Chapter 36

Except for two hundred men and women, all of his army personnel were going to stay behind in Rivers Crossing. Alice and Albert had come up with a plan that would put everyone else to work clearing the land where the outer walls of the city would stand. The removed trees would be turned into lumber for use in constructing the castle. The cleared land would have all of the stumps removed and a deep trench dug so that the walls could be buried six feet to prevent tunneling under them during a siege.

Sid was pleased with their solution. It would put a lot of people to work immediately and meant that he could travel with a much lighter guard. Riding with two hundred men and women would allow them to travel faster. The sooner he reached the Jones Citadel, the sooner he could leave for Crossroads. Looking over at Laura, Mary, Mandy, and Alice, he knew he had four very pleasant reasons to reach Crossroads.

Although Gregor had intended to stay only a single day, he had ended up staying three days at the camp. It had taken him that long to acquire sufficient supplies so that his men could ride at a fast pace to their homes. He was a little irritated at Derek for spending most of that time fishing, but understood his desire to rest and relax.

Sid looked up at Gregor and said, “It has been a long and hard journey, but the company has made it a lot more pleasant.”

“That it has,” Gregor said nodding his head. He looked down at Sid from atop his horse and added, “If you have need of me, you know where to find me.”

“And should you have need of me, you know where to find me,” Sid said. He gestured to the area around him and said, “Send a man here and I will come.”

“That is good to know, King Sid,” Gregor said. He was finding it a lot harder to say goodbye than he had thought it would be. The time spent together had only reinforced the respect that he held for Sid. It was rare to find a man who actually listened to advice and incorporated it into his plans.

“Drop the king stuff. Our friendship is too strong to allow a little thing like a title stand between us. Besides, one of these days you’re going to become the head horseman of the clan. I’d hate to have to call you Horsey Gregor,” Sid said with a smile.

Gregor burst out laughing and said, “It is a deal. Take care of your backside. You are surrounded by too many men who know very little about honor.”

“Take care of yourself, my friend. Even when surrounded by honorable men, there is always one snake in the grass waiting to strike,” Sid said.

“True,” Gregor replied. He turned to the mounted men and women behind him. He shouted, “Move out!”

“Take care,” Sid said.

“I shall,” Gregor said before turning his horse around and riding off to join his troops.

In a soft voice, Sid said, “I shall miss you my friend.”

Derek looked over at Sid and said, “He shall miss you too.”

“Take care of him,” Sid said.

“Take care of yourself,” Fred said with a smile. Over time, he and Derek had grown close. The two men shared a similar lifestyle in serving men who were on the verge of being very powerful.

“I shall. Take care of yourself. Many will want to use you to get at him,” Derek said.

“I know. The same goes for you,” Fred said.

Derek turned his horse and rode off to catch up with Gregor. He shouted, “It is good to be heading home!”

From behind Sid, four women said, “Yes, it is.”

Sid cringed at the thought of being in bed with all four of them. He wondered if he would survive the experience. Turning to face them, he said, “We’ll leave for the Jones Citadel tomorrow.”

“Four weeks on the road,” Laura said with a groan.

“Then a week at the Citadel,” Mandy said repeating the next phase of the journey home.

“Then four days to the city where we’ll leave,” Alice said.

“That’s almost six weeks,” Mary said.

“I’ll die of desire by then,” Laura said. She had been waiting the longest to give Sid his reward for rescuing her and the wait had been wearing on her.

Sid shook his head and said, “I’m a dead man.”

Three weeks into the ride back to the Jones Citadel, Sid was ready to tear out his hair in frustration. The four women were competing for his attention and it was driving him crazy. Everything they did was a subtle reminder that they expected him to make grand glorious love to them at the journey’s end. He was touched, teased, and watched almost constantly.

Needing a break, Sid rode to the back of the column of men. Fred rode with him. Once they were back there, Fred said, “I have no idea how you are managing to resist them.”

“It’s not easy,” Sid said.

Smiling happily, Fred said, “I’m glad that I don’t have that problem.”

