Hi guys. Sorry for being extremely silent and not answery or commenty. I haven’t fallen off the edge of the Earth though I am pretty much heading there today. I haven’t been on the radar the last few weeks because I have been insanely busy trying to get a million things finished before my parents and sister arrived a few days ago. I thought I might get some time to post but it has just been impossible :(.

And today we are heading off to Iceland!!!! Iceland! Hurrah! I am super excited but it does mean I am pretty sure I won’t be connected for the whole 10 days. I am happy because that means leaving my PhD behind for a while but sad because it also means leaving Mhalwae behind. But I think I am going to get really inspired because Iceland is sort of like Mhalwae, in a way though a bit colder I think (it is summer there now but it is still 12degs today ).

And then what happens. Well, I am back for one night and then off to Budapest with two friends from Australia. And that is for four days. But I am still not really back then because I have one day and then I am heading to a conference in America (New Hampshire) followed by a few days of holiday to Niagara falls on the Canadian side with a friend.

So what this basically means is a summer hiatus from Mhalwae :(. I hope you guys will still want to read when I come back to it, which will be around the middle of August. I am going to miss you guys! I hope you all have a lovely summer too (if you are on the side of the world where there is actually summer right now).

Byee!

“So how did it go?” Madlenka asked with a sly grin.

She was lying on the thick, woven carpet with the Crown Prince who was happily batting at his knees stopping occasionally to catch at the long tail of hair that draped down his mother’s shoulder.

Despite the dark storm clouds blotting out the sun, the afternoon was particularly hot and unpleasant. Nyawe’s skin was clammy and prickling with irritation, her dress sticking to the damp skin of her back. Her dark curls were plastered to her sweaty neck to top it all off baby simply wouldn’t be still. She lowered herself heavily onto the bench with a flustered sigh.

“Not well, but I can’t say I expected anything to happen”, she lied not willing to admit that she had been so hopeful. It had seemed for long moments there that Garald had been responding to her attentions and then he had murmured some hurried excuse and run off. She had lay awake for as long as she could, clutching to the tentative hope that he would come back but had finally, unable to keep her eyes open any longer, succumbed to sleep.

“Oof”, the baby stuck its foot into her side so that her breath came out in a rush.

She rubbed at her belly in irritation, but that only made things worse, the small creature inside her womb squirming at her heavy touch.

“Oh, but I wish he’d stop running around in there. I really can’t bear it. I want him out. I’ve had enough of this”, she whined.

Nyawe had reached the point where she was no longer afraid of the pain she knew would come with her child’s birth. She wanted it out. She was sick of dragging around this ungainly belly, of having to walk around the baby’s head now that it had begun to drop in her pelvis. She wanted to be able to sleep again at night without a tiny foot jabbing her bladder, so she was forced to waddle out of bed every few hours. She was tired of her husband reserving his hands only for the belly that swayed before her. It was enough now and she wanted it out.

“Oh I know exactly how you feel dearest. Those last few weeks when I could barely move I didn’t care how they got the damn thing out just as long as it wasn’t inside me anymore”, Madlenka gave her kindly smile then turned to her son who was staring at her with wide, curious eyes.

“They’re much more fun when they’re out here anyway”, she gave Kendrick a big slurping kiss as he giggled, squirming like a fish, “why look at you, you dear, fat baby”.

She kissed him again and he squealed in delight clapping his tiny hands together, as though applauding a particularly fine masque.

“I really thought the nightgown would work. Eallair could barely keep his hands off me when I wore it, even when I was huge”.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me”, Nyawe sighed sadly, “I’m disgusting. No man would want me like this”.

She was so desperate for any small affection she had almost sought out Sir Hwratar again. Their last meeting had been such a disaster though it seemed the Baroness had not told her husband. She felt sick even thinking about what she had almost done, but then her thoughts strayed to Alexis’ warm lips against hers, his leg between her thighs tipping her so far back she felt dizzy. A wave of nausea rolled over her and the baby inside her shuddered and kicked out with its tiny feet so that she nearly lost her breakfast. She had not even dared to meet his eyes, no doubt he looked upon her swollen body with the same disgust her husband did anyway. But it had felt good to be wanted even if his attention was brief and had strayed so quickly to the nearest kitchen maid.

“You are certainly not disgusting”, the Queen objected haughtily, “this is not your fault. If anything there is something wrong with your husband”.

