Lodura stood with her back to the bedroom, looking out across the courtyard filled with her husband's men. She had dressed carefully in a wine-red gown with sleeves that trailed almost to the floor, set off by the necklace he had given her for their anniversary. Garnets, rather than the truer red of rubies, something most women of her station would have felt beneath their dignity, but they suited her complexion better. And her taste. With such a perceptive and caring man, she had never thought to have such troubles, but his men weren't as perceptive. All they saw were her foreign features, and the accent she could never seem to train herself out of, no matter how hard she tried. She didn't turn around when he opened the door.
"Lodura..."
"We have to talk, Warren."
"I know, but I have to go."
Dismay, disappointment, and a hint of anger flashed across Lodura's features as she spun around, protesting, "You only just arrived!"
"I know. I'm sorry, I truly am. Captain Denis just told me when I got here, people have been disappearing for the northeast sector. It's localized so far, but no one knows what it is, and it's my duty to protect my people."
Looking at him, Lodura was reminded of why she'd married him, instead of remaining a comfortably wealthy widow. It wasn't his good looks, though he certainly had those, but his good heart. He cared, not only about her, but about all of the people who owed fealty to him. He never forgot, as some of the nobility did, that he owed them in turn. Instead of protesting that he also had a duty to his wife, she nodded. "I'll come with you." t his hesitation, a bit of her temper returned. "It's not like I have anything to do here, and I'm not some pampered princess who can't manage a two-day ride! Why shouldn't I spend what time with you I can?"
His face softened. "Very well. You know I can't say no to you."
"You can and have," she reminded him. "It's almost a year and a half since we married, and still I sit here and do nothing..."
"I know. It's just..."
"The men don't trust me," she interrupted, her voice flat.
Warren gently imprisoned the fingers she had balled into a fist, and kissed the back of them. "If they knew you like I do, they would," he assured her.
"Which they never will if you're never home. It's been over two months this time."
He sighed. "The king needs me at court. A show of strength for the ambassador from East Dammak. It won't always be like this, I promise. Just be patient."
"I have." She sighed as well. "And I will. Now, I'd better change clothes, and you should too." She wrinkled her nose. "You smell of horse."
"I'll just end up smelling of horse again by the end of the day," he mock-protested, collecting a quick kiss before sitting on the bed to take off his boots.
"Not on the bed in your dirty clothes!" She shooed him towards the chair in the corner, placed there for just that purpose.
Finished dressing before his wife was, Warren decided it would be wise to brief his men on the change in plans. In theory, he could simply order and they would obey, but in his experience a man who knew what was behind his orders could follow them more effectively. And if he explained when he could, they would accept it better when he couldn't. "Captain, my wife will be accompanying us."
"Your Grace, the situation is somewhat urgent, and a carriage would only slow us down..."
Lodura came out of the stable, leading her mare. "Had you forgotten I was a merchant's wife, Captain? When my first husband was away, I inspected our holdings every day, and I could hardly do so from a carriage." Lodura had put aside her jewels and flowing sleeves for a riding habit of blue and gold with low boots, her hair caught in a single braid down her back. On any other expedition, she would have had to bring a maid, if only for propriety's sake, but with her husband along, she was free to leave the trappings of her station behind. It was a freedom she intended to take full advantage of, partially because she found those trappings stifling, and partially in the hope that she could impress upon the men that she was capable and possibly even human.
There, however, she was disappointed once again. Every time she thought the small troop might relax, they remembered she was there, and became stiffly formal again. The next two days were yet another extension of the previous eighteen months. She was frankly relieved when they reached the village where the disappearances had occurred, and quickly got directions to the spot they felt was the cause - a small cave only an hour's ride away. She had long since decided that the sooner this was over, the better. As if bending to her wishes, the cave came into view while there was still plenty of sunlight left. The duke decided it was better to investigate right away than to put it off another day, and ordered the men to make ready.
"Captain, if you would kindly stay here with my lady wife." It was a command, despite the polite language. And a command to both of them. It would have been hard to determine which of them was less happy about it, but they both knew it was their place to obey.
Only about a minute had passed when one of the men stumbled out of the cave mouth. "It's a succubus!" he gasped, leaning weakly against the stone. "She got everyone else."
The Captain drew his sword and strode towards the cave. Lodura's voice cracked like a whip. "Stop!"
He turned on her, distrust plain on his face. "I will defend my lord..."
"You will die with him!" Lodura interrupted sharply. "If I thought it would save my husband's life, I would spend yours in an instant, but it will not! You'll only make her stronger."
"We have no mage..."
"You don't need a mage to kill a succubus! You only need a woman." A weaker man would have quailed at the ice in her eyes. "I won't lose another husband. Give me your sword." The Captain didn't move. Lodura knew why, but she had just run out of patience. Her tone could have scorched the earth. "I have heard the rumors, Captain! I'm a foreigner, and probably a witch, and I married my first husband for his money and probably killed him as well! They conveniently forget that he didn't have that money when I married him! We prospered because we worked together, and I hope to have the chance to do that yet with Warren! Now give me your sword and get out of my way!"
