The ride home.
After leaving the tavern and ensuring everything was packed, Balgair hopped into the landau and settled between Heather and Delilah. “Home, if you will, driver.” It feels so strange saying that and not meaning the old home.
“At once, sir.” The driver snapped the reigns, urging the horses into motion. “We should be home in a quarter-auir, sir.”
Within seconds, Balgair was leaning back against the back of the seat with his arms stretched to his sides. Heather took advantage of his position to snuggle into his side, and after a few minutes of internally debating it, Delilah settled into his other side.
“I don’t remember giving you permission to snuggle up, you little scamp,” Balgair teased, drawing a gasp from Delilah. He chuckled and drew her closer to him when she tried to act indignant. “I’m just teasing, little scamp.”
“You’re mean,” he heard from the brunette burrowed under his arm. “I just want you to know that.”
“So, I’ve been told,” Balgair agreed as he closed his eyes and sensed her sadness. Is this my doing or Heather’s? He wondered, and not for the first time. He had meant to ask Ananke about it but hadn’t had time to meditate lately. “How long has it been, little scamp?”
The brunette in his arms stilled, stiffening against him. “It’s been four months, maighstir.” She quietly admitted.
This is your doing, isn’t it, My lady? Balgair sighed as he tried to dismiss the emotions of the woman beside him. Is this what happens when one is bound to an Umhail? There was so little known about umhails since they were so rare. I guess I’ll ask the next time I meditate.
The brown-haired woman gave into the sobbing for a few minutes, then pushed herself out from under his arm. “Why are you so kind? Most men wouldn’t put up with the feelings of a woman.”
“I’ve asked that question at least once a day since we’ve met,” Heather muttered, drawing a snort from Balgair.
“Hush you,” he teased the blonde umhail.
She stubbornly looked up, “Yes, maighstir.” She crossed her arms under her breasts with a self-satisfied smile.
Delilah blinked. “I don’t understand.” She looked from the smug umhail to the new Reve.
Balgair met Heather’s look with a raised eyebrow. “It’s only been three days, mo tè àlainn. There’s more about me than you’ve dug up.” Balgair chuckled, “You are getting brave, aren’t you?” When Delilah stared from Balgair to Heather and back to Balgair again, the Reve fed her curiosity. “Heather and I have only been bonded for three days.”
Heather stuck out her tongue. “What are you going to do, Maighstir? I’ve met our Lady face to face and had tea with her.”
“That won’t save you from being disciplined, my little umhail.” He laughed softly. “You’re acting increasingly like a brat with each passing day.” He laughed. “If you aren’t careful, I’ll spank your little backside.”
Heather shivered at those words. “You keep threatening to do that but haven’t carried through yet.” She smirked and then yelped as Balgair snagged her wrist and pulled her into his lap.
Quickly overpowering the quivering girl, he placed her hands on her lower back. “Keep them there,” he advised as he ruffled her skirt. “I think five swats should be enough for a bratty umhail, don’t you?” When Heather nodded, he delivered two swats to her right buttock.
“You’re a brute,” Heather whimpered as he delivered two more swats, then a third, finishing the five. “Don’t ever change, mo maighstir,” she panted as he finished the impromptu discipline session and pulled her back up against him. “I love you, mo maighstir,” she pressed her lips against his throat.
Hearing a gasp from his right side, he looked to find Delilah licking her lips with her hands pressed against her belly. “Uh-uh. Don’t even think it.” He waggled a finger at the brunette. Amelia and Nell would kill me if I bonded one more woman without them being able to talk to her first. Balgair rolled his eyes heavenwards. You and I need to talk, My lady. He directed toward his goddess, hearing only soft laughter in the wind. Brats, I’m surrounded by brats.
What way are we headed? Balgair looked up at the sun, tracing its westward course. West, it is. He confirmed. New places had always fascinated him, and Eola was about as new as a place could get, at least for him.
Once outside the town proper, the surroundings reverted to small groves of trees alternating with squared-away farms. I didn’t expect this. He examined each new grove and farm he passed, marveling at their neatness. They’d make an army sergeant proud. The hedgerows were neatly pruned, each almost uniformly six feet tall. The picket gates that opened onto the roads were either white or grey, with the owners' brands in the center. Beyond the hedgerows, he could hear Aurochs and Beffelo lowing as they grazed. Interspersed with the lowing, he could hear the occasional Cu[1] barking and men’s voices as they directed the choin[2] in herding the Aurochs and beffelo toward the square barns.
I wonder how much work goes into one of these farms? Balgair wondered as the landau started to slow down. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow. When the landau stopped, Balgair watched as the driver hopped down and opened a wide gate that almost took up half of the hedgerow. As the driver pushed the gate open to its fullest, he grunted. “Can ya pull the wagon through, sair?”
Balgair looked dubiously at the reins draped across the braking mechanism. “Umm.”
He was saved when Delilah stirred and climbed into the front seat. “I’ll do it, Maighstir.” When she was situated, she picked up the reins and pushed the brake forward. “Heya …” she commanded, clicking her tongue as she snapped the reins.
Balgair watched curiously as the horses whinnied, pulling the wagon through a short turn into the gateway and then past it to the road beyond. He turned and watched as the Driver closed the gate behind him and hopped up on the bench, taking the reins from the brunette.
Rather than attempt to climb back into the back, the clerk stayed on the front bench and looked toward the house at the end of the path.
The parcel of land that the Reve’s estate set on was roughly a mile wide by two miles long and divided from the neighbor’s property by yet more hedgerows that ran the length of the perimeter. The driveway, an affair of tightly packed dirt and stone bricks, led from the gate to the house and was roughly a half-mile long.
[1] Dog
[2] Dogs
I have to say, I didn't expect Heather to so openly and happily accept spankings in front of a woman she'd only just met. Then again, I didn't expect Delilah to cuddle up to Balgair with so much familiarity, either. Although, in a society where people can develop the ability to experience the emotions of others directly, I suppose that a sense of familiarity would develop rather quickly.