Jack's Viking Sky 4

Summer

by Mitch H 

Chapter 16 Meadows Life

Six months had passed since Jack and Daniel had been thrust into the Viking culture Nirrti had corrupted.

In his covered cart riding from his village, Brooksmeet to his new land, Jack gazed at his lover. "Danny--" Jack said, interrupted again by another irritating cough. "What is it?"

Daniel had curled up at his side, pressing his forehead tightly against Jack's armpit. "We're there, aren't we? On Thaid's--"

"Stop. You can't-- Daniel, I know ... I do know that you don't want to be here but there's no other choice. Talk about choices, ours are shit right now. And it's not your God damned fault or mine--" A deep coughing tore through his chest and Jack clutched at his stomach. "Even my ... weakness ... not my fault ... "

"Jack?" Daniel pushed himself up and peered tensely down at his lover. "Too much talking. Too much dry air. We need to get you inside where it's warmer. Boil some water."

"Not your fault," Jack gasped out the words. "Or mine."

"You're right. You're perfectly right, Jack. I know. There's nothing we can do about it now. We'll just get you inside and ... Balin," Daniel called as he tugged at the rear cover. "Are we ... "

The cart stopped and Balin and Lemmel rolled the cover up.

"Master! Master!" Asny's bright voice broke the hushed silence that had been around the little band as they traveled. "We got it all ready for ye! Come see! What a grand place and kettles and water vapors in the air by ye bed and soup! Tal got soup and Jarngerd got ale heated and so much of a bed in there I never saw before. Big and soft! Clean sheets! Come inside and breathe the vapors, please," she chattered insistently.

"Back, steward. Or I may not lift the master out with ye in the way. Ye go tell them inside--"

"They know! They know. Saw ye coming, we did. Can see from windows. Huge windows. Some with glass gone yesterday but there new today. All warm inside it be now with the glass new. And fireplaces. Ye have to come in and count 'em. One be so big and open on two sides! Imagine that. Ye could walk through in the summer when nothing burns in it. One side ye see the great serving room and the other side ye see the sitting room. Then the kitchen has one and the master's room another. But there be more even!"

Daniel wrapped the blanket back around Jack and helped Balin lift him from the cart.

With Jack coughing so hard, Balin didn't wait for Daniel, but hurried up the front steps and into the cot with his burden. "Room with the wettest air, right quick," he demanded of Jarngerd.

She pointed through the large sitting room to a door at the left and ran before him to open it. Balin stepped in behind her and felt the hot, wet air hit his face. Jack was coughing in his blanket cocoon.

"Master's chambers," Jarngerd said as she scooted behind the big swordsman and slammed the door hard. "Bed with him," she urged.

Balin made it to the huge bed in four long strides. He laid the bundled man on it and flipped the blanket back.

"Highborn Jack?"

Jack pushed away to roll onto his side. He held his hands tightly over his stomach and coughed, trying hard to make each one shallower than the last.

Jarngerd was kneeling on the bed before him, pressing the spout of a water skin to his lips. Jack sucked some liquid out and swallowed. He took more and swallowed slowly. The coughing eased gradually, and with his eyes tightly closed, he held onto her wrist, keeping the spout within easy reach. She waited patiently.

Someone was rubbing his back in little circles.

"Highborn Jack," Asny said softly. "Ease yeself. All be well. Sky be seen to. Cot be warm. Air wet for ye."

With his eyes still closed, Jack nodded to let the kid know he'd heard her.

"Ease, Highborn Jack. Wet air. Many kettles as we could hang over the fire. Right full of kettles it be."

"Good," Jarngerd said. "Good air. We've warm ale when ye can swallow it. Now?"

Jack shook his head, then took another sip of the water. Asny's rubbing began to relax his burning, cramping back. He took a decent breath of air and didn't cough. He took another, and then nodded.

Lemmel helped Daniel from the wagon, his big hands around the unveiled Sky's waist. He lifted him down gently, then followed him inside, blocking with his travel cloak any view of Daniel from the three villagers who'd helped bring the cart from Brooksmeet.

"This way, Sky," Tal said as she held the front door open. "Highborn be this way." She pointed to the door that Jarngerd had shut to keep the moisture in. "Steward and servant tend him. Champion be in there still."

"Thank you," Daniel said, not realizing he'd made another slip-up. He went in through the indicated door, pulling it closed after him. He found Jack sipping warmed ale, Jarngerd holding the tankard as well as a towel below Jack's chin in case any spilled on the bed linens.

"Warm," Daniel said, stripping out of his cloak and the veil that was even now only about his neck. "Forgot to pull it on before I got out of the cart," he said absently, turning for a moment to the door he'd just come through.

"Daniel," Jack said hoarsely, peering across the spacious room. Jarngerd and Asny eased him back onto the mound of pillows and Jack shut his eyes for a moment.

"Whoa. That's a big bed. That's an incredibly big bed. We'll need stairs to get in and out of it." Daniel hoisted himself up on the bed and crawled up toward Jack. He sat on his knees by Jack's feet and began to rub them lightly.

"Stairs, Sky? Husband will have them as ye wish. To the top or just up a little?" Jarngerd scooted backward and off the side of the bed, taking the tankard back to the roaring fire that snapped. Wood burned in it, not coal, and Daniel noticed how bright the fire made the room compared to the fire-lit room they'd had at Jack's inn. The higher flames danced and polished the room in a golden glow.

There were two windows, both on opposite walls, with wooden shutters closed right now. Heavy draperies hung on either side of the shutters.

"A couple of steps, or three would be very nice, Jarngerd. If Ulfrik could make something like that, whenever he has time?" Daniel scooted forward and rubbed Jack's legs.

"Asny, how's Highborn Jack's number one helper doing?" he asked the worried looking child.

"Fine as ever, Sky. Fine and doing what needs be done. He needs me."

"You're doing a great job, I can tell. Jack, you need anything else?" Daniel walked on his knees up the bed to kneel where Jarngerd had been moments earlier. "Littlest steward got you breathing easier?"

Jack nodded, his eyes still closed. Asny was rubbing his upper chest now, with light circles that were timed with his breathing. She was a very observant child.

"This is a huge bed," Daniel said again. "And a huge room. It'll take a lot of wood to keep it warm. Do we have enough wood, Jarngerd?"

"More than ever could be needed. And coal. Used wood today because the smell. This place was unused for many a season. Musty in the whole cot. Them what come from the village to work helped with taking all out. Then we put in what was brought. Bed for the master from the tanner's hall. Linens for him, from the same. Them, they also brought chairs made with leather seats for his home. One chair be special made for the master. Ye'll see, it be right in the sitting room yon. By the fire there as well. Him always we seat by the fire as ye showed us to do."

"As I showed you," Daniel said idly as he continued inspecting the room. The ceiling was as expected, very high. Then Daniel realized this cot was made like a log cabin. The exterior walls were huge, round timbers of a golden-yellow hue. The windows cut through the log walls were set deep in and the shutters were made of planks of the same type of wood. The ceiling was exposed beams of the same golden-yellow timber, but much smaller logs, and between the timbers flat planks showed. He hadn't noticed what type of roofing was on the outside of the cot. He hadn't taken the time but had literally run inside after Balin.

Jack's room was furnished with a tall chest of drawers, its front showing metal handles on a series of drawers. There was a round table by one of the windows, similar to the table they'd had at the inn. It had four chairs around it, straight back chairs. They were tall, as was the table, of a height convenient for the worker castes. Daniel's feet wouldn't touch the floor if he sat all the way back in one.

There was a low storage chest along one wall and shelves by that. The shelves held stacks of linens. He saw Jack's things from the inn on those shelves. The scribing supplies were there, along with the desert cloaks given to Jack in trade back in the low desert.

In one corner of the room there was a cabinet with a basin inset. An oval mirror was mounted low on the wall above it. The height of the cabinet top was for a worker caste and someone had set a little foot stool in front of it. Daniel would be able to stand on that and wash and shave.

"You'll miss that divan you had at the inn," Daniel said. "Big room, but other than the bed, not much in here for you to be comfortable on.

"Have divans and chairs in master's main hall, Sky. Right out the door there in easy reach. Can make the main hall air wet if need be. One divan out there be like the one at the inn. That one we left there for when master returns to visit his village.

"Also a room out by his kitchen now has his tub for soaking. There be one divan there, not of a padded kind, but of wooden slats as they have at the bath house, so as water does not damage it."

"That's fine, Jarngerd. Fine. Highborn Jack will be just fine here. You've all done a great job."

She smiled and dipped her head. "Musty smell almost burned from the master's cot. All the fires have the sweet-wood from the black forest burning in 'em now for two days. House was dank. Now be not. Bright with open shutters in all his other rooms. Glass back in the windows, all the panes that were cracked. Master's kitchen be well stocked. His cellar stocked. Ice lock cleaned out and got milk in it fresh this morning. Guinea fowl come too from the village and fresh eggs are to be had each morning from the coup and hen house. Grains for 'em laid in."

"Fresh eggs? Highborn Jack will like that. Won't you, Highborn Jack?"

Jack nodded slowly, his head lolling to the left.

"Linens from the inn for the servant's beds, and towels come from the bath house. Dishes and pots some brought. Master shepherd sends over apprentices this day to do what needs done in the lambing barn so when spring brings new ones the farm will work well. That all, Ulfrik sees to, him knowing the ways of sheep. The master's cot I see to. The rest, we wait for the Champion to discuss with the steward what needs doing as he feels necessary to set the household in order here."

"Aye," Asny chimed in softly, her fingertips barely touching Jack now. "Set the household in order, he does, the fake tanner. Does it well. I guess he be a good man and we should trust him again. Not because he be handsome though, or strong and tall. He does things good. Hurts no babes. Steals from no one and takes nothing that be not his."

"That sounds like good judgment to me," Daniel told her. "Is he asleep?" he asked in a softer voice, nodding his head toward Jack. Daniel knew he was, and also knew Asny would be reluctant to leave Jack's side.

"Aye," she said, regretfully. "We go now?"

"Yes. Let's leave him sleeping here in this huge bed. Huge," he repeated as he crawled off the soft surface. "I could use something to drink. Can you show me where Highborn Jack's kitchen is? Jarngerd can watch him for a while. Right?" he asked, as he looked over at the weaver woman.

"Where else would I go, Sky?" she answered him solemnly.

Daniel gave her a kind smile and turned to follow Asny from Jack's new room. Pausing by the door, Daniel retrieved his veil from a row of pegs set in the wall there, then, looping it loosely over his head, he and Asny slipped from the room, leaving Jack to get some rest.

Jack's bedchamber led directly into the huge sitting room, the main hall of the cot. To the left there was a curtained doorway. Daniel paused long enough to peek in and confirm that it would be Balin's bedroom. He saw the man's leather armor already set on shelves in there. Balin must have stripped out of it while Jack was being settled.

Ducking back out he found that Asny was several paces ahead of him. The great sitting room did indeed have two of the one-armed divans and a large collection of chairs of various types and sizes. There was a low, reclined chair by the fireplace. It looked more like a leather sling, strung over two rails. It had padded arms covered in a furry hide. There was a matching foot stool. Jack could sit in that and be almost reclining. Maybe his back would appreciate the angle.

Asny was weaving around, running between the chairs, low tables and divans. She was talking rapidly and Daniel only half listened to her. He avoided touching anything as he surveyed the room.

Balin and Lemmel were near the front entrance, unpacking bundles of supplies. There were two square windows on either side of the front door. Unusual for this planet, the windows were low to the ground. Jack would be able to see out of them if he were sitting anywhere in this room. There was a window on the wall opposite the door to Jack's bedroom too. This window was higher and showed a view of one of Jack's seven meadows. Daniel held his veil up past his eyes and peered out. He saw sheep dotting the sloping land.

Keeping the veil lifted off his eyes, he passed through the sitting room. Then Daniel turned left and went around the great, two sided fireplace Asny was so fascinated with. It dominated the room, set in a floor to ceiling wall made of rocks. He walked through the opening between the fireplace and the back wall of the structure and came into a dining hall. There was a huge table of gleaming, dark wood. Twelve high-backed chairs ringed it and the room had a matching buffet and two taller sideboards. The back wall had four long windows on it. To the right was a small L shaped hall and he saw more of the cot ranged back that way.

The hallway was less well lit, so Daniel dropped his veil off to hang about his neck. Walking down the hall, he felt a small decline in the floor. This part of the structure had been built at a different time than the front of the house. The floor in the back, instead of being hardwood planks, was a reddish stone, cut in squares and fit snugly together without mortar.

In the sloping passage he saw a sunlit room to his left, but the kitchen was straight ahead, and Asny stood in the doorway beckoning him.

"Come, Sky," Asny called. "Milk or water? Or wine if ye need. Bottles of it here, many. Ale too. Keg here. And then this, berry juice. Pour water in with the juice, I think. Because it be too tasty."

"Water will be fine, Asny." He looked around at the spacious working area. This extension onto the house was built of dressed rocks and wood timbers instead of round logs. The kitchen was equipped with two stoves, one covered with steaming pots over its hot belly. The other had two great oven doors on the front of it. A generous supply of wood fuel sat in a rack by one stove, and a bin of coal was near the back door. Daniel glanced over the food dishes sitting on the tall work surface in the center of the room.

"Water, aye. Tal, Sky wants it but may I please get it for him? Ye be so busy with making soup and all."

"Aye, child. Right quick if ye can. Sky, anything to eat that ye may desire? Bird we have ready. Eggs fresh. There be the green stalks and roast apples that ye love so. Pie of course. Pie with meat and pie with berries and honey drip."

"Thank-- I see. You've done well stocking the kitchen, Tal. Highborn Jack will be pleased. But where did all this come from? Was there a storage cellar here?"
Daniel backed away from the food.