“But look at this huge belly drooping at my waist. I look hideous. I feel hideous. And tired. And so goddamn uncomfortable”.

“And my skin is so stretched”, she reported, “it is like I am coming apart at the very seams”.

“Maddy dearest, can’t you just make it come out somehow”, she complained.

Madlenka was gazing at her, her face troubled, “I don’t understand it sweet. I have heard that some men do not find pregnant women attractive though I find it difficult to believe when you look so delicious. I can’t believe any man would have refused you the way you looked in that nightgown, wrapped up like a big lace present with a golden bow”.

“But it must be something horrid about me. He stopped lying with me as soon as I told him, when my belly had scarcely begun to swell. Even then he did not want to touch me”.

She bit her full lip between her teeth, chewing at the soft skin there as she often did when she was upset or concerned. She had to bite hard, nipping the flesh because if she did not tears would surely spill forth from her dark eyes. Madlenka often cried, raging tempests of tears pouring forth from her until she was completely drained. Afterwards was always better, the worries washed away in the flood, her face clean and bright as the glistening flowers upturned to the sun emerging from behind the dark clouds.

But Nyawe would not cry before her Queen, though she was the best friend she had ever had, though it built inside her like a burgeoning storm. Perhaps later she would lock herself in her room, wrapping her arms around her swollen waist, pulling her legs up and sob quietly. But she would not cry now.

But Madlenka saw her distress through the prideful facade she had carefully hung about her. She gracefully stood and came to sit beside Nyawe. She wrapped one warm arm around carefully her friend’s shoulders.

“There’s nothing wrong with you my dear, sweet Nyawe”, she said with a smile, squeezing her friend’s shoulder, “Do you not remember that we are two of the most beautiful girls in the world and our husbands are surely most lucky to have us”.

Nyawe smiled, remembering their childhood games. But Madlenka had truly married the prince of her dreams, though he had not galloped to their towered prison on a unicorn and climbed up to rescue her.

Nyawe had married a shy, bookish man with carefully tied back hair whose smiles were as rare as his conversation. She loved him for reasons she didn’t understand. In those first months she had begun to believe he loved her too, that she wasn’t just an amicable and convenient match, the King’s steward paired with the Queen’s maid.

She had not minded his fumbling caresses though more skilled hands had run over the rounded curves of her body. His kisses had been furtive, small and tender, darting from behind the curtain of thick, brown hair that tickled her face. She had liked the way his beard scratched against her neck when he dared to linger for a moment there. She could have taught him how to pleasure her and she believed he was teaching her how to love. She thought they would learn together though the start might have been awkward. But then it had all stopped as abruptly as her baby’s umbilical cord would be severed from its body as it took its first breath.

She leaned against Madlenka’s shoulder, enjoying the simple human contact, given freely without Nyawe having to all but beg for it, “At least you still think I’m beautiful Mads”.

“You always will be my Lady Nyawe of the raven-hair”, Madlenka murmured as she laid her head against Nyawe’s.

“Oh oh oh oh!”, Kendrick broke in, waving his arms frantically in the air, “Oh!”.

They laughed, shuffling apart and staring down at the distressed child.

“He doesn’t like mummy to go near anyone else”, Madlenka chuckled, “even Daddy!”

Now that her attention was returned to him, Kendrick sighed happily and tried to shove his entire fist into his mouth.

“And there you have him, in all his glory, Crown Prince Kendrick of Mhalwae”, Nyawe drawled.

“He’s doing a rather good job of it isn’t he. All he really needs now is a fanfare and some fancy title”, Madlenka giggled, looking at Nyawe expectantly.

“How does Prince Kendrick of the over-sized mouth sound to you?”

“I think I prefer Prince Kendrick of the soggy hand”.

“Or Prince Kendrick of the wrinkled fingers”.

“Ah”, Kendrick replied sagely, removing his hand and carefully wiped it on his velvet robe.

Ominous rain-laden clouds dangled above them, black and swollen, pressing their heavy weight down to engulf the rising crags of the mountain. The wind whipped at the exposed hillside, rattling through the dead trees their brittle branches creaking balefully at the disturbance. The air was thick with a dank, clammy mist that seeped in underneath the skin to chill their very hearts.

