Strange Bedfellows Ch. 01

She glared at him, but nodded.

* * *

Kalus inwardly fought with himself on whether to correct her for the glare, but he didn't think anyone else had seen it and he didn't want to hurt the poor girl again.

It had hurt when she said she'd hated him, and more so when she wished him dead. However, he could understand how she was so frightened by the knife incident. He hoped she was just overreacting and scared half out of her mind. She had been the most pleasant of women the previous night, so he hoped her attitude this morning would perhaps fade.

He turned and entered the king's tent.

The king was on his makeshift throne, ordering attendants around and making preparations to break camp. Katia stayed behind him and out of sight, though not entirely hidden.

"Ah, Kalus my dear boy. How was your night?" The king boomed jovially.

"Pleasurable my king." Kalus replied truthfully, though he wasn't referring to what the king would assume. He had truly enjoyed waking to find the girl in his arms.

"Good, I assume she was a good lay then?" The king asked.

"I was not disappointed, Your Majesty." Kalus replied, successfully keeping his disgust at the lewd question off his face.

"Let's see the girl then."

Katia slowly stepped out, her head down and hair drawn in such a way as to conceal her face as much as possible.

"Look at me, slave." The king ordered.

Katia didn't move, so Kalus nudged her. Apparently, she hadn't realized that the king often turned prisoners of war into slaves. She looked up at the king hesitantly, shame and embarrassment written all over her face.

"Oh Kalus, she must've done you like a wanton whore the way she's blushing." The king said with a huge smile.

Katia opened her mouth to object, but Kalus cut her off; better the girl's pride was hurt than her body. "I have no complaints, Your Majesty."

The king nodded, but he got a wicked smile on his face as he looked at her again. "Come girl, tell me how it felt, how much you enjoyed it."

The girl drew a sharp intake of breath and looked wide-eyed. She glanced at Kalus, and he gave a slight nod of the head.

"I um... He was... good. Like nothing I've experienced before." She said, then added almost as an afterthought. "Your Majesty."

"Oh, this one has a touch of rebellion in her." The king said, apparently noting the lack of care in the way she addressed him. "I see why you had to beat her."

Kalus nodded but otherwise remained silent. A king should have more decorum than this. This lewd line of questioning was inappropriate for a common soldier, much less a king. Like himself, Katia looked aghast and ashamed all at once. However, the king was either oblivious to the reason for their shared distaste or simply didn't care.

It was probably the latter.

"Kalus you old shrew; you knew she'd be a good lay didn't you?" The king said. "Those three I had last night were barely tolerable. I sent them packing when I was done. I swear, one of them had the loosest pussy I've ever felt." He shook his head as if inviting everyone to share in his disappointment.

Kalus remained silent.

Katia retreated behind him.

The king looked at Kalus with an icy stare, as if insulted he hadn't joined in the joke. The icy stare slowly morphed into a look that wasn't unlike the one he always got when contemplating some ingenious revenge.

That was never good.

"Kalus my dear boy, you've been such a good commander that I'm going to grant you a special dispensation. You've been saying you'd like to start a family when you get back, but there's no time like the present."

"Your Majesty--" Kalus began, but the king raised his hand to cut him off.

"Your tactical brilliance is half the reason this campaign has been so successful and you deserve a reward. So, I'm allowing you to bring a wife along on the campaign trail with you. You just need to choose one." The king's wicked smile grew as he indicated Katia. "Will this woman do? Or shall I give her to the men and send a new woman to your tent every night until you find one that strikes your fancy?"

Kalus kept his expression neutral with difficulty.

The king certainly knew him well. Kalus's rules about the treatment of female prisoners were ironclad because everyone knew his aversion to rape. Yet if he didn't marry Katia, she would be given over to that very thing. The king wasn't giving him much of a choice, but he still had one thing he could try.

"My king, you do me great honor." He said with a bow. "Would it be acceptable to wait until the last castle has fallen? I would not wish to split my attention between the campaign and a new wife."