"All that was here we took away. None was saved. I hope that doesn't displease the master, but too many jars were cracked, seals broken. Not to be trusted, and not knowing how old or such. The cold lock wasn't being used properly, so all in it went away too, and new wood put in to line it. New door too, and block ice put in to keep the chill. Then the village done its duty, as the payment was made, no debts or owed payments come with the land, but it be the duty of them that signed the payment to make the place in working order. They bring out the food. Jarngerd says new pans and dishes so they did bring them too. Jarngerd says the old was not proper. Balin said she was right so the council saw to it."

"So all this stuff in here, it's all from the village?"

"Aye." Tal nodded.

Daniel stepped closer to the counter and nodded. "Good. I'm not hungry right now. Have you eaten? Perhaps Lemmel and Balin are hungry. Would you offer some food to them? And someone else pulled the cart, I think. Whoever that was, offer them some food too, please."

"They? As ye wish, Sky. Surely they'll want meat pie. That big Lemmel, he likes the meat pie. Champion will be pleased to have the young man get what makes him smile."

Daniel nodded absently, not meeting Tal's eyes.

Asny used a foot stool to reach the glazed, clay jug on the tall counter. She poured Daniel a glass of the liquid that would be cooler, having been stored in the clay jug. "For me to stand on," she said, tapping her toe on the stool. "So as I may reach what my master needs me to reach in his fine, grand cot. And ye too, Sky. Step on this to reach things, though ye've no need. All should to be brought for ye, our Balin says."

Daniel frowned at the footstool. There was another one in the corner of the kitchen, just like the one that had been put in Jack's bed chamber. Like the child, he'd have to use them in order to reach things. He sipped at the water Asny pressed into his hand. He saw stairs at the back of the kitchen. Balin had said the house had no stairs.

"Where do those lead?"

Tal glanced at the stairs, then back to him. "House servant's sleeping quarters, up. Loft, and attic storage. Plenty of room, even though it only runs along the back of the cot. If the household grows more, there be outbuildings that are fixed for sleeping. Some ... slept there not too long ago, maybe. Down, the stairs go to the cellars for food and to the cold lock where milk, cheese and eggs be stored. Rooms through that door yon be more for working in, as Jarngerd says one will do nicely if she may use it, her husband looming in there and her carding during the day so she be close at hand if needed, but can still do her weaving work.

"I be serving this, then return to Highborn Jack's village with them that walked out last."

"Back to see Highborn Jack's big tub, Sky? Just as the spa has. Fire bed under it. What stairs as ye said to Jarngerd? Some like them already be in and around the tub so anyone can climb in. Even one as small as ye. Champion was right glad about it going in that room instead of the kitchen, he was. Says the door be better for Highborn Jack."

"Okay, show me Highborn Jack's new tub," Daniel said, indulging her enthusiasm.

He followed her back down the narrow hallway and went into the room he'd passed earlier. The tub in the center of the room was indeed exactly like the one they'd used at the spa. It was filled with water and Daniel pulled the sleeve of his tunic back to feel if it was warm. It wasn't yet. The tub had probably only been filled recently and the coals hadn't had time to heat up that big a volume of water yet. He saw where the coals were fed into a metal box under the tub. Jack would love this.

The room also had its own fireplace, situated along the exterior wall. It had windows on either side of it. He wiped moisture from the glass and peered outside. Dry, grassy rolling landscape stretched out for miles. Jack's cot was isolated, solitary, and safe. Daniel leaned his forehead against the glass and watched the long-haired sheep work their way across the hillocks.

A few days later Tal returned to deliver pies and to collect the littlest steward. Asny was very brave, but her bottom lip trembled when she hugged Jack and Daniel goodbye. Daniel knew the separation was good for the child. She'd become too dependent on them, and if they didn't start breaking that connection now she'd be devastated when they left for good. It was time for her to start using her newfound bravery and assertiveness on her own.

They walked off, woman and child, hand in hand back to the inn. Tal had delivered some news with the pies. The old innkeeper had left, off to try his fortune to the west with some distant relative. She and Asny would be moving from the inn's attic into his quarters. Tal wanted permission to let Canlith have the innkeeper's sitting room but Daniel had said no. He worried, and rightly so that Canlith's frequent male companions in such close proximity would be an imposition on Asny's evenings. Tal was surprised as Jack explained the situation to her. She was shocked that the man would feel concerned for Asny's privacy, but readily agreed to Canlith making other arrangements.

The inn was running smoothly, making a much better profit now even with the new limitations and Tal said they could use another young worker from the children's hall if Jack thought that was okay.

He'd told her to do what she needed as long as she and Asny kept their personal space private, and that his restrictions on the use of bed companions were followed.

After they left, Daniel stood at the front window, his veil draped loosely over his head with the ends crossed under his chin and trailing back, untied. He stared up the gentle-sloping path that led back to Brooksmeet, then looked around for Jack's men. Balin had Lemmel and Ulfrik out there, pacing off a practice field the Champion wanted marked. He was going to begin to teach Lemmel how to handle weapons. Daniel hated that, but it wasn't his place to object.

Jack was by his fireplace reclining in the leather sling-shaped chair sipping at a tankard of ale. "Look at that. I can hold this without shaking," he said.

Daniel continued to stare out the window. The day was warmer than any they'd experienced on this planet. Spring was arriving fast and Summer would be hard on its heels. The wind hardly blew at all, and the sky had been dressed with a line of white clouds to the north this morning, the thickest clouds they'd seen since crashing here. Balin had mentioned rain. Daniel missed rain. This claustrophobic house would grow worse, though. The rain would keep Daniel inside.

"I want to talk to you, Daniel. Daniel?"

"What?" Daniel shifted his focus from the path to the reflection of his lover in the pane of glass. "We alone? You shouldn't say my name--"

"We're alone. The guys are all off tending to stuff. Jarngerd's busy in the back somewhere. I need to talk to you. You're not sleeping. You're staying up at night, sitting in a wad all tight. Like you're trying not to touch the bed. You're doing it now, see? Not touching the furniture around you, or the window. You're all scrunched up."

"I'm not scrunched. Is that even a word?" He frowned hard, wrinkling his brow.

"Scrunched. Squeezed. I don't know ... Shrunk in. Like you're determined to not touch this place or anything in it too much. You have to quit that."

"I'm fine." Daniel looked out at the field again. Lemmel was jogging off to one of the outbuildings, dragging a long pole with him. Ulfrik was helping Balin place stones in a line to mark off some exercise area. Balin stood in the middle of it, directing him, taking measurements, and correcting the placements.

"You're dead on your feet. Look at you. Dark circles under your eyes, shoulders slumped. You're half asleep right now."

Daniel shook his head. "Fine. I'm fine."

"Christ," Jack swore under his breath. "Sleep deprivation will make you punchy, irritable. If you're so fine why don't you come over here and sit down on this divan? Or that chair there."

A distasteful grimace flashed across Daniel's features. He darted a glance at Jack's reflection and then turned to watch the field again.

"Come here. I'm going to make that an order."

Angrily, Daniel whirled on Jack. "An order? How dare you--"

"Taking care of my team member. You're going to come over here and sit down and talk to me because it's the right thing to do. If I have to order you then it's what I should do, because even though I'm about as strong as a wet Kleenex I'm still your team leader. You're still under my command. My responsibility--"

"Mine! This whole fucking place we're trapped in? My responsibility! I caused this!"

"Gunnlaug's!" Jack dropped the stein by his chair as a coughing fit gripped his chest. He clutched at his stomach and he looked at Daniel through tearing eyes. His throat burned.

Jarngerd came hurrying from the back of the house. She grabbed a clay cup from the table by the fire and poured him a glass of water. Jack broke his gaze with Daniel as she sat him up and held the cup for him. Jack closed his eyes and sipped slowly, letting his body relax.

When he opened his eyes, Daniel was gone. Jack sighed and sank back into the reclining chair as Jarngerd positioned another pillow under his knees. "Thanks. Did you see where the Sky went?"

"Back way, master. Through ye kitchen. I heard the door there, so now he be outside. Need me fetch ye Champion?"

"No." Jack closed his eyes. "Yeah. I guess ... go let him know ... I just think ... let him know."

Balin took two long strides to his left, swinging his great sword in a full circle as he moved. "It'll do, weaver. It'll do nicely. Tomorrow we stand wooden posts along this end. Them, they be for work with lances. Distance marks on that end of the field, I think, and-- Yonder comes ye wife. See to her first, and then we walk to the road to meet the shepherds who'll apply to ye to serve the household. Commanding men, whether on a battle field or on herding, be not a simple task. Go, see what she needs."

"Aye, Champion," Ulfrik strode briskly toward the house as Jarngerd came down the stairs. "Love, ye need something?"

"Our master sends me to his Champion. The Sky has left again."

"Nay," Ulfrik said in a low whisper. He looked alarmed. "When, and how, without the Champion seeing? He sees all, even ye as ye stepped out."

"Back way," she said as she hurried by him, her skirt and apron flying in her haste.

Balin frowned sharply at her news and sent her back to tend her master. "That way," he instructed Ulfrik, pointing left. "Off round the cot, then watch for me. I go this way and we set up a pattern to seek by. Stay back from him if ye see him before me. Do not approach him. Where'd that fool desert boy get to? We need his help." He set out on the right side of the house.

A few yards past the rambling home, Balin came to a halt. The Sky was running stiff-legged at a fast pace up a rise. His veil fluttered away from its precarious position about his neck and landed on the grassy knoll. The young fool he'd been grousing about was jogging after the Sky and even as Balin raised a hand to cup around his mouth and shout nay, he saw Lemmel bend and scoop up the veil, then pursue the Sky. Balin's heart sank into his stomach.

He should have sent Jarngerd for the Sky! What a fool he was! What a fool! Hastily, he signaled Ulfrik to stop. The weaver was glancing frantically between Balin and Lemmel. He'd seen the blasphemy, seen Lemmel in his too-enthusiastic ignorance scoop up the veil with his bare hand. Balin cursed the careless youth. Nothing for it now but to beat the lad. Balin sorely didn't want to beat Lemmel. He clenched his jaw in anger.

"Sky," Lemmel called, trotting after his master's lover. Lemmel grinned broadly. "Veil for ye. Dropped it, ye did." He caught up with the fleeing man easily, shortening his long gait to match Daniel's.

"Running? Fine day for running! Fine day! Da, he says running be a man's waste of energy. Course, running most times in the sand, not a smart thing. Ma, she says run when I want, so I do!" Lemmel ran several strides at his top speed, then turned to jog backwards ahead of Daniel. "Fast, I am, but not as fast as the Champion, I'll wager--" he broke off and came to a jarring stop, making himself into an eight foot roadblock in front of Daniel.

With his vision blinded by tears Daniel almost smacked into Lemmel. He stopped and stared up at him, his lungs heaving. He blinked, blinked again and wiped at his wet face. Lemmel looked shocked.

"Sky?" Lemmel asked, sounding as if he were going to start crying any second. "Ye hurt? Oh, not a new hurt. Oh, Sky." Lemmel dropped to one knee, and gazed up the short distance that now separated them in height. "Oh, Sky, what can this one do to ease ye?"

"Lemmel," Daniel said, and took a step back, angrily wiping at his face now. "I don't ... Nothing. There's nothing that I need."

"Not from me, Sky? Need ye something from my master that be not given to ye? Perhaps I could ask him. Anything. I'd wish to find it if I could, whatever ye need."

"Why? Because you like to serve a Sky?"

"Aye. Of course. The only reason I'm allowed to have, that one. Champion says not to have any other reason. Not to feel for ye as I do. He says it be not seemly, my feelings. I mean, they not be like what I feel for him! Don't mistake that, Sky. I ... For him I want things that cannot be too. Same as I can't feel for ye as I want to. But for him, it has to do with bedding, him in me, being for him as I want him to be for me, a true mate of all my lifetime. And I cannot. My da forbade it until I fulfill my obligation to him. But ye ... Ye I see behind the veil and I grow to lust and want to touch and hold, well enough I do, of course. But it be not the same. I feel also for ye that ... "

Lemmel bowed his head.

"What, Lemmel? I'm asking. So you can say what you feel. It's all right for you to say it. It's just you and me, here."

"Sky," he whispered, then raised his face. "I love ye. Have since the desert. My heart, when Da said go, as I'd begged Ma to let me, Da says go and my heart went soaring. I love ye. Ma had another male child and he be a fine one. But not like a brother to me as ye are. He doesn't like me, and most be mean to me. Smart, but mean spirited. I be my da's best trader and inheritor. Him, my brother, he apprentices to a tinsmith on the west coast. Mean spirited.

"Ye ... be like what I'd wish for in a little brother. Though not of blood. Not of blood because I would bed ye. To bed ye the Champion would surely call unseemly. Though the truth be, I love ye. Champion would knock me silly if I said such in his hearing. I know this. I be not stupid in the ways. One cannot be permitted to love a Sky, or to dare think of him as a brother.

"Know well also that for this," he paused and held up Daniel's veil, "my hand on it, I take a beating. Even though he be not here to see, my honor makes me tell him when we go home to my master's cot. I tell and then I take the beating and glad of it, because I love ye and would pick it up again. The veil--" he swallowed. "Veil protects one who I love. So I bring it to ye."

Daniel clenched his lips into a thin line and took a deep breath. Then he took the veil from Lemmel and stepped up against the kneeling man, hugging him hard.

"Ah! Ah, Sky," Lemmel said, his voice breaking. "Ah. Love ye. Brother I should not say and love I cannot within the Champion's hearing. Though right now, I care not if the Champion hears me say it, even. All he can do, just send me from this place. Still, I would have ye know, even if I am then sent a half a world away, and not able to see ye. Still, I said it."

"Thank you, Lemmel." Daniel pressed his cheek against Lemmel's dark, coarse hair. "Thank you. And don't tell me not to say thank you to a man who just offered me friendship of brotherhood, love. I won't stand for it. I love you too. Since the desert."

"Ah, beautiful Sky," Lemmel brought a hand up and touched Daniel's waist lightly, then quickly withdrew his touch. "Sore beautiful."

"Hug me back," Daniel whispered. "If you want, do it."

