"Why are all these things in good shape? I've heard that underground is damp, but that place is as dry as an old bone!" Calla said in wonder as they carried several furs up into the cottage. Tonight would be one of the most comfortable nights for sleeping they had ever experienced.
"I'm not sure, love. I did scrape a bit of the dirt away from one of the walls, and it looks like it was sealed with tar." She sighed softly, and put her armload of goods on the floor near the fireplace. It was a copper pot, a copper tea kettle, a skinning knife, a saw, a two handed draw knife to peel logs and do finer woodworking, and a bobbin for making rope. "When I first got here, this place felt like it held its breath. That's when the wolves started to come around. Not before. There were bird droppings, but no deer came to eat the root veggies, or the fallen apples." Calla thought for a moment, then shrugged.
"I can't understand it, but that doesn't mean it isn't true." Calla had brought up an armload of rolled furs on the first trip, and went back down for two spears, two swords, and two wooden shields. She sighed as she sank down onto the fur pile, and smiled. "We have to start to train tomorrow. Neither of us can hit an ancient oak tree, let alone take out a deer or wolf with a bow. And bows are ideal when trying to kill from the shadows." Eerika smiled softly.
"Do we have to talk about killing tonight? Its just us right now, and it may not be that way for long. If we go hunting and raiding, we'll steal away some of their slaves, and that means no alone time anymore." Calla grinned.
"Then what are you doing standing up there then?" She crawled up onto her knees, grabbed Eerika about her muscular thighs, and pulled away her new fur leggings. Eerika's eyes narrowed and her breath caught in her throat.
"Where did you learn to do that?" She said softly before her knees weakened and Calla was able to pull her down to the pile.
Both ladies learned two things that night. Neither of them knew what real sex was until that night. And that it could also be good for both of them.
"How did you do that?" Eerika asked in amazement. On her third shot, her arrow sank deep into the tree she aimed at.
"I....don't really know. I saw how it went wide, looked at my hands on the second shot and realized that I was moving my hands while I released the bowstring, like I wanted to throw the arrow instead of letting the bow do it. I directed it wide." She looked at her shot, then frowned. "It still went quite low though. I think the arrow falls as it is flung by the bow. I have to aim higher." Eerika watched as she drew the bowstring back, then aimed a bit higher. Her hands stayed still after she released the string, and the arrow flew to the tree. It hit a little bit to one edge, but was nearly at shoulder height for a wolf. Then she shook her hand.
"I think we need to wear some sort of glove. I wonder if those two fingered gloves were meant for archers." Eerika nodded.
"Maybe. But we should look for something to protect your arm too. Look. The string has already scratched the inside of your wrist." Calla felt her arm.
"It hurts too. So we keep practicing, and we need to use those spears! If we can figure out how to fight with spears, that will keep those swordsmen off balance!" Eerika smiled.
"Just like your...." Calla shook her head.
"He was never my father, just my owner! A real parent doesn't do that to their children! Mom didn't, and she hated him!" She growled. Eerika put her hand on Calla's shoulder.
"We'll fix it, love. We'll kill as many slavers as we need to, and that is in order to rescue as many slaves as we can. We can't get them out quietly, or their owner will look for them. We'll have to kill them." Calla nodded.
"And we'll have to kill all of them in that village. Or that mayor will call for the Blind King's aid." Eerika growled. For some reason, just the mention of him made her livid.
The Blind King. The one who made a law that said women were not people, but property. Property can be sold, bought, or stolen. That is what that law did. It enslaved all women of his realm, and made them hate to be alive.
"When do you think we should go out?" Eerika bit her lip. It was nearing on the winter months, and they still had a bit of preparation to do. The roof was finally fixed so it didn't leak anymore, but they needed some more firewood. She looked around the cottage.
"Its finally home, Calla. A bed, a table and chairs, cooking pots, and a supply of meat and veggies down in that cellar. We finally have a home." She closed her eyes. "I'm not sure we're ready to defend it, let alone defend ourselves if we go out against them." Calla got up and put her hand on her shoulder.
