The Treasure of Gwenlais, page 102
part #1 of The Rienfield Chronicles Series
“You are laughing at me?!” she asked Caleb, yelling at him shrilly.
Caleb stopped laughing immediately, and began to shake his head.
“No, no I am not,” he answered breathlessly, still trying to control his mirth.
She then cursed at him as well in Kedesh, with equal vehemence and profanity. Caleb looked at her in surprise then in complete annoyance. He could not believe what came out of her mouth, yet again. The room fell into complete silence to only explode again in a moment with bellowing laughter. Aiden was so beside himself he was sitting on the floor, while King Fergus shoulders shook with his uncontrolled laughter as he covered his face leaning into his hand. Laurel trembled with anger and frustration as she quickly made her way out of the Council Chamber. Caleb watched her for a moment, shaking his head at her, smirking sardonically.
“Caleb, you had better go after her,” King Fergus said, as he struggled to speak from laughing so hard.
Caleb went after her quickly, hoping to catch her before she got out of the building. He stepped out of the Chamber and into the spacious sun drenched corridor, light spilling in from the windows in the ceiling. He saw Laurel walking quickly towards the door, her long skirt rustling behind her.
“Laurel!” Caleb called out to her, his voice resonating off the ceiling.
When she did not respond to him, he became quite irritated.
“Really, are you going to make me run to catch up to you?” he asked her, his voice not hiding his displeasure.
She stopped for a moment, turned and looked at him, her expression still angry and vexed. She answered him with another Kedesh insult, which caused him to stop in his tracks for a moment, looking at her in complete surprise. She then turned and hiking up her skirts a bit, began running towards the large door at the end of the corridor. He began to laugh to himself quietly, as he ran after her. He caught up to her quickly as she reached the door and began to open it, he reached up and slammed it shut, taking her arm and turning her to face him.
“I am not speaking to you!” Laurel yelled at Caleb, looking up at him.
Her face flush with emotion, her eyes stormy and filled with unbidden tears of frustration. Caleb looked at her, his eyes no less penetrating, and his expression stern and impatient.
“You do not have to speak to me, but you are not leaving without me either,” Caleb replied, his voice low and intense.
“I have my own horse! I do not need to go with you!” Laurel answered in the same angry tone, her voice shaking with emotion
Caleb held Laurel by both of her arms, and pulled her against him, lowering his face closer to hers, closing his eyes he then gently kissed her forehead, several times before he spoke.
“You are exhausted, and very upset, and I do not blame you. I am however not going to let you ride back yourself. I will have your horse brought back to the stables. Please take a breath and calm down, and we will go home together in a few moments,” Caleb said, in a calm deep voice.
“I wish to leave now. I do not want to see anyone at this time....not even Phineas,” Laurel replied in a quieter, but still shaking voice.
“Very well mo stor, we will leave now. You will ride back with me on my horse. We will take our time, there is no need to rush back,” Caleb answered calmly, as he kissed her forehead again.
“I am still mad at you,” Laurel said pouting.
Caleb just smiled at her as he led her out of the door. They rode silently back to the Lodge, Caleb had his arms tightly about Laurel’s waist. She felt herself calming down from the incident at the meeting, the air was warm with the bright afternoon sun, but with still a slight breeze. The slow rhythmic movement of Caleb’s horse and the sound of his hooves hitting the path was comforting, as she let out a deep breath. Caleb felt her exhale deeply, and smiled. He had chosen to take the long way home in order to allow Laurel time to calm down.
“Are you starting to relax a bit my love?” he asked, his voice deep and soft in her ear.
She smiled slightly in spite of herself, at his question.
“Yes, a bit I suppose. Though I am still not very happy about what happened. I can still hear their wretched booming laughter in my head. And I am very disappointed in Aiden and your father, for laughing also. There was nothing funny about it,” she said grumpily, slightly pouting.
“I see. And what of me? Have you forgiven me yet?” Caleb asked, with a low seductive tone, his face close to her ear.
