Chapter 5

After a month on the road, the sexual tension between Malcolm and Lilly was thick enough to cut with a knife. Malcolm had taken to disappearing for fifteen minutes every morning and afternoon to relieve some of his tension into the bushes. Lilly didn’t need that kind of release. She had discovered that she could trigger relief by sitting just so while riding the horse. Needless to say, she sat ‘just so’ several times a day much to the distraction of Malcolm.

Their destination was a rather large citadel with a population of over ten thousand people, situated on a substantial hill. Malcolm pulled the reins bringing his horse to a stop when they crossed through the pass. Below them, he could see the citadel about a day’s ride away. This side of the citadel was rocky and there were few farms. The area past the citadel was marked into a checkerboard pattern that Malcolm recognized as individual farms. Pointing to it, he said, “There’s our destination.”

“Yes. That’s where Harold son of Fredrick lives,” Lilly said. She was willing to ride the horses until they dropped if it would get them to Crossroads ten minutes quicker.

“We’ll be there tomorrow around noon. I figure it will take us about two hours to find Harold and sell off the horses,” Malcolm said. He looked down at the sword and added, “I’ll sell the sword while I’m at it. I’ve got three in storage and they’re all better than this one.”

“Will we have to stay an extra night here?”

“Why? Are you in a hurry to get to Crossroads?” asked Malcolm in a teasing voice.

“Not at all,” Lilly said. She adjusted her position on the saddle to where it would rub her just right.

Malcolm noticed and commented, “You’re going to wear out that saddle.”

“What’s a worn saddle compared to all those little Malcolm bushes you’ve been planting all along our path,” teased Lilly making reference to having caught him on several occasions. Catching him wasn’t an accident. Once she had realized that he was going off into the bushes to relieve his sexual pressure, she made sure to follow him every time. She’d never seen a man whose sex drive was high enough to want to masturbate, much less do it two or three times a day.

Rather than respond, Malcolm looked along the road to locate a good campsite for the night. He figured that they’d reach the bottom of the small mountain they were crossing by nightfall if they kept up a reason pace. There were several places that looked promising with water and reasonable cover.

He frowned and said, “I fear that our campsite tonight is going to get visited by bandits.”

“Why?”

“We’re coming along a trade route into a citadel. We’ll have to camp about a four-hour ride from town. That will put us in an area without any farms around. The problem is that there are places about two hours away where bandits can live and make raids at night,” answered Malcolm scanning the region below.

“How do you know that?” Lilly asked. His knowledge of the dangers of Chaos had been very impressive. Even more impressive was his ability to avoid trouble.

He said, “I have a small holding in a mining area. Every so often, I have to chase away bandits that have decided to take up residence just outside of my holding.”

Lilly thought it was strange that he had not mentioned his holding up until that moment. The horse moved a little and tripped Lilly’s trigger. She gasped in surprise, wondering if the horse or the idea that the hero who rescued her was successful enough to have a holding, triggered her.

Fully aware of what had happened, Malcolm groaned and urged his horse forward. There was nothing more uncomfortable than riding a horse while hard, particularly while wearing the tight pants common in this world. He glanced off trail looking for a good spot to relieve his frustrations.

It took Lilly a minute to catch up. She asked, “Why didn’t you say anything about your holding before now?”

“It’s just a small place. There are a couple hundred people and most of them are farmers, although all of them take turns working in the mine.”

Malcolm didn’t want to mention that his hold on the place was very weak. Adventuring was his entire reason for coming to Chaos. He’d taken over the place after rescuing a Damsel a few years ago and kept it because it was a nice constant source of income. When possible, he took missions in the area around his holding so that he could visit it. The missions helped to increase his reputation in the area and made it less likely that someone would try to take it from him.

“Mine?” Lilly asked imagining precious metals or jewels.

“Yes. A coal mine. We dig out about two wagon-loads a week,” answered Malcolm. He could have increased productivity by using more modern techniques, but that would have been a violation of the rules. Instead, his people dug out the coal using iron picks and wooden shovels. It was slow brutal work, but by working at a slow even pace he was able to increase the safety of the mine.

“That sounds like dirty work,” Lilly said. Visions of hot sweaty men coming out of a mine came to mind. She could imagine him, naked, washing under a waterfall.

“It is.”

The pair discussed his holding for the rest of the afternoon. It was getting late, but still a couple of hours before dark, when they arrived at one of the campsites he had identified from the pass. As he reined his horse to a halt, he said, “Stay here while I check this spot out.”

“Okay.”

Malcolm dismounted and examined the ground around the campsite. It had been used many times in the past. There was a fire ring in an obvious spot. The grass had been stunted in areas where people were likely to lay their bedrolls. It wasn’t used everyday, but at least once a week.

As he moved around the perimeter of the campsite, he looked for spots where bandits were liable to sneak up on the site. He found several places where there were definite signs that individuals had lain in wait. There was even a spot in one of the trees where someone had tied boards on which to sit while looking into the camp.

Returning to the horses, Malcolm said, “I’ve seen signs that bandits are active in the area. We’ll have to lay some traps and be careful tonight.”

After taking care of the horses, starting dinner, and setting up camp, Malcolm spent an hour placing traps at various locations around the campsite. He returned to camp and continued to prepare their evening meal.