Lemmel engulfed Daniel in his huge arms and stood, lifting the smaller man against his body. Daniel's face was pressed against the big worker caste man's cheek, and his feet dangled by Lemmel's knees. He hugged the massive neck and shoulders as hard as he could. "Thanks," Daniel whispered.

"Thank ye, Sky," Lemmel whispered back. "Thank ye for hearing my words."

"Brother," Daniel whispered.

"Brother," Lemmel echoed in a whisper.

As he raised his head Daniel saw two distant figures by the house. They were gazing this way and he realized it must be Balin and Ulfrik. They were watching him. He felt a flash of anger, of defiance. "The master swordsman watches. No, don't let go." Daniel tightened his hold on Lemmel. "Not until you're through hugging me. Until you want to, that is."

He felt Lemmel tighten his hold and Daniel had a flash of being held off his feet by Thaid, with the giant's arms banded around him so tight he couldn't breathe. Viciously, Daniel fought that image, conquering it, defeating the freezing fear that washed through his soul. He held onto Lemmel, bringing his freshly shaven cheek against the hairless flesh of the worker caste man.

"Thank you," he whispered in Lemmel's ear.

Lemmel groaned, moving his head to rub his skin against Daniel's lips. "Oh, my. Beautiful Sky."

Daniel couldn't help but chuckle. "Beautiful? You saw me unshaven, filthy, stinking of sweat and blood in the desert. You held me while I threw up, and pissed, and worse, didn't you?"

Lemmel matched Daniel's chuckle, keeping his hold firm as his big chest vibrated with mirth. "Aye. And ye are beautiful through it all as ye are right now in my arms again."

"You're beautiful too, Lemmel. Big, granted. And beautiful," he whispered, his lips brushing across Lemmel's ear.

"Kisses," Lemmel whispered hoarsely. "Kisses on my ear. Never thought I'd feel such. Ye do it so ... A wonderment."

He shifted his hold on the big youth's neck and brought his lips to Lemmel's cheek. Daniel kissed him there, an actual kiss, not just the brushing of lips over the youth's ear. "Like that?"

"Aye," Lemmel sighed the word. "Aye. Seen ye do it in the spa water many a time there and here. Kiss my master thus. Long to feel it, I do. Oh, I grow. Shall I put ye away so ye not feel my lust?"

"Too late." Daniel smiled and kissed the corner of Lemmel's mouth. His lips were full, like Teal'c's mouth, but broader. Daniel watched Lemmel's closed eyes for a moment, then pulled the veil up behind the big man's head to block the sight of the watchers by the cot. Then he brought his mouth to Lemmel's and kissed him gently, softly.

Lemmel groaned. He tilted his head and worked his warm lips against Daniel's. "Oh, Sky," he murmured, his mouth never leaving the lips he felt on his. "Oh, beautiful."

"Lemmel," Daniel said, savoring the way his lips fit in Lemmel's as he spoke. He felt Lemmel's huge erection against himself. It wasn't scary. It felt good. Lemmel really cared about him. This kissing was probably so wrong. Not to Jack, but to Balin. The master swordsman might see it as wrong by the Nortvegr, and maybe as a betrayal of his feelings for Lemmel. Daniel had to quit. He had to stop this before Lemmel got hurt.

He pulled back. "That feels wonderful. I like it. Like kissing you and feeling ... your arousal. But we should go back now. We don't want to upset the Champion too much. He'll be worried about you."

"About me? Why?" Lemmel looked terribly confused.

"Because he loves you. If he realizes you and I are kissing ... "

"Brothers only. Not of blood, it be seemly for brothers who are not of blood to kiss and ... and ... more, Sky. It be. Seemly things he cares most about. Seemly. We are being seemly, if he passes by the forbiddenness of being a brother to a Sky."

"But he might think it's only his place to kiss you. He might be jealous."

"Jealous I know about. My Ma, she showed me jealous women and jealous men. And I know about the jealous caring and loving that goes on. When one will not share good feelings and will keep one for only their use. That be jealous. Him, he has none. He speaks to me of ... others when we have our enjoyment in the bed together."

"Others?"

"Aye. Ones we see and like. Also ... as we sometimes hear ye ... and my master, Highborn Jack. He whispers to me and sore it does make me go off like an iceberg cracking! Crash! I go off. Oh, I sore do love to think of ye and my master naked. Not imparting! No. that would be wrong beyond wrong. But of the other, behind the veil when ye please him and he pleases ye and we hear the sounds and then, sweet Balin whispers to me and takes me in his hand and ... my rod so hard and hot ... as it be now--" Lemmel swallowed.

Daniel chuckled and realized Lemmel had pushed against him a couple of times. Daniel pushed back, undulating against the big man. "Like that?"

"Ah!" Lemmel gasped. "Oh, going, Sky! Oh, not stopping. Oh. Now I done it. Sore fast. Oh, ye think me a lad with no control now. Oh, my shame. I went off."

"I ... " Daniel smiled. "I shouldn't have made you go off. I would apologize but Skys never apologize, so that must mean I did it on purpose. I guess that means you can't have any shame about it, either."

Lemmel groaned and closed his eyes. "I went off. I can't wait to tell him. He'll think me lucky and a bastard at the same time."

Daniel gazed at Lemmel as the big man grew solemn. Then Daniel tilted his head, closed his eyes and gave Lemmel an open-mouthed kiss. He felt Lemmel shift, but never stopped the kiss. He knew they were moving, but let his hands roam up over Lemmel's hair. Then as they parted he found himself on his knees, with Lemmel on his knees too. They knelt together, groin to groin on the hillside. Daniel leaned back and gazed intently up into Lemmel's half-lidded eyes.

"Brother whom I love," Lemmel whispered. "But I dare not speak of the love to any others, Sky. I do not wish to be sent from ye. I do not wish to leave ye side. Grant this?"

"Yes," Daniel said. "Highborn Jack would never send you away, but he'll never mention it to anyone. I'll tell him, because he'll understand. He'll approve, Lemmel." Daniel smiled at him and was glad when Lemmel smiled back. He had too many secrets from Jack already. He couldn't add another.

The big man sank back onto his heels, then his hip and finally laid prone on the ground. Daniel sank to rest on his side in the crook of Lemmel's arm. They studied the wispy clouds in the northern part of the sky as the afternoon sun warmed them. The season was growing warmer.

Finally, Daniel pulled at Lemmel, urging the young man to his feet. They strode down the hill, Daniel taking as long a stride as possible while Lemmel took short steps to match him. Sheep had moved into the area, silently grazing, and Daniel wasn't appreciative of the smell. He laughed as Lemmel bleated at the horned animals and wagged his ass at the ones they passed.

When they got to the steps of Jack's cot, Daniel donned the veil, crossing it loosely under his chin again. He had quit tying it. He'd have to start doing that again so Lemmel wouldn't have to pick it up.

"Champion!" Lemmel called to Balin who was still working on his new practice field. "Been lazing about, and very sorry to not have done work."

"Go on with ye, lad. Tend the Highborn. That be ye duty first above all, and shut about lazing, hear?" Balin spoke solemnly.

"Aye," Lemmel answered, his tone still light and breezy. "And I'm for a beating when ye've time. Did a bad thing, I did. Touched what no common man should. Beat me before supper or after?"

"Hush! Fool whelp. Speak not so in front of the Highborn. Go on with ye." Balin glared now, his fists on his hips.

"Aye." Lemmel looked wistfully at the big swordsman as he followed Daniel up the stairs onto the wide porch.

Jack's porch ran across the front of the entire width of his cot. It was covered, and blocked the direct sunlight. Daniel felt cold. He shivered and pulled the collar of his tunic tight as he and Lemmel crossed the wooden decking. Inside Jack's cot it was warm and humid. Daniel unbuttoned his tunic quickly, amazed that he'd been able to tolerate this heat earlier.

"Babe?" Jack called, bleary from sleep, he pushed himself higher in the sling-like chair. "Oh. There you are."

"Jack. I was outside with Lemmel. It's pretty warm outside today." He tossed the tunic on a nearby chair.

Jack sank back, closing his eyes in exhaustion.

"How about we get you in your bed, Highborn Jack? I didn't realize I was gone so long. You look worn out."

Jack drew a deep breath and forced his eyes open. He gazed up at Daniel. "I'm tired, but first ... we ... " he drew a deep breath, "are going to ... talk. I need to ... "

"Sleep, apparently." Daniel began to gather Jack's blanket about him. "Lemmel can carry you back into your bedroom."

"Lemmel, go outside now. Obey me," Jack said softly. He locked his gaze on Daniel.

Silently and instantly, Lemmel withdrew from the cot.

"Sit," Jack said.

Daniel stood half crouched over Jack, his hands still clutching the blanket edge.

"Or don't," Jack said, his voice still soft. "You reacted to something that wasn't happening that moment. You were reacting to feelings that are linked to the attack, and to the stress you've been under since we crashed here. You've got PTSD and we both know-- We've already discussed the fact that I know what I'm talking about on that subject. So, now you are going to sit ... or stand there and talk about it. Talk to me. Tell me what happened when you went in that room and Thaid jumped you. Tell me what happened to you. Tell me."

"Bastard," Daniel whispered, letting go of the blanket.

"Me or the miner?"

"Does it matter? Both!" Daniel said angrily. He turned his back on Jack and reached his hand up to lean against the fireplace mantle, staring into the flames of the burning wood.

"PTSD is that way. Something little happens and you react way out of proportion. You keep running away from wherever reminds you of the attack."

"I can't be doing that. It'd be stupid. This ... your house, that whole village? It never ends."

"Tell me about the attack."

"I could run forever and never get away."

"You went upstairs to get a new quill to finish a scribing job."

"I could run in any direction, Jack. It would make no difference." Daniel's voice was flat and tight.

"When you went down the hall, Thaid was already waiting in the room for you to come in."

"I left a while ago because I don't want to think about it. Why are you trying this with me? Playing shrink?" His voice was still tight, but rising in timbre

"Thaid was in the room, Daniel. Waiting. You went in. Was the door open or closed?"

"Closed. I opened it."

"And went in," Jack prompted, then remained quiet.

After several moments of silence Daniel spoke. "I got inside the room and felt like something was different, wrong. I stood there looking around. Just stood there. How stupid."

"You had no expectation of danger. It wasn't stupid."

"I had the bucca on over the veil. I forgot to say, the hallway was colder than usual. There was a window open somewhere. The one Thaid came in, I think. So when I came in, he didn't see the veil. It wasn't his fault."

"I don't want to talk about fault. I want to talk about how you felt, what happened to you."

"I felt shitty. I got attacked," he said, anger elevating his tone more now.

"You came in the room with the bucca on." Jack's voice was strong and calm in comparison to his lover's.

"And just stood there. Okay, then he was hiding behind the door. He must have shut it. Yes. He shut it. I remember that. And he grabbed me very quickly. I didn't even have time to turn around."

"He grabbed you from behind."

"They're big, Jack. These people. I mean, Teal'c is big, but these people? Not just tall. They're big. His wrists were so big I couldn't get a grip on him. Didn't matter anyway."

"Why not? What happened next?"

"He lifted me off my feet. Not like Lemmel did. I need to tell you about where Lemmel and I were just now."

"After we finish talking about the attack, Daniel. Tell me what happened after he lifted you off your feet."

"I remember trying to stomp his insole, then I was in the air, kicking his shins. I tried to butt his head before that. He was too tall, though. I hit his chest with my head. Hit his sides, hip, with my fists. Whatever I could reach, I hit and kicked."

"You felt frightened at that point?"

"Not really. Kind of more alarmed, like adrenalin flowing kind of thing. Fight or flight response. I fought like crazy."

"And he lifted you off your feet." Jack waited for Daniel to continue.

"He wrapped a rope around my neck. I got my wrist in the way and he just tightened the rope, trapping my wrist against my throat. He lifted me by the rope. I'd forgotten about that. Don't think at the time of the attack I realized it. He hung me by the rope around my neck for a moment. Guess he was used to hauling sheep by ropes around their necks." Daniel's voice grew tight and flat again as he continued, "I don't think he even realized it could kill me."

"You felt helpless at that point?"

"I felt panic. I kept kicking. I was scared."

"Angry?"

"No, just panic." Daniel shook his head then leaned his forehead against his arm on the tall mantle.

"He had the rope around your neck and your wrist. Then what?"

"Tied my other wrist and dragged me to our bed. I hate that he did it to me in our soft, warm bed with the sunlight streaming in the room. Hate that."

"Me too. struck me as so ... Well, all of it was horrible. The bed I spent so much time in."

"I hate sleeping in his bed here."

"Ah. It's not his bed. That's a new bed in there. All the furniture in this house, none of it was here before. All of it's new. You not realize that?"

"New? Oh." Daniel pushed off the fireplace and gazed around the large sitting room. "None of this was his stuff?" he asked thoughtfully.

"No. None of it. In any of the rooms, none of it. I told them to clean the place out. Told Balin to make sure it wasn't the same at all. But, Thaid wasn't living here anyway. He was staying in a small hut down by the road. Closer to town. He'd stopped being able to take care of the place a long time ago apparently. This place was unused, Balin said. Still, I had them gut it just so we would have a fresh start. Balin tore the hut down."

"Why didn't you tell me that?" Daniel asked angrily.

"Didn't realize ... I should have. I don't think clearly all the time. Pain gets bad. I forget things. Overlook things."

"All new stuff." Daniel's tone grew thoughtful again and he walked around the room, touching some of the furniture.

"He tied you to the bed?"

"You know that. Ulfrik had to cut me free, remember?"

"I do. Tell me about being tied to it."

"Face down, Jack. Face down," he said with disgust. "That was the worst. He couldn't see the veil. Couldn't see the warning to stop. Or my eyes. Before, when I have to give one of them sex, it's always face to face. They see what they do to me, but also, they try not to hurt me. He ... hit me," he said, his voice faltering now. "I was fighting him. He hit me. Told me to ... open."

"Open?"

"Let him in. In my body. Let him ... rape me. He told me ... I was being bad."

