Part one here

The castle was the provincial headquarters for the entire region. Tzara learned from Lucinda that Galen was the supreme authority answerable to no one for local matters and was only subject to orders in times of war. The main purpose of the castle was to deny access to the nation’s interior via the many mountain passes and to collect customs and other taxes from the various rural markets and at the toll roads.

“I have never been to Gethomy,” Lucinda told her, “and there has been no war for almost 70 years, so we rarely see anyone from there.”

Gethomy, Tzara has been told was the capital some 80 leagues away, more than a week’s journey on the often poor mountain roads. Only fast mounted couriers made the journey regularly and these days they only brought reports of grain harvests and important marriage alliances.

Tzara looked out at the incredible view and frowned. There was no war and no significant politics of any kind. In fact it was entirely unclear that there was any intrigue or plot to be uncovered at all.

“Where do you come from?” Tzara asked Lucinda.

Lucinda pursed her lips and turned her gaze to the mountains. “See that double peak?”

“The one with the snow on top?” Tzara answered.

“That’s the one, well I was born and lived until I was 18 in a small village on the other side,” Lucinda told her.

“Have you ever been back?” Tzara asked.

“Not much for me there,” Lucinda crinkled up her nose and shook her head. “I had a grandmother or so I thought, turns out her son was not my father. They are all dead now anyway. There are few girls I knew from my childhood I suppose, but they will be married and I doubt we have much in common now.”

“Do you like it here?” Tzara asked her.

Lucinda grinned. “What is not to like? I am well fed and I would rather be the lover of a great man than a peasant’s wife. Look at this place,” she made a wide gesture.

“You are spanked here, and severely punished in other ways,” Tzara thought of the dungeon and the sight of Lucinda tied to the bed posts.

Lucinda laughed; her hand went to her mouth to stifle it but gave up as she gave in to genuine mirth.

Tzara frowned and shook her head in a question.

“My grandmother cut a mean switch and my bare bottom felt it up until the day I left. The village reeve used to have a woman over a birching block if she so much as looked at him. The sight of a bare bottom thrashed raw in the middle of the village green was not an unusual one. The men were chained and set to road repairs if they objected. Most didn’t and most women wouldn’t have expected them too. That is the way of things,” Lucinda said smiling. “You must have come from a very strange place indeed if this is new to you. I am not sure I approve of it.”

“What of the nobility? Are they so harshly treated?” Tzara asked.

“For the nobility it is worse, as I think you are beginning to suspect. The men must hold their tongues and keep their peace or risk offending. Exile is not a pretty thing and the alternative is to fight a duel. That is a silly business and best left to the men,” Lucinda rolled her eyes. “At least the women only have to risk a sore bottom or two… mostly it is not so bad.” She offered Tzara a coy look. Her new friend’s interest in her punishment had not merely been out of concern, that was clear.

Tzara avoided eye contact and decided that to question this reality was pointless. She herself had come a long way to accept it. She was curious to how these rules and customs got to be the basis of this strange society. It was too human to be entirely alien, but she had weeks of subjective time to consider that. She still had to work out the scenario’s objective. Until then she could try and enjoy rough sex, as she had come to justified it, and see if she could get some hiking and climbing in.

“Tell me, are we ever aloud out of the castle?” Tzara asked.

“We might go riding or walking in the forest to the bathing pool,” Lucinda suggested without much enthusiasm.

“And what about free climbing?” Tzara asked.

Lucinda frowned until her face cracked into a laugh and she decided not to ask.

“Never mind,” Tzara said dismissively.

*

The morning air was so sweet Tzara could taste it. She marvelled at the footsteps left in the wet grass and the cascading chorus of birdsong. The mountains looked close enough to touch and for the first time since she had arrived in this place she felt free.

Galen had left her alone the previous night and had already warned her he would busy until late. So skipping breakfast Tzara had used his name to slip through the gates. She had been told that a league and a half from the castle was a cliff face that might be climbed, although this last detail had t been gleaned in a roundabout way, the sport of climbing being unknown. She estimated that a league and a half was about seven klicks or a good two and a half hour hike. She might have asked for a horse, but she didn’t really know how to handle one and so decided that that was for another day with Lucinda. She had packed some bread and cheese, but after failing to steal any boys clothing, she had resolved to climb more or less naked once she got there.

The only thought that had troubled her was getting lost, but after discovering that there was only one track in that direction, and that for a good part of the journey the cliffs would be visible, she decided to risk it.

The forest was beautiful and she was staggered by the plentiful deer that ran heedlessly across the path in front of her or the black and red squirrels that dashed hither and thither from tree to tree. There were bears and wolves too, or so she had been told, but the talkative guard at the gate had dismissed the idea that she would ‘see hide or hair’ of them.

Still, she had to hurry. If she set off briskly she could make it by mid-morning and start back mid-afternoon in time for sunset and supper. She paused only to scan the scene and wonder. The scenario was incredible; realer than real. If the climbing worked out, then she might give up on puzzling out the plot and just try and enjoy a holiday. Suddenly two hours down time being leveraged up to three months did not seem too bad.

*

The climb was arduous and exhilarating. Every handhold had to be felt out and she realised that back home she would never have attempted this without a rope-climb first. Even now she could not help the odd scratch as the rock face roughed up against her body. But the sense of freedom… she grinned. She did not even feel the chill once she got going.

She looked down and her heart leapt at the view. If I fall… what? She suddenly realised that the fail safes might let her get hungry or feel pain, but they would not let her die. If all else failed… my god, she thought, of course I have a way out. Not that she wanted one just then. The thought shocked her. She was what, a pervert, did she like the way…? No, she shook her head, that was just… whatever. But she liked Galen better than any man she had ever actually met and the sex was… she grinned. Then she slipped and it took a moment to recover. Pay attention girl, she scolded herself, but for a second she thought she would fall and the thrill was incredible.

For the rest of that hour she focused on gaining the top. “I only hope there is a quick hike down or else…?” she looked at the sun now low in the sky. The mountains would soon screen it and cast a shadow. That was a detail she hadn’t considered. “You amateur,” she spat and heard the words bounce back over and over for a few moments. She grinned. “I love this place,” she yelled and listened with joy as the words sang back to her.

Distracted by echoes she reached clumsily for a handhold only for it to come away in her hand. She was still holding it when she realised she was falling, a sensation that she never wanted to experience again. Especially not this one, which seemed to last many hours as head over bottom she fell all the way to her death.

To be continued…