Harndall shivered drawing his arms around his body as the bitter wind tore at the heavy material of his robe. The crumbling remains of the old church clung to the mountainside behind him, like some rearing arachnid, the broken stained glass of its many eyes fixed on Harndall as it shifted its buttressed legs.

“It must be somewhere around here”, Lochan cried eagerly, his eyes scanning the hillside.

Harndall’s gaze roved amongst the mist too, following the undulating hills as they climbed upwards. The sickly green of the dying earth was met with dark shadows as the rocks clambered their way towards the menacing sky. They stood just outside the churchyard, the low ill-made, moldering wall beside them was hindrance enough to bar the souls that lay beneath their feet from heaven forever.

A large raindrop trickled down the back of Harndall’s robe, forming an icy trail as it dribbled down between his shoulder blades.

“I suppose one spot is as good as another”, Lochan pondered, looking around in consternation, “we can dig up the whole hillside if need be”.

Kelgar loped up to stand beside Harndall, a wolfish grin on his scarred face, “Well it depends Your Lordship what sort of dead body yew were looking for. If yew weren’t too picky I’m sure these hills are probably riddled with ‘em”.

Harndall felt an unprecedented surge of irritation and turned to Lochan muttering, “Don’t you think that these poor souls are tormented enough as it is. We should not do them the disservice of disturbing their unsettled sleep more than is strictly necessary”.

He had spent too many days locked away with this man, listening to his every snort of annoyance, trying to ignore the sound of his impatient tapping feet. When the Duke was thinking he jiggled his leg, when he was bored he scuffed the floor with his boots and when he was waiting he rapped his fingers unconsciously on the heavy, wooden table. Harndall was even sick of hearing the Duke breathe. Who would have known that another person’s breathing could become such a source aggravation but there it was. He knew it wasn’t very patient or priestly of him but he couldn’t help it, the slight whistle in Lochan’s nose when he exhaled was slowly driving him mad. He thought God would understand, perhaps he had even given Lochan a head-cold just to test Harndall. Well it had worked, he had failed but if he had given his Lord something to chuckle about then he was glad of it.

“Yes I suppose you are right Father. I wasn’t being very kind”, Lochan’s replied with a small sniffle.

“Me too”, Kelgar said mournfully, “Sorry Father”.

Kelgar was one of those incongruous men that Harndall had sometimes heard the confession of. While he faced life with a devil-may care attitude it seemed Kelgar had a deep respect for the church and for Harndall himself. Harndall could never quite equate the jovial lists of indiscretions with the man who prayed so fervently at mass. Perhaps Kelgar felt he had a lot to make up for.

Osras trudged up through the churchyard, throwing the shovels on the ground before them.

“Well”, he demanded, “are we going to actually dig up this thing or are we going to stand about gossiping like a bunch of women. I for one am cold and soggy and would like to get this done as quickly as possible. There is a warm spot waiting for me at the kitchen bench with a steady supply of ale. The rest of you too if you want”.

“And is there warm attentions from your kitchen maid wife for all of us too oh brother of mine. No. A pity”, Kelgar replied with a smirk, “Well then, if yew would be so kind as to point out exactly where we should be digging then we would be most happy to oblige yew”.

Osras stared back at them, an incredulous scowl plastered across his dripping face. Behind him stretched the churchyard, a scattering of crumbling tombstones pinned to the spongey hillside like insects tangled in a web. Harndall found his eyes drawn to the mournful figure of a women, her back hunched as rain drops trickled over her eroded, grey curves.

“Are you being serious?”, he asked, with a sigh, “Doesn’t it seem like the marked grave would be a good place to start?”

They followed his gaze to a small stone cross almost hidden from sight at the very corner of the dilapidated wall. Harndall felt nauseous, the sharp angular lines of the cross sickening him rather than offering the comfort they usually bestowed. He was suddenly reminded of its true purpose, the sharp nails piercing tender flesh, forcing apart bones. Christ had hung from such a structure, his skin slowly ripping as the weight of his mortal body pulled him down. His blood had flowed down over those harsh lines, soaking into the splintering wood, pooling at the base to fester in the midday sun.

Harndall was suddenly deeply afraid of what lay beneath those fine layers of soil. Somewhere below them something was stirring, he could hear it now, a very faint rustling, a scratching. A chill crept up his spine, the tiny hairs on the back of his neck all standing on end.