"If we don't go after them, they will come for us. Not today, or maybe not even this year. Some day, they will stumble upon us, and either enslave us once again, or kill us when we aren't ready for them." She looked at their bed, and sighed sadly. "How many of them don't have a safe bed to sleep on? How many of them go to sleep with the whip putting them there? And the girls not yet a woman?" Eerika nodded.
"I know, Calla. I can still feel that place. A sore on the land. It smells like they do. Sour, and reeks of body odor that they don't even care to clean away." She sighed sadly. "We'll go out and search the woods tomorrow. Its half way through the harvest months, and only two more before the snows hit. We could use the extra help to dig up the root veggies we might have missed, and pick some of those apples to preserve in honey." Calla smiled at how she made it seem practical to start saving a few of the captives in that evil place.
It wasn't heroic in Eerika's eyes to save those women. It was practical. They had to do it, so it should be practical.
"Come on. Supper is finished. We'll have something to eat, then snuggle under the fur." Eerika's cheeks flushed red. Every time Calla suggested that they snuggle, things became heated and passionate between them.
Calla didn't have hero worship in her eyes anymore, but she did see Eerika as a heroic figure. The woman she loved so very much was a powerful and amazing woman. Almost mythological.
"Run yourself out finally?" The girl looked up, and pushed herself away from the tree. The chill in the air has sapped a lot of her strength, and the lack of real clothes just helped to drain more of her body heat.
She even slipped a couple of times, forced herself to her feet, only to run deeper into the woods, and further away from the village. The slavers and their laughter followed her, striking her just as surely as the whip they carried.
"Why did I run?" She said to herself. "There's no way they are still alive, and now I'm going to pay for this feeling of hope!" She fell against another tree, and smiled. "But it felt really good for a while." She started to giggle as they approached her.
"Get the rope. I think she's lost it, and I want to be back in the village before they try to sell our other girls." He laughed, but frowned and looked down. "Don? What's going.....holy...." He saw a spear sticking out through the chest of his comrade. A face appeared behind Don.
"He can't answer you now. He's busy being judged for his evil deeds!" She said, anger etched in her features, as well as glee at the man's death. The glint of metal flashed overhead.
"Well said, love. But he's not the only one." An extremely tall and powerfully built woman stepped out of the shadows, her ax raised overhead. The force of the impact drove him to the carpet of leaves, and the slightly manic eyes of their slave glared down at him in immense satisfaction.
"Ugh, these things just don't bathe, do they, love?" Calla pulled her spear out of the slaver's back, and smiled.
"Calla? Is it really you?" Calla came closer.
"Hi, Fae. I'm glad we came this way and found you. Although it wasn't difficult considering they didn't try to cover their laughter, or tracks. We could have slipped in front of them before they noticed us." Eerika nodded, and gently scooped for cold woman up in her arms.
"Grab their stuff, love. Let the wolves choke on their stench."
"Eerika? Can you get her some food while I sort through her belongings?" She smiled and nodded. She turned her head slightly so she could hear the conversation.
"My belongings? I only have the clothes on my body, and these aren't very good anymore." Fae shook her head sadly. "I wish I had grabbed something! Anything!" Calla chuckled. "What's so funny?"
"These are your belongings. You have one bow, one boot knife, a dagger, a short sword, two pairs of boots, two shirts, but the blood stains will have to be cut away and mended. And washed. Ugh, men never bathe, do they? Bloody pigs. And two pairs of pants, two belts, two belt pouches, and....yes, a few coins. Not a bad start, Fae." She frowned.
"I don't understand."
"Its something we discussed before we found you. Whenever we find a slave that wants to be free, and we kill their slavers, all the property on their bodies now belong to them. Its a simple way to give you something to start out with." Fae bit her bottom lip.
"Start out where? I have no home, and that little bit of coin won't buy my freedom. They would only sell me again if they found me." Calla sighed softly.
