Branches of Time, The (8 page)

“The sooner the barrier comes down, the sooner we'll enjoy the benefits. We've been trying to end our isolation for two thousand years. I'm not waiting any longer. Send the guards out to make sure the wizards do what I just said they should do.”

“Your Majesty, that may be counterproductive.”

“Are you questioning my orders?” Beanor asked in a threatening tone, moving towards Tuirl. The advisor braced himself against the column. Beanor leaned in, breathing just a few inches away from the advisor's face.

“No, of course not. I'll immediately arrange for the guards to take their positions,” the elderly man whispered in a tiny voice.

18

Bashinoir couldn't sleep. Lil and Miril had spent a lot of time taking care of him. He had cooperated as they washed him, dressed him in clean clothes, changed his bandages, and tended to the wounds all over his body.

His wife had remained silent, probably embarrassed by what he had overheard them talking about, when they thought he was still sleeping.

The priestess had seemed as calm as usual. After a little while, they had urged him to get some rest.

His wife, a priestess! For the good of the island!
Bashinoir could hardly believe it, and he understood what that meant. No part of his former life had gone unchanged; none of the little pleasures that used to warm his heart, in spite of the difficult circumstances of everyday life, remained. And now he would have to lose her: Lil.

When they had taken refuge in the Temple after the dramatic events that had exterminated almost the entire population, although there were only three of them left, he had assumed that at least he and Lil could still have children. One way or another, they or their descendents would have found a way to survive and maybe even leave the island.

He never would have imagined that, by such a strange twist of fate, he wouldn't have any descendents, that he and Lil wouldn't have any babies. They had survived. Really,
they
had survived. Wasn't that a sign from the gods?

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Why had they waited for so long? They had everything they needed. Bashinoir and Lil owned a house, though it was just a single room built around a hearth. Yet they had both assumed that, before having children, they would build a bigger and better place with more rooms. He had gone to build the new structure every day after he finished work, before the sun went down. Together, they had gone looking for the new location where they were going to live. When, excited, they had found the cliff with the breathtaking view, they knew they had found it: that would be where they would welcome their family into this world. The village was just a 5-minute walk away, and there was a tidy little path that led down to the seashore, where they could go fishing.

Everything was almost ready. An elder had even advised him that the ideal time to conceive their first child would be right after the new moon.

But then those horrendous rock shards had hammered down upon his people. His marriage was over, and Lil would never give him any children.

For the good of the island
.

He knew there had always been more than one priest, but he had never wondered why. Before allowing his wife to leave him forever, he wanted to at least ask her why. He wouldn't object, he wouldn't try to stop her, that was for sure. One never questioned orders from the priestess. But when it came to his wife and her decisions, he felt he was almost entitled to a more detailed explanation.

The priestess seemed so nice when she spoke to Lil
. Bashinoir hoped that she would be equally open and communicative with him.

He no longer had the strength to stay awake. He fell into an anxious, restless sleep.

19

Lying in bed, Beanor observed the perfect body of the woman stretched out, nude, alongside him. He had just taken her savagely, and now he was hungry. The girl picked up a tray overflowing with berries and handed him one.

Beanor's eyes lingered on her breasts: they weren't very large, but they had an imperious bearing to them which drove him crazy. Added to her dark complexion and incredibly green eyes, she was quite the rare pearl in the kingdom. Since he had chosen her for a concubine, he had preferred to keep her in his bed more than any of the others.

“My Lord, may I come in?”

“Aleia?” Beanor exclaimed, surprised.

The woman entered. She was tall, with her auburn hair swept back. Her body was dressed in a red tunic trimmed with gold.

“What can I do for you, darling?”

The girl lying in bed was surprised: it was rare to hear the king speak so gently to someone. Embarrassed, she pulled the sheet up over her body, though it wasn't the first time Aleia had ever seen her naked.

“I want to talk to you.” Aleia announced, heading towards the bed.

She's still a beautiful woman
, Beanor reflected.
It's been a while since I've ridden her, but it'd be strange to do it with a woman that...old. Though I have to admit she still has something about her. Maybe one of these nights, who knows
. Subjugating her would also help her to remember her place: he had heard rumors that, among the concubines, she acted like a queen and forced the others to cater to her desires and serve her needs.

Aleia patiently waited for the king's focus to move from her body back to her face.

“I'd like to talk to you. In private, if that's at all possible.”

Beanor shot her a dirty look. He wanted to respond rudely, but instead turned to the girl: “I don't want you getting cold, so stay here in bed like a good girl. If you repeat a word of what you're going to hear, I'll cut your head off. Understand? Now give me some of that wine.”

The girl, humiliated by the threat, reached for the chalice of wine on the bedside table and handed it to him.

“Come here, Aleia. Have a seat on the bed.”

Beanor moved over to make room for Aleia, pushing away the concubine, who didn't protest. As his first wife sat down on the edge, he passed a hand over her rear end, thrilled that the flesh was still firm.

Aleia waited. When Beanor finished his inspection, the woman went straight to the point: “My Lord, I know what you've asked your advisor to do. He went down to the prison to request the services of old Obolil, who now, together with the apprentice, is again hard at work looking for a solution to the barrier.”

Beanor looked at her, astonished. Then, in a sarcastic tone of voice, he started teasing her: “Well, well, well. You know so much, don't you? I thought you only worried about the pussies of your little girlfriends.”