“No. I am still angry with you as well,” Laurel said curtly.
Caleb smirked at her rather quick response. Even though she said she was still angry with him, he felt from her body’s response as he held her, she was not as angry as she was claiming to be.
“Hmm. Well I suppose I will have to do something about that,” he replied in the same low tone.
“What do you mean? What exactly do you plan on doing?” Laurel asked in an annoyed voice.
“Oh you will see,” he said casually, smiling roguishly.
“You are not going to tell me?” she asked, her voice sounding more irritated.
“No,” Caleb stated simply, shaking his head as he spoke, still with the same smile.
Laurel turned away from Caleb with a huff, her eyes becoming stormy with her rising temper. Frustrated at her inability to do anything else, as she was seated in front of him, and he still held her tightly in his arms.
Aiden helped Phineas to his horse, still being shaken from Remy's blow to his eye. It had swollen shut at this point and his head was throbbing.
“You should have kept quiet, Phinny, Caleb warned you this would happen,” Aiden reminded him smiling broadly.
“I still feel I said and did what had to be done. I could not stand by and let them insult her Highness that way,” Phineas said defensively.
“You were actually more insulted than she was,” King Fergus said chuckling as he got on his horse. “Aiden, I think we should go home the short way, through the forest, we do not need to have Phineas fall off his horse from getting dizzy on the path. Besides that, more than likely Caleb took Laurel home along the path to take their time and allow her to calm down. Hopefully by now she has stopped cursing at him,” he said beginning to laugh as he pictured the scene again in his mind.
Aiden laughed as well, and in spite of his throbbing head, Phineas could not help but smile. The route through the forest was certainly less smooth than that of the main path, but it was less bright and much faster to the Great Lodge, much to the relief of Phineas whose head was pounding mercilessly.
King Fergus had word sent to Master Elphin to meet them in the private sitting room, so as to tend to Phineas' bruised and swollen eye. They entered the Lodge with the Queen already waiting at the top of the stairs, her expression shocked and then becoming angry as she looked at Phineas.
“This is completely unacceptable Fergus. Remy had no right whatsoever to do this,” Queen Alana said clearly upset.
“It is quite alright your Majesty. As was pointed out, I was warned something like this might happen. I feel more upset that it caused the Princess so much distress,” Phineas said regrettably, as Aiden helped him into the sitting room.
“Yes about that. Where is Laurel and Caleb, and what happened? I have already heard the most ridiculous stories concerning Laurel’s behavior from the returning page,” the Queen asked incredulously.
They entered the sitting room and Master Elphin was there waiting for Phineas, directing Aiden to assist his patient to a large overstuffed chair.
“What exactly have you heard my dear?” the King asked, continuing the conversation.
“That after Phineas was assaulted, Laurel flew into a rage and began cursing at the Chieftains and then turned on Caleb. I am finding that all very hard to believe,” the Queen said, with an annoyed tone, as she sat in her favourite chair.
Aiden and his father exchanged knowing smiles, before the King replied to his wife.
“I am afraid to inform you my dear that is exactly what happened. Poor Laurel was so upset at seeing her dear counselor on the floor, that she completely lost her temper and began to unleash quite a barrage of curses in Kedesh. We were all so surprised we started laughing in shock and she unfortunately saw Caleb laughing also, and then let him have it as well,” King Fergus explained, beginning to chuckle again at seeing the Queen’s shocked expression.
Aiden stood shaking his head laughing to himself as Master Elphin carefully tending to Phineas, was smiling broadly in amusement of the situation.
“If someone could please indulge me for a moment, what exactly did her Highness say?” Phineas asked, struggling to swallow the bitter liquid that Master Elphin had given him for the pain.
“That is right! Phinny does not speak Kedesh,” Aiden exclaimed clearly amused. “Well, should I tell him?” he asked, with a bright smile.
“I do not see why not. He deserves to know. I must warn you my dear, our little Princess was quite foul,” King Fergus said to the Queen laughingly.