He rubbed his tired eyes with his hand, running it through the short strands of his hair. He was exhausted, too many nights pondering the mysteries of the journal. Now he was hearing things. It was only the hushed thud of raindrops hitting the waterlogged earth at his feet.

“First one to the coffin wins a kiss from Polina”, Kelgar jeered at his brother, picking up a shovel.

He lifted it high and Harndall flinched involuntarily as it arced through the air coming to rest deep in the hide of the hillside. Harndall let out his breath in a quiet hiss when nothing happened. He realised he had been expecting a scream. The soggy ground subsided a little beneath Kelgar’s feet so that he stumbled and fell to his knees. He righted himself, gripping the shovel again in determined hands.

“Have some respect for the dead brother”, Osras snarled burying his own shovel deep into the loamy earth and carving out a great chunk of it, “and I certainly wouldn’t wager a kiss from my wife”.

“Fine then”, Kelgar pouted, “but you really are no fun my dear old brother”.

Harndall understood Kelgar was only trying to ease his fear by bantering with his brother but he wished the other man would stop. It seemed wrong to speak so loudly in such a place, his loud jeers echoing off the surrounding cliffs and reverberating around them. It was as though even the slightest noise would be like frantically tugging at the silken thread and awaiting the creeping horror.

He wondered if Kelgar felt it too aching in his scars, a deep rot from her touch that ran through his very veins. He felt her teeth again, piercing the translucent skin of his neck, sinking into him, violating him. He shivered in terror as the pile of dirt beside them grew bigger and the cavernous hole ever deeper.

“Whoops”, Kelgar cried, tapping Osras’ shovel hard so that he dropped the large load of dirt perilously balanced on the mouth of the shovel that he had been trying to carefully maneuver out of the hole.

“I’ve had enough of your stupidity Kelgar”, Osras barked, “You can finish the bloody hole on your own”.

He threw the shovel over the side of the hole, grunting as he pulled himself over the edge. He stomped over to the nearest dead tree, sitting heavily at its base, leaning his sweaty back against its hollow trunk.

Harndall gazed at the tree, its rotten branches stretching upwards like the arms of a cross. Harndall could almost see the globby, putrid blood oozing from the cankered knots and dripping down the bark to pool where Osras was sitting. He swallowed back the bile that was rising in his throat and turned back to the yawning cavity where Kelgar still dug.

His nostrils were filled with a rancid rising scent that made him retch. He gagged, spitting the taste from his mouth but it was no use. It filled him, prising open his mouth and seeping inside, pouring down his throat to turn his stomach, clawing its way into his sensitive nose.

“It don’t smell pretty does it Father”, Kelgar gasped, “I’ve reached the coffin though. What do you want me to do?”

“Smash it open then Kelgar”, Lochan commanded, sliding his sword from its sheath, “we’re with you”.

Osras lumbered over, his rusty sword in hand. Lochan gave a nod and Harndall braced himself for what was to follow wishing he too had a sword. He reached inside the neck of his robe, his trembling fingers fumbling for the comfort of the small silver cross that hung warm against his chest. He pulled his hand back in dismay, a small rivulet of blood running from his thumb which had caught the edge of the cross and ripped in his haste.

“Ah well, good to know if I unearth some nasty beasty I’ve got you louts with your swords to wade in and save me”.

Kelgar raised the shovel high bringing it down hard on the brittle coffin lid. It cracked apart, the sodden wood breaking easily under the force.

The scratching was close now, so close, as though the very ground beneath Harndall’s feet was stirring, twitching as it awoke.

“It’s empty”, Kelgar’s surprised voice came up from the ditch.

The scratching abruptly ceased.

“No… wait”, Kelgar disappeared again below the rim.

“I found something”, his head popped up again, “it’s a ring”.

He peered at the dirt-encrusted object, “With some sort of strange carving on it. I think it’s a bird of some sort”.

“A bird?” Lochan asked, “come up here and let us have a look. You’re sure there’s nothing else down there?”

But Kelgar was gazing fixedly at Harndall with that look of unwavering trust he faced with a quaking heart so many times a day, “Does this make any sense to you Father? What did you think would be down here?”

He felt dizzy, teetering on the edge of the gash in the hillside they had ripped open. Perhaps if he fell it would swallow him, sucking him down into the belly of the mountain.