“Your Majesty,” she exclaimed, her pride wounded. “You would be surprised to hear of all the duties that have fallen under my responsibility. Who do you think looks after the royal palace while you're busy with other things?”

“Now, now. Don't get upset. I know you take care of a lot, and I'm happy to entrust you with such responsibility, considering how diligently you perform your duties. But tell me: why are you interested in these affairs?”

“Because, your Majesty, I'm not so sure it's the right thing to do!”

Beanor looked at her, intrigued, as if he only now saw her for the first time.

“Listen,” she continued. “We've already had two failures under the orders of the advisor. Do you think that's merely a coincidence? But now there's another, more important question. The advisor came up with the idea to put the old wizard back to work, the same one who already failed. Why did you go along with such an idea?”

Beanor didn't like it when people implied things through their words. “What are you trying to say? Say what you mean!” he yelled, raising his hand as if he was going to slap her.

“Your Majesty, I'm being very clear! I think that Tuirl is giving you bad advice, because he actually doesn't want the barrier to be broken!”

A few seconds later, Beanor burst out into raucous laughter. “Women! Sometimes I wonder if they have any brains at all. Give me your hand,” he ordered her, but instead of waiting, took it himself and placed it on his penis.

“I remember that you used to be very good at these sorts of things...”

“But -” she objected.

“Do you dare refuse your spouse and king?”

“Of course not,” she replied, aware that nobody within those walls was immune to the king's rage.

“Very well. So just use one hand, like how you used to. I'll give you an evening all to yourself, if you're good, and then we can play with our mouths and all the rest.”

Resigned, Aleia started to move her hand down slowly, gently squeezing his penis.

Beanor leaned against the pillow and closed his eyes.

“Oh...” he let out.
Yes, that's it...that's exactly what I remember.

Aleia continued her slow strokes. Beanor, panting with pleasure, licked his lips. “Uhhh...” he groaned. He grabbed the girl with his arm. “You, come stand over me. I want to have a little taste of you. But turn around. I want you to watch my first wife. You need to learn how to do the same thing.”

Thoroughly annoyed, the young concubine obeyed and pointed her rump towards him. He started first by breathing in her sex, then forcefully grabbed her hips, pulled her to him and penetrated her with his tongue.

20

Bashinoir rubbed his face, opening his eyes. It had been a restless, dreamless night. Still low on energy, he had tried, not without difficulty, to sit up. Once his feet were on the floor, he struggled to stand up on his own. His head immediately started to spin but, keeping one hand on the bed, he was able to pull himself upright and took a few cautious steps, moving as far as the fireplace.

When Lil came into the room, she was surprised to see him standing up. Her heart beating wildly, she ran towards him and, without saying a word, threw her arms around his neck. Both felt the urge to kiss one another but stopped, then backed off, keeping an arm's length of distance between them.

But Bashinoir didn't want to hold back.
She's my wife!
He lifted her chin with one hand and their lips united in a deep, intense kiss. Lil didn't want that moment to end: her desire for that contact had been burning for far too long.

“Good morning, Bashinoir. I see you're doing much better,” Miril greeted him as she came into the room. She appeared peaceful, even tired. The scene did not seem to disturb her, but Bashinoir and Lil still felt guilty for being caught in such an intimate embrace.

“How about we all have some breakfast together?” Miril suggested.

Lil sighed. She already knew what the priestess wanted to talk about over their meal. However, once they were sitting around the table, the priestess instead started discussing more practical things.

“Alone on this island, we need to make a few changes if we want to survive. It would probably be best to build new stables for the livestock, closer to the Temple.”

Bashinoir and Lil listened, stunned, to what Miril had to say. They never would have imagined that a priestess would pay any attention to such basic, pragmatic things.

Miril continued: “It's a practical consideration, sure, but it also has to do with magic. I think that at this point, it would be best to create an area around us over which we can extend the protections of the Temple, which are the most powerful protections we have.”

Bashinoir had many questions he wanted to ask her, but he didn't feel comfortable talking to the priestess. She, however, had perceived his desire and encouraged him: “Please, Bashinoir. Ask me what you want to know.”

The man felt as if she had read his thoughts.

“Do you mean to say an area where those...rock shards can't fall on us?”

“Exactly, Bashinoir. The protections that have, until recently, covered the island may no longer be enough. Or they may have simply been overcome by the magical powers of our enemy. But I do know that the protections of the Temple are strong enough to resist any attack and hide us from everyone's sight.”

“But why can't we protect the entire island?” Lil objected. Her husband looked at her, stunned. How dare his wife address the priestess so rudely?

“I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it's not possible, at least not now. The rituals would become so complex that it would require the assistance of several priests. And...there aren't very many of us.”

Lil and Bashinoir understood that the conversation had reached the point both of them wanted to avoid.

Bashinoir tried to be brave. “Priestess, if it's necessary for Lil to take on the duties of a priestess, I'll be happy to take care of all the practical tasks myself. I'll start moving the animals as soon as I can.”

Miril smiled: “I'm sorry, Bashinoir. Believe me. The magical protections around us require the support of at least two priests, who take turns and also work together on the main rituals. The initiation phase will be very hard for Lil, as well as tiring for me. As long as she remains a novice, I'll do my best to carry on the rites myself. But I have to be honest with you: I won't be able to last for very long.”