An Early Night

After being told which rooms were ours the group of us make our way to the table closest to the fire, for Rosa. I seat her right next to warm hearth then take mine next to her as Cassie and Colly sit across from us. Rosa keeps the robe with her, the coil laid across her lap. As we talk only I could see how she slowly runs her fingers back and forth over the supple red cord beneath the table. Once we are among them we find the other patrons to open up. Polite small talk is shared, with us careful to keep our story as vague and brief as possible without seeming rude.

The proprietor might have been a shameless opportunist who took advantage of tired travelers but when she promised a ‘big bowl’ for a ‘big man’ by the gods she kept her word. Where the others each got a regular bowl of steaming and succulent smelling fish stew with their flat disk of bread and watered down wine, mine came in a full-on serving bowl with two bread stacked on the plate beside it. The fare was no thin gruel either but a rich gravy-like broth filled to brim with hearty chunks of crab, squid, mussels and at least two kinds of fish among the local herbs and vegetables. I might have been swindled, but I was getting damn good value for the money!

Between the generous meal and just watching the brusque woman interacting with her other clientele the few concerns I had about our captain are eased. She felt too grouchy to be false and too shrewd to be deceiving. If this was some scam that she and Nikias pulled on unwary visitors I just couldn’t see how it worked. He hadn’t been advertising for passengers, as a matter of fact it took a fair bit of convincing for him to take us, and both the stables and the inn he had told us to use were clearly deeply rooted businesses in the community. For some slightly inflated room rates and few packs worth of gear it just didn’t add up.

My worries assuaged on that front and having seen no sign of that hound for some time now I could allow myself to let my guard down a little. The others too noticeably relax and settle into the comforts of the inn. Tonight would be a far cry from that soggy river bank or passing out from exhaustion in that farmer’s **** quarters. As we eat, Collywaddle scooting around to help me finish my big bowl, I study Cassie. Her muttered complaint had not gone unheard. She was right. She had very much gotten the short end of the leash when it came to our Lady’s attention. Especially of the amorous variety. The one night they had with each other was at my cousin Tiro’s house, and that situation was hardly one where they had the freedom to express themselves.

If Cassie held any bitterness she didn’t show it as her face shone with the excitement of adventure. She looks around the inn and gives a slow nod to a question only she knew. She then says in a sparkling voice. “A sea voyage! Athens! I’m further than I’ve ever been from home and we’ve only just begun our adventure.” Her gleaming eyes drift toward the door. “This is really happening.”

Rosa lays her hand on Cassie’s. “It’s really happening.”

“Athens. Greece. Land of philosophers! Where the gods used to roam! The place where the legends really happened!”

Rosa beams at her young lover’s exuberance. “I’m sure it’s a place of rivers and mountains and sweaty, stubborn people, just like everywhere else.”

“It’s more than that.” Cassie says. “And we’ll see it with our own eyes.”

“Captive Greece took captive her fierce conqueror.” I quote something I’d heard my father say. “Heh! Remind you of anybody?”

Cassie laughs, rubbing Rosa’s hand. “What will the food be like? What will the people be like? Will we see the Acropolis?”

“I’ve never been to Greece.” Rosa giggles from Cassie’s infectious energy. “We can discover it together, my girl. You can be my eyes while I am your mouth and ears.”

“You’ll have to teach me some words, my Lady.” Cassie says. “Just some basics at least.”

“I will. All of you.” Rosa says, squeezing Cassie’s hand. “ I’ve known this land less than a year and I still I wonder if we are doing the right thing. And here you are about to disembark from the only place you’ve ever known with a song in your heart. Every time I get a little scared you remind me that we aren’t running from our past, we are running toward our future. We’re not leaving home, we’re finding it.” She passes the rope to me and gets up to come around the table and hug Cassie. “You are my courage, my brave one.”

Cassie leans into Rosa, her hand finding Rosa’s tummy. “And you are mine. I never could have gotten this far on my own. I would have been buried in that valley.”

“Do not doubt yourself, my dear.” Rosa whispers something for Cassie’s ears only then kisses her head. “You are mighty!” Standing tall she turns to me. “I tire. Perhaps an early night for us, Master?”

I look down at the rope draped over my leg then back up at my Lady. “Oh! Yes. Of course.” I give a fake yawn and a big stretch, to which Cassie rightly rolls her eyes. A ‘master’ and his ‘pleasure ****’ retiring early? As if the whole room didn’t know what was going on here. Despite that I continue to keep up appearances. “I’m pretty beat myself.”

“Not yet you aren’t.” Cassie mutters with a grin, before saying more publicly. “Good night you two. Sleep well.”

“Good night, Mathter.” Colly hugs me.

“Good night.”

I grab my bag and the rope and go to Rosa to lead her toward the stairs. Behind us I hear loud slurping as Colly licks my big bowl clean while Cassie groans in embarrassment at the display. “I swear we can’t take you anywhere!”

“Oh, thorry! You want a thlurp?”

“No I don’t want a slurp!”

Rosa and I, smiles on our faces, climb the narrow stairs to the rooms and leave the low din of voices behind us. I take Rosa to our room at the end of the hall. Opening the door I step in and look around. The room was about as wide as my arm span and not much longer. The ceiling was a bit higher than downstairs though only by a few inches. There was a single shuttered window, more a slit in the wall than a true opening, and the vast majority of the space was dominated by a simple wooden framed rope bed. With the rope in my hand my first thought wasn’t of how restful our sleep might be but of how sturdy that bed frame looked. Assuming we were about to do what I was hoping we were about to do I quietly gauge just how hard I’d be able to struggle against those posts. I pat the wool stuffed mattress that was rolled up at the foot.

“Well, it’s not much.” I say. “But nicer than a lot places we’ve stayed. And it’s private.”

Rosa smirks at the hopeful tone of my voice. A wash of cooling magic spreads across my legs as Rosa reaches out to see the outline of her surroundings. “Downright luxurious. Does the door have a lock?”

“Er, yeah. Of a sort.” I close the door behind us, latch it and secure the latch with what passed for a locking mechanism. It was as much privacy as I could ensure in the circumstances. It would have to do. “It’s solid enough. And we’ll hear if someone tries to jimmy it.”

“Then it’s perfect.” She says, her voice subtly shifting to convey her authority. The Lady was present. “Boy. Undress and wait for me on the bed in Worship position.”

“Yes, my Lady!” I bow, trying to hide the giddy glee in my submissive heart. “Thank you, my Lady.”

After rolling out the mattress I set down our belongings and begin to disrobe as commanded. The rope hadn’t sat there for more than a few seconds before Rosa picks it up again. Finding an end she pulls it way from the coil and studies it closely.

“Now…” She whispers. “…let’s see what you can do.”