"Shit," Jack swore softly.

"He hit me hard on the back of the head. I felt sick from it, more sick from that than when he finally pushed into me. That hurt. I screamed. The rope was choking my breath away but I managed to scream. Asny must have heard."

"You left out the miner."

"Crap," Daniel said and went to the window he'd looked out of earlier. He didn't focus on anything outside, though. "He was hitting me in the head and it hurt so bad. I remember thinking it felt like being hit with a sledge hammer. I don't think Teal'c could hit that hard. And then the door opened and Gunnlaug came inside. He didn't know it was me. He thought it was you. Called Thaid something. A moron I think. Or dummy. Something like that. Told him to get off because Gunnlaug wanted to fuck you first before Thaid stretched you out. What a bastard."

"Yeah. Gunnlaug didn't know it was you. Were you scared for me during this?"

"Yes," Daniel said in surprise. He glanced over his shoulder at Jack and then turned back to the window. "How did you know that? I was. I was scared that Thaid would realize he got the wrong one of us and go after you. He'd have killed you instantly. He'd have crushed you."

"I think you're right. You were covered in horrible bruises, Daniel. Your ribs, hips, arms. Your neck. I think every time he grabbed you or squeezed, he left bruises. You were covered in them. Wrists too."

"I didn't realize," Daniel said softly.

"Neck too. He came close to paralyzing you."

"Scary," Daniel murmured absently.

"Very scary. That was a hard fight you were in. So outmatched. And it wasn't over quickly. He hurt you badly even before he started the rape."

"I guess so."

"Your body remembers the beating, the hitting, the bruising. Your body responds to that memory. And of the rape. That too. Understand?"

"Yeah. I ... When Gunnlaug tried to make him wait his turn, Thaid fell on me as he reached out to hit Gunnlaug. I couldn't breathe. I was crushed under him, but I heard the blow, and the breaking sound of Gunnlaug's neck. A wet sound. One blow. Did I tell you that? He killed the miner with one back-handed blow. That's when I got frightened. I was scared then."

"Tell me about it."

"Nothing else to tell. He told Gunnlaug no, and when the man argued, called him a name, Thaid swung at him and killed him without even trying, without even realizing it I think. He just wanted to have a blessing, get a wife."

"You couldn't have let him, Daniel. Even if you'd accepted a bargain from Thaid, he might have killed you during it. If he'd been on you face to face he might have broken your back by pulling your legs up too high. He might have smothered you. If he'd come in you, he'd have torn you. He didn't understand restraint. These men you bargain with use restraint. You said so yourself. They have to work hard at not hurting you too much. But it still hurts. I know that. You cried out when Lars was in you. I remember that much. I remember that. I've seen Balin and Lemmel nude. They hurt you when you go with these men. Thaid might have killed you or at the least hurt you so bad you might not have recovered. It wasn't an option, sleeping with him. Wasn't. Scary. All of it. You were scared for your life and for mine."

"I was. Scared," he said, sounding as if his thoughts were miles away.

"Tell me what happened after he killed Gunnlaug."

"He told me to let him in, so ... I did. I let him in me. Tried to relax and open up. Stopped struggling. I knew then that I would die if he didn't get his way."

"So you were raped under the very real and present threat of death."

"Yes." Daniel nodded briefly.

"And everything in this society reminds you of it, puts you back in that moment constantly. Constantly."

"Yes. All of the impartings I've done, all of it seems to run together in my mind and it all feels like rape now. Months of it. Months of submitting to rapes, so many I can't even--" Daniel's voice broke and he took a ragged breath before continuing, "can't even count them now. I know that's what's messing up my thinking. Clouding my judgment, Jack."

"You're responding to things out of proportion. You're responding to things that are in the past, not what's happening right now. That's PTSD."

"All right. We've labeled it all nice and tidy. Now what?" Daniel asked, sounding desperate. He turned back to Jack and went to his side.

"Now we talk some more about it, get the feelings connected with what happened, and when something makes you upset or angry or scared, we talk about that too, and figure out if the feelings are in proportion to what's actually going on, or if they're echoes of the attack."

"Simple. Got a few months free on your schedule, doctor?" An ironic smile lifted one corner of Daniel's mouth.

"As it happens, mister smarty pants, I do."

Daniel snorted out a laugh. "I see. So I'm stuck here in your house, with your servants, on your land, and now I have to put up with you as my therapist?"

Jack frowned and shook his head. "My land? In their eyes only, Daniel. You know that. You're not my sex slave. You're my team member. You're my lover, not my property."

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed. "The reality that I'm dealing with is that I am. For all practical purposes, here and now, on this planet and among these people, I'm nothing but a whore that you keep in clothes and shoes. I can be nothing more here."

"That's not the reality. They may say that, pay lip service to it, but you do interact with them as a person. You can scribe, earn money, walk among them, refuse-- refuse" he repeated loudly, "any advance from any of them you wish to, and expect to be treated decently. You can have an effect, a positive effect on their daily lives whether they like it or not."

"I can't constantly battle them--"

"Yes, that's true. No one can live in a constant state of battle. You have to walk within their rules, just as I do. And you have to continue to find ways to be true to yourself. You took Gunnlaug's' money and had a huge effect on this village in a very positive way. You refused him, stood up for your rights. You've forced them to stop using children at the inn. You have made them think about things in a new way, and consider things from a different perspective. You've caused good changes here like you have in so many places we've gone. Don't you dare discount those changes. I'll get Asny to kick your ass. Or worse I'll force Balin to let her take you back to the orphanage. Don't think I didn't get an earful from him about that little side-trip. I thought he was going to have that stroke you keep claiming I'm going to give him. It's that little girl that's risking the big bad swordsman's health here. She almost did him in."

Daniel chuckled. "She's an unstoppable force."

"Is now. Wasn't," Jack said, shaking his head at Daniel. "And who made that change?"

"The man who gave her a title. You," Daniel said accusingly.

"I told her stories. You gave her a job. You gave her a sense of responsibility, of being depended on to do important work. Self-worth. So shut up about giving her a title. And while we're on the subject, there's the weavers. I know it pisses you off to admit it but your status as a Sky, and the fact that you chose to buy from them, that's what saved them from starving. They lost everything before they got to the inn, and you made their work marketable. You did. A simple act, but the ramifications were far-reaching for them. So, you can't keep denying that you do have a role on this planet other than sex slave."

"I just have to keep myself in check."

"You have to talk to me. You have to rely on me to be your lover."

"Then I suppose you will listen calmly when I tell you I was just out in the field now, making out with Lemmel, right?"

Jack's eyebrows shot up, very far up.

"Yeah. I said making out. And I dry humped him until he came in his pants."

"Uh. And this is part of your self-assertion therapy?" Jack asked calmly.

"Well, actually it was more about the two of us talking about old times, fun hiking in the low desert, and how great we both feel about each other."

"He bucking for a promotion up the friend ladder?"

"No. Just got the hots for my body. I like him too. He thinks of me as a little brother. Definitely something he thinks Balin will frown on. Completely unseemly. Plus, Balin would rather he not be emotionally involved. Of course, it's too late for that. Puppy love, like you said, puppy love, but of the long-lasting variety. He's got it. And ... I like it. Like him. He treats me like a real person and I like that."

"But the sexual attraction? That's not freaking you out, Daniel?"

"No. Because it's ... Just let me think about it for a while. No use in doing all my therapy in one day, Doctor O'Neill. You'll never keep patients if you cure them too fast. String them along some. That's how it's done."

"I see. What you're really saying is you want me to shut up, go to sleep and let you go hot tubbing with that big guy." Jack dropped his eyebrows and projected a look of complete indifference.

"Never without you, lover." Daniel leaned over and kissed the tip of Jack's nose.

Jack smirked, but protested. "No. No, if you don't know by now that you're free to hot tub and more with him to your heart's content, I'm failing my part in this open relationship we have. We made that clear when we started sleeping together back a million years ago. Love, but not strangle. It's how we've done things up to this point and we don't change now. That's the only way we can be lovers and still be viable team members. Go. Make out. Hot tub. Roll in the hay. Then tell me all about it and let me suck you while you do."

"I'll do the sucking until further notice," Daniel said sternly. "You do the flat-on-the-back listening thing. And if I do any hay rolling, I'll fill you in on every juicy detail. Promise!"

Chapter 17 House Ondeil's Meadows Holding

Jack was up from his nap, freshly soaked, freshly dressed in comfortable cotton and back in his reclining chair, ready for the evening meal.

"What about the bread, Jarngerd?" Daniel asked. He sat on two cushions, cross-legged on the floor at the low table by Jack's recliner chair. His veil was laying loosely about his neck looped in back so it would not slip off.

Lemmel and Balin sat on the floor across from him, their huge build making it a tight squeeze on that side of the low table. Jarngerd was supposed to be sitting by Daniel but she kept getting up to fetch things for the evening meal. Her husband sat at the end of the little table, opposite the master of the household.

"Ach! Good that ye say it, as I can bring it when I come back with the red mash beans. Eat! All ye lot eat. Don't wait on the other food or the mutton will go cold."

"It truly be not seemly," Balin complained again. "The big meals in the hall are unseemly enough, House, without ye household eating on the floor by ye fire. This we must not get used to, lads. Must not."

"If my Sky says eat in here to keep me company, that's making him happy, so that's what you do, Balin. Got it?"

"Aye. Then for that reason of course, the entire household, servants and all, sit on the floor and share the House's table with the Sky. But never do we speak of it outside this cot, nor do we do it when any visit, even the littlest steward we ask not to keep this secret. This I say because it keeps the household safe. Above all, my duty be to keep the House and his all safe." Balin met Jack's gaze levelly.

"I'm glad you agree with me," Jack said sternly.

"Aye," Lemmel said. "And for proper times when the house entertains others, the master with his Sky sits at his table and the Champion may join him. The steward may sit at the sideboard. No other servants sit in the room, as it be not seemly. House Ondeil be seemly when other eyes are around."

"There be a good lad," Balin said with an approving nod. "And this does not get ye out of the beating due ye."

"Beating?" Jack asked in alarm. "I don't like the sound of that."

"It be unavoidable," Lemmel said happily. "When a servant does something that wrong there be nothing for it but that he be beaten by his master or the steward or, in House Ondeil, there be a Champion so it falls to him after the master."

"It will be seen to shortly after the meal," Balin said solemnly. "Done quick so the lad can do his night chores and help with closing up the outbuildings, securing all as it should be."

"Aye," Lemmel said with a nod.

"Report to me after the meal. This has to be explained first, Balin," Jack said, again being as stern as possible from a near-prone position.

"Bread," Jarngerd announced cheerfully as she reappeared in the room. She sank in her spot but stopped, looking from silent man to silent man. "Something wrong with the meal?"

"Nay," Ulfrik said frankly. "Lemmel be due a punishment and master calls for a telling I think. Not sure--"

"Weaver!" Balin cut him off. "Speak not of it no more. What be said by the master between him and his Champion be not for discussion ever, nor gossiped about when he be there plain to see at ye elbow to take insult. Show respect."

"So, Balin," Daniel said calmly, ignoring the Champion's edict, as if it didn't apply to him, because it did not, and also ignoring Jack's assumption that he would be the only one to receive a full debriefing on it later, "you've delivered beatings like this before?"

"Aye, Sky," Lemmel said excitedly. "With what will he beat me, do ye think? Whip, Balin?" he asked as he turned to the master swordsman. "Have ye a whip or maybe one of them thick canes what grows by the water paths? My Da, he says for whipping, a man often uses a strip of leather--" He yelped in surprise as Balin pinched his ear.

"Question the Sky? Then ye speak on after it's been said by ye master and again by me to speak of it not at the table? Daft child."

"Sorry master swordsman. Sorry, Sky. Sorry House Ondeil," he said, bowing his head toward Jack.

"Even this ye do wrong. First the Sky, then the House, then me. Always the Sky first. Always. He be the glory in the crown of House Ondeil, understand? Always the Sky first when ye say things not for his delicate ears."

"Aye master swordsman."

"Balin," Jack said thoughtfully, "I think you need to start giving Lemmel formal lessons on etiquette. I want him trained to stand in for Asny when she's not available. When we travel, Asny will need to stay here with Tal. If Lemmel is going north with us, I want him trained to be her stand-in, like a second steward of the house."

"Stand in as steward?" Balin pondered this idea. "Could be done. Train him I can, of course. Train him to carry a sword also. The lad does have a head on his shoulders, just lacks discipline to make himself do as be correct."

"Like not touching my veil. I know he shouldn't have done it today, Balin, but there was a reason and I appreciated it."

"Aye." Lemmel nodded shyly. "And me, I get a beating out of the thing. Anxious to make another letter sent to my folks. They'll be right pleased to hear I do so much that I even can have a beating too."

"You think they'll be happy you got a beating?" Daniel asked in surprise.

"Course and sure they will. Me doing so many things I never done before. Never had a beating. My da, he whollops but doesn't do a real beating. I hear they are powerful much of pain and sometimes a grown man lies in bed for days after. I can't wait to see for myself!"

Daniel realized Lemmel was going to be disappointed. Very disappointed.

"I'll write a letter for you tomorrow, in repayment for a chore you did for me today."

"Chore?"

"Yes. You picked something up for me today. I owe you for that. No arguments. You never argue with a Sky, Lemmel. Apparently a Sky is never wrong. If I say a debt is owed, a debt is owed."

"Uh," Lemmel blinked rapidly, but avoided voicing any further questions.

"Lad," Balin said quietly. "Ye will learn to keep a mindful tongue around the Sky. They be so little, so dainty, Skys are. Think ye on that for a while. Think on how ye must always speak only of the pleasant things when with him."

"Dainty," Daniel muttered disgustedly.

Jack laughed low and long as he gazed at Daniel.

"Answer my question, Balin. You've delivered beatings before?" Daniel asked sternly

"Aye. Duty."

"Give me an example of one. Answer Lemmel's questions, Balin. What do you use to deliver the beatings?"

