A moment later the bug was waved in her face spitted on the end of a knife. Like a good frightened little girl Giselle cringed. Vigdis pulled the bug from the tip of his blade and chucked it into the fire. Vigdis tugged Giselle away from Madhava with a smug look, like a child snatching back a prized toy. He yanked her onto his lap and shoved a piece of meat at Giselle's mouth. Giselle felt a bit like a jostled rag doll but inwardly she smiled at how her little game had worked better than she could hope.
The meal concluded, and the men got rowdier throwing back mug after mug of some kind of alcoholic drink. A cup with the bitter brew was pressed to her lips several times and try as she might Giselle drank more than she desired making her head spin. Thankfully much of it also spilled down her chest so Vigdis didn't notice when she let most of the noxious spirits dribble from her mouth.
Vigdis got louder and louder boasting a cruder or crueler tale, never wanting to be bested by his warriors. His hands roamed freely over Giselle's nude body. He was particularly enthralled with her breasts. Giselle cursed the fact she was more endowed than the women of Cadi. She shuddered as she felt the bulge beneath Vigdis' kilt. Perhaps her ploy had backfired. Vigdis suddenly shoved her off his lap, and she stumbled more than a bit tipsy.
"Dance!" He demanded with a slight slur.
Giselle knew she had to obey, but she didn't dare do anything to arouse him further. She nearly giggled as the idea came to her inebriated mind. Giselle proceeded to do the most unattractive and abhorred dance she knew, The Chicken Dance.
3 Waging War
Kagan quo Rordan
Kagan and his Anzac guard moved slowly over the rise towards the column of smoke. It was getting late in the day but he wanted to see what sent such a large ominous black mass billowing into the sky.
As the men proceeded cautiously over the small rise the decimated village came into view. Many of the buildings were still being consumed by flames the stone walls collapsing in on themselves.
Kagan looked at the picket line along the main road through the town with mounting anger. Six bodies were run through dangling from the erected pikes. Dagaa moved to a house and kicked in the door. As the smoke that poured out cleared he could see the huddled bodies of a family. The sight of the charred remains of a female clutching two smaller bodies in a desperate attempt to shelter them turned his stomach.
Kagan turned away, his fists clenched, nails biting into his palms. These people may have been citizens of Scelus Cadi but what was done here was abhorrent. Kagan walked the street but everywhere he turned he was greeted by carnage. This was the work of Vigdis quo Carnager.
"Kagan," Dagaa approached. "The warriors on the pikes though dressed like Scelus Cadi aren't. Their warrior's ink says otherwise."
Kagan rubbed his bicep where coal black markings extended from his chest and back. The intricate lines delineated his heritage, major battles and any other important event that had transpired in his life. It was the story of who he was as a warrior, as Kagan quo Rordan, true and rightful Daimio of Cadi.
"What were our people doing in Scelus Cadi territory?" Kagan questioned out loud.
"Probably the auction, same as we, though it was a foolish risk with such small numbers." Dagaa shook his head as he looked at the bodies.
Kagan agreed. His men were in disguise and highly trained, yet he wished he'd brought more warriors. The sad fate of this village was becoming more clear.
From the corner of his eye Kagan noticed movement behind the wrecked out husk of a shed. One of the other warriors circled around then emerged with a soot covered little scrap of a boy. The child struggled in the much larger warrior's grasp, his tail lashing wildly. He was a fierce little whip despite barely coming to Kagan's waist.
"I know who you are!" The youth said fiercely.
"Do you? Exactly who is that?" Kagan asked as he indicated for the soldier to put the boy down. The warrior gripped the child's tail as parents would often do to keep their young from wandering.
"I heard you! You're the enemy. The Vidya Cadi." The boy said accusingly struggling against the hold on his tail. "I am not a traitor!" He raged.
"I never said you were." Kagan repressed a grin at the diminutive warrior's bravado. "But tell me little warrior, who did this to your people."
The look on the child's face practically leveled Kagan. He watched as the boy's whole world turned in on itself, loss and betrayal dawning in eyes too young to suffer such lessons. Though the boy clearly knew his own countrymen had burned his village, Kagan was unwilling to dash the last of the child's pride. If the little warrior needed an enemy to blame, then Kagan would give him one.
"Well little warrior you are now my prisoner." Kagan said but gave a quick wink to Dagaa.