it looked clean and had a sign which read 'inn' on it.  The centurions stopped in front of it.

"I'll go see if the proprietor is amenable to us staying here."  Octavian said, then turned to the ladies.  "Would you accompany me?  I would not wish to let those I am guarding out of my sight, and your presence will likely soften our image."

Lyra looked at Katia, who hesitated a moment and then nodded.

"We will."  Lyra said, dismounting from her horse.

Katia likewise dismounted and spent a moment gently reassuring her horse that everything would be alright.  Misty seemed to take comfort from her words, though the horsewoman was pretty sure that the former handmaiden was reassuring herself just as much as her horse.  Lyra and Katia wrapped the reins around the hitching post outside the inn and then followed Octavian inside.

The inside was much like the outside.  It bore signs of being an inn in the poor part of town, but it was cheery and clean; it looked reasonably well cared for anyway.  There was a slightly plump woman behind a makeshift bar.  She wasn't young, but she wasn't old yet either.  She looked a bit haggard and her clothes had seen better days.  They were clean, but patched in more than one place.

"Good afternoon ma'am."  Octavian said to her.

She flinched and jumped slightly, even though she had seen them enter.  "Afternoon."  She replied cautiously, like she expected them to attack her.

"We seek lodgings if you will allow it."  He continued.

The woman eyed the two girls, then looked at him again.  "Rooms for you and your wives?"  Her tone was icy and clearly indicated that she thought he was doing something he shouldn't be doing with the two women.

"No ma'am, these are the wives of my commanding officer; Commander Kalus."

The woman blinked.

She cocked her head to one side and said almost in a whisper.  "Commander Kalus wishes to lodge here?"

"Yes ma'am, if you will permit it."  Octavian nodded.  "We shall pay for our lodging of course, and--"

"You'll do no such thing."  The woman said as she breathed a sigh of relief and a smile spread across her face.  "I have two daughters, one of whom isn't of age and the other barely is, and both are lookers.  I was worried that Tyso's men..."  She breathed another sigh of relief.  "Commander Kalus can house as many men here as will fit, and free of charge to make sure he stays.  I know he'll keep my daughters safe."

Lyra couldn't help but smile.  "Yeah, he's good that way."

Katia got a small smile on her face too and she spoke quietly.  "He is."

"I'll show you to my best room."  The woman said, looking at the two women as she stepped out from behind the bar.  "Mind you, it isn't exactly grand, but it's the best I have."

"You don't have to do that."  Katia said.  "I don't think our husband would want--"

The woman interrupted her.  "Oh tosh girl; I want my daughters kept safe and he wants a room; I'm going to give him the best room I have to make sure he stays."

"Thank you."  Lyra said.

The woman looked at Octavian.  "I'm happy to provide the lodging, but if there will be a lot of you I might not have enough food without some coin to buy more."

"We will fully compensate you for the food, rooms, and--"

"Nonsense."  The woman replied.  "Just pay the cost of the food and I'll take care of the rest."  Octavian looked like he was going to argue, but the woman continued before he got a chance.  "I'll show the girls to their rooms, you just have your men come in and make themselves comfortable.  Most folks fled with Tyso's army coming, so any bed is available."

Octavian nodded, but he accompanied them upstairs to the room anyway, insisting on checking the room out before letting the women in.  The room wasn't large, being significantly smaller than Kalus's rather large field tent.  The bed was barely larger than the field bedding and there was a small table with two chairs, though if the table was moved someone could sit on the bed to seat three.

After checking out the room, Octavian called two of his men up the stairs and charged them solemnly.  "These are the commander's wives; guard them with your lives."

"We will sir."  They said with a crisp salute, and Lyra almost thought they looked happy to have this assignment.

"You really don't have to do that."  Lyra said.  "The innkeeper seems nice and I'm sure we'll be safe."

"You almost certainly will be safe ma'am, but these men here will remove the 'almost' element.  I wouldn't be doing my duty if I didn't ensure the commander's wives had every protection possible."

"Thank you."  Katia said.  "I think I'm only now beginning to understand just how much you all love him."

"Every man in his legion would take an arrow for him ma'am, and more than one outside of it would too I would wager."  Octavian said firmly.  "He even trained most of the king's guard, and I'm pretty sure they feel the same."

"Illuminar really blessed us with our husband, didn't he?"  Lyra smiled.

"Aye ma'am."  He nodded.  "Now, I must see to other matters.  You're not to leave this room without armed escort, understand?"

"Thank you."  Katia gave him a small smile, but a genuine one.

"Ladies."  He gave them a respectful head bow and then turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Once the door was closed, Lyra turned to Katia.  "Remind me, why did you hate our husband so much again?"

"I think I blamed him for Tyso forcing us to marry and forcing us to share a bed."  Katia sighed, sat down on the bed, and looked down at the floor, swinging her legs slightly and gently tapping her heels against the bedframe.  "I wish I could go back and change things, treat him differently."

"My father always says that you can't change what's already been done, but you can change the present so you needn't look back with regret in the future."

The former handmaiden gave her a small smile and nodded but didn't reply.

"Look."  Lyra walked over and sat beside her fellow wife, wanting to see her as deliriously happy being married to Kalus as she was.  "Our husband truly likes you and I'm sure he would be happy to hear you say this."

"I don't know if I could say it."  The amber-haired girl looked down and examined her shoes intently.  "I just..."  Her cheeks went pink.  "I don't feel like I could ever say the right thing."

"Well, then don't say something; do something."  The ash blonde suggested.  "You know what they say: talk is copper, actions are gold."

Katia inclined her head in concession, but didn't say anything for several seconds.  "But what would I do?  What could I do?"

"Um, maybe just keep an eye open for an opportunity?"  She suggested.  "I can too, and if I see anything I'll let you know."

Katia looked at her and smiled.  "I'm really glad I ended with you as a fellow wife."

"Aww."  Lyra leaned in and gave the other girl a hug.  "Me too."

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