Toil Under the Sun

Duke Aaron oversees the building of fortifications in Helios' Valley

 Helios’ Menagerie

By Eddie Davis

© 2015

 

Synopsis:    Helios’ Valley was the abode of the wizard Helios, who sought to use magic to create races that combined animal species with humanoid races.     Even after his death, his teleporting tower would appear and vanish throughout the valley until a group of adventurers managed to enter it and dispel the magic.    Afterwards, the new Kingdom of Marksylvania claimed the valley as part of the Kingdom and the Half-Elf Paladin, Aaron was named first Duke of Helios’ Valley.

 

While searching the valley for the famed Pool of Purity which was said to be able to neutralize the magic of some of Helios’ tri-racial creatures, the Talminor, Aaron’s Orc squire, Lysa was thrown into the pool by a party of raiders from the distant Hutcaiah Empire.    Aaron killed the Hutcaiah prince leading the raiders, and Lysa was rescued.

 

However, Lysa began changing, slowly taking on the form of a Hutcaiah princess that had been killed and thrown into the pool prior to the Hutcaiah throwing Lysa into it.    For weeks she lay in a coma as her body slowly changed.   Meanwhile, the Hutcaiah Emperor used powerful magic with his own soul as a surety, to have a Geis cast that resulted in Aaron surrendering to the Emperor, who brought him back to the Hutcaiah capital to sacrifice him to their Moon Goddess.

 

But King Aedric and Queen Snoe of the Sylvan Kingdom of Tarmard concocted a rescue plan that included Lysa, who now wore the form of a Hutcaiah Elf, to pose as the Moon Goddess and rescue Aaron.    The plan worked and the Aaron killed the Emperor before they fled the Hutcaiah capital.

 

Our story picks up about a month later, as Aaron oversees a group of soldiers sent by King Eleazar to fortify Helios’ Valley due to fear of future Hutcaiah hostilities.    The first two stories in this series are Talminor and Learning to Waltz.

 

 

 

1.

Toil under the Sun

 

“That should do it, men!”   Duke Aaron told the laborers as he wiped sweat from his brow, “Three sides down and only the south wall to complete.   But the woodcutting crew has not returned with enough wood to form palisades, so why don’t all of you just take a few hours off and rest?  You’ve worked feverishly for a week now and you deserve a much longer rest than I can now offer you.”

“Lord, do you need any of us for guard duty?”  Charlie Levont asked.  

Aaron smiled slightly as he noticed the subtle side glances the young soldier gave to one of his fellow laborers.    There was obviously an ulterior motive for his untiring offer.

“No, Charlie, you and the others have the afternoon to yourselves.    Sleep, go swimming - whatever you’d like, just make certain that you have your weapons close at hand.” 

The soldier nodded, hiding a hint of disappointment fairly well, though he again sneaked a side-glance at the object of his obsession.    The boy was not the only one who gave an inordinate amount of attention to the young, milky-skinned woman that toiled right beside them.

By all appearances, she seemed to be a Hutcaiah noble-woman, possessing the deep blue eyes of the priestesses of the moon goddess, Kuyomi-Chia.   But she was not Hutcaiah, or even an Elf by birth, though the form she now bore was indeed Elven.  

Lysa stood mopping the sweat from her face, oblivious that she was the center of attention of the Marksylvania soldiers that were working feverishly to fortify Helios’ Valley.  

“Lady Lysa, what are you going to do this afternoon?”   Charlie asked rather timidly, as if he was speaking to a revered Queen.

Lysa smiled warmly at the boy, “I have much to do.”

“We could help you, Lady Lysa.”   Another soldier volunteered, and all the weary men nodded; willing to forsake rest for the beautiful woman.

“I’m afraid there is nothing any of you can do for Lysa.”   Aaron said, trying to sound as if what the young woman would be facing was grim.

“We’re a team, Your Grace, and we can’t let the lady suffer alone.”   One of the soldiers said.