The king looked confused. "Split attention? What are you talking about? A wife is for breeding and that doesn't even take long. Think of her as some stress relief at the end of the day and a heifer to carry your sons. That's what wives are for after all." He paused. "Okay, they're also good for pleasure, but concubines and whores are better than wives for that."

Kalus inhaled slowly and exhaled slowly; doing both silently. "I only meant--"

"Oh!" The king interrupted and glanced toward the bruise on her cheek. "You meant breaking her in. I understand. I suppose you've never broken a wife in before, have you? It's not hard at all. A riding crop and a steel collar do wonders. Now, should I send for a Luminar to perform the ceremony, or shall the guards take this bitch away and bring another girl for you to try out?"

"The Luminar." Kalus replied heavily.

The king nodded to a nearby attendant, who scurried off.

Kalus stood there, bile rising in his throat at the king's meddling. He'd known King Tyso a long time and his vindictive streak at small slights was one of his least attractive qualities. Well, besides carnal appetites and a lack of self-control when it came to physical pleasures of any sort. Kalus knew better than to display his frustration, but that didn't mean he wasn't imagining giving the king a proper lesson in how to treat another man respectfully.

And then there was the girl herself.

Katia surely wouldn't be pleased with this arrangement, but it was better than being passed around by the men. His own men wouldn't touch her for fear of his own wrath -- he'd made his position on raping captives clear -- but he only commanded a portion of the army.

The rest weren't so restrained.

An attendant came up and whispered something in the king's ear.

"I shall return for your wedding commander, but now I have some urgent business."

The king left with all his attendants following him, leaving Kalus alone with Katia. He turned to look at her and she was looking daggers at him. No, she was looking swords and axes at him. If looks could kill, he would now be standing before the great God of Light, Illuminar Himself.

"Is there something you'd like to say?" Kalus asked.

"You just decided I would marry you without even asking me!" She hissed, the anger and revulsion in her tone were mirrored on her face.

Kalus raised an eyebrow and subtly shook his head; he would lose control of his men if he allowed anyone to address him that way, especially a woman, and double especially if she was to become his wife. "Katia, I will not be spoken to in that manner. You may say whatever you wish to me as long as you do so respectfully. Correct your tone, or I will correct it for you."

For a moment, Katia looked to be on the verge of initiating another short tirade.

Kalus pulled himself up to his full height and took a single small step forward. Doing so put him in her personal space, and he almost towered over her. She looked him square in the throat and was far slighter in build.

Her anger appeared to fizzle out as she realized how much larger and stronger he was.

He hated to intimidate and correct her this way, but he had no good alternative option. If the men learned that a woman was allowed to treat him so disrespectfully, then the men would as well. He would lose control of them and soldiers on the warpath weren't renowned for restraining their baser instincts.

He looked at her impassively. "You can hate me, you can think I am scum, you can wish I was dead. You can pray for Illuminar to strike me with the plague if you wish. All this I will allow and won't stop you because you have a right to your opinion. But if you treat me disrespectfully again, I will teach you a lesson you won't soon forget. Do you understand?"

She didn't look happy, but nodded.

He shook his head. "Do you understand?"

She trembled with anger for a moment and then took a few deep breaths, clearly trying to control herself before she spoke.

"Yes." She said. Her tone wasn't very respectful, but neither was it flagrantly disrespectful. He let it slide, but not without alteration.

"Yes sir" He corrected.

You probably could have boiled an egg on her forehead. She stood there shaking like a leaf and not from fear. She was livid. No, she was beyond livid. However, his imposing size and her situation seemed to keep her temper under control, though only just.

She closed her eyes, took another deep breath, then looked at him again.

"Yes..." She closed her eyes. "...sir." She opened her eyes and stared daggers at him again.

He nodded and took a step back so he wasn't so physically imposing; no need to scare the girl, his betrothed. He got the distinct impression that she wished she was armed and he was not. Well, there was one way to deal with her state of mind, since she probably hadn't thought about it from his perspective.

"Would you have preferred that I sent you away to be passed around the men, sure to be raped by dozens of them by the day's end?"