"Sky," Balin said worriedly, "to speak of such be not a concern ye should have. The ways of men be not for the likes of ye to know."

"You and I have already had this discussion, if you'll remember, in the hallway of the inn. You answered me then. Answer me now."

Jack shrugged at Balin when the man gaped at him for help.

"A Sky should never know-- It be done most often with a leather strap. Wielded, ye'll ask next, wielded over-hand so as to strike the upper back. This way no damage be done that doesn't heal, and the servant can return to work soon." Balin sat there, his jaw tense.

Lemmel began to squirm on his cushion.

"How do you determine how many times to strike him?"

"Determined by the offense, Sky."

"For touching my veil?" Daniel prompted calmly as he picked through the seed pods on his plate.

"Twenty to start. Then if he still has his feet under him, more until he goes down. It be a harsh beating that the lad has bought for himself." Balin had his head bowed but he spoke calmly.

"Down," Daniel repeated. "On his knees, right?"

"Aye."

"Where? Where will you do this to him?"

"Yonder new practice field."

"It'll be cold out there by the end of this meal. Too cold for Highborn Jack to go out."

"It be not necessary--"

"In Highborn Jack's ... a commanding officer always watches ... " Daniel paused and looked up at Jack.

With his gaze locked on Daniel's needful one, Jack spoke calmly. "In my household I am the commanding officer. I will observe all punishments. Any beatings delivered or any disciplinary actions must be cleared through me. I'm responsible for my men. This is what my Sky is trying to tell you, Balin. This is not up for discussion. It's my way. A commanding officer always takes responsibility."

"Aye. This be the ways I spoke of when I gave to ye my fealty. Ye know the ways of battle, of warfare, and now I see ye know the ways of training men to do what ye ask of them, even unto their death. Weavers, desert lad, this will never be spoken of, ever. No Highborn lives thus, understood? It endangers the household, puts the household in the eye of the old woman, of any on the council in this village or in any village between here and the City of the Highborn. North of here there be more, more villages and people living close so as to get in other's business. North of here it be impossible to go through the world and not get the notice of others. Brooksmeet be at the edge of all that. What I left the north for, to get from the notice of others and breathe free a bit."

"Then the beating has to be delivered in here," Daniel said.

"Mayhap the room where the spa be?" Balin suggested. "Room to swing in there, and spars on the ceiling to tie his wrists."

"You'll tie him up?" Daniel asked loudly as he dropped his fork. "But he's supposed to be able to fall to his knees when he's had enough." He wrapped his arms around himself.

"Tied loose with long rope so he can, Sky. But tied for the lad's sake so as he holds still and doesn't end up with a lash in the wrong place for his jerking about. For the lad's sake."

Daniel bowed his head and shuddered.

Jack reached out and touched his shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

Slowly Daniel looked up at him. "That. You know. That. The rope around my neck. It was scary. I'm scared because of that memory, that feeling of being hung by my neck."

Mutely, Jack nodded at him and squeezed his shoulder.

"Okay," Daniel said, his jaw hard with determination. He rolled his shoulders and then gradually loosened the grip on himself.

The rest of the meal passed uneventfully and then Jarngerd and Ulfrik went in the kitchen, only a room away. Jack was again in his reclining chair which Balin had carried to the Spa room. He watched as Balin fastened the ends of two dangling ropes to Lemmel's wrists. The six oil lamps mounted high on the walls around the room had it incredibly bright in the warm and inviting space. The big youth was shirtless, bare to his waist and the lamplight glowed on his café au lait skin.

Daniel stood as still as a statue at Jack's side, his arms again wrapped around himself. His veil was draped loosely about his neck, the ends untied.

Jack had already argued himself breathless, trying to make Daniel leave. This had to be done. Lemmel's pride wouldn't allow it to be stopped.

The room was warm from the coals kept constantly under the hot tub. Daniel left Jack and closed the door firmly, blocking out the noises from the kitchen, then he took off his tunic and laid it over one of the hardwood benches. He went back to Jack's side.

"Now hold here," Balin instructed Lemmel softly as he wrapped one of Lemmel's hands around the dangling end of the rope near the ceiling, then he positioned the other hand. "Ye keep a grip on this part of the rope as the blows come. Count each loud as it lands. Loud, mind ye lad. After twenty when ye must, ye let go and down to ye knees ye go. Understood? Any time after twenty, when ye feel the lesson be learned." Balin moved around behind Lemmel and placed his hands on the young man's bare back. He ran his fingertips down and stood silently for a moment. "Ready?"

"Aye," Lemmel nodded.

Balin went to the bench by the door and picked up the leather strap. As he moved back to take up his position, Daniel stepped in his way.

"I'll be delivering the beating," Daniel said calmly, then firmly took the strap from Balin's hand.

"What!" Balin sputtered, nearly choking as he lurched back a step.

"I was the one wronged, so the beating is my prerogative to deliver. I'll hear no argument on it. A Sky is never wrong, Champion." Daniel didn't bother to look at the sputtering master swordsman.

"Ye?" Balin asked, his voice quavering. He glanced rapidly between the Sky and the House who held his sworn allegiance.

"But--"

Balin was cut off as Daniel held his palm out to the man, his own gaze locked on Jack's tight features. "My prerogative."

Jack took a deep breath, but didn't speak. Daniel turned his back on the stunned master swordsman and went to Lemmel.

"Sky?" Lemmel said nervously, twisting around as far as he could without letting go of the ropes where Balin had placed his hands.

"Turn back around," Daniel commanded.

"But ... aye?" he said questioningly, looking past Daniel at the master swordsman. Then he turned around.

Daniel raised the strap over his shoulder, then flicked it forward. It landed with a little pop, but slid feebly off Lemmel's right shoulder.

"Count!" Daniel shouted.

"One?" Lemmel said.

Daniel took a half step closer and delivered another blow. This one made a little firmer pop sound, and slid down the youth's broad back.

"Two?" Lemmel said.

Daniel adjusted his stance a few inches to his left and delivered a firmer strike. This one had the same pop sound, and slid down.

"Three," Lemmel said timidly, but with the questioning tone gone from his voice. It was colored now with disappointment.

"Four," he said softly, the disappointment clearer. Then he glanced briefly over his shoulder.

Daniel raised the strap again and brought a firm, cracking blow down on Lemmel's left shoulder blade. He stepped hastily to the young man and reached up high to trace his fingertips over the skin. Lemmel shuddered and arched his back to bring his skin firmer in contact under Daniel's fingers. He groaned. Daniel leaned closer, letting his warm breath wash over Lemmel's dark, smooth skin. There was no welt or reddening of the skin. He stepped back and hit Lemmel again.

At ten Daniel stopped again and, with the strap draped over his own shoulder, he ran both of his hands all over Lemmel's back. He felt for hot spots, for welts and looked closely to see if he'd broken any skin. He leaned his cheek against Lemmel, blindly searching with his fingers up the tall man's spine, then traced the curve of his shoulder blades and ran his hands down and around Lemmel's ribs. Lemmel was clenching and working his hands on the ropes now, his body swaying back and forth against Daniel. He was moaning in protest, seemingly in agony as Daniel caressed him.

Finally Daniel pushed himself away from Lemmel, but kissed the low desert youth's back. Lemmel gave an open-mouthed groan of terrible frustration.

Daniel took two steps back and brought the strap up again. He delivered five more blows, each firmer. At fifteen he tortured Lemmel again with his bare hands, with kisses on his spine and ribs, and with roaming touches around his sides, up to his bare chest and down to his hip bones.

Then he stepped away again as Lemmel's protesting, needy groans filled the air.

Daniel flicked the strap on him again and again and Lemmel began to count louder, shouting the numbers and bucking in wanton arousal against the ropes binding him. When Lemmel finally called out a frantic, needy twenty, Daniel let his arm hang at his side. Lemmel was panting desperately.

Behind the tied youth, Daniel took several deep breaths, then brought the lash up again. With a swift and hard motion he brought it overhand and struck the tied youth with a cutting blow.

Lemmel howled, barked and shuddered, his body jerking hard against the ropes. "Oh Sky!" he shouted. "Oh, beautiful Sky!"

Daniel threw the strap on the floor and dashed around to Lemmel's face. He lunged up against the man, viciously grabbing a fistful of Lemmel's coarse, black hair. With all his weight, he pulled Lemmel down toward him. The big man fell to his knees with a resounding thud.

Daniel brought his mouth to Lemmel's, his hands groping around the broad shoulders, his fingers pressing, and exploring down the naked flesh he'd just whipped.

Lemmel was thrusting his groin against Daniel's legs and Daniel met him thrust for thrust, his hard cock firmly against Lemmel's lower chest. Daniel's fingers felt the wet, stickiness of blood where the final blow had broken skin. Lemmel hissed into his mouth. Daniel backed off the injured skin and went down to his own knees, bringing himself firmer against the big man, feeling Lemmel curl to him now, bend over him and begin to hump against him in earnest. With his arms tied over his head, Lemmel couldn't grip Daniel, so Daniel wrapped one leg around Lemmel's huge body as far as he could and rode with the big man as he thrust. Lemmel reached an orgasm and shuddered hard as he came in his leather pants.

Dizzy with unfulfilled lust, Daniel pulled himself to his feet using Lemmel's broad shoulders. Then he saw Jack over the kneeling man's head. Jack had his blankets thrown back and was working his hard cock in plain sight. Surprisingly, Balin stood at his side, with his own pants loosened. The master swordsman had his hand inside, under his untucked shirt. He was caressing himself.

Balin began to approach Lemmel.

Single mindedly, Daniel walked toward Jack. He stopped by the reclining man's face.

"Babe," Jack whispered harshly as he reached for Daniel's pant laces.

Daniel helped Jack free his aching erection and stepped up against the chair so his cock brushed Jack's lips where he lay reclining comfortably. Daniel hissed as Jack engulfed him. With his groin pressed to Jack's face, he rocked in tiny thrusts into his lover. Behind him he heard Balin whispering nasty words of encouragement to Lemmel.

Quickly he glanced back and saw Balin, his cock pushed into Lemmel's mouth. Lemmel was straining at the ropes, trying to suck more of Balin in him.

Daniel looked down and watched Jack pump himself. Jack was leaking already, his cock was slick and shiny with a constant drizzle of precum. Jack was close, very close. The head of his cock was dark, and the veins were prominent. Jack was coming. White fluid pumped from the slit as Jack ran his hand down to the base of his cock, paused to squeeze, slid his hand up and squeezed right behind the corona. He gave it two more strokes, squeezing the same way, then rested his hand at the base.

With his eyes locked on the drips of cum sliding down and over Jack's fingers, Daniel gushed in his lover's mouth. Jack slurped noisily, drawing out every last drop from him. Daniel backed away when he became too sensitive. He shucked out of his boots and pants, and with his shirt still dangling on his body, he straddled Jack's chair. Then he let his knees rest on it and crouched over his lover. He brought the veil up, letting the fine cloth drape smoothly between his fingers as he used it to caress Jack's face and neck. Daniel began to lick, lick Jack's neck and strong jaw line. He licked his lover's chin, then his lips and finally kissed him deeply.

He heard Balin come in Lemmel's mouth, heard him urge the young man to swallow, heard Lemmel beg for more.

Beneath Daniel's hands, Jack lay languorously, his eyes closed as his lover kissed and caressed him. Breaking the kiss, Daniel whispered. "Hot tub. Soak away the day."

"Yeah. Soak in what I just saw, what I just felt. Soak it in so deep that I never forget, never let go of this feeling. Love you, Danny."

Daniel rocked back, slid the veil from his shoulders and let it brush lightly across Jack's exposed cock, getting his lover's cum on it. "Balin, scrub off. Lemmel too. Time to soak our Highborn Jack's weary muscles." Then he dropped his voice to a whisper as he brought the veil in an embrace about Jack's softening cock. "Love you too."

Cleaned with soap and fresh water, Daniel sat in the tub, water up to his neck. He cradled Jack in his lap and nuzzled his lover's neck.

Balin had blown out all but one of the lamps before climbing in beside Lemmel. Then the big youth had turned and straddled the master swordsman's lap, sinking down and laying his head on Balin's shoulder. Balin held him, one hand keeping Lemmel's head against him.

"Good lad," Balin said as he traced the fresh cut on his back. "Sweet boy. But only one mark to show off. Will ye still want a letter home to ye folks?"

"Aye. Leave off the mention of marks to show for it, I will. Think ye if I go shirtless for a while the mark will darken? Some say rub salt or ash in it to make the showing stronger."

"Ash, aye. Works well, and sure as ye have it, none must ever know it was the Sky and not me that gave the mark. Now hush ye and let the House rest as he needs."

"Wonderment, it were," Lemmel whispered. "Wonderment. And knowing that ye watched along side my master. I near to come from that alone. Then he touched his to me and I was done. Gone off. Oh, Balin, I love him. I cannot stop that," Lemmel said, his voice breaking.

"I know, lad. I know. Nothing for it now but to return what he gives ye."

"Love of a brother," Lemmel said, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Aye. Say it not again. It frightens me so, lad. A Sky cannot be brother to any man. It may not be. Ever. Love of a Sky may not exist for the likes of us. Both be as wrong as wrong can be. Ye know in my heart that I do so feel the same, but say it not again."

"I won't. I won't. Asked me, the Sky, he asked me if it would make ye love me less. I told him no. He understands what I want from ye."

"What ye want from me, lad?"

"Aye. Of a mate, that kind of love. He knows. I ... I cannot ask it of ye until I fill my obligation to my da. Him, I must first answer to and have a wife who agrees to the way I feel and that I will love a man. I know this. The Sky knows I would mate ye for life if I could."

Balin bowed his head and Daniel looked away from them. He felt Jack shift in his hold, turning from the two big men to give them privacy.

"Aye," Balin finally said. "We'll find a way, lad. Find a way and have our union in a proper way. Seemly way."

"Seemly," Lemmel said with a nod, and then grew silent.

