Chapter Four
Drishane
River
Ihad secureda job at the town’s apothecary and helped move patients around. I had, on a few occasions, even taken the sins of four people who had died while I had been there. If the priest would not give them their last rites, I simply stepped in when no one was around. I enjoyed this work and wished that the other towns that I had resided in had something likethis.
I quickly made friends with two men who worked at the apothecary and was offered a place to stay with them until I got my own place. Geoff was a fit, tall man with dark hair and graying temples, while his roommate, Edwin, had light brown hair and green eyes. Edwin seemed a bit younger than Geoff, though, not by much, and had more of a muscular frame than Geoff. Edwin had a job like I did with moving patients around, sans the sin eating part. Geoff visited patients and tried to healthem.
Drishane was very different than any of the other towns that I had lived in. No one here knew who I was, and that was a blessing. I could walk down the street, and people would smile at me. No one here looked at me as the disgraced man that Lochlaan Mortas would not admit to being the fatherof.
Feeling my new-found freedom, I could not help but feel a little bit of guilt. My heart tugged when I thought of Merc. He was alone in the cold woods. Isolated from people except for Derwin from time to time. Merc would love it here. I would find a way to bring himhere.
In just a few short days, I learned that Queen Octavia was quite the sexual being. Geoff and Edwin had informed me of the annual pageant that she held. It was the evening portion of the festival where she selects one gentleman to join her at the Darick castle to be one of her “boy toys,” as the men told me one night at thepub.
“Queen Octavia is into different things,” Geoff said as he tipped his aleback.
“What do you mean by ‘different things?’” I asked and looked between Geoff andEdwin.
I was very curious as to what they were referring to. I was quite certain that neither of them would be able to tell me anything that would turn me off or away from pursuing the pageant. It was hard to shock me with regards to sex. I had pretty much done it all bynow.
“The young men she takes, she turns them into her sex slaves. She has a stick that she beats them with. She hurts them and makes them do whatever she wants,” Edwinexplained.
“A stick?” Iinquired.
“Yeah, it is a black lacquered stick, and it has leather on the end of it. Makes the skin sting and leaves a red mark,” Geoffadded.
“There is a warlock who has a cart at the festival, and he makes them special for her,” Edwinconfirmed.
“So, she picks one of the men who enter the pageant, and then they go to live with her at the castle. How long do they stay?” Iasked.
“They stay as long as she wants them too,” Geoff said and clanged his charger withEdwin.
“You know what, River?” Edwin began and then took a long drink of ale. He set the charger down and slapped his hand down on my shoulder. “You should enter thepageant!”
“You think so?” I asked, even though I already had planned onit.
“Yeah, you should. You are a handsome man. How old are you?” Geoff askedme.
I figured that it would not be wise for me to tell them that I was many centuries old. Whenever people asked me, I always say that I was thirty years old because that was the age in which I stopped aging. I had reached full maturity and stopped aging, just as Derwin said wouldhappen.
“I am thirty years old. Do you think that is too old?” I ventured as I playedalong.
“She usually takes the younger men, but she might go for you,” Geoffsaid.
She would go for me. I had no doubt about it. She has never seen the likes of me. She was surrounded byboys.
“She likes them young, and she likes to be in charge. If you misbehave, she will whip you into shape.” Edwin said as he eyedGeoff.
“Can you…can you follow instructions, River?” Geoff asked me while he looked atEdwin.
I had a feeling they were having some sort of silent conversation. They did not intimidate me, though. They were nice gentlemen that I enjoyed beingaround.
“Yes, of course, I can follow directions,” Iconfirmed.
I watched the two men continue to eye one another while I finished my ale. As the three of us walked back to their place, they walked behind me a few paces. They murmured between each other, thinking they were at a safe distance from myears.
“We will test him out for the Queen,” Edwin said under hisbreath.