“I don’t know Kelgar”, he murmured staring at the ragged cliffs that rose sharply all around them, ascending into the midst of the roiling black storm clouds.

“I don’t know”, he sighed.

Garald softly swung the door open, careful not to let the hinges squeak. He cursed himself for forgetting, once again to have them oiled. It did not matter, Nyawe was lying awake her hands folded neatly on her swollen belly.

“Hello husband”, she purred from her reclined position.

“Good evening Nyawe”, he replied, his throat contracting in panic.

His eyes flickered to the bedside counter, where a half-empty carafe of wine stood, its curved body softly glowing in the light cast by the tallow candles. He felt a brief surge of irritation, noting that once again his wife was burning two candles not one. One sputtering flame was enough to light the room and it seemed the height of wanton, frivolity to squander two. Resources were scant on Mhalwae, and they were trying to make do with what little they had from the tiny harvest of last year. Autumn was spreading her cloak of yellow and gold over the fields and soon there would be another harvest, but until then they needed to ration the provisions they had. Why could he not make his wife understand this.

Scattered beside her on the bed were half-finished embroideries, spilling forth from the sewing basket, which perched in the corner like an unwanted child. Nyawe had started many delicate items for their child, sewing busily for a day and then growing bored, discarding and beginning a new project. She flitted from task to task like a butterfly, happy to land for long moments on the outstretched petals of a blossom but soon growing tired of the nectar and turning her glowing face elsewhere.

Now she was heavily rising to her feet. He had hoped she would be asleep when he came to bed, he was exhausted after the nasty business of the day and did not have the strength to fend her off. It had been easier these last months as her body swelled. She was often so tired she slept as soon as she lay down in the evening. Then he only had to crawl quietly in beside her and give her a quick kiss on the forehead.

He briefly closed his eyes, steeling himself for the ordeal that was to follow.

“Is the baby keeping you awake”, he murmured as she stood before him, her enlarged breasts held high, peeping enticingly from the low neck of her nightdress. Her night gown was cinched in tight underneath her breasts, falling away softly over her bulging belly and the child he had put there.

“Yes, he’s downright feisty tonight, just like his mama”, she winked saucily at him, her catlike eyes glowing hungrily in the candlelight, “would you like to feel him move”.

He could not refuse and he had to admit that his hands were longing to stroke her firm belly, to feel the tactile knots of lace that hung so invitingly. It seemed she had plenty of time for sewing new nightgowns, he thought ruefully, as his hands moved over her waist. He had not seen this one before, an appealing construction of intricate lacework that was pulled tightly, with ribbons in all the right places.

He felt a slight stirring beneath his hand, his eyes widening in surprise. It did not matter how many times he felt his child moving within her, he never got over the initial shock. It seemed so strange that a little creature, part Garald, part Nyawe was dwelling right now in the warm safety of her womb, biding his time till he was ready to greet the world.

“He sure is running about in there tonight. Little bastard thinks its funny to kick me in the bladder every half an hour or so. I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to. And sleeping is the last thing on my mind now”, she was smiling at him in the half-darkness, her round lips curving at the edges into delicious dimples.

He was stroking her belly rhythmically, unconsciously as he listened to her throaty voice. He was shocked into awareness as her body began rubbing against his hand and he realised it had climbed past her waist and almost to the supple curve of her breast.

He drew back with a gasp of dismay as Nyawe began to advance on him.

“You should lie back down again dear”, he stuttered, “I will join you in a moment”.

He began to undress, carefully folding his tunic and neatly tucking it away into the drawer followed by his hose. All the while he felt his wife’s eyes raking across his body with the intensity of a cat watching her prey. He waited dizzily for her to pounce, not knowing when the moment would come that his trembling body would be pinned squirming beneath a heavy paw.

He unwound the strap of leather that held back the straight, brown strands of hair. After methodically tying it into a half-knot to keep it from getting tangled he placed it on the top of the dresser. He stared at himself in the mirror, noting the dark longing in his eyes, the shaking of his hands as he slowly ran his fingers through his hair. Painstakingly he unravelled the small snarls that had formed during the day as his hair had brushed and knotted against the sweaty collar of his tunic.

He moved around to the side of the bed, pulling back the covers and folding them precisely over his body.