Her anger seemed to deflate somewhat and she shook her head.

"If you were in my position, would you have done any differently?"

Another shake of the head.

"Then why are you so mad?"

"You could have asked me." She said, then hastily added. "Sir."

He let it slide.

"My dear girl." He said softly. "I would've preferred to ask you. I would've preferred to court my wife properly and ask her father for her hand. I would've preferred a wife who would've been glad to marry me. Alas, I was not given that choice."

She nodded.

His betrothed -- his future wife -- looked at him with a mix of anger and annoyance. She clearly didn't expect him to have such good reasons. Her anger appeared to abate somewhat, but not entirely.

For the first time, he looked at her properly. He wasn't trying to decide if she would try to kill him or calculating how to make it look like they had shared a bed. He just looked at her as a man appraises a beautiful woman.

Her amber hair fell in silky waves down to just above her breasts and framed her face with a soft glow. She had bright eyes, a small mouth, a perfectly cute button nose, and full lips. Further down, her entire body was slender and just shy of delicate. Her breasts matched her form, being on the small side but shapely and well-proportioned. Her hips were appropriately wider than her narrow waist and her legs were long and slender.

She was a very beautiful woman.

Not the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, but certainly beautiful.

He sighed; this wasn't how he wanted to start a family. He was on the campaign trail and didn't want to distract himself from the war. Perhaps, she could simply share his tent and bed without intercourse, and that would mollify her. He hoped so; he had no desire for a wife who would be contrary to him. It seemed prudent to inform her of this as soon as possible.

"Katia, I will be the best husband I can be to you. I swear that--" He stopped as the tent flap opened and the king returned.

"Ah, are you ready my boy? I tell you, there's nothing like having a woman or two in your bed every night. Might help you with that long face and stern disposition."

"Possibly sire." Kalus replied.

Katia remained silent behind him, but he could almost feel the disapproval coming off of her in waves.

The Luminar arrived another minute later. He was a short, fat, balding man who wore the traditional robes of a Luminar; white with a golden seven-pointed sun emblazoned on the chest. He also wore gold rings and necklaces far above his station; evidence of preferential treatment by the king. There was also something seedy about this specific fellow that Kalus had never liked. He got the impression that this particular Luminar indulged in appetites that the great God of Light would never approve of.

"Who is the happy couple that's to be bound in holy matrimony?" The Luminar asked.

The king gestured to Kalus and Katia. "These two, and be quick about it before he changes his mind." He finished with a wink to Kalus.

Kalus kept his expression neutral with some difficulty; the king's joke was not only in poor taste, but it was also downright insulting. There was no other man in the entire camp who would've dared to treat Kalus so disrespectfully.

"And what's her name?" The Luminar asked Kalus with a dismissive wave toward Katia, not even looking at her nor paying any attention to her.

"Katia." Kalus answered.

"Excellent, then we shall begin." The luminar said, and then he began to recite the traditional wedding vows. "Do you, Commander Kalus, with full knowledge and consent,take this woman--" The luminar paused to give Kalus and the king a creepy smile, leaving them in no doubt what he meant by 'take' before continuing. "--to be your wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to keep and provide for her all of your days, committing to treat her with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances to the best of your ability, and allow only death to separate you?"

Kalus took a deep breath.

This was it.

Marriage was nigh indissoluble in the eyes of the Great God Illuminar. If they both said yes, Katia would be tied to him for the rest of their lives. This wasn't exactly what he wanted, but he wasn't willing to allow her to be raped by dozens of men, even if it cost him the happy marriage he desired.

"I do." Kalus replied.

* * *

Shara's heart fell. She had been hoping that Kalus would refuse, or even that the luminar would use her fake name so perhaps she could reveal later that Katia wasn't her real name, and thus possibly get out of the marriage on a technicality.

Alas, it wasn't to be.

The luminar apparently didn't consider her name worth mentioning and Kalus had said yes. She couldn't even use the fact that they didn't have her father's permission to nullify the marriage since she was a prisoner of war, and a man could legally marry a prisoner without her father's consent. All that remained now was her side of the vows. She would be expected to stand there in yesterday's clothes and bind herself to a man she was beginning to despise.

