Broker - CH 24 -

Alex sat at his desk in his tent. 

Alone.

Mary had left long before sunrise.

Before he’d woken up even. He imagined she’d slept lightly and crept out, rather than get caught in the bed of the man who had brought ruin to her husband and uncle.

Not that he blamed her.

They’d had quite a bit of fun last night. Her enthusiasm had even shown up. She’d insisted on several positions to try, and they’d spent a good part of the night simply enjoying one another.

Turning his mind back to the letter in hand, Alex focused.

He was almost done reading through the after action report that David and Max had provided him.

They’d held the line as he’d asked them to. It’d been a false offensive for them.

David and Max had closed within meters of the enemy. They’d not fully engaged though.

Hit and run tactics. Glancing blows off the line with light foot and spears.

Javelins and arrows were used until nothing was left.

Eventually, and expectedly, the enemy would finally break from their line. From their defensive formations, and charge.

The center of Max and David’s lines would drop back, the wings coming up to entrap and flank the entire opposing force.

All in all, the lines of Brit held, and broke the enemy.

Unfortunately, that was the only point of victory yesterday.

Almost every other vassal failed in their attack, and had massive expenditures of life.

Alex probably had the most remaining of his original levy now. Having only lost one-sixth of his forces in total.

It was impressive, and depressing.

Sighing, Alex dropped the report and leaned back in his chair.

“You look like it’s bad news, Master,” Valeria said, materializing next to his desk.

“It is, Three. It really is. This reads like a proclamation of the damned. There is no doubt in my mind, that our enemy will be attacking today. And when they’re done, I fear it’ll be all over,” Alex said.

“I’m sorry, Master,” Valeria said.

“It’s alright. At least we figured out who your previous employer was. Even beat him outright. I imagine we’ll have to put to paid on that sooner rather than later.

“Claim his county as mine,” Alex said with a lopsided grin.

Valeria’s hands clenched into themselves, then opened again. Alex’s eyes went from her hands, to her face.

Abused you, did he? I wonder if that’s where your preference came from.

And speaking of, I haven’t laid with her yet. That might be… an entertaining distraction.

Only realizing it after the fact, he’d been moving his eyes down Valeria’s body. She was wearing one of her doxy dresses that showed off her assets rather splendidly.

“Master…” Valeria said, getting his attention.

Guiltily, his eyes jumped from her hips to her face.

“Master, would you… punish me? I think we could both benefit from a… breather. A distraction,” Valeria said.

“I think thats a great idea. Where’s One, Two, and Five?”

“All asleep. I had David and Max assign some guards for the tent entry. It’s not even dawn yet. We’d be alone,” Valeria said.

“Well, I believe the deal was you got to dictate what you wanted to happen before I turned you into a body pillow,” Alex said, leaning back into his chair.

Valeria blushed deeply, her eyes sliding away from him and to the side.

“It’s… a little embarrassing. You saw right through what I wanted and bound me easily. Polite society would frown on what I enjoy.”

“Good thing I’m not polite. So spit out what you want, or I’ll just lock your wrists in a shackle, hike your dress up, grab a handful of hair, and ride you into the bed. Then leave you there like a conquered prize for the other number girls to discover.”

Valeria’s eyes snapped back to him, her breathing coming out in a shuddering gasp.

“That, I want that,” Valeria said, her left hand pressing to lower abdomen. “That and more.”

“Fine. Go fetch me two shackles and a long leather thong. Hurry back,” Alex said as he got up from the desk.

Valeria darted off to his bedside trunk and flipped it open.

What exactly are you up to?

Watching curiously, Alex started to unfasten his tunic and trousers.

Valeria came out of his personal possessions with two shackles and a leather binding.

“I… I put it all in your chest since… since I hoped you would be willing to…” Valeria’s voice trailed off, her eyes once again moving down and away from him.

I imagine she’s never been able to indulge herself. I’ll have to invert her deals. Grant her abuse in exchange for what I want from her.

That’s fine though.

Dropping his pants, Alex pulled his tunic up over his head and flipped it over his desk chair.

Valeria still hadn’t looked back to him. She was trembling ever so slightly. Slowly, she lifted her hands to him, proffering the items he’d requested.

Taking the items from her hands, he reached up and lightly tilted her chin towards him.

Her hazel eyes finally came to meet his.

“Now. This part is for fun, and also part of the deal. You’ll need to be able to tell me if it’s too much. The simplest way, is for you to have a keyword. Something that you can say to bring everything to a dead stop,” Alex said.

He hadn’t been into this type of play in his previous life. Nor was he blind to the world though. Having a safe word seemed like a smart thing to do.

“I’d suggest red, personally,” Alex said. With his free hand he locked one shackle into the other, giving it a greater reach.

Valeria nodded quickly, blinking at him.

“Say the safe word for me, so I know you understand,” Alex said, wanting to make sure she really understood.

“Red,” Valeria said softly.

“Grand. We’re going to start now, and I’m going to take on my role seriously. Do you understand?”

She nodded again.

Breaking eye-contact with her, he glanced down at the leather thong and quickly turned each end of it into a slip knot. He wasn’t sure if it’d work completely, but it was the best he could do.

Guess those sailing lessons weren’t entirely lost on me.