Nyawe raised herself on one elbow so she was poised above him, staring down at his naked chest and the slight bulge not entirely hidden by the blankets resting above him. Her pupils were wide, dilated so it was almost all he could see of her eyes peeping out from behind the soft curls of her hair cascading down her breast. Her mouth was half open in a silent pant as she stared intently at him.

He resisted the urge to pull the covers up to his chin and cower beneath them. As a child, lying awake at night in terror of the noises in the dark it had always seemed that even the thinnest layer of fabric would provide some kind of shield against evil. But no sheet, not even a shield could protect him now because the evil lay festering inside his own heart. He shivered in dismay. For all he had tried to be good he was still rank with sin. In confirmation he felt a throbbing between his thighs as Nyawe smiled at him, shuffling towards him, one hand reaching out towards his body.

He stared in dismay at her hand, her beautiful hand with its silky skin, her long, slender, fleshy fingers that could do such wonderful things. It rose in an achingly slow arch, plummeting unstopping towards his body. Where it would fall he did not know. Perhaps it would land on his chest, her fingernails scratching the sensitive skin that in anticipation was already spotted with goose bumps. Maybe it would fall on his leg nuzzling the inside of his thigh like a cat twining around his legs. Or perhaps she would place her hand were he wanted it most, her quick fingers rubbing and teasing. He fought back a groan that was forming in the back of his throat.

Her hand fell, it grasped his own in hers, pulling it up to her lips. She began to kiss his own rough fingers, her breath tickling his skin as her lips moved along the back of his hand.

She opened her mouth and slowly slid his thumb inside. He fought back a moan as it touched her soft, wet tongue, moving against it, sucking at it.

He was panting and trembling and shivering in desire and distress, his eyes wide and panicked, his teeth gritted in a grimace. Before his widened eyes floated the face of his mother, her sour mouth turned down at the corners as she cracked the wooden stick across his hand. He screamed out in pain as she brought it down again, whistling through the air to rip apart the flesh on his wrist.

“Sinful, evil boy”, she spat hitting him again and again as he wept uncontrollably, tears and snot running down his face and into his open, panting mouth, “God doesn’t want sinning, filthy little boys with their hands down their pants. You’ll never get to heaven the sinner that you are”.

He was bad, sinful, rotten to the core. Before it had been his duty as a husband, to procreate, to provide them with children. Was it so terrible if he had enjoyed it. No one had ever said that doing one’s duty could not be pleasurable as well. But here he was, still filled with throbbing, festering desire even while his wife was distended with his own seed. He choked back a sob of despair that was bubbling at the back of his throat.

He carefully pulled his thumb from her warm mouth, a brief chill prickling the skin as it met with the cool air.

“Goodnight wife”, he muttered, leaning over to give her a quick goodnight kiss.

He was met with open, wet lips, her hand catching in the hair at the back of his head and pulling him towards her. Her tongue forced its way into his mouth as it opened for her, unresisting. Her mouth was hot and tantalising, the taste of spiced wine drawing him in. He was teetering on the very edge of his resolve and she was dragging him over.

His stomach turned in shame and as he pulled away from her clinging grasp. It was no good, he was not strong enough to resist her.

“Oh, oh dear”, he said lamely, “There’s something I’ve forgotten to do”.

She sighed in frustration, turning away from him as he launched himself from the bed.

“I shouldn’t be too long love, but it can’t wait till the morning. How stupid of me!”, he cried in what he hoped was believable consternation, “and now I’ve gone and hassled you for nothing. I hope you’ll forgive me”.

She said nothing, staring fixedly at the wall, her cheeks flushed with anger and desire. She was beautiful, even more so in her indignation. He longed, to press his body against hers and pin her down to the bed so that she squirmed beneath his heavy weight. He wished she understood. She didn’t realise that he was protecting them both from sin, from the devil’s clawing hands that were forever waiting below. God was watching, always watching and he would know. He would know.

He shrugged on his tunic and hose not even bothering to tie his hair back.

“Goodnight Nyawe”, he whispered.

She did not look at him as he fled from the room.

The fist was crunching into his face before he knew what was happening. He felt the bones of his nose cracking under its weight, a dreadful crushing feeling he remembered well and a gout of blood spurted onto the fist that was coming in a second time. Sigurd’s fingers curled around the neck of his tunic pulling him upright as his fist collided with Radomir’s exposed belly.