They'd been living at Jack's new cot for two weeks when their peace was disturbed. Tal arrived saying that the council waited at the boundary marker, wishing to speak with the House today. She'd come to deliver pies, leaving Asny to supervise the inn and the two new orphans the child had brought from the children's hall to work there.

Balin stood on the porch to greet her, his gaze far focused on the winding road that led back to the village. "Aye. Whole council come?"

"Aye," she said. "Waiting for permission to step on the land and deliver to him the coin tributes paid since the village became his."

"Nothing but to let them come, then. Nothing I can think of to bar them from it and still be seemly. Ulfrik! Run yonder to the marker stones on the road and let in Brooksmeet's council of elders. They come to pay tribute to ye master. Fetch ye finest cloak first, and be right proper and smart there and back. Hold ye head high, lad. Mindful that ye serve high in a household with a Sky. Ye be their better and are charged not to let them forget it for even a moment. Go on now, titled servant."

"Shall I help Jarngerd set things in order for an audience?" Tal asked.

"Aye. I round up the fool lad, get him dressed up as a proper servant, then see to my own self. The House be too ill to receive them, I'm thinking. That be a bad thing. I want this watching settled and done. Want the old one's eyes elsewhere but on House Ondeil. Our Sky ... " Balin shook his head.

"Our Sky what?" Daniel asked. He'd slipped out the front door and eased up behind the two tall worker castes. His veil was tied loosely around his neck. He'd had it on properly at breakfast, imposing himself in the kitchen to eat with Jack's servants.

Balin started. "Move again as the mountain lynx do, Sky."

"Not really. But don't try to distract me. What's up?"

"Tal needs to be off to see what Jarngerd needs." He waited until the wench had gone inside. "Ye, Sky, I must tell that the household needs to get in order right quick. Council comes to pay tribute due to House Ondeil this morn. They'll be brought up the road as soon as Ulfrik can fetch them. Best not to leave old ones waiting too long. Sours 'em. Now though, Sky, the visit ... I've got to speak with the House. He'll know how to protect ye."

"Highborn Jack's sleeping, Balin. Tell me what you need."

"I need naught. The House needs his Sky to be as all Skys must when any visit a Highborn's own cot. We be on posted lands. They come on business, come to pay the tributes due the House for passage through his village as has happened this past month."

"They're coming to pay Highborn Jack today. But he's too ill to receive them. His steward ... But she didn't come today. Do they have to see him? Can't his Champion take care of it?"

"Aye. I could, but it would be best to end the old woman's eyes on House Ondeil. She comes not just to pay the tribute. She comes to see if the Nortvegr be followed. And, I fear, she comes to see if ye be ... as a Sky should be when on posted lands, when properly hosted by a Highborn House."

"I am. I'm fine. There's no problem here."

"Sky," Balin said reluctantly. "I need to speak with the House. I must rouse him. It be for the safety of the household, and in this, I will do my duty. He must see to it that ye are as ye must be." Balin gave a small, and quick bow then skirted Daniel and went in the cot.

Daniel stood on Jack's porch, almost quivering beyond control. He clenched his fists and worked his jaw muscles. Balin was going to tell Jack to make him behave? That bastard! He threw the door open and stormed in the cot.

Balin was in Jack's bedroom, bending over him, speaking in low tones. Jack was sleepily rousing himself, pushing the covers back as he listened to Balin's urgent, low tone.

Daniel gripped the doorframe, fury stiffening his posture. Behind him in the sitting room Jarngerd and Tal were rearranging furniture, clearing floor space.

With angry determination Daniel stepped into Jack's room and closed the door, shutting himself in with Balin and Jack. "Tell me what you're talking about," he said, keeping his tone as level as possible through the choking fury that flooded his body.

"Hey," Jack said wearily. "Got company coming. Sounds like a platoon of politicians. Review board if I ever heard of one. We gotta make nice and then boot them outta here."

"Boots?" Balin asked. "Nay. Not needed. Ye in slippers and the new drape made of House Ondeil colors will do. Fine in the reclining chair by ye fire, House. With servants in their finest, colors to be seen and ye Sky as he should be."

"And just how is it that I should be?" Daniel demanded through clenched teeth.

"Ye Highborn will say," Balin answered, keeping his head bowed as he stood by Jack's side.

"You tell him, Balin. I'm tired," Jack said, using the excuse that had worked so well many times before.

"Seemly," Balin said reluctantly. "Veiled, covered decently. And ... Sky ... as one should be. Not ... not speaking."

Daniel snorted through his nose. "That all? Covered and keep my mouth shut?"

"Nay." Balin brought his head up, facing into the deadly fury of a Sky, a man who could take his life with the smallest of whims. "Dressed as a Sky should be when in the company of the House who hosts him. The clothes yon, which ye do never wear."

"Those?" Daniel retorted as he looked at the flimsy stuff Jarngerd had put in the room one day. She'd made no statements, no comments about them. They were just suddenly there, on the shelf by Daniel's scribing supplies and the other items that were for his use, not Jack's. He had no intention of ever wearing the outfit, but didn't bother to tell the woman. Why should he?

"Please, House. It be not seemly for me to insist. If Jarngerd or Tal can come dress the Sky, that would be best."

"Dress me? I'm capable--"

"Daniel," Jack interrupted softly. "Sky."

"I won't do it," he shouted. "I won't dress that way. It's too cold. That stuff is--"

"What about me, Balin? Other than slippers and my undies, that new cover is enough to make 'em sit up and take notice? Make all of 'em leave us alone after this visit?"

"Pants to show ye feel more well than ye do. If they see ye servants doing as should be done, see the cot in order, land working well, they all might turn their eyes elsewhere. But if they do not see the Sky in his proper place, see that all be as it should, they'll be making excuses to come again and again. Then when another Highborn passes through come summer, we'll expect to be called to take him to be judged. Eventually, someone will want the Sky to be judged. Ye'll lose him, House. Forever."

"I'm not going to risk that, Daniel. You know I won't risk that."

"I'll go out for a walk. Tell them I'm gone--"

"Skys do not go for walks. It be no use, Highborn Jack." Balin shook his head.

"Tell them ... I'm out counting fucking sheep! I'm off doing what needs to be done for the proper running of the house!"

"Daniel, what are you angry at right now? What are you feeling angry about?"

"I'm ... " Daniel stopped and sighed heavily. He shook his head the same way Balin had just shaken his. "This ... I don't want to wear those clothes. I don't want to be out there with that veil on and have to keep my mouth shut."

"Pretend it's a briefing and everyone at the table thinks archaeologists are nothing but canon fodder. You're not going to sink to their level--"

"Jack have you seen these clothes?" Daniel protested. He went to the shelf and held up the shirt, what there was of it. The pants fell off the shelf, fluttering to the ground. He scooped them up, holding them out to show the gathered pouch at the groin, and the slits in the front of the legs that extended from ankle to hip bone.

"Put it all on and then throw your cloak over it," Jack suggested.

"No cloak, House," Balin protested. "Not in the cot. The weather be too warm now that spring be here. No excuse for covering him in the cot proper, not on posted land, and certainly not while in the company of a seemly House who hosts the Sky. Ye endanger him, House."

"I'm sorry, Danny--"

"Just shut up about it!" Daniel yelled at Balin. "Leave Jack alone. He's not endangering me. I'll put it on and I'll be quiet and the veil will be on. Just shut up about it. Get on with setting things up, Balin. Go get Lemmel and make sure he knows what to do. Go on. Get out!"

The big man left instantly.

Jack rolled onto his side and watched as Daniel stripped.

"This is absurd. These pants are slit open on both legs, all the way down the front. Look at this ... this is supposed to be underwear? It's cut so damned low and is going to ride up my ass crack, keep my nuts in a sling! My God, these are two straps! It goes on like a jock strap. My ass is ... Oh, shit. This ... Look at what this does. It makes my crotch bulge out. On purpose. What in the hell was Jarngerd thinking?"

"This is proper Sky wear. That's what she told me."

"She told you about these clothes? You knew she was making this stuff?"

"I think I knew it. I forget," Jack said. "I think she told me before she started, asked about if I wanted your nipples to show or not. I said not."

"Thanks!" Daniel sneered. He got the binding underwear on, feeling the smooth pouch cup and lift his genitals forward. It had an odd ribbon woven through the material. He had no idea what it was for, so he tucked it inside out of his way. The pants slid on perfectly, settling low on his hips. It was a good thing that he still shaved his groin. The waistband came barely an inch above the base of his cock. In the back half of his ass crack showed. He turned away from Jack. "Look."

"Oh, that's gotta be less than comfortable."

"If I move too fast these things will be around my knees."

"I can see your ... I can see a lot. Nipples wouldn't have made much difference, I'm afraid."

"This top? It's like a freaking band-aid. These shoulder straps are nothing but strips of suede. My nipples are covered but my ribs and my stomach aren't. My upper chest isn't. More of me is uncovered than covered."

"I'll say," Jack said appreciatively. "Sorry," he added quickly, burned by Daniel's angry glare. Jack shrugged his shoulders and looked contrite.

"Look at the pants. My cock and balls are on display. If I take normal strides my thighs come out the slits and I'm bare from hip to ankle."

"What about the color, Daniel? At least they're a decent color."

"The color makes me look even more naked. It's like a light beige, Jack, almost white. From a distance or in a dark room I look naked."

"I'll say," Jack repeated. "Sorry! Sorry. I ... Just shoot me. Put the veil on."

"Oh, believe me. I will."

"What. Veil or shoot?"

"Leave me alone," Daniel said resignedly. "Am I eventually going to have to parade through the city of the Highborn in this?"

There was a knocking at the door. "Come," Daniel said tensely.

Tal had returned with Jarngerd in tow. The wench brought a wash cloth and warm bowl of water to the bedside table and began to wash Jack's face and hands. "Be here soon, Highborn Jack. What needs doing?"

"A comb," he said. "And my pants. Jarngerd? My leather pants. I'm not going out there without pants on."

Jarngerd climbed into the middle of the big bed and began working his pants on his legs. Then she got socks on his feet and a new, clean shirt on. Tal left Jarngerd to finish her task and was leaving the room when she stopped to take a closer look at Daniel.

"Not right, Sky." She bent down and tilted her head to the side, scrutinizing his crotch hard. "The ... Ye should be more ... Oh, not my place to say. I fetch the Champion."

Daniel stared in confusion at the doorway as she left through it.

Balin, regal in his leather armor came back quickly with Jarngerd and silently regarded Daniel. Then he spoke to the wench as they both studied Daniel's crotch. "Ach. Nay. Not right. I know there be more ... I've seen ... He has more ... "

"You're talking about me like I'm not here. The company hasn't even arrived and I've already disappeared." Daniel backed up to the heavy, round table and slumped, leaning his ass back against the edge of it. He crossed his arms and glared at them.

Balin dropped to one knee in front of Daniel, his gaze still locked on the angry man's groin. "He's not pulled the loop. I've no idea why, other than obstinacy, or possibly anger. We can't risk him ... running ... but it must be pulled. "

"What?" Daniel demanded. "You don't like the fit? I don't either. I'll just slip back into--"

"Nay, Sky, they be seemly," Balin said, trying hard to speak softly now. "Just, they ... the ... ye have not pulled the loop so they fit not as they should. If ye wish it be done as proper, by a maid to dress ye, then Tal be here to do it since Jarngerd be busy with the House. Please, Sky, just don't grow so angry that ye run."

"Pull my loop?"

"She can take the pants open and fix all for ye."

"She's not opening my pants," Daniel said flatly. "I'm not letting a woman open my pants."

"Understandable. Then it be for me to do," Balin said and reached to unlace the front of the suede trousers. His fingers were nimble and quick.

Daniel tried to dance away but he was against the table. He gasped in shock as Balin tugged the underwear down and scooped his thick fingers between Daniel's legs. Daniel uncrossed his arms and grabbed at Balin's shoulders to push him away. The big man lifted his nuts and cock, pulling them forward and out from his body. Daniel froze, his mouth gaping open.

With Tal watching intently, Balin pushed the underwear back up against his hold on Daniel's genitals, pulling the pouching underwear around them. Then he grasped the threaded ribbon and pulled both ends. It snugged up around the base of his balls, bunching everything into the gathered pouch. Then Balin tied a bow in the ribbon over the top of Daniel's cock and pulled Daniel's pants up swiftly. He relaced the front and let go of the shocked man.

"Fuck!" Daniel finally managed to shout. "What the hell was that about!" He looked down at his crotch. The bit of loose, gathered fabric that had been at his crotch now bulged out with his cock and balls filling the pouch of the underwear underneath. "Oh, crap. Jack!"

Daniel turned to the bed and saw Jack rolled on his side. He was dressed now, except for his boots. Jarngerd had put the fleece-lined slippers on him. Jack's eyebrows were climbing his forehead.

"Holy ... Uh." Jack shut his mouth.

Tal was on her knees now, her face inches from Daniel's bound groin. She was forcing suede slippers on his bare feet.

"The council draws near," Balin announced as he stood. He scooped up Jack and carried him to the sling chair by the huge fireplace. Coals burned low in it, and a steaming kettle added moisture to the air.

Daniel snatched his veil from the table, snugged it on his head, then took a long stride in Balin's path. He quickly pulled himself up short. The ribbon Balin had pulled tight around his genitals hurt! He couldn't take big steps. He tried a few mincing, light steps. That was much better. It didn't feel like his nuts were going to bounce off his body. Daniel tried to take the little steps quickly, but slow was much safer. He made it to the sitting room as Balin was lowering Jack into his reclining chair.

One odd beneficial side effect of having his nuts and cock in bondage that way was that the pants were now held up by the bulge. He was less in danger of having the lower half of his nearly naked ass on display if he stepped wrong.

Tal covered Jack's legs with the fine, new throw that Jarngerd had made. It was a deep green with fancy needlework decorating the edges in browns and golds. She smoothed it carefully over his legs, then tucked a matching pillow behind his head.

"Highborn," Balin invited Daniel to a low chair at Jack's side.