It was obvious that there was going to be violence in the near future, but the question of who would be the subject of it was still open. The Captain handed over his sword, finally surrendering to the fact that it was his only chance to save his Duke. "Save him and I will forget every rumor I have ever heard."
"If I don't come back, the mage in Redtree owes me a favor. Get him before you come in after us." Blade in hand, Lodura entered the cave.
Anger had brought her this far, but as she surveyed the scene before her, cold fear settled in her belly. Every step was a battle in itself. The stench was the first thing she noticed, before her eyes adjusted to the low light. Death, both new and far too old. The place was a charnel pit, bodies in various states of decomposition piled in every corner and strewn across the floor. Those few still living were in the center, groveling at the demon's feet. Even in the dim, smoky light from the torches the men had dropped, Lodura recognized her husband, laid across a flat rock like a crude altar, the demon's clawed fingers piercing his chainmail to dig into his chest. It wasn't the physical injury that inspired her stomach to do a slow, queasy roll, but the halo of reddish light that spread over him. He shuddered as the demon fed. "Take your hands off my husband!" she snapped, anger awakening once more. It wasn't as commanding as she had hoped, but it had the desired effect. The light around Warren died as the creature turned glowing eyes to face her. Lodura advanced over the dead, all too aware that the battle was far from won.
"A woman," the creature grated, startling Lodura into stopping. She hadn't known it would be able to speak. It wasn't just an animal, though exaggeratedly female assets were its most human characteristics. Its face consisted mostly of fangs and horns, and those glowing eyes. Its limbs were the right number, and in the right places, but their shape was subtly wrong, and that was even without mentioning the glistening grey skin, covered only with old, dried blood. Lodura had never killed, or even injured, a person before. It was stretching a point to call this thing a person, but it was at least sentient. And this wasn't her job. If it would release the men who were still alive, she would take them and go. Someone else could come back later and kill it. As if it were following her thoughts, the creature spoke again. "Maybe we can make a deal. You should understand. You're a woman too, in a man's world. They won't give us what we deserve, so we have to take it."
And it made sense. Harsh as its voice was, its words were somehow soothing, like warm honey. Lodura considered walking away, or even joining forces with the demon. For a moment. Then a glint of light caught her eye, off the hilt of a sword one of the men here had dropped. One of the dead, or one of those still living, she didn't know. It might even have been her husband's. It was a reminder that every man who had entered here had died. And how they had died. How Warren would die, if she didn't finish what she had come here for. She now knew that what held her was a spell, less effective on her than it would have been on a man, but still potent enough. Fighting the spell was like being buried in honey, its sweetness turned foul by excess, now clinging with heavy stickiness to every muscle. Slower than she would have liked, Lodura raised the point of her sword from where it had fallen nearly to the ground. The succubus was only a few feet away, having crept closer all the time it was talking, and it lunged just as the sword reached waist height. Lodura flinched as the shock ran up her arms, and flinched again as claws flailed within inches of her face, but she kept her grip on the sword until it was over. The creature's dying scream, so like a human's, would haunt her for a long time to come. It was closer than she had ever thought she would come to murder. She pulled the sword back out of the still form and forced herself to check on her husband. He was alive. She sighed relief. The other men were stirring, the demon's enchantment having broken with its death. She left them to bring Warren when they were capable of it, and stumbled to the door. The Captain was waiting, his knife in his hand. He sheathed it when he saw who had emerged victorious. His welcoming expression might have been partly due to the black ichor still dripping off his sword when Lodura returned it, but at least the incident seemed to have dispelled any doubt he had about her loyalty. He even brought her a water skin to wash out her mouth after she finished throwing up. "Happens to everyone the first time," he murmured as the men began to drag themselves out into the fading sunlight.
It took Warren a while to regain consciousness, but he was duly impressed by the captain's report when he was strong enough to receive it. Almost as impressed as the other men, who had been aware of everything that went on while they were in the cave. Apart from the shame of having failed to defend their liege lord, they had been all too aware of what their own fate would be once she had finished with him. Their conversion had almost convinced Lodura that the horrific experience had been worthwhile. Almost. When Lodura brought her husband breakfast the next morning, he had recovered enough to tease her a little, though there was a serious edge to the teasing.
"So, are you going to turn warrior woman now?"
She dispelled his worries with an emphatic shake of her head. "Oh, no. I got lucky and I know it. I may be able to kill something if I have to, but I don't think I would ever be very good at it. What I am good at is business, and I hope to have the chance to show you just how good, since your men seem less likely to stage a rebellion now if you give me a little more authority."
"So you think you can take better care of my finances than I can?"
"I know I can. Between taking care of politics and taking care of the people, you haven't had any time for your finances. Speaking of which, we should throw a party or two. There are a few people I'd like to talk to, and a party gets everyone together."
"Throwing a party is going to help our finances?"
Lodura noted the change from 'my' to 'our' finances and relaxed more then she had in the last year and a half. She smiled slyly. "Some things just need a woman's touch. Speaking of which, I've been looking at the books. You know that vineyard that's been losing money..."