The Bubbleship Series; The First Heroes

A Horse Problem

Chapter 6

Centaur Raid

“Juniper fey paints the petals

She paints it dark, shiny gunmetal

As dark and hot, like a boiling kettle."

Book 1, set 1

Three of the men brought over the two villagers, and Luck Jack took a good long look. "So you think to rebel against my rule, against my rule. You wish to stop paying me taxes?”

"You're a tyrant; you bring nothing but death to us." the woman spat in his face.

"For that, I will raise the taxes again to half of what you make. You will start with the payments come harvest.”

“You can’t. We will starve.”

“Oh, not you, Kill them. Rip them apart."

The rest of the village came rushing forward, but the dozen other men stood between them and used their halberds to block them from interfering. Two centaurs wrapped ropes around the man’s arms and charged forward. The man fell to the ground with no arms; blood filled the grass in pools. They did the same with the woman, only she screamed out defiance.

***

Kontessa sat at her favorite table where she had just completed paying half a month's income for a shipload of silk cloth. It would pay off in spades as she received quite a deal with the purchase. Marjory walked over and gave her ale, and Kontessa drank it down with the man sitting across from her in a toast.

"We have gold; we can pay."

That caught the demon's attention right away. Gold always caught her attention. The people in the bar took neither of them seriously as both wore only simple threadbare clothing. But the thing Kontessa noticed was their sincerity.

“Marjory, get those two over here." Kontessa drank the rest of her ale. "If you would please, our business is done but come back later, and we'll celebrate some more."

He rose from his seat. “You know I’ll drink you under the table,” he remarked sarcastically. He then took his ample frame and left.

Kontessa actually thought he might, and she laughed a little. He could really put it away. Marjory brought the two peasants to the table, and the demon offered them a seat. They took the seat nervously and waited anxiously for her to speak. She looked them up and down and decided what they needed. “Marjory, ale for us three.”

"No, please, I don't drink." said the woman. "And neither does he"

"Now, Abigail, you know we are in strange lands with strange customs."

“Rodney, what would your wife think.”

“Well, she doesn't have to know, does she?”

Abigail sat back, worried he’d drink too much. And she said so, “What if you get drunk?”

The ale came, and Marjory brought it with her usual zeal. "Here you go, dear," she bounced and touched the demon's face. "Tonight, I'll treat you if you don't get too drunk."

The woman’s eyes went wide. “Are you two....”

Rodney looked at the barmaid's retreating rear, and his eyes went wide as well, and then a smile came to his face. "You know Abigail, strange customs and all." he downed half his ale.

"Now then, what's all this about gold? You're lucky you didn't get rolled with all the talk about you having that precious metal."

"We are under the divine protection of Agora, the goddess of the harvest."

Kontessa knew about gods and how they rarely paid attention to the things mortals did. "Right," she answered. "Now, what's this gold for?"

"We have a problem with some centaurs who think our food and goods are theirs." The woman pushed her ale across the table, and Rodney picked it up. "Rodney," she exclaimed. Then went on,” WE need your help. Our people are dying for their food. The last two who stood up to them were torn limb from limb. You must help us.”

"I must do nothing, but I will."  Kontessa downed the rest of her ale and ordered another. When Marjory came, Rodney grabbed her ass. Marjory laughed, but Kontessa reached across the table and punched him flat in the face. Blood came from his lip, and he sobered up immediately. "Now then, how do we get to your village? Did you ride or walk?"

“We walked. We really are just poor people.”

“Well, you're going to need a place for the night." Kontessa got up and went to the inn pub keeper. When she returned, she told the two to go to the inn down the street and tell them Kontessa sent them. "And be ready in the morning. We leave at dawn. Go now; I've some business to attend to."

***

Kontessa sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window at the darkening sky as the day wore out. She took off her leather armor and lay it on the floor at the head of the bed, the only spot where Marjory let her put the armor. The demon loosened the cord around her neck. That cord held the ank she wore and placed that on the bedstand where her sword leaned against. Laying back, she put her arms behind her neck and closed her eyes, waiting for her redhead.

It did not take long for the redhead Marjory to come home, and when she opened the door, Kontessa woke up. "Hello," said Marjory, putting the basket of bread and fish on the table. "I got breakfast for when you go. Are you going to that village with those two people?"

"Yeah," answered Kontessa. "I'm going. Look, if you don't want me to go, just say so."

"What gave you that idea?"

"Nothing, nothing. All my affairs are in order, so if I don't come back, you get the lot." Kontessa stated. "But that's not till morning. Come here."