Tal knelt by the chair and gazed up at him. "And whatever ye need ask now before them that come are here? I'll fetch it, I will. Right quick so ye have no wait."

"I don't need anything," Daniel said, his words almost choking him with the raw fury that had ahold of his throat. Daniel worked hard to appear civil as he stopped by the chair Balin wanted him to sit in. Tal was only trying to help him and didn't deserve to be treated rudely.

Lemmel stood behind Jack, slightly away from the fireplace. Daniel glanced back at the big youth, dressed in a clean, crisp shirt and sleeveless jerkin of House colors. He looked excited, but was also obviously working to appear detached, calm. Daniel sank into the chair, realizing he had to go slowly, let the underwear shift to accommodate his movements. He could easily wrack himself in the damned things! He checked his own posture and straightened himself perfectly upright.

The slits in his pants had fallen open when he sat. His bare thighs showed. With the veil on, his clearest field of vision was of his own naked legs, naked up to his hipbones. He tried tucking the pants cloth over his skin, but there wasn't enough of it.

"Tal, fetch the Highborn's cloak," Jack said.

Daniel glanced at his lover, seeing concern in Jack's dark eyes.

"You look cold. Isn't it my job to determine if you're cold or not?"

Tal was back with the cloak and draped it about Daniel's shoulders. Gratefully, he took hold of the hem and laid the sides across his thighs. "I can't walk in these. I walk like Brynvold's Sky walked. I thought he was naked under those pants when I first saw him. I didn't see underwear."

Daniel lifted the cloak edge and looked at his naked thighs. "Now I know why I didn't see the underwear. Crap."

"They come," Balin said as he looked out the window, "Ulfrik a few lengths ahead. Come in lad," he said as he opened the door for the tanner. "Stand tall now, by yon desert lad. Good. The cloak, House. If ... To satisfy the old woman, if she could see his ... The room be perhaps too warm for a cloak to be sensible, seemly."

"Oh fucking hell," Daniel swore in resignation. He let the cloak edges fall away and spread his knees. "This much?"

"Aye, Highborn," Balin said as he nodded. "Household!" he shook his finger at the three servants and including Tal, "I'll brook no mistakes. Mark my words. Not one mistake. I want these old ones to turn their eyes to other affairs than House Ondeil. Understood?"

Daniel grimaced. The warning was delivered to the servants, but it was for him. He had to work hard not to nod. Then he had to work hard not to let a lump grow in his throat as Jack reached out and squeezed his knee. Jack's hand was still so thin. The tendons on the back of his hand stood out in stark relief. Jack deserved peace and quiet. He deserved the solitude and protection the Meadows provided him. If the old woman would leave them alone, he'd have it. If Daniel could control himself ...

"Sky," Jack whispered quickly using the form of address for the veiled man just to reinforce his role, "the old woman has a nasty temper, a nasty tongue. Don't let anything she says or does get to you. I've had a few battles with her before, when you were ... recovering. She sees right through me. Don't let her see through you or we're in big trouble here."

Daniel started to reply, but Balin opened the door. He glanced up at the opening, the flood of light splashing across his veil and obscuring his vision. Daniel bowed his head. In this get-up he was unable to see clearly, couldn't walk at a decent pace and had his equipment literally pulled out and on display for anyone who cared to look. Then, of course the point was they were forbidden to look, because the veil was on. He shook his head in anger, and then realized he was doing exactly what he shouldn't. He took a cleansing breath and relaxed his body. Jack's hand was gone from him. Relaxing was not easy.

Surreal. Incredibly surreal. That's all Daniel could think of. They filed in, these very elderly people. Had they honestly walked all the way from the village? It must have taken them hours. Surely they rode in a cart most of the way. But he thought Balin had said they walked. They walked all this way just to pay Jack some coins? They could have given them to Asny. Balin was right. There was too much unspoken about this visit. Daniel flushed with anger. Hadn't he and Jack been through enough?

After the village elders were all kneeling, foreheads to the floor, Balin moved forward to stand a few feet in front of and to the right of Jack. His arms were crossed and his gold tipped horns gleamed in the sunlight streaming through the unshuttered windows. He addressed them, speaking a formal greeting and asking their business with House Ondeil. Daniel could easily have heard Asny speaking those same words.

As Balin spoke to the elders, Daniel felt himself again becoming swamped with anger toward these people, their intrusion on his and Jack's refuge here. Once again he felt what little sanctuary they'd achieved was being ripped away. He tried to dampen that dangerous emotion by turning his focus on Jack.

Then he realized one of the many reasons he'd fallen in love with Jack O'Neill. Everyone in the SGC was familiar with Daniel and Jack's constant power struggles, their verbal sparring, their give and take. Daniel continually challenged Jack's military protocols, his adherence to militaristic concerns. But secretly, he had fallen in love with Jack's authoritative bearing. Jack would walk in a room full of very high powered people to deliver a briefing or face a hearing, and he might appear to be disrespectful, might even make derogatory comments and project a ridiculing attitude. But he had a bearing about him that showed he knew without any doubt that he was in the right, that he did or would do everything within his power to complete a mission successfully, honorably, well. And Daniel admired that. Secretly. Jack knew. But, not many others did.

He flicked Daniel a little smile and a fast wink, then regarded the visitors, projecting that same bearing. Daniel felt his own breath quicken. He loved this man!

The old woman rose onto her knees and looked up at Balin. "Tribute, Champion. We bring for House Ondeil, what be owed House Ondeil, a House that follows the Nortvegr. Be pleased to bring it, we are, to a House that follows the Nortvegr. Coins from them workers that trade and pass through, and one Champion who come on his way to hunt the claw beasts. Come he did from the eastern shore where he'd wintered. Paid his tribute and set off. No time to tarry and pay his proper respects here at the cot, he regretted, but the summer waits for no man, Champion."

"His name," Balin asked.

"Alfarin, Champion archer."

"Ah. And as to House Ondeil business, wise-woman?"

Briefly Daniel wondered if the mention of this passing Champion and his possibility of visiting House Ondeil had been a threat from her. Balin questioned her for a name. Maybe he thought she was lying. Maybe he too felt it was a threat.

She held out a pouch which jingled with the sound of coins. "Ten gold marks from the Champion from the east and forty-seven coins from them that work, Champion."

So owning a village was a very profitable business for a Highborn. Daniel thought about all the posted land Balin said they'd have to cross on their way north. It was going to be an expensive trip he realized with dismay.

Balin uncrossed his arms and flicked a finger toward Lemmel, then pointed to the little pouch the woman held high.

Daniel turned his head very slightly so he could watch the young man get the sack. Lemmel moved swiftly and gracefully. He took the bag and brought it to Balin. The swordsman took the bag, peered in it, then held it out to Jack. Jack took it and held it laxly, dismissively out to Jarngerd.

That was a lot of handing off, Daniel mused. Then he studied Jack's bored expression. His lover then snapped his fingers.

"Ale," he said to Tal.

"House Ondeil is pleased," Jack said, his tone matching the boredom on his face. "Brooksmeet follows the Nortvegr. Is that all?"

Tal was now kneeling by Jack's side, a tray with two tankards balanced skillfully in her hands. Jack took one, and handed it over to Daniel. Then he took the other.

Daniel felt the lightness of the tankard. Tal had only filled them a little ways, making it possible for Jack to hold the metal container without threat of trembling.

"More business, if it pleases the Highborn Jack. A trader wishes to know how she may discuss horses. It was known in the village that horses were desired by House Ondeil. She waits in House Ondeil's village, a hand's worth of the great black horses to select from. They be stabled for consideration in Brooksmeet proper. At ye leisure, Highborn Jack."

"The big horses," Jack said thoughtfully. He held the stein out to Tal who took it wordlessly. Then she came to Daniel's side and held the tray out, her head bowed. Daniel put his stein there.

Jack held himself very carefully, Daniel noted. He didn't give the old woman his attention, but conducted everything through Balin. It was a tactic that seemed to be working well. They were succeeding, he thought. Taking his cue carefully from Jack, Daniel kept his face emotionless and his head turned from the elders. He stayed focused on Jack.

"Balin, make arrangements. I'll speak with the woman. Have her come here tomorrow morning. Jarngerd, give half the workers' coins to Tal. Tal, I want the steward to take those coins to the children's hall. From now on, half the coins collected from the workers go directly to the children's hall. I do this to indulge my Sky."

It all seemed so very anticlimactic. One moment the house was in a panic preparing for their arrival and the next moment the old ones were being escorted out the front door. As the door closed Jack called for Tal's attention.

"We don't even offer them a drink of water? They have to walk all that way back now?" his imperious tone completely gone as he voiced genuine concern.

"Aye. Help waits at the boundary markers. Balin's set the household in order, Highborn Jack. Ye've a shepherd there who watches. Any who approach the boundary markers and asks for an audience, he relays the word here to the cot. None enter ye land without permission and it was only given to the elders, not them that accompanied on the long walk."

"I see. We have a doorman."

"Can I get out of this now, Highborn Jack?" Daniel asked, feigning calmness, acceptance.

"Can you wait until Balin gets back in here? I want to make sure everything's good to go."

"Yes. Mind if I get up and put the cloak on?"

"Go for it."

"Ach. Such strange way to use words," Tal said, shaking her head. "Go for the it and I'm not knowing what the it be, or how good to go it be. Strange speech ye of the far northern reaches have."

"Far north?" Daniel prompted as he stood and adjusted the binding crotch.

"Balin, Champion, says House Ondeil be one of them on the far northern reaches where cold never leaves. Where ice sheet never leaves. Heard of such far places. Never met none from that far away."

"We come from very far away," Jack said honestly.

"Far," Daniel echoed.

"When ye grew and left the sweet home, Highborn, left the Forbidden Garden of the Highborn women, it must have been such a hardship then, until ye went north with Highborn Jack. But, I pry. Forgive." She bowed low and stayed down.

"When I left the Forbidden Garden. Yes," Daniel said slowly. "So long ago. Tal, stand up. It's all right."

"Thank ye, Highborn. I should never inquire of such a time. For a Sky it be said to be the most traumatic time, being thrust out in the world among us, and to see for the first time Highborn men with their dark eyes. Highborn men of any eye, I suppose, none being allowed to stay in the Garden. Strange, to imagine living a whole life separate, men from women, Sky from Highborn. So separate. Me, I live among men but never do I take them as Canlith does. I walk among them as Highborn women never do, but am still just as separate. Rare as that be, it be my way."

"You prefer women," Daniel prompted, with a tilt of his head.

"Prefer? Nay. For bedding?" She giggled. "Nay. Canlith, she'll bed women if they've the coin, men if they do and some that don't. Me, I will not bend to the will of any man, will not be under the roof of any man. Ah! Oh, Sky. Oh, I ... Highborn ... " She clamped her lips and dropped to the floor.

She'd called him Sky, though his veil was on. And she'd insulted him. Daniel looked at Jack, and then back at Tal. She'd insulted him terribly, and done so in front of the Master of Brooksmeet, the master of House Ondeil. Bend to the will of men. Daniel fought the queasiness in his stomach.

"Tal ... " He felt completely at a loss as to what to say. "I'm not insulted ... " He was. He was insulted. He turned his back on her and hugged himself, feeling his naked ribs. He was insulted because she had just insisted she'd never sink to the depravity of a whore. But she'd meant Canlith, not him.

"It's okay," he tried again. "You didn't mean ... " Under any man's roof. He was under Jack's now. But recently he'd been under the roof of any man who had the coin. They'd rent a roof, or take him to their own bed, and he'd be under whatever roof they wanted, on his back, legs in the air, taking their cocks and their cum and their coins. She meant him. She did.

Daniel took hasty steps toward the door, then pulled himself up short before he grasped the handle. Jack hadn't said a word, hadn't called to him, asked him to stop, hadn't forbid him to run. And if he'd gone out the door he'd have run right past those elders, run right past them and probably kept going down the road until exhaustion or Lemmel stopped him.

He clenched his hands against his naked ribs. He'd stopped himself. He'd saved Lemmel from a beating probably. And he'd stopped himself. No tears! He admonished himself. Hold it together.

She'd meant him. She'd compared him very successfully, very accurately to a tavern whore and it had hurt. Again that ugly idiom rose in his mind. You can't rape a whore. Self flagellation. He was raped. It was an assault. He was attacked, bruised and raped and it was over and done with and no amount of beating himself up would make it fade away.

Daniel shook his head, then turned back to his lover. Jack and he were alone in the big room.

"Take the veil off," Jack said calmly. "I want to give you my eyes. Nothing obscuring your vision. Nothing blocking you from seeing that I love you. I know you feel it. I know, in your heart that you feel it. But you need to see it, Daniel."

He did what his lover told him to. Daniel untied the veil and let it slip down around his neck. He looked at Jack sitting solemnly in the reclining chair. Jack's cheeks were still sunken in. Wrinkles bracketed his mouth, wrinkles that had not been there the last time they'd stood in the gate room preparing to depart. Jack's face looked haggard, his hands showed his emaciation. But his eyes were bright, strong and piercing. His jaw was firm and his brow drawn in earnest concentration.

Daniel took a step toward Jack, then shortened the next one, realizing he'd worked the genital pouch too hard in his haste to flee toward the door. He reached his lover, then knelt, his knees on the trailing, very soft cover. He sank onto his hip and laid his head against Jack's covered thigh for a moment. The rich hues of House Ondeil surrounded them. Daniel lifted his head and gazed up into Jack's eyes.

"I know," he said softly. "You're going to say you love me."

"Of course, Danny. It's my favorite thing to say. I get the biggest kick out of watching your face when I say it. Do you realize your eyes light up like a kid at Christmas?"

Daniel dropped his head for a moment and smiled. Then he looked back up at Jack. "Really?"

"Yeah. I love you. See? That look. Right there. I love you, Daniel Jackson."

"I love you, Jack O'Neill."

"Ondeil. That's Jack of House Ondeil. King on high of the Meadows Cot. Lord high ruler of Brooksmeet. And if the town had a Pizza Hut, that would really mean something."

