The Sweetest Thing

Chapter 04

Get it Right the First Time

~~~...~~~

"What in the name of Mordor are you doing in my room, wench?"

Lýðrest spun around, her heart, already in her throat, now threatened to expunge itself completely from her body. Elfhelm sat up, the blankets falling to his hips. His powerful build was more than evident in the moonlight streaming through the window.

"I...I..."

He swung his legs over the bed, the quilt now falling away.

"Oh, dear Béma!" Lýðrest caught a good glimpse of all of him in the moonlight before spinning around and looking up at the rafters. His was not a shriveled dangly thing. "Please Captain, I'm sorry, they're in my room."

There was a rustling. "You can stop staring at the ceiling." Lýðrest looked down to see him tying up his leggings. "What happened?"

Her heart was pounding and it was all she could do to get the words from her mouth. "Hucohun had the latch on my door loosened and my window unlocked. I heard them laughing about it. I didn't have time-"

Her explanation was interrupted by the sound of stomping footfalls in the hallway.

"Quick!" The captain shoved her towards the bed. "Get under the quilt." He bent over and grabbed his sword, pulling it from its scabbard. "Hurry! I hope you'll find me far more trustworthy than those orcs!" Lýðrest did as she was bid, renewed terror replacing her fury at his attitude. Truth was she did trust him more than she trusted the three chasing her. She leapt into the bed, grabbing the nearest thing and tossing it over her body and head.

The boots stopped in front of the captain's doorway. Elfhelm's grip tightened on the pommel of his sword.

Waiting... silence.

Eventually, they moved on, Elfhelm's ear to the door. He waited several minutes before turning to the bed. "Wait here. I'm going to check on my brother." The door opened and she barely heard him slither out. A few minutes later, he returned, shutting the door behind him. There was a rattling by the bedside, the sound of the sword being placed back into its casing, and now, the striking of flint before the small globe on the nightstand lit up. "Now," Elfhelm tossed the quilt back from Lýðrest's head. He pulled up a chair and sank into it. His eyes were mildly bloodshot, as true to Hucohun's word, he had imbibed a bit much that evening, but it appeared he was awake and completely aware of his surroundings now. He leaned over to get a better look at the tavern owner's daughter, now huddled under his quilt. "Tell me again. Slowly. Where is your da?"

Lýðrest took a deep breath, mentally trying to slow her heartbeat. "Da had a wretched headache, so I gave him something to make him sleep." Elfhelm rolled his eyes. That wasn't a good start. "I was cleaning up the bar and I overheard Hucohun and his buddies laughing. Apparently one of them unscrewed my door latch and they opened up my window so Hucohun could sneak in and... and... and..." Her voice hitched. From somewhere, she became aware of a large, warm, calloused hand covering hers gently.

"Go on. You're safe."

"Well, they were planning a party!" She swallowed a sob and Elfhelm heard it. She was terrified. He would have never believed it had he not been seeing pure proof of it.

"Sounds it."

"They were planning on sharing me!" she wailed.

"Ghastly. And no frying pan in sight, I'm sure. So then what?"

"I ran to my room. The latch was barely hanging on and before I could do anything else, I heard them coming up the hall. I ran up the stairs. I came in the first door that wasn't locked." She pulled the quilt up under her chin. "I don't know where to go," she squeaked pitifully. "Don't know where I'd be safe."

Elfhelm sighed and leaned back, hands dangling below his knees. "Well, as your da is useless tonight, you're safe where you are at now." For a moment he contemplated sleeping in the chair, but after spending many nights up, sitting with his brother, he dismissed that notion quickly. He stood up and grabbing his cloak from the peg by the door, he went around the bed. "Move over."

Her head shot up. "What are you doing?"

"Going to try to get some sleep. You should, as well." He slid on the bed over the quilt. "You're safe. I won't touch you." The room was chilly so he pulled her into him, effectively spooning her. "I couldn't get it up if I wanted to, so relax." A heavy arm went around her.

Within minutes, the captain was gently snoring in her ear. Strangely enough, Lýðrest found the sound soothing, and soon she relaxed in the relative safety of his warm embrace, falling asleep as well.

~~~…~~~

One moment, Lýðrest was in a deep, deep sleep, completely engulfed in the warmest cocoon she could remember. There was a comfortable, droning rumble that kept her lulled and in the depth of a sweet dream, she knew she was safer than she had ever been.

The next moment, there was screaming; horrid, terrible screaming. The droning rumble turned into a roaring growl, and the warmth removed itself from around her. She fought against waking up, cried, reaching for the heat, the haven that enveloped her dreams.

"I SEE YOU, DAMMIT! I SEE MY DAUGHTER WRAPPED IN YOUR CLOAK! I'LL FEKKING KILL YOU!"