Lilly waited by the fire for him to finish cooking. She had undone her braid and had her dress arranged to show off her legs. He was so tempted to go over to her and have his way with her. Looking over at the Damsel, Malcolm said, “Put your hair back in a braid.”

“Why?”

“We won’t be sleeping in camp tonight,” answered Malcolm. “We’ll have to be quiet because I’m sure that we’ll have trouble tonight.”

“I can be quiet.”

“That means no orgasms tonight,” Malcolm said looking over the fire at her. She had the grace to blush.

He stirred the pot of beans and sampled them. Satisfied that they were fully cooked, he filled up a plate and handed it to Lilly. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “Sorry about camp beans for the night meal, but it is the last night on the trail and we need to finish the food. Breakfast will be cheese and our last two apples.”

“I understand,” Lilly said. She tasted the beans and found they were quite good. All of the meals Malcolm had prepared for her had been good. She quickly ate the plate of beans filling her empty stomach. Even though she finished eating well before Malcolm, she had still looked graceful doing it. He wondered how she managed to do that.

After dinner, Malcolm cleaned up the camp. It was dark by the time he finished. Looking around, he grabbed a blanket and said, “Come with me.”

She followed him into the woods wondering where he was taking her. When he had found the location he had identified in his earlier scouting activities, he whispered, “Use this blanket and sleep here. We need to be quiet from now on.”

Early mornings meant that days ended early. Lilly settled on the ground and wrapped the blanket around her body. After a long tiring day on horseback, she promptly fell asleep confident that Malcolm would take care of her.

After removing his sword from its sheath and setting it where he could pick it up without making noise, Malcolm sat down with his back resting against a tree. It was at times like this when he wished they were traveling with a larger group. He drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

It was several hours later when Malcolm awoke to the sound of their horses moving nervously. His back was stiff from sleeping in the unnatural position. He stretched his muscles a little being careful not to make any noise. Putting a hand over her mouth, he woke Lilly and put a finger over his mouth in the universal gesture to remain silent. After a moment of panic, she calmed down once she realized what was happening.

Malcolm picked up his sword, feeling comforted by the fit of it in his hand. Straining to listen for any noise that wasn’t of natural origin; he nearly jumped out of his skin when the silence was broken by a bloodcurdling scream. His grim smile of satisfaction that someone had stumbled into his trap would have scared anyone who might have seen it.

With the scream, surprise on the part of the bandits was no longer possible. Three men ran screaming into the camp with swords raised in the air. They slashed at the tarp trying to kill those that were in it. Moving silently, Malcolm came from behind them and dispatched the men with ease. At least one of the men never knew that the tent was empty.

Malcolm moved out of the camp and made his way to the sounds originating from where a man was entangled in his trap. The man struggled to get his foot out of the noose that held him suspended in the air. His sword lay on the ground where he had dropped it out of shock. Even though the man was upside down, he swung his knife at Malcolm. Malcolm dispatched the bandit without remorse. After all, the man would have killed him in his sleep.

After scouting around the campsite for thirty minutes for signs of other men, he was satisfied that he had gotten all of the bandits. His count was confirmed when he found four horses tied to a tree limb a short distance down the road. He was not surprised to find a shovel among the items carried on one of the horses. They would need to bury the bodies. Claiming the horses as spoils of battle, he took them back to camp and tied them up next to his two.

He made his way to where Lilly was waiting and knelt down. Whispering, he said, “Stay here a little while. I’ve got to clean up camp.”

“Are they gone?” asked the terrified woman.

“They’re better than gone, they’re dead,” Malcolm answered in a flat tone of voice.

Malcolm returned to a devastated campsite. The tarp was torn and would require a lot of stitching to return it to a useful state. He carried the bodies away from the camp, going through their personal effects for anything that might be useful. For simple bandits, they were well provisioned. All of the men had carried knives and swords. Between them, they had almost a conch in money.

Once the camp had been restored to order, he went back into the woods to get Lilly. She was sitting up, wrapped in her blanket shaking slightly. Malcolm knelt down next to her and said, “It’s safe now. Based on what I found, I don’t think we’ll have any more visitors tonight.”

“What makes you think that?” Lilly asked still feeling scared by her ordeal. When he’d gone after the bandits, she had worried that Malcolm might get killed and she’d be left alone in the wilderness. The past month had been pleasant and returning to a state of Distress was not something she wanted.

“Those bandits were rather wealthy. They had horses, swords, and a lot of money with them. I suspect this is their territory and they’ve kept everyone else out of the area,” Malcolm answered.

Malcolm spread the tattered tarp on the ground and said, “We’ll sleep on the tarp.”

Shivering from nervousness, Lilly asked, “Can you hold me?”

The pair lay on the tarp with a blanket covering them. Malcolm held his arms around her. It felt good holding her like that. It felt like hours, but it was actually only a few minutes before she had snuggled against him and fell asleep.

After a very restless night, Malcolm awoke with an erection that was so hard that it had become painful. He hadn’t suffered a case of blue balls since he was fifteen. It got worse when she started grinding her butt against his crotch. It didn’t help when, in a very sexy voice, Lilly asked, “Did you sleep well?”