“Oh please, just get on with it,” Queen Alana said, rolling her eyes.
“She called all the Chieftains, ignorant, foul smelling, boorish spent slaves of Yak women. Who deserved to have their balls hung from their necks,” Aiden said gleefully, as his mother and Phineas both let out shocked gasps.
“Oh, that is not the worst of it,” Aiden continued. “She looked over and saw Caleb laughing, well we were all laughing, but she was angrier with him doing so. And then she looked him right in the face and called him a gork loving son of a toothless whore. I nearly wet myself at that point, the look on Caleb’s face when she said that was priceless,” Aiden said, laughing again uncontrollably.
The King and Queen exchanged looks and also began laughing at the thought of Laurel standing in the Council Chamber cursing at the Clann Chieftains. Phineas who was now feeling the effects of the pain medicine began laughing as well.
“I am so proud of her,” Phineas said, trying to regain his composure.
“Well then what happened after all that?” the Queen asked breathlessly.
“The poor girl was so flustered and angry at this point because we were all laughing like fools, except for Caleb of course, that she turned and stormed out of the chambers. I told Caleb he should go after her and he did. I am not sure where they are right now,” King Fergus said, as he wiped his eyes.
“I have nothing but new found respect for her Highness standing up for herself like that. Good for her I say, those bullies deserved it. Now if you no longer require my services I will take my leave. Let me know if you need anything else Master Phineas,” the Physician said as he left the room.
A moment after the Physician's departure, Mauve entered the room informing them that the two Chieftains, Remy and McCullan, were requesting to see the family. The king had her show them in. They walked solemnly into the room, their expressions stern and serious.
“We are here to inform you we have reached our decision, concerning Princess Laurel and Prince Caleb’s union,” Remy said in all seriousness.
“This is unheard of. You usually take two days to reach a decision,” the Queen informed them, becoming defensive.
“After what went on at the Council Chamber this afternoon, it did not take us long to make up our minds,” McCullan said sternly.
The family glanced uneasily at each other waiting to hear what had been decided.
As they reached the front of the Great Lodge, Caleb swung down from his horse, and then reached up to help Laurel down. She looked at him with narrowed stormy eyes, her lips still slightly pouting. She did not speak when he continued to smile at her as he helped her down. He motioned a nearby servant over to instruct him to have his horse brought to the stables. Laurel simple walked ahead into the Lodge, walking through the Grand Hall towards the main stairway to the private family rooms. Caleb caught up to her quickly still smiling at her as he held her hand, ascending the stairs.
“Why do you keep looking at me that way? I do not find you amusing,” Laurel said, her voice becoming increasingly angry.
“I would like to remind you mo stor, that if anyone has a reason to be angry right now it would be me. Are you forgetting what you called me in front of the Chieftains and my father and brother? People, I might add, who will enjoy telling me repeatedly how much they enjoyed your little tantrum,” Caleb said, in a slightly scolding tone.
“It was not a tantrum. I was very angry and frustrated at what they did to poor Phineas. Then they had the nerve to laugh about it, and then laughed at me. And when you laughed at me... well I was just beside myself at that point, so you deserved it,” Laurel said, in an insolent tone.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Caleb walked over quickly to the corridor, still holding Laurel’s hand causing her to run lightly to keep up with him.
Turning her to face him, he looked down into her eyes, smiling only slightly, his eyes intense and penetrating.
“So you have absolutely no regret, about what you called me?” Caleb asked in a low voice.
Laurel saw that he was on the verge of losing his temper, and was still feeling angry herself. After thinking for a moment however, decided to tease him a bit, not willing to let him off so easily.
“I do not recall what I said exactly,” she said, smiling at him coyly.
Caleb pulled her closer to him with his hands around her waist, smiling at her sardonically.
“You proceeded to tell everyone, quite boldly, that I enjoy intimate relations with gorks, and my mother being of ill repute, and having no teeth,” his voice low and sultry.