Lýðrest's eyes shot open. She was still wrapped up in the quilt; she still had her slippers on, in fact. She sat up, throwing her hair behind her, to see her da and Captain Elfhelm, in each other's face screaming about a cloak and…

Oh noooo….

Both Belle and Cynni stood in the doorway, white as ghosts, hands in their mouths. Belle was shaking her head at the sight she was seeing.

"Da!" She jumped out of the bed and shoved herself between the men. "DA!" she shoved him backwards. "EGGHEAD!" She pushed Elfhelm the other way. "It's not what you think!"

"It doesn't matter what I think!" Hamon looked down at his only child in fury. "I know what I saw! Belle and Cynni saw it too!"

"I was under the quilt!" Lýðrest was now toe to toe with her father. "He was on top of the quilt-"

"And he had you both wrapped in his cloak!"

Being caught in sleep in a Rider's cloak was a big deal. In places like Druncenig Ende, they didn't stand much on ceremony, one was simply married if caught or seen and that was that.

"DA!" Lýðrest was pulling, tugging at his sleeve. "Hucohun tried to… tried to…" she couldn't say it. "The captain kept me safe. It wasn't what you think." Her voice sank. "Please. Nothing happened. I was under the quilt. He kept me safe."

For a moment, Hamon's face softened, but looking into the serious, stoic face of Elfhelm, he stiffened back up. "He's half naked, girl! Too many people saw. You were snuggled up together. It can't be changed." Lýðrest gasped. How could her own da do this? To her? She hardly knew the man! Hamon returned his attention to the Rider Captain. "Yer brother is running a fever. A bad one. I came to get you. Belle went looking for Lýðrest." He didn't get any further as Elfhelm and Lýðrest both pushed him aside, their current situation forgotten, running over top of Belle and Cynni to get to Gauwyn.

True to Hamon's word, the young man was in a deep sweat, moaning and crying out. Lýðrest and Elfhelm both took up their respective posts on either side of the young man.

"I need pitchers of cool water non-stop, my medicine bag, fresh bandages… oh dear Béma…" Lýðrest pulled the bandage back from the young man's leg. It was red, swollen, hot to the touch. "Da, I'm going to need you to hold him down."

"Girl-"

"JUST DO IT, DAMMIT!" Hamon stood up. He knew his daughter was angry, but Béma's Balls, he was furious, however at this moment, the young man in the bed was having a damned difficult time of it and if anything else, the man's brother had demonstrated thus far to be a capable captain and a steadfast brother.

In the back of his mind, as he grabbed hold of Gauwyn's ankles, he hoped Elfhelm would prove to be an equally capable and steadfast to husband his only child.

~~~…~~~

It took hours for Lýðrest to get Gauwyn's fever down. In the thrashing, he had pulled stitches in his side and she had to stitch him up yet again. Hamon ordered more whiskey to be poured down his throat until he passed out. In the midst of her ordering this and that in some of the most colorful language ever heard, Elfhelm told her father what had actually transpired the night before.

"You mean the bastard loosened the bolts and screws to her door latch?" He was incredulous. "And opened her window?" The moment Gauwyn was passed out, Hamon stomped to his daughter's room to check for himself. Sure enough, not only was the latch loosened so that a good push would disengage it, the drop slots for the drop bar were also slack and the window shutters opened and loosened as well. Hamon stood in the doorway, fury rising.

"Hey, old man. Where is your daughter today?" Hamon turned to see Hucohun standing behind him in the hall. Fury that had been simmering now boiled over. The one night she needed him to keep her safe, he was in bed, drugged with a headache and she had been forced to seek protection elsewhere. With a snarl, the older man reared back, throwing a white-knuckled fist in to the fool's face. Spittle and a tooth went flying, as Hucohun staggered backwards into the wall. "Wha-"

With Hucohun still staggering from the blow, Hamon grabbed him by the tunic, pulling him up and onto his toes. Older, he might be, but powerful he still was. "Someone loosened the bolts on my daughter's door last night, so she sought a safer place to sleep!"

Hucohun was tonguing his mouth, trying to assess the damage. Where in Middle Earth were his buddies, anyway? Fangorn? "Safer? Where safer?"

Hamon's fists tightened on the man's tunic and he pulled him so close, Hucohun swore he could see the froth in the man's livid face. "Wrapped in Captain Elfhelm's cloak!" With that, he slung the lout from him and stormed off.

Hucohun stood there for a long minute, soaking in what the tavern owner said. Once he realized what the barkeep said…

"FUCK! FEKKINGFUCKFUCK!"

~~~…~~~

"I can't believe he's fekking going to stick us to this old custom!" Lýðrest was wrapping up the last of the fresh bandages on Gauwyn.

