Abbalar Tales ~ 2

 

Abbalar Tales ~ 2 Corvalen

By Len Morgan

   Eldoriel, was a rare bloom; young, beautiful, and uninhibited.  She lived her formative years in the Northern Reaches of Bellorne: where closeness is allied to warmth and generosity; the kind that could simply be a means of conserving heat, or mayhap something more.   If, as a consequence of closeness, two people should find mutual attraction in each others company none could object; for to do so would be to go against the established Bellornian rules of etiquette.

   Her fair waist length hair was always meticulously groomed; she lavished countless hours on it.   Her slender dextrous fingers plaiting, in practised patterns, so fast they became a blur and on occasion seemed to disappear altogether.   She smiled as she gazed, into the mirror, at her own naked form.   The face unashamedly returning her gaze was delicate, but somewhat broader than those she saw from day to day.   A sharp contrast to the slim almond faces of the local Corvalen women who are universally svelte, dark-skinned, having long noses, and petite breasts.  They are shy, almost without exception, and sport lustrous straight black, shoulder-length, hair; styled to frame their wide intelligent, jewel-bright, umber eyes.

Hers were, in stark contrast, a piercing ice blue, they were staring back at her, unblinking, critical, and appraising.   However, her mind was not on the image before her.   Although, she did wish she had their smooth honey complexion instead of her own pale colouring.   She also admired the way they painted the nails, on their fingers and toes; so she began to emulate them, soon after arriving in Corvalen, with her husband, six months earlier.   The smile died on her lips as she thought of him, she became sad and melancholy, as her thoughts returned inevitably to her homeland of Bellorne.

.-…-. 

 He had been so charming, so attentive and considerate, when first they met.   He was instantly captivated by her, and wooed her persistently, refusing to take ‘No’ for an answer.   For months she resisted his advances, struggling to keep their relationship at a basic level, but he was so determined and single-minded.  At the time, she believed, she did feel genuine affection for him finding his persistence flattering, amusing even.  But, she was little more than a child and easily impressed.

"Dear Grym, why so persistent," she asked "why can we not simply enjoy the bounty the gods have bestowed upon us?   Just accept and be grateful for their generosity.   Whilst we are young and beautiful we are desired by all.   We should celebrate our good fortune by dispensing joy to all; it is the way of my people." She explained.

"But, I love you.   I love you without limits.   I can think of nothing else, awake or sleeping, you are the centre of my world.   I don't want--, cannot bear to think of you with somebody else, nor will I share; you must be mine alone.   When I see you with another I become enraged, I fear what I might do to that person, I could so easily kill or injure them because of my love for you!"   He spoke with such intensity it frightened her and she responded with a nervous laugh.

His face coloured-up, ‘with embarrassment’ she thought, but actually, it was something else.

She attempted to reason with him, genuine concern in her voice, “My love I do not understand your attitude, it makes no sense, why buy a goat when all you want is a glass of milk?"

But, he continued his relentless pursuit until finally she said "yes" simply to gain respite.   She thought his constant pressure would ease, but if anything, it increased.   He wanted to be with her all the time; he wanted to control who she saw and what she did.   He lavished expensive gifts on her, and her family, until she could not break off the relationship without alienating those closest to her.   Thus she was pressured to be more amenable and finally, she acceded to his persistent advances.   The commitment bands were publicly declared and their betrothal became official.

   From the moment they took their final joining vows, almost overnight, he changed.   Within weeks he had decided they would be moving south.   At first, she declined demurely, but her parents remonstrated with her, pointing out that it was her duty to accompany her husband wherever he went.   Finally, she acceded to the combined demands and become resigned to her fate.   Initially, she rode a'horse beside him but, as they travelled south, the weather warmed, and she began to shed her furs.  The accompanying troop of men quickly began to notice her womanly attributes, and she encouraged them by flirting outrageously, just ribald banter, to pass the time but Grym smouldered with anger and resentment.   At the next town, they visited he purchased a closed carriage and insisted she remain inside away from their prying, lascivious eyes.   He became obsessive, treating her as though she were simply one of his possessions.   He insisted she remain in their rooms, at the various Inns they visited.   She was also obliged to eat alone, in their rooms, whilst he remained below drinking and gambling into the small hours.   When finally he returned he was, like as not, inebriated and unable to exercise his joining rites.   Becoming angry he blamed her for his shortcomings in the bed-chamber.  