***

The following morning Kontessa went to the inn where the two travelers stayed the night before. She brought bread and cheese and fish. The innkeeper saw that they were up and ready as the two had mentioned how tire they were, having slept in the streets and alleys. They desperately thought of spending the gold on a hero. However, now Kontess saw that they spent a little of the gold on themselves, especially for a warm bed.

They came down the stairs and saw her.

“Good morning, are we about to leave?” asked the woman.

“Ok, then, we’ll eat on the run.” Kontessa threw the bread at the wayfarers and headed out the door of the inn. The two followed her to a stable at a run. The black-skinned demon had long legs.

When they got there, the stable hand had brought out three saddled horses, Kontessa’s white mare and two brown mares. Saddled with used saddles were the last two.

***

The yellow man lay there by the afternoon fire considering the flames. His men were busy with afternoon duties, the cold sea providing the evening meal. He turned his head at the sight of motion from the corner of his eye. Coming up the beach were three horsemen. The black-skinned girl looked as if she could handle herself, but the other two rode uneasily in the saddle.

They rode closer and stopped in front of the fire.

“Hello,” stated Toyama, sipping his Saki from a white porcelain jar. “Welcome to my camp.”

“My name is Kontessa Eldeman.” Knotessa’a horse turned with the adrenaline of running. She reined it in. "We wish to buy food."

“no," he said. "I will not sell you food; I will give it to you. Stay here rest of the day. It is afternoon already."

“We’re really in a hurry to get to where we’re going,” said Kontessa.

“Too bad,” he stated. “You will stay. Dinner will be prepared. SunRue!” he shouted.

"Really, I must go."

“No. stay.”

“Well,” answered the demon. “I really don’t have a choice if we wish to eat, do we?”

“No, you do not.” He shouted the next again. “SunRue.”

From the tent came a black-haired woman in a flowery dress-like outfit. Red flowers decorated it all over, and Kontessa wondered how she could walk at the tight bottom hem. However, she did. She walked over and sat on her knees. A shirtless man came up and brought a nice two-foot salmon. The woman took out a thin blade from her sleeve and skillfully started filleting the fish.

Kontessa dismounted, as did the other two.

“Come on, let’s join the man in fish.” She waved at the other two.

The three joined the two around the sparse yellow flames that danced in the cool afternoon breeze. The sun being bright and with no cloud in the sky, Kontessa thought to herself as she sat down that this was a comfortable feeling. With so many of his men around, the situation made the demon uneasy. However, the men getting bowls of rice and fish made her feel better.

The yellow-skinned woman finished feleting the salmon and cut it into strips on a board of some dark wood and, from a small chest made of wood, took a seaweed and rice sheet. She placed the salmon strip on the seaweed and carefully rolled a tight wrap. She then cut the pieces into inch-long smaller rolls and put these smaller rolls on a plate. She did this several times and passed the fish rolls around.

Kontessa sat there staring at the fish rolls, hesitant.

"You don't cook this," she asked. The other two were hesitant as well. Then the host, the yellow-skinned man took a piece and shoved it in his mouth so did Kontessa. Surprised at the savory spice in the seaweed, she opened her eyes wide and mumbled around her food that the fish tasted great.

The other two moved over to a spot just under a sand dune overhang, all grassy and rooty. They sat there and rolled out their blankets next to each other, and ate. The man put his down and said something about it needing cooking.

"My name is Toyama. This is my sister," stated the yellow-skinned man proudly. "I am Ronin, she is Geisha. We left our land, never to return.”

“I left to be at my brother’s side. I left to study the bo staff. Which is something no Geisha can do and live. My name is SunRue.” She shoved a piece of the roll in her mouth, and it filled out her cheeks as she chewed.

Kontessa could not handle looking at the young woman as her tiny features and high cheekbones did something for her that she could not explain. She felt a stirring in her stomach. She finished her fish.

“And this is Saki,” Toyama said as he poured a cup of clear liquid from a clay jug that he had been warming by the fire. He then handed the cup to Kontessa, and she drank down a swig of the warm liquid, and it warmed her stomach. "Finish, Finish."

So Kontessa gulped down the rest and immediately felt light-headed.

“It is rice wine,” he stated. “Tonight, we celebrate making new friends." He took the cup from the demon and looked into her black eyes to see the red flames dancing there. “You are a demon.”

“Yes, from a great house in the Hells.”

Toyama filled the cup again and downed it, and then filled it again to hand to Lilithis. Sun rue sat and drank the same drink from a white porcelain jar with a single lotus blossom painted on it. Kontessa noticed how downcast her eyes were, and again, she became struck with her beauty.

“She is my sister,” said Toyama. “Is she not beautiful. She is several years my younger sibling. She will be great with the staff one day.”

Toyama poured more wine, and they talked until sunset.