“You bastard!”, Sigurd was snarling, his teeth bared, “You dare touch her!”.

He grunted in pain, doubling over, wrapping his arms around his body to protect it from the onslaught. He could have balled up a fist and retaliated, Sigurd would have been on the floor begging for mercy in mere seconds. But he did not raise a hand, only tried to protect himself from the angry fists as he had done so many times. He knew exactly which parts would hurt the most and he covered those, waiting for it to end.

He deserved this. He could not imagine what he would do to the man who had lain with Valeriya and so he understood Sigurd’s need to drive his fist into the harsh features of his face. If their positions had been switched Radomir would not have been satisfied with his fist. It would have been his sword sliding into the smaller man’s belly, ripping open his guts his staring eyes startled. Even that would not have been enough.

“Sigurd!”, the Duke barked wrapping his arms around the howling man.

He struggled like a drowning cat in a bag, his fists flying ineffectually towards Radomir’s waiting body.

“That’s enough Sigurd”, Lochan muttered to him as his thrashing subsided. The duke may have been a smaller man but he was by far the stronger of the two.

Sigurd only stared at him, his eery green eyes flickering with barely controlled rage. He stood very straight, very tall, Lochan’s arms still wrapped around him. Radomir was doubled over in pain, his arm clutching at his chest where bruises were already beginning to form.

“I’m sorry Sigurd”, Radomir managed to whisper, as he licked the blood from his swollen lip.

“You should leave now Sigurd. We will send word to you when we hear of how your wife is faring”, the King commanded evenly.

Sigurd gave a hiss of displeasure and stalked from the room, slamming the door shut behind him with an echoing thud.

Radomir stood up slowly, wiping his nose against the sleeve of his tunic leaving a bloodied mess. His wife and the Baroness were seated before the King. Valeriya’s hair had been pulled up into an elegant bun. She wore a high necked gown so that all he could see of her smooth white neck was a small strip of alabaster huddling between hair and robe. She had not even turned to watch the argument between he and Sigurd. He could see that she was swaying slightly in her chair and a sudden cascade of anger flooded his senses. She was ill, how dare they take her from her bed to testify before the King.

“You also Ladies, we are done questioning you”, he spoke kindly and Cindra rose hastily to her feet, all but dragging Valeriya from her chair.

She slid a steadying arm around his wife’s swollen waist and began to march her from the room. Radomir could see that Valeriya was having difficulty, her eyes fixed on the floor as she stumbled over the hem of her gown. She did not look up at him once and his heart sagged inside the prison of his chest. Then she was gone, the scuffing of their fine shoes receding down the corridor.

“The Earl of Moraghdu”, the King’s steward droned as if none of the events of the last five minutes had taken place.

“You may sit down Radomir”, the King’s voice rang out clear as a blacksmith’s hammer striking the anvil.

“Yes Your Majesty”, Radomir all but whispered, carefully seating himself on the wooden chair facing the man he owed his allegiance to.

The chair was warm beneath him, the warmth of his wife’s trembling buttocks as she had sat before her King. Perhaps her cheeks had burned red with shame when he asked her with whom she had lain. Perhaps she had only stared back defiantly, her hot open thighs imparting their sinful heat, scorching the wood that now lay beneath him. A trickle of blood began to dribble down from his nose, tickling the skin just above his lips. He did not wipe it away, this was only the beginning of his punishment.

“I am extremely displeased with your behaviour Radomir. It is bad enough that you seem to be incapable of treating your wife with respect due to her, but now you have decided to expand this to include all women. How dare you stike Lady Inbar. How dare you lay a finger on her”, he paused for a moment, struggling to control his anger.

“You may do as you please with your God given wife and I cannot stop you though it sickens me. But you have made a big mistake in believing you can do the same to Sigurd’s”, the King’s voice was thick with displeasure as he waited for Radomir’s response.

“I understand Your Majesty and I submit to the punishment you choose for me”.

“First of all you are ordered to hand over two hides of the land you have been allotted in recompense to Sir Inbar for handling his wife. The remainder of your punishment remains to be decided depending on the outcome of Lady Inbar’s pregnancy. You do understand that if you have caused lasting damage to the woman your punishment will be severe”.

“Yes Your Majesty”, Radomir mumbled, a drop of blood dripping into his lap.