"Do you think we went to the trouble of saving you only to turn you over to them again? You'll stay here, with us. You're not a slave any longer, so if you don't want to stay, you don't have to. We would like you to stay though. Right, Eerika?" She came back with a slab of wood that had several pieces of roasted meat on it.
"She's right, Fae. You're safe here, with us. You're home." Calla sighed. She knew what those words would do, and she was right. Fae started to cry, and found powerful arms lift her up, put her on the log framed bed, and two warm bodies melded to her, for comfort, and strength.
"So...what happens now? Do I pay....what did I say?" Fae said in surprise, and fear. Calla had become angry at her words.
"You're free, Fae. You don't pay us for that freedom, either with your body, or your coin." She said coldly, and sat up. "Me and Eerika have had sex together, but that doesn't mean we're going to press you for sex." She shivered, then felt Eerika's hand on her shoulder.
"Don't be angry, love. She doesn't understand yet. Just let her experience what being free is like before you get angry at her for not understanding." Calla lowered her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Fae. She's right. It will take some time, and you'll make mistakes, but the wonderful thing about mistakes is that you can learn from them. And not get whipped for it either." Fae's eyes opened wide.
"Really? No pain?" Calla turned towards her, and smiled.
"No pain. Eerika's been here nearly a month, and I came here four days after that. We haven't slept so well in our lives! But...." Calla's eyes turned sad.
"What? What's wrong?" Eerika felt that sadness, and knew what she was about to explain.
"Now that the pressure is off, all that evil is going to come out. When it does, you won't be able to stop yourself from being mean, or hateful, or frightened." Fae sat up and hugged her.
"You can't stop it?" Calla closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Its inside you. We can't stop what we have no control of. What you don't have control of. All we can do is stay close, and help you when you need us." But Calla had no idea just how bad it could get. She knew her own mind, but not the mind of someone who has endured over a decade of abuse.
The tapestry of the mind was a fragile thing. There was no way to tell what damage was done until it started to unravel, and she tried to repair herself.
"So this is what you went through." Calla said softly as she gently held Fae, let her find her calm, and eventually cry herself out. "I didn't know it would be this hard, not being able to find the things that hurt her because it was her own mind's responses to the past."
"And she isn't finding her feet, love. If anything, she's getting worse. Maybe she should sleep alone for a while." Calla frowned.
"Does it bother you that much?" Eerika shook her head.
"I think we are making it worse for her. We support her, let her cry, and show that we are there for her. She's never had that. Is that making her rely on us when she should rely on herself?" Calla frowned.
"I don't know. I didn't go through what she did. When I started to become a woman, and he started to 'train' me, my mom laid down. Then it was only me and my thoughts. It was all I could do to not lay down myself." Eerika laid her hand on Calla's shoulder. "Don't worry. I don't want to lay down anymore, other then to sleep." Eerika smiled softly.
"Then you had it worse then she did, love. We were sold when we were sixteen, or a bit later. You were younger then she was." Calla shrugged.
"I'm not counting years. Besides, look at her. She's almost vacant inside." Fae lifted her head.
"The stocks! They're going to put me in the stocks! I'll never be free!" Calla growled. Though she had responded, it was to what was inside her head, not to Calla. She kept reliving her life in that hell, put in the stocks to be sold, and shown off for eager buyers.
"I hate those things! They display us like meat, to soften us up for our new master, often whipping us to show how much we cry out in pain!" Fae nodded, while Eerika struggled to control her temper. Just the thought of Calla being whipped put her hackles up, and made her want to kill someone.
"I don't want to go back! I got out of the stocks just before I ran! If they find me, I'll go right back in!" Eerika couldn't stand to listen to anymore. She stood up, picked up her ax, along with a shield and spear. She couldn't wait to bury the ax in someone's skull.
"Love? What...."
"Fae? Can you cook something for us to eat? We are going to go raid that village, and destroy those stocks!" Fae's eyes filled with life, and hope. This time, it wasn't the hope that she would escape. It was the hope that she would never have to go back.
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