11 A sigh of relief

Why was he butt naked again? 

He was also nestled upon clean white bed sheets, freshly laundered and smelling like sun and lavender soap, a glimpse of heaven.

Or so he thought until he couldn't move his right hand and left leg, both were chained to the bed with a little bit of loose chain so he couldn't go very far.

It seemed he was still in hell but left the murky dungeon for the honeymoon suite.

The smell of incense tipped him off, it was a popular musk scent used by newlyweds to set the mood for the wedding night.

Had there been a wedding recently, as long as it wasn't his own, he could live with that.

The room was filled with candles and bouquets of flowers, white lace and rose petals were in every corner and crevice.

Even on the bed where he rested his head on the soft, down pillow he nearly inhaled a white rose petal.

Slowly his memory returned and he remembered the men stripping off his clothes before they tossed him in the dungeon.

Still Maxixe felt groggy and his eyes hurt, like he had overslept and he didn't know when or how they smuggled his body in and out of the dungeon.

He was no longer stinking in his own filth or that of the nasty dungeon with critters crawling all over him.

When was the last time he bathed, he no longer had a speck of dirt and even his hair was cleanly washed and smelled like roses.

The last thing he remembered before passing out was being given a bowl of hot broth to drink.

Like a pig being fattened for the slaughter.

Perhaps they had drugged the meal but to what purpose?

He heard the approaching footsteps shuffle along the long corridor before they opened the door to his room.

So Maxixe closed his eyes quickly and pretended to sleep once more.

A gruff voice asked, "What's with that look, is your conscience bothering you again Hilda, just stick to the plan like we agreed there is no time for cold feet now."

"It just doesn't feel right," replied Lady Hilda tartly. "Lady Kaoma is still pretty much a child herself. How can we call ourselves her guardians and allow her to have relations with a stranger. Her parents who entrusted their daughters to our care must be turning in their graves right now."

"Would you rather see that head we were entrusted with roll away from its body," whispered Lady Gertruded fiercely, her eyes flashed with conviction as she spoke, "because heads will roll if they suspect Lady Kaoma of playing a hand in Lord Horace's death, even though we know he died of natural causes, greed will have people twisting things to seize control of those strategic lands. We both decided to avoid any suspicion cast her way by having her get pregnant and take control of both estates. Right now Lady Kaoma might be slumming but in the future she can have more control and her pick of husbands if everything goes according to plan, and for this plan to succeed we can't afford you to get cold feet now."

Lady Hilda just shook her head in response it was no use arguing with Lady Gertrude and time was of the essence.

Even though this man was a perfect match for a younger but more handsome version of Lord Horace in his youth, how could they forge ahead with this scheme?

Not because he was a commoner and would be executed by Lord Herbert on his return anyways meant that they had any right to use him in such a horrid way.

Taking away the last of any trace of dignity that would make him human by chaining him down to the bed.

Coercing him to get the job done was just unfortunate that it had to happen this way.

Seeing that her sister was having doubts and still not convinced Lady Gertrude pressed on, "Look on it this way if Lord Horace hadn't keeled over before consummating the marriage then Lady Kaoma wouldn't be a virgin anyways. We are just putting to rights what should have occurred by law and this virile young buck is the man we need to get the job done. He's going to hang from the gallows anyways so why not let him enjoy his last few days on earth there is no greater prize than our precious Lady Kaoma. If he gets out of line no one will care how we punish him. She needs to get pregnant, there is no if, but or maybe about it."

He couldn't believe that two old women could be so devious, did all the humans here want to kill him?

Maxixe couldn't understand what he did wrong in the first place for them to wish death on him, it made no sense. 

He deduced that if he somehow managed to get the little minx pregnant with child their use for him would end then and there.

It was up to him to delay the process as long as he could so that he could be rescued, that was the only thing that motivated him to keep going and get his revenge on the vile humans.

"You go and bring Lady Kaoma back to the room, I will finish up here and ensure that everything is fit for our lady's first night, just leave it to me," assured Lady Gertrude.

Maxixe blushed a scarlet red he couldn't believe what he was hearing, much less how he managed to remain silent while the women spoke.

Damn that Captain Herbert to hell if it wasn't for that beast of a human knocking him unconscious in such an undignified manner he wouldn't be in this mess.

Where the hell was his cousin and why were they taking so long to come and retrieve him?

Even though he knew it was short lived he still managed to breathe a sigh of relief.

When both older women finally exited the room one after the other and eventually left him to his own perilous thoughts once more.

He didn't know how long he had been left alone but the sun had gone down and a cool night breeze crept into the room. 

His heartbeat quickened when he heard footsteps outside the door, it slightly opened, the door was ajar but no one entered, he looked but only saw shadows in the passage way.

At first their voices were hushed but one of them eventually grew agitated, a younger voice.

A voice he recognized even though it sounded more mature than the last time he heard it but in his heart he had no doubt that it was Lady Kaoma's.

Surely she would take one look at him, recognize and remember their friendship and set him free, he had no doubt of it in his mind.