"It's custom." Elfhelm had spent the past hour trying to figure out what they were going to do. He didn't want to be married to her either. "Doesn't matter that we weren't under the covers together. What matters is we were both under my cloak." The Rider wasn't about to tell her she felt damn good in his arms, that twitchy little arse spooned up against him. Had he not had as much to drink as he had, they might have been caught naked under his cloak.

"Look. I've been thinking," he took a deep breath. "Your da wants you out of here. I don't blame him." Her look was now mutinous. "I know," he cut off her burgeoning and obviously profanity-laced retort, "you don't want to leave, but he wants you somewhere safer and I don't blame him. Hucohun and his minions are getting bolder and more devious. And the fact he's now willing to share you to get what he wants…" he let his voice trail off. "Your da wants you out of here. So does your uncle. Let's just go through with this sham, your da will be happy. You come with me to the garrison. The town is nice, my mother runs the local tavern. It's clean, the Riders tip well, she'll put you to work. The Marshal's seat is there and he has daughters, one or two your age. You'll like Beornia and Mayda." He grinned sheepishly. "Mordor, I have sisters your age. They'll eat you alive." His smile dropped. "You'll probably meet someone you really like." For some reason, the thought of her meeting someone else, being with anyone else, bothered the piss out of him. "You'll like it there."

Lýðrest glared at the man, before shaking her head and leaving the room.

~~~…~~~

Her door hadn't been fixed, so she took a nap in her da's bed, making sure everything was latched, secured and a chair in front of the door. She woke up to the sound of the door rattling and being banged on. Apparently, her da didn't appreciate being locked out of his own room.

"Damn girl. Why are you in my bed? You have a husband-"

"Don't you start that!" Lýðrest spat in a huff. "We are no more married than you and Tortgyð!" Her father's lip curled in disgust at the thought of the toothless cook in the kitchen. "You heard what happened! Why can't you let this drop?"

For a moment, Hamon was tempted to allow her her way, as he had so many times before. But then he remembered the bruises and the constant watching out for her and had last night gone wrong…

He sighed, his shoulders dropping in defeat. He was going to lose her one way or the other. This way might be for the best.

"Sit down, girl." Lýðrest's eyes widened in shock. When he referred to her by her gender, it never fared well. "I'm going to talk and you are going to listen for a change. And you won't nay say me or gain say me." He motioned to a chair in the corner and pulled the chair she had propped under the door latch to sit in front of her.

"I loved your mother. Her da begged me to leave her alone because I was nothing, nobody, had nothing, but her love. I was kicked out of the garrison I was Rider in because of fighting and I had no future to speak of, but I loved her and dragged her here to the end of the world. We scraped for every inch we have and I watched her age before my eyes. Many times in hindsight, I wish I had heeded her da's pleas. She deserved better than me." He hung his head in shame. "When she died, I wanted to go with her. But I had you and you look so very much like her."

A lump formed in Lýðrest's throat. Her da never spoke of her mother. She had so few memories of the woman… a whisper, a soft touch, on occasion, a scent of flowers…

"I've been selfish, when it comes to you." He reached over and took her hands, examining the redness, the rough calluses where they should be soft. "Keeping you here close. And it could have cost you your life, your sanity last night." With this he squeezed them. "It's about time I thought about someone besides myself-"

"Da-"

"I said let me finish!" The storm in his eyes passed quickly. "Someday, I won't be able to stop Hucohun and it's time I stopped thinking I can. This… Captain Elfhelm, is a good man-"

"Da, no!"

"Yes." His look silenced her and for the first time, Lýðrest realized this was an argument she was not going to win. "He is a good man. He's stable; he has a bright future ahead of him. My brother speaks highly of him and that's saying something. He is more than competent and committed when it comes to family and I believe he will be a good husband to you." With this he dropped her hands. "He certainly is better than anyone you'll find here."

"Da, please don't make me-"

Hamon's finger shot up. "Do not beg. It does not become you and I didn't raise you that way. I raised you to work hard, to fight, to be brave. I'll not allow you to be put in danger anymore. Now," with this, he patted her on the knee and stood up, "I want you to go to your room and pack up your things. I'll send Belle to help you. You are to move into the Captain's – your husband's - room and I'd best not hear about this marriage being a pretense because I intend to announce it." Lýðrest's heart fell. There would be no hiding it then. "Besides, three people saw you wrapped in his cloak and more heard you tell Hucohun you'd rather marry the captain than him. I'm going to have a chat with Elfhelm to make sure he doesn't dump you the minute he gets you to Cantwaraburg. You are married!" With that, Hamon opened the door and yelled down the hall for Belle.

tbc