“Are you ready?” he asked, looking back to her.

Once more, she gave him another nod.

<Redacted>

***

Riley was clutching his arm tightly, practically having it pressed into her chest and down her middle.

She’d become frantically clingy since this morning with Valeria. To the point that it felt almost comical in a way.

He wasn’t sure if Riley would join him in bed, or if this was simply puppy love.

Valeria seemed satisfied with herself, lingering at his side and looking quite the camp woman for his benefit.

Unfortunately, that was the extent of the good part of the afternoon.

Carla was laid up in the carriage, conscious, but unable to do much. Nannie stood behind him a step to the right. She was better, but clearly still tired.

“Fucking shit show. They’re going to get overrun,” Nannie said.

Looking back to his bodyguard he then followed her line of sight off to the right.

The forces over there did look to be as if they were holding on, but only just.

Nannie wasn’t wrong that they probably couldn’t hold out much longer.

“Dave? Max? Dan?” Alex said aloud.

“Sir?” came the response from all three men.

“Get ready to signal the retreat. I need the veteran light foot to hold as the heavy get loaded. Is everything in place otherwise?”

“Sir,” Max said. “Everything is prepared by your order. It should be an orderly, effective, and rapid retreat.

“Good. Any thoughts?” Alex asked, looking to the three men.

Max looked to Dave, who had a concern written clearly on his face.

“Sire, I’m not opposed to this… but are you sure? The duke could call on your oath and claim you cowardly,” Dave said.

“The duke can fuck off and die while gargling on a cock,” Alex said. “Anything else?”

“Sire,” Dan said after a moment. “The mounted infantry can dismount and hold them back if we need to.”

“Shouldn’t be needed. The wagons and carts, even loaded as they are, will still be faster than foot soldiers who don’t want to chase. They’ll be far more spent than us after trying to take this place,” Alex said, dismissing the offer. “Go get everyone prepared. I think our exit is rapidly approaching. Torch it on the order.”

The three men saluted, and left.

“Five, go get the carriage ready please?”

“Mm, ‘kay,” said the berserker, stomping off.

“She’s been… nice,” Riley said softly.

“She has,” Alex agreed. “Alright, go with her One. Get anything last minute done and go keep Two company in the coach.”

“Master…” Riley whined.

“Go, One.”

“Yes, Master.”

Letting go of his arm slowly, Riley left, her collar and tag tinkling softly as she went.

“She put a bell on her tag,” Three said, moving in closer to him. “She’s quite the opposite of myself. She wants you to pet her. Groom her. Reinforce her positively.”

Alex grinned and wrapped an arm around Valeria’s shoulders and gave her hair a tug. “Good thing I have you to balance me then, Three.

“So, any last minute concerns up here?”

“No. Waiting for our flank to fall apart is the right choice, Master. It’ll make it very hard for the duke to say anything,” she said, her hands resting on his back and front at the same time. “Though I think I’ll have to recruit those apprentices as soon as we get back home.

“And we’ll need better bedding next time. My knees ache badly from where you had me pinned.”

“Mm, about that. Your contract expires as soon as the campaign ends, you realize,” Alex said.

Valeria sighed explosively. “I know. I was hoping you’d… forget that, Master.”

“Nope. We’ll need to settle up a new deal for it. You’re good, but I do need to get my worth out of you,” Alex said with a shrug.

“I suppose I’ll be spending more time in your bed for it?”

“I was thinking you could do a night on your knees, just like Two. Easier to get you all on the same type of plan. That way everyone has an equal load to bare. Then I get to pick and choose,” Alex said with a grin.

“I suppose that makes sense. Should I make sure my apprentices are at least attractive? Just in case you want to bind them up?”

“Not a terrible idea. It’d help divert my attention away from you. Your call though. Just make sure they swear to my secrecy and privacy. If you get to keep your job, that is.”

“Ugh. What’s the price then? Serving you on my knees once a night every week?”

“Sounds fair.”

“I agree and do so swear then. You’re awful, Master.”

“I am, and I accept your oath. Look at it this way though. You’re becoming my bed warmer, sure. But I do utilize you, take care of you, and make sure you’re used effectively in your job. No?”

“A real fucking saint of a slave owner,” Valeria said with a acidic tone.

On the right, the troops fell onto themselves, broke, and started to run.

The end of Alex’s line started to curl up on itself to defend the breach.

“Max, light it up, time to go!” Alex called. Turning on his heel, he pulled Valeria along with him as he headed out for the carriage.

Valeria took several steps ahead of him and kept her pace at that point. Clearly moving as a bodyguard now.

Within seconds, they were in the coach with everyone else, and bounding away towards the previous meet up point.

He was fairly certain this would be the fall-back point. 

“You’re sure, Master?” Riley asked him. “I made sure the prisoners were set free several hours ago and given horses, just as you asked .

“I’m sure. I’ll just tell the duke we couldn’t hold anymore once our flank was exposed. We torched our own defenses to buy time, then scrambled off and reorganized, ready to re-engage when ordered to. The prisoners could have been mistaken for others, and I’d hate to have that on my conscience.”

Alex shrugged.

It wasn’t the best plan, and was likely to get him a scolding, but he didn’t care.

He wasn’t going to jeopardize his troops for the sake of an idiot.