He understood. If she died he was a murderer twice over and he would pay for this with his life. A shudder of terror rippled up through his body. He clung to the sides of the wooden chair trying to steady himself.

“If Lady Inbar and her child survive this you will never lay a finger on them again, nor any other woman on this island. I will not stand for this brutality. Should I find out this has happened again my wrath will be swift and crushing. I would not recommend testing it if I were you”.

“Now, we have spoken to your wife and it seems she does not know who the father of the child is. I am inclined to believe her. She is still ill and I do not think she is lying”.

Radomir stared at him, uncomprehending. He turned to each of the nobles sitting before him trying to read their faces. Finally his eyes fell on the Queen who was gazing at him with a mixture of pity and disgust.

“I don’t understand”, he murmured.

The Queen’s brows wrinkled upwards so that the crown sitting on her brow was almost dislodged.

“Radomir you stupid fool”, she began, “We believe that your wife has been raped during the time she was lying unconscious and that is why she does not know who the father is. She was extremely distressed when she realised she didn’t know who it was and that it wasn’t you”.

Radomir recoiled as though her tiny jewelled hand had struck him full across the face, the angular edges of her rings leaving ragged imprints.

“No”, he gasped, his insides freezing in looping coils as he hugged his arms around his waist trying to remember the comfort it had given him before when those arms belonged to a strange, young girl and the scent of hay was all around.

“Radomir, I beg you. Do not go after the man or try and find out who did this. We will do our very best to discover the identity of the rapist among us but I cannot have you going around thumping every man you suspect. I need you and I need the other men. Do not fail me. We will find out who did this and they will be justly punished. But you cannot take the law into your own hands. I will not hear of it”, Eallair’s voice was earnest and remarkably gentle after the ringing steel of moments before.

Radomir shut his eyes tightly, the rage inside him was gone, nothing but a hollow wind blowing over dead coals. He was sickened at the thought of a man stealing into his wife’s chamber, pulling back the covers as she moaned in the throes of fever. Sliding at dirty hand up beneath her nightgown and then pulling it up around her waist. Hurting her while she cried out in her sleep at the pain, running his hands over her slack body, kissing her open panting mouth, twisting his hand in her long golden hair and pulling her sleeping face up to rub against him. Had it been only once, or many times when their heads were turned. It was his fault, he had not protected her well enough.

“Radomir. I am also forbidding you to see your wife. I will not allow you near her until she has given birth and we have sorted this mess out and removed the predator from our midst. You cannot be trusted with her and so you may not see her. I am sorry. I know it will be difficult but I pray that you use this time to repent, perhaps speak with Father Harndall and confess your sins. When the child is born we will have a better idea of who the father is and until then you can rest assured we are searching for this criminal”.

“But who will protect her”, his voice was so quiet it was barely a breathy sigh. There was a polite knock at the door behind him.

“Enter”, the steward called out at a small nod from the King.

The door swung open and Radomir recognised the soft thudding of Hepsie’s determined limp. It was the thumping step of the executioner lumbering up the stairs of the scaffold, wrapping his thick hands around the axe.

“Goodwife Cade Your Majesty”, Garald announced.

Radomir half-turned to look at her face and then his courage faltered, knowing his doom might be written there.

“How is Lady Inbar Goodwife?”, the King asked in subdued tones.

Radomir waited like a condemned man with his head on the block, throwing his arms wide at the last minute. He waited for the whistle of the axe and the brief flare of pain followed by unending darkness.

“She’s bein’ fine Yer Grace, though her nose is bein’ a bit of a mess. I’m thinkin’ it will be healin’ alright though as I set it real careful”, Radomir could hear the anger ringing through her voice and he knew that it was directed at him.

“And the baby?” the Queen asked fretfully.

“Fer the time beins’ the baby is fine. We managed to be savin’ it but I can’t be promisin’ yew it’ll last till the end. It’s got a long way to be goin’ till it see the light of day an’ Lady Inbar’s goin’ to have to be bedridden the whole time which she won’t be likin’. But there’s still bein’ some hope”:

The air whistled from Radomir’s lungs in a soft sigh of relief. The trotting of hooves the moment before the axe fell. The messengers halting the proceedings, the Royal pardon at the last of moments. The pardoned man’s hands falling to clutch at the wooden block, clinging to it for long moments and then leaning heavily on it as he rises trembling to his feet.