    She had reached her lowest ebb when a young man, delivering her evening meal, favoured her with a smile and spoke kindly to her.   She smiled back being lonely and starved of discourse.   He tarried, just to keep her company, talking of his friends and family, his hopes and dreams for the future.    Then suddenly she found herself feeling alive once more.   Whilst Grym-Baal remained below, engaged in his own pursuits, she talked eagerly with the young man; finding excuses for him to stay.   But, his prolonged absence from the eating house brought angry curses from the Inn-keep.    This did not go unnoticed by Skaa-Bae, the captain of Grym's guard, who questioned the Inn-keep.   He was a very persuasive man.   He entered their rooms without knocking; they hadn’t even locked the door, one look and a triumphant grin distorted his features.   He read the situation at a glance and made his own assumptions.  A young man and woman alone in a bed-chamber?   

"Well my little northern kitten, you have finally reverted to type."   He bellowed, glaring angrily at them both.  The young man jumped to his feet guiltily.

“Nothing happened,” he wailed.

 In contrast she reclined, defiantly on the bed, hiding nothing.

"My duty should be to inform the master of this lapse." He announced, gazing at her with intense unblinking reptilian eyes.   "Get out!" he yelled at her companion, his eyes never straying from her.   "Breath a word of this and you're dead," he whispered sibilantly, in the boy’s ear, knowing the threat would be taken as deadly serious.

The young man scurried from the room casting a furtive glance over his shoulder at the sinister bear-like Skaa.   Averting his gaze guiltily, as his eyes made fleeting contact with hers.   They filled with tears, he knew he was deserting her but, his awe of Skaa so completely overwhelmed him that he felt impotent to act.   She would however unwittingly exact a telling retribution, for after knowing her, he would inevitably compare all others and find them wanting.

  Skaa licked his lips slowly, as his robes tumbled to the floor.   His eyes did not leave her as he carefully locked the door behind him, shutting out the world.  

“Is it a Bellornian custom to ask a boy to do a man’s job?” He asked, with a boyish grin.

.-…-. 

   As her mirror came back into focus, she brushed a tear from her cheek, and her thoughts returned to the present.   She cupped her firm full breasts critically, ‘they had definitely grown in the time she had been in Corvalen.’    Since her arrival she had experienced ought of the city but the view from her carriage, on arrival, and the panorama viewed from her window.   Grym had kept her locked in these rooms, a virtual prisoner, with just a maid for company.  It was the maid’s night off.   Her heart warmed at the thought of her clandestine visitor whose imminent arrival she anticipated, with repressed excitement.   Her mood lightened appreciably.  She recalled their first meeting, on the day of her arrival.   He had come to speak with Grym, concerning irregularities in the paperwork for a cargo from Bellorne.   As he entered the room she was smitten, with desire, having eyes for him alone.   She knew, from experience, the attraction was mutual.   She smiled pulling a wrap around her shoulders, moving silently to the window to keep vigil.   He had visited her three times a week since that first meet.   There would be no small talk, they would scarcely speak at all, they shared an intense all-consuming hunger.   She didn't know or care who he might be, a minor official she’d supposed, it mattered nought, so long as they were able to quench the twin fires raging within them.

   At first, she had been angry with Grym-Baal, disappearing for days, on business trips, and leaving her locked within the walls of these rooms she now regarded as her prison.   Eventually, she looked upon his frequent absences as a blessing.   She knew he did not love her and regarded her as nothing more than property.   She caught her breath, her face flushed with excitement and trepidation, not long now, she thought.   Her eyes turned to the variegated violet canopy of the sky, fearfully, ‘mayhap he wouldn’t come?’  She thought.

There was a rattle of keys at the door to her chamber, the lock mechanism turned, and the door creaked open…

(To be Continued)

 

Copyright Len Morgan