Laurel stifled a laugh as she looked at him biting her lower lip.
“Well I do regret that. I had no intentions of insulting your mother, she had nothing to do with this,” she said, unable to stop from smiling.
“Really? That is all that you regret? Give me a reason why I should not bring you in my room right now, take you across my knee and give you a good spanking, and you had better be convincing,” Caleb said, still smiling but his voice low and edgy.
Laurel’s eyes widened at his words, not sure if he was teasing or not. “Because you love me, and realize that you were still partly to blame for me losing my temper, and being so close to our wedding day, what a shame it would be, to do anything that you might regret,” Laurel said, softly smiling up at him sweetly, her hands resting on his chest.
Caleb laughed at her words. She could be utterly charming when she chose to be, though he was still not amused by her cursing at him in front of everyone, yet again.
“You are correct. I do love you, and I will concede that I should not have laughed, but that does not change the fact that this makes it the third time you have sassed or cursed at me in front of people. I believe I am seeing a pattern here,” Caleb replied, holding her flush against him.
“Oh. Oh yes,” Laurel answered pausing for a moment. “That is not a pattern. It has all been just unfortunate coincidences,” Laurel said, still smiling at him.
Caleb laughed at her again, her wit was her saving grace and she knew it.
“Well I suppose I cannot blame you for coincidences now can I?” Caleb asked her, not really expecting an answer.
He bent down and slowly began kissing her mouth, allowing her to adjust to his intensity. When he felt her relax and move in rhythm with him, he became more passionate, kissing her deeply and ardently. When he heard her moan softly at the passion of the moment, he suddenly pulled away, waiting for her response. She opened her eyes and looked at him expectantly.
“I still feel I should bring you in my room. I have to admit you were quite convincing,” he said in a quiet voice his eyes softer and less intense.
“Why? Are you still angry?” Laurel asked, a bit concerned.
“No, not at all. I was never angry with you dearest, just a bit annoyed,” Caleb said laughing quietly. “I just feel I should show you how much I wished I had not laughed at you. I wish to make up for all the nonsense you had to be party to today. Also at some point someone will come looking for you and they will not likely look for you in my room, and I know they will think twice before knocking on my door. I want to have you to myself for a bit. Did I not promise I would make it worth your effort?” Caleb said in a low seductive tone, as he gently kissed her forehead.
“Do you really think we should?” Laurel asked, her eyes soft and questioning.
“I do,” Caleb said softly kissing her face. “You must know by now you have nothing to worry about. I am capable mo stor of showing you love without losing my self-control,” as he gently stroked her hair.
Laurel looked up at his smiling face and seeing nothing but tenderness and love in his eyes. She smiled back and simply nodded her head in agreement not feeling the need to speak. Caleb smiled back at her and taking her hand led her into his room, shutting the door quickly behind them. He then held her in his arms and began to slowly move his hands up and down her back, which he always did when he was attempting to calm her or help her to relax.
“Here dearest, let me help you with your dress,” Caleb mentioned casually, as he began to untie the laces on the back of her dress.
“What are you doing?” Laurel asked, a bit surprised.
“I am untying the laces Laurel, so I can help you out of your dress. You must be uncomfortable by now. The bodice is quite tight,” Caleb said, very matter of factly.
“Well...um yes it is,” Laurel mentioned, hesitantly.
Caleb looked at her and smiled as he continued to reach behind and unlace the dress.
“No need to feel shy dearest. I have seen you in your chemise and slip before. To be perfectly honest it looks like another type of dress to me. With the exception of your neck and arms it fully covers you. I always felt you women wore far too much clothing, underneath,” Caleb said lowering his voice, as he grinned at her roguishly.
Laurel blushed as she smiled at him shyly. Caleb finished with the last of the laces, quickly pulled the dress over Laurel’s head, surprising her how effortlessly he had done it. Placing the dress over a chair he then smiled at her and kissed her forehead.
