Karma (m/m)

Chapter 6

Geoffrey looked around him. The path now was clear, a vast valley full of healthy grass, the high mountains in the distance and occasional lake that they had to make their way around. While the party of the soldiers strolled behind, he decided to keep his own pace for a while. The cold wind made him shiver again and he shrinked and buried his chin in the fur coat one of the maids gave him before the travel. It smelled like Wolfgan.

Wolfgan would be already in Hull right now. Mixed with mithlornian soldiers, hullians kept a close watch on Geoffrey and the royal family, that was coming along to see the wedding. When his father accepted Wolfgan's large offer to keep his sword down and give his permission to take Geoffrey's hand, the man must have suddenly grew an eye on Wolfgan's power.

Since the Henry's marriage, things have already been good between the two kingdoms, as far as a hullian friendship would go. It was rare to see Hull forming an alliance with any kingdom, and now Mithlorn could be the one to say that for sure if anything happened to their country, hullians would be there to help them. His father would never turn that down.

Hullians soldiers were very discernible from mithlornian ones, Geoffrey thought, looking around. His family was farther behind, kept at a distance from him by the hullians. They were tanned, some had a dark brown skin Geoffrey had only ever seen in Hull. One woman in particular had that dark skin and very short hair, and her eyes shone golden. Geoffrey guessed she was of a draconian race rather than hullian, and could only wonder what had brought her to serve under Wolfgan's army. The fact there were woman in Wolfgan's army was already very surprising to Geoffrey, some were almost as tall as any hullian even though they weren't, but he'd learned since the start to keep an open mind to Wolfgan's actions.

The further they got from the south, stronger was the wind. Also, the terrain got muddier from the light cold rain - not like the ones in the south. It fell slower but it seemed to last forever. And they haven't even gotten to the snow yet.

He looked at the mountains. It would be more three days to get to Goligan Castle, were the royal hullian family were. Haomath and Wolfgan. To be truthful, he had no idea what he would say to the man not to rape him. Wolfgan may say pretty words but he knew that in the end, his blood would win. And he was stronger than him, in the end. Geoffrey knew he captivated Wolfgan with his combative temper, but having no idea how long that would last scared him. Three years from now he could be getting daily beatings and never be allowed to see the sun.

Lost in thoughts about persuasion, he did not notice the dark skinned woman getting closer. Along with her was Lince, an ugly human, bard and sometimes bounty hunter that Geoffrey knew to be an old friend of Wolfgan because he remembered his face at the party, a year ago. Wolfgan seemed to always listen to his conversations about the market.

They came one at each side, and kept Geoffrey's pace. In some way Geoffrey liked that Wolfgan put his soldiers to accompany him to Hull, instead of leaving him to his family's care. They made him feel safe, and in the wide open space instead of dark full forests or the safety of his temple, Geoffrey found out a new thing about himself. He did not like to see so much of the sky.

"You seem a little sick, Dali," she said, golden eyes shining in the cold sun. She had a different accent than other hullians too, a sibilant one. Geoffrey was positive now that she was draconian. Maybe a runaway. He had heard a war was happening after the seas, where the deserts were.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said, smiling graciously, as he remembered doing with his own servants. It was a long time ago and he did not know how to deal with them anymore. Though this woman was more of a guard and soldier than a servant. "Just been a long time since I've been on a horse."

He rearranged himself on top of his white horse. It was true, his crotch and thighs were sore and that made him moody. The lady winced.

"Oh, that must hurt. Elves hate riding on horses, I've heard. You must not be used to it, and we've been riding for a long time."