“You have a different problem,” Sid replied with a grin. Fred had been a very happy man since the four ladies had arranged for Milly and Fred to spend an entire day in their cabin. The two had emerged much happier and relaxed.

Looking at Sid with a startled expression at hearing that he had a problem, Fred asked, “What problem?”

“Milly wants to get married,” Sid said.

“And in what way is that a problem?” Fred asked with a smile. He had long before admitted that he wanted the same thing.

Sid laughed and shook his head. He asked, “So you’ll be returning to Rivers Crossing with her when I leave to take the Damsels back home?”

“I was planning on coming with you,” Fred said.

“That’s not possible,” Sid replied with a shake of his head.

“I’m your sworn man and that requires that I stay by your side,” Fred said looking at Sid. He was visibly upset at the news that Sid was going to leave him behind.

“I would take you if I could, but it is impossible,” Sid said trying to calm Fred down. He sighed and said, “I need you to take care of my business here, while I’m gone.”

“Why do you say it is impossible?”

“Their home is on the other side of a magic gate,” Sid answered. He felt that Fred needed to know enough not to feel like he was being abandoned. He said, “Only a person with the right blood can move through it.”

“A magic gate?” Fred asked looking at Sid incredulously.

“You can come with us to the gate, but you can’t go any further,” Sid said.

Fred rode beside Sid wondering if he was being told a story. He’d never heard of magic gates. Sandra Lawyer had not mentioned the existence of a magic gate to him. There was one way to confirm the story. He kicked his horse and rode up to the head of the column where the four Damsels were riding. Sid watched him go.

Fred waited until he was riding beside Laura to say, “Sid told me that I couldn’t travel with you to Cassandra.”

“That’s right,” Laura said.

“Why not?” Fred asked.

Laura looked around for a moment while considering how to answer. She decided that Fred already knew enough about them that he needed to know more. She said, “I need you to swear that you’ll never tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.”

“I swear,” Fred said without a moment of hesitation.

“There are four worlds: Chaos, Crossroads, Cassandra, and Earth.”

Eyebrows raised, Fred asked, “Worlds?”

“Yes, worlds. You are from Chaos and you know this world well. I, Mary, Mandy, and Alice are from Cassandra. Sid is from Earth. We travel between worlds using a portal.”

“Is a ‘portal’ a kind of magic gate?” Fred asked.

“Yes,” Alice answered deciding that was just as accurate a description as any. She said, “There are limits to our ability to use the portals. Damsels can not travel to Earth and Heroes can not travel to Cassandra. We can only meet here. Damsels can only return to Crossroads if they travel there with a Hero. From Crossroads, we can return to Cassandra.”

Anticipating Fred’s next question, Mandy said, “Damsels and Heroes can only be with each other on Crossroads.”

“Be with each other? You are with each other now,” Fred said.

Laura laughed and said, “She meant we can only make love to each other on Crossroads. That’s why you are traveling with five very frustrated people.”

“Oh, that explains a lot,” Fred said blushing at the subject matter.

“Yes,” Mandy said, “It explains a lot. I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.”

“We all have,” Laura said with a sigh.

“Look at this dress. It’s so dirty,” Laura said. She brushed the front of her dress to remove an imaginary piece of dirt. It happened that the offending piece of dirt was on her breast and her attempt to remove it caused her nipple to swell and harden.

Sid groaned and leaned forward in his saddle in the slim hope of relieving some of the pressure created by the swelling in his crotch. His hands shook as he held the reins.

He said, “Enough. I can’t take it any more.”

Mandy batted her eyes at him and, while running a hand over her chest, asked, “What ever do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean,” Sid answered in pure anguish.

“There’s a bank over there,” Alice said pointing out the building. All they had to do was go inside and they would be in Crossroads within minutes.

Mary stuck a fingertip in her mouth and sucked on it suggestively for a second before removing it. In a little girl voice, she said, “So there is. That is a bank.”

“You know that I have to finish my business here,” Sid said with a groan. They were riding through one of the towns that had been ravaged by the slavers. It had been a little place before, but had now grown in size to where it actually supported a bank. The presence of the bank had taken Sid by surprise.