“Oh really?”  Aaron laughed, “If that is the case, then all of you would have to commit yourselves to the vows of a Paladin.   No more gambling, carousing or getting drunk.    If you’d prefer hours of training at riding a horse in full plate armor as you learn how to aim a lance, then I’m sure I could find time to train all of you…”

 

The soldiers all snorted at the idea, shaking their heads.

“Lady Lysa has to go through all of that?”   Charlie asked.

“I’m afraid so, Charlie.    She’s nearly completed everything that I can teach her.”

“Begging your pardon, Your Grace, but why, if I may ask, is she doing all this grunt work, with all of us, if she is almost a knight?”

“A Paladin’s first task is to do whatever needs to be done in service of their Lord.    None of us are immune from that, which is why I’m sweating along side all of you.   Lysa, as my squire, is also expected to do that.”

“Most Dukes wouldn’t lift a hand to help their men, Your Grace.   We are all very impressed with your humility.”   One of the soldiers admitted.

“I am no different than any of you.   Never forget that, men.   My mother was a barmaid at the Muddy Boot.  We are all equal in Yesh’s eyes, and we all are laboring to protect the kingdom that we love.    King Eleazar sees your hard work or appreciates it.    The King and Queen are both Paladins as well and honor the same creeds that I do.    You all have worked hard and it is on the backs of men such as you that this Kingdom will thrive and grow.    I am honored to have all of you working with me to fortify Helios’ Valley.”

His words seemed to impress the soldiers and finally, at his urging, they took his leave to go off and relax for the first time in a week.

Lysa stood with Aaron and they watched the men trudge off toward the crude log structure that they had built first to house all of them.

“Lysa, you can take the afternoon off too, you know.    I just said that to the men to keep them from pestering you too much.   You are quite popular with them.”

The girl nodded as she pulled her long black hair up into a ponytail, “They make me uncomfortable, the way they look at me and are always flirting with me.”

Aaron looked concerned, “Have any of them tried anything inappropriate toward you?”

“No, no - I don’t mean that, Lord.    In fact, they almost seem afraid of me.   They’re not acting like they would around a barmaid.    It’s really weird, sir.     The closest thing I can compare it to is how men act around Queen Aurei, Reverend Zeatt or Lady Amala.   But I’m not a Drow… in fact I guess I’d be almost the complete opposite of a Drow in appearance.    But maybe because I look so different is the reason that they are uneasy around me.”

Aaron looked at her in amazement.   She wasn’t kidding; she really did not know what reaction she was receiving from the soldiers.

“Lysa, the men are uneasy around you because they aren’t used to such a beautiful woman working as hard as they worked without a complaint.   You kept up with all of them.”

The squire shrugged, “I was always taught to work as hard as my brother.   Most of the Orc fathers who serve in the Queen’s Guard expect their daughters to pull their share of chores.”

“Yes, Lysa, but physically you’re not an Orc anymore.    To see this graceful, pale-skinned Elven woman matching the workload of these big, muscular human soldiers is amazing.     They are in awe of you, Lysa.”

The girl just snorted, “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious!    A hard-working, gorgeous woman - what man could resist you?”

“I’m hardly that - I reek of sweat and I’m so exhausted that I can barely stand up.”

“Then go and take a dip in the creek before the men decide to go swimming.”

She seemed very hesitant to his plan.

“You seem reluctant.”  Aaron finally said.

“I’m afraid that will draw them over to watch me.”   She admitted, shivering at the thought, “I’d like some privacy.”

Aaron sighed, “Yeah, I didn’t think of that.   It’s too primitive up here for much privacy.   I have an idea though.”

“What is it?”  Her eyes sparkled.

“I want you to go into the cabin and wait for me in my quarters.”  

“What are you going to do, Lord?”