Okay, not quite despise.

He had been far too good for her to truly despise him, but she disliked him because he was the enemy. Kindness notwithstanding, nothing could make up for his part in conquering her father's kingdom. Nothing. She was determined to hate him until the day she died. It might be hard because of how good he had been to her, but she was determined to try.

The luminar turned to her. "Do you, with full knowledge and consent, give yourself to this man to be his wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to follow and obey him ineverything--" he paused to leer at her, leaving her in no doubt about what he meant by 'everything'.

She shuddered.

This couldn't be happening. She felt her eyes begin to grow watery and her throat tight.

The luminar continued. "--and keep yourself only for him for all of your days, committing to treat him with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances to the best of your ability, and allow only death to separate you?"

This was it.

The moment of truth.

She had to say yes. If she didn't... She shuddered again. She didn't even want to think about the fate that awaited her if she said no. But if she said yes, she would be bound to this man for the rest of her life.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

She was supposed to be wearing a perfectly clean, white dress with her mother there fussing over her clothes and hair. There were supposed to be hundreds of guests waiting and her father to give her away. Most of all, a handsome man she loved waiting to marry her. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

She looked at Kalus and blinked several times. That finally pushed a single tear out of her eye as she resigned herself to her fate. All thoughts of a happy marriage fled from her mind. This would be something to survive and endure, not to find happiness in.

"I do." She whispered.

It felt like her heart was being ripped into a thousand pieces and crushed at the same time. Inwardly, she cursed the king, she cursed Kalus, she cursed their whole damn army, she cursed the circumstances that had brought her here; she cursed everything. Save Illuminar Himself, she hated the whole damn world.

"Then by the power vested in me by Illuminar, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Kalus, you may kiss your bride."

Shara turned to face Kalus, more out of habit from the million times she'd imagined these words than anything else. She could feel that single tear silently snaking down her cheek. It wasn't supposed to be like this; a wedding wasn't supposed to make the bride cry. It wasn't supposed to make anyone cry unless they were happy tears.

Kalus looked down at her. His eyes widened slightly as he saw her tear, then his expression softened. He gave her a sympathetic look, then reached up and very gently, very softly, and very carefully wiped the tear from her cheek.

Why?

She didn't understand; why was he being so nice?

Kalus gently -- almost lovingly -- brushed a few errant strands of her amber hair out of her face and tucked them behind her ear. His expression was strange; at once sad and comforting, yet also displeased and disappointed. She hoped he wasn't disappointed in her, though it made no sense for her to think that. Yes, he was now her husband, but she was determined to not care what he thought. She might be forced to obey him but her mind was her own. She would never let his opinion influence hers.

Of that, she was determined.

She looked down, not wanting to see her husband's face anymore. She could barely stand the sight of him. She desperately wanted to hate him, but couldn't; he'd been too nice to her. She settled for extreme dislike instead.

He reached down, and using the side of his index finger gently touched the underside of her chin. He applied gentle but inexorable pressure, lifting her head so her lips were presented to him. He looked into her eyes, then began to lean forward.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Her first kiss was supposed to be special; magical. It was supposed to be with someone she loved, not a man she barely knew and wanted to hate.

He was inches away.

She held her breath. She almost wanted to close her eyes, but didn't want to give anyone the impression she was enjoying this. She kept her eyes open and unblinking, staring daggers at her husband, who was coming in for their first kiss.

Their lips met.

His lips were surprisingly soft as they pressed gently into hers. He made more than light brushing contact, but he wasn't forceful either. The kiss was firm but gentle; like the man himself. It lasted barely a second and she didn't find the sensation wholly unappealing, the man who gave it to her notwithstanding.

He stood up straight.

"There you are my boy!" the king said. "Now you've got a wench to warm your bed at night, and I know you'd never enjoy her fully without the marriage." He said the last part as if it was an afterthought, like marriage was something barely worthy of his attention.