Daniel snorted and shook his head. "There you go, making the moment a real memory keepsake. I think that's why I love you."

"Cause I know how to keep it real? It should never get old, Daniel. Like I keep telling George, this should never get old. A truly fine pizza is nothing to turn your nose up at. Telling you that I love you should never get old."

"Get Tal back in here, would you? I can't let this sit between us. I don't want her to feel bad, and the longer I let it go, the harder it'll be to settle it."

"All right, on the condition that you teach her how to make me a pizza."

"It'll have to be with goat cheese. You're not going to like it."

"Ya never know until ya try," Jack quipped.

"You're feeling good. I see color in your cheeks."

"Tal!" Jack bellowed.

She returned and got down on the floor again.

"Sit up," Jack ordered. "The Sky has something to say."

Silently, the serving wench sat up on her heels. She was only a little taller than Daniel in that posture.

"You spoke truly, Tal. I'm not angry with you."

"My foolish, thoughtless mouth hurt ye, Sky. As it be true that this be the lot in life of a Sky, still, I know ye, know it hurt. Ye are not as other Skys. I know this. I am shamed. Even if ye are not angry, I am shamed for my own sake."

Jack reached out and caressed Daniel's exposed hair. "I know you were hurt too, babe. I'm sorry too. This world keeps hurting you and for that, I'm sorry."

"I'll ... Let's let this go, Tal. Not speak of it to anyone. I want you to tell me something, and I know it's not proper to speak of it, but if you do, we'll be even. It's a kind of bargain I'm offering. Will you accept it?"

"Speak of what be not proper?"

"Yes." Daniel felt Jack tug at him but he shook his head, hushing his lover's objection.

"I want you to tell Highborn Jack of what you know about the Forbidden Garden. Tell him about how life is inside the garden, and what you were talking about, how ... traumatic it is for a Sky to leave. I want to make sure you understand how I feel."

She looked puzzled, and at the same time, frightened. "Aye," she answered slowly, then turned to face the man who was responsible for her livelihood, who determined whether she had a place to work tomorrow, to sleep, and food to eat.

"The Nortvegr says, all know this, Highborn Jack. In the heart of the city of the Highborn where the temple of Nirrti sits be the forbidden garden where all Highborn women live. Among them are the chosen women of Nirrti, they of the female body who have her marks, her blue eyes and light hair."

"Wait," Jack interrupted. "Describe the goddess, Nirrti."

"Hair of honey and eyes of sky, she be fairest to look on. All men grow full at the sight of her." She said it as if repeating a ritual phrase.

"Different host," Daniel muttered. "She was here a long time ago."

Jack nodded. "Continue."

Hesitantly, Tal began again. "The forbidden women choose among those Sky who return to the temple to seek a blessing of coins or her circle necklace to wear. Those that are of sound spirit and body give their essence to the forbidden women, to one who be ... ready. For this worshipful act, the Sky may receive coins or if desired, the circle to hang on a string about his neck.

"In the Forbidden Garden, if from that union a child comes out bred true and be of the Sky caste then this be good. If a male child be not bred true then that babe goes forth on the day of his first naming day to the hall of the Highborn lads.

"Some Highborn, those such as yeself, Highborn Jack, with the earth eyes, they who have enough coin to pay Nirrti's guardians may come and give their essence to the Highborn women. Sometimes it be said such a union might produce a Sky child, and that child be given proper homage, his or her proper place among the Sky caste babes.

"If the male child of any union in the temple has earth eyes, he goes to the hall of the Highborn children on his first naming day. His father may claim him, or another Highborn adopt him and raise him proper or he stays and be educated, trained thus in the ways of the Highborn, to be a trade master or craft master or ship's master. Many skills and knowledge are given to him.

"But for the blessed babes such as ye Sky, life be pure and sweet. He lives in the Forbidden Garden with the Highborn women, to be cared for and tended, all his needs met. He be not bothered with schooling or having to think of troublesome worries. He lives without care until he grows and reaches the first day of his manhood, old enough like ye handsome servant Lemmel. Then he be ... some say, let free.

"Some who've witnessed the coming out say it be harsh. Some say the young Sky come out and show sorrow and fear to be thrust among us full-size folk. Some say they come out with a sense of wonder and power. Some come out and show their understanding of what they are to us, and what we will do simply for a touch, for a touch such as ye gave freely to me the first night in Brooksmeet. They come full in their power and glory and walk free in the city of the Highborn.

"When the Sky leave the Forbidden Garden, they come with the long summer veil and the gift from their mothers, an imparting cloth. They make their way among the city streets and by sunset find what they need. A ... roof. My shame, Sky. My shame," she repeated, her voice breaking as she bowed her head.

Daniel couldn't speak. What they did to these young men was horrific!

"Summer veil," Jack said, as if he were confirming what she said. "Yes. You've seen a summer veil of course?"

"Aye. Long and thin, to flow about and cover them as they wish. Such delicate skin. Such soft, delicate skin."

"My Sky lost everything in the low desert. In our crash. He's lost his, and summer is coming. You could instruct Jarngerd on how one should look, on how to make one?"

"Aye. Though, I think it likely she knows. May have seen one. May not. I'll speak with her before I leave to take coins to the littlest steward."

"Good. Okay, Tal. You've done a good job of showing me that you know ... about the roof thing. You can take off now." Jack urged her to leave.

Daniel felt himself quivering with anger. "We have to do something for these men. We have to ... "

"Not yet, Daniel. We have no cavalry waiting over the hill to ride in here and save our asses. You've been telling me for the past month, ever since I really got alert enough to hear you, don't buck the system too much. We have to be very careful. You've seen the extremes these people go to, what they're willing to subject themselves and you to in order to follow the laws Nirrti left in place here. There's a crap-load of territory between here and their gate. Nobody, and I mean nobody back on Earth knows where in the hell we are. You wanna do something. I know. I really do know. But it'll have to wait until we get our asses home and can get back to these people and show them some kind of proof that Nirrti's a pile of snake dust."

"We have to do something," Daniel said tersely, "before the next time they shove some young man out half naked and force him to start prostituting himself just to have a ... a roof ... over his head."

Chapter 18 House Ondeil's Wealth

"Expensive," Balin said stubbornly, shaking his head.

"I want to go see them," Daniel insisted. He strode back and forth on the covered porch as Jack reclined in his leather chair well out of the gentle spring breeze.

"Bring them here, Balin. Have the seller bring her horses here and let's have a look."

"I could go with you back to Brooksmeet," Daniel insisted as he strode up to the tall man. "It'd only take a half a day at most if we walked quickly."

"Ye go to the village in the cart, Sky. As be seemly," Balin said sternly, his arms crossed on his chest.

"That'll take forever--"

"Champion," Jack interrupted Daniel's tirade, "he's right, and he's staying here. Get your ass into town and ride back out with the horse trader. If she's serious about selling she'll let you ride one of the string back here with her."

"None but her mount be broken to the saddle, House."

"Well then we don't want them."

"But Jack, they're the Flemish horses. They're the ones like Brynvold and his party rode. We could pack an amazing amount of supplies on just one of those horses. They're not the smaller Icelandic ponies we've seen down south or around here pulling carts. We'd be really well off trying for a couple of the Flemish horses."

"A couple of them? Our party's grown, Sky," Jack said, emphasizing the correct form of address. "Balin is coming north with us, and I want to take Lemmel too. He's doing well in his training to be a steward. We'll need him. Four horses."

Daniel gaped at him. "Four? You realize how much that will cost?"

"We'll sell some of the sheep. Offer the trader free room and board at the inn. Give her a get-in-free card for Brooksmeet. We'll work something out."

"Four horses?" Daniel grew silent. Jack was thinking they'd each need a horse to ride. He wasn't about to point out that he and Jack could ride double on one of those mighty horses. They were of the same stock that armored knights rode, that the great dressier chargers were descended from. They'd been bred with stocky ponies to produce the warm-blooded draft animals that many Scandinavian countries were famous for.

"Four, House?" Balin echoed Daniel. "One as pack animal? It'd be far cheaper to have one pack horse be of the pony breed, the light colors which ye Sky calls Icelandic."

"I'm thinking a horse for each of us, Balin. We're not leaving here until I'm strong enough to ride anyway. Why not--"

"Odin! Ye think not to have one for ye ... Nay." Balin was staring at Daniel, but addressing Jack.

"Oh crap," Daniel swore softly. He turned from Balin and strode to the other end of the porch.

"What?" Jack demanded of his master swordsman.

"A horse for the Sky to ride. I mean, ride ... alone?"

Odamari had been led from the inn, and lifted gently to be placed in a double saddle in front of one of the armed men of House Halfdain. Odamari probably had never touched a reign in his life. His hands were probably considered too delicate.

"How would he stay on, House? Alone?"

"Oh ... crap," Jack said softly. "What was I thinking. Uh. Yeah."

"Four horses, Balin," Daniel said flatly. "Go tell the trader that House Ondeil wishes to negotiate for four of her horses, saddle broken or not. We'll have time to train them ourselves. Go on. I'll stay here. Get going now, and show up here with four horses or I'm going to go to Brooksmeet myself." He turned and faced the huge Champion. "Go!" he said, making a shooing motion.

Balin glared at the porch decking, then at the thatched roof overhead. Finally he bowed stiffly and tore out at a fast, angry pace down the lane.

"Okay, while he's gone I'll get the guys started on a--"

"Daniel. Something you need to tell me? Something about Sky castes not riding alone?"

"Look. I'm conceding the need for us to sell some of this land, maybe some sheep or whatever we can to raise money to buy these horses. Fine," he said, his voice rising as his anger built. "But if you think I'm going to put up with being held, held," he repeated at the top of his lungs, "in Balin's lap while he rides me across the country, you're out of your mind!"

"Jeeze. Touchy. You can ride. I mean, I know you can ride. I've seen you. Even without a saddle. That time Sam was kidnapped? You can ride. I'm not going to argue the point. But how's it going to look, you trotting across the meadows, your veil plastered to your face?"

"Fuck the veil!" Daniel left the porch, taking the short flight of steps two at a time. He found Ulfrik near the lambing barn. There were two new men somewhere about near the Cot today, shepherds who'd been hired to tend the flocks. He tugged his veil up and tied it in place, realizing he should never have been on the porch bare-headed. And he certainly shouldn't have been acting unseemly out where they might have seen him.

"Hey, Ulfrik. Where's Lemmel? We've got some work to get done. Highborn Jack is going to buy some horses. We'll need a place to corral them, a shed or something. Grain and water. Any of these barns equipped to handle horses?"

"Highborn," Ulfrik greeted him formally with a bow. "I will send these two in the barn from ye presence, Highborn. They be not for seeing ye out and about. They be both men."

"Ah, right. Where's Lemmel?"

"Yonder. That barn by where the guinea fowl roost. May be that barn likely. Aye. It be for the ponies used for cart work in the past. A paddock on one side suits the master's new horses? Drains well, the soil there. And sweet grass could be brought in easy enough. Water hauled there for drinking would be no great chore.

"That'll do nicely. We'll have to see if there's any tack around. Saddles, bridles. If House Ondeil buys these horses, they'll need training. We'll need space to work with them."

"Aye. Sending these shepherds to the back meadows today, Highborn. That done, I'll come to ye in master's fair cot," Ulfrik said.

Daniel realized the man was gently urging him to get back where he belonged. He had a lighter step as he moved off toward the horse barn. Lemmel waved at him, but didn't stop his chores. Daniel pushed open the barn door and explored its contents. It would be perfect. He found old bridles, most too small for the Flemish horse breed. But there were a few halters of woven hemp, and riding pads that might fit the girth of the great animals. He also found farrier's equipment. That was a surprise. He hadn't seen any shod horses here. But at some time someone must have felt the need to put shoes on horses here. They'd need the trimming knives and files to keep their horses hooves well cared for, but would most likely not shoe the horses for riding across the Nortvegr terrain to the western shore.

Satisfied, he went back to Jack's cot.

Late that afternoon, Balin took the freshly drawn document from Daniel and carried it out to the porch where the horse trader sat with Ulfrik. She'd bargained for one of the seven meadows. Jack had given her a choice of two at the far end of his land. Two were parallel and both bordered the black forest. Her intention was to move her small family there and use the forest to increase her trade possibilities. She could sell wood in the winter, and horses after foaling time in the spring. It was a good deal for both of them.

Jack got six horses and any amount of grain he would need to feed the animals for as long as he owned them, as well as sizable bridles for the huge animals. Four of the horses were his choice among the string of black Flemish stock she'd brought today. She'd also be bringing him two of the lighter, smaller Icelandic ponies that were cart trained. They were a breeding pair.

Having land adjoining the black forest, she was to supply the cot with ten cords of wood each fall for as long as she owned the land. If she or her ancestors decided to leave, the land would revert back to House Ondeil.

Ulfrik was delighted with the two cart-trained ponies. He'd have speedy, easy transportation for the lambing season and for the shearing season that was due to begin now.

Daniel had insisted that two of the saddles she offered to make be made to his specifications. Of course his insistence was done to Jack and Balin, since the horse trader wasn't allowed into the Cot. That wouldn't be seemly. Balin and he had actually argued until Daniel sketched out a design and watched Balin's face go from stubborn to astonished.

The saddles would be made to Daniel's specifications, incorporating the close contact elements of an English hunt saddle, and the high, cupping back of a polo saddle. Unlike an English hunting saddle, Daniel's sketch had high poleys, ridges in front of the rider's thighs which would keep them well seated on downhill stretches. The stirrup straps were wide, and could accommodate a thicker stirrup which would be more comfortable on long rides. The saddle proper did not extend much beyond the tree, so he and Jack would be able to ride in closer contact to the animal.

Balin was so intrigued with the saddle that he requested all four be made in that style, one larger, and two smaller. The fourth saddle Balin discussed with her in private.

The horse trader drew her signature on the document to seal the deal and Balin brought it back to the House to keep unt