“I have a plan to give you some privacy, but it will take me a few minutes, so wait for me there.   There shouldn’t be any of the men there at this time of day.    Pull the curtain across the wall to block it off from the bunking area and I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

 

Before she could ask any other question, he hurried off to implement his plan.

 

***

 

The first thing they had constructed upon coming to Helios’ valley was a long log cabin that they called ‘The bunk house’ as that was where they all slept at night.    It was crude, dark and very stuffy, but it offered them protection from the elements and wild animals.     One of the few amenities that Aaron had demanded was a private section at one end that he used not only for sleeping but as a sort of office to keep track of the construction plans as well as a storage area for any valuables.

The men had rigged up a curtain ‘wall’ that he would pull across the length of that end of the cabin if he did not want to be disturbed.     Usually it was open, though, and Lysa’s bunking area was next to his, slightly separated from the soldiers.

Lysa did as Aaron had ordered and sat on a stool behind the curtain, waiting and puzzling over what his plan would be.

Nearly half an hour later she found out.     First the young duke appeared carrying one of the wooden watering troughs that was used for the horses.

“Don’t worry, it has been scrubbed clean.”   He told her as she gave him a quizzical look.   

Behind him came ten soldiers, each carrying two buckets of water, which they poured into the trough.     Then they exited, though some of them had rather sheepish looks on their faces.

“There you go.”   Aaron said to her as the last soldier left, “Not exactly a bathtub, but the water is clean.    I brought you this too.”  

He handed her a bar of soap.

“I brought that from Westmark.”   He explained.

“Lord, you didn’t have to go to so much trouble for me.”  

“Who says I did this for you?”  He grinned, “I don’t want to train a stinky squire, you know.   Besides, you deserve to relax.   When you finish, just leave the water and I’ll have some of the men empty it out.    Then get some rest.    There’ll be plenty of time for training once we get past fortifying our base.   I’ve ordered the men to stay out of the bunk house for several hours and I’ll monitor the door, so don’t worry, no one will disturb you.”

He pulled the curtain back across.

“What are you going to do, Lord?”  She called to him before he could leave.

“I’ll sit under that old tree across from the front door and enjoy the shade.”

“I don’t deserve this kind of treatment, sir.”   She protested.

“I think you do, Lysa.    Now take a bath and relax for a while, okay?”

“Thank you, Lord.” She smiled at him, “You know, if you want to, you could stay and chat with me while I bathe.”

“Well, the men are already thinking that something improper is going on, so I’d better not.    Otherwise, I’d have to offer the same privileges to all the men to prove to them that I’m not favoring you, and that would mean I’d have to sit and chat with all of them while they bathed.”   Aaron shivered comically, “I certainly don’t want to do that!”

Lysa laughed, “You’re right, Lord.    I guess that did sound a bit improper, didn’t it?”

“Well, actually, I’m quite flattered.   But we’ve been through a lot together, anyway.   I’ll leave you to your bath.”   He nodded and left the cabin.    Lysa sighed wistfully and proceeded to take advantage of her privilege.    Soon she was sitting in the trough relaxing in the cool water and fantasizing about other improper things.

Reviews

[Elina]

What better way to end a long day of work than to escape into Synomenia? ^^ I am eager to discover what is in store for Aaron and Lysa.

"Do not think that King Eleazar does not see your hard work or appreciates it." This needs to be reworded a bit.
"...that was where all of them slept..." Perhaps change this to "...where they all slept..." or "...where everyone slept..."
"...one of the wooden watering troths..." and "...they poured into the troth." I believe you were looking for "trough."
"They’ll be plenty of time for training..." I think you were trying to say "There'll be plenty of time..."
"Lysa sighed wishfully and proceeded..." Did you maybe mean "wistfully?"
"Soon she was sitting in the troth..." "Trough"
"...in the cool water and fatasying about other..." I believe you meant "fantasizing."

[Eddie Davis]

Thank you, Elina, I appreciate your expertise in proofreading.