The Thorian Sagas. 2. Insurrection.

Monique made her way back to the lower council chambers to find that her younger sister, Sophie, soon joined her there.

Bradshaw had seen a way to get a start on clearing those troublesomely annoying MacBeaths out of her way. She would not dare interfere with their parents during this difficult time, nor put Sophie’s name as a priority on the tributes list, just yet.

She still feared retribution.

Sophie was confused with what was happening, having been snatched up without warning.

She looked around nervously, seeing Thorians, though she knew enough from her sister not to fear them as others did.

She was also able to see the Kelts, probably because they wanted her to see them.

Monique moved over to her and hugged her. She would explain everything to her when they were able to settle down, later in that evening, but in the meantime told her to stay close to her, where it would be safer, and to listen.

Everything that Liam had told her about a coming invasion… siege… insurrection, had already disappeared from her mind. She had other things to occupy herself with.

Many things had changed already in the council chambers.

The armaments of these Thorians had been tidied away, and each of them already had a room to himself. All of Monique’s troop of guards were there, nine of them with the Thorians with whom each had exchanged necklaces; the rest of them, helping.

Monique had been the only one missing until now.

They were already following the directions of other Kelts that had appeared to help them. Monique had not called them up, yet the small cloth bag at her waist contained fewer pebbles. She had not noticed any of them disappear.

She and another one of her guards, and her sister, were required to look after the Thorian in chamber number four. He would have to be known as ‘four’, or ‘number four’, until she was able to learn his proper name.

Using a room number to identify him was unsatisfying when she needed to know his name, having made this strange bond with him.

Boril broke into her thoughts from somewhere nearby, sensing her frustration.

’Better if you do not know their names.”

He explained further.

’If you had their names in your minds as you work around them, you would establish a connection between each of you and the one you are to look after. That could work against you both, with them in this unconscious state, and not fully in control of their own minds or their responses.

‘You could be damaged.’

Whatever that meant. It seemed to make sense, in a way, so she would accept it, but she could not help but be curious.

Stoker had told them a little, but never enough to decipher a name, and all of that, had been almost a year earlier, even though it felt like yesterday.

There were two of the Kelt women in that fourth room, ready to help her, and to tell them what they would need to know about looking after these giants of men, that even three of the guards had difficulty moving from the desert and into the city.

Monique’s task, and that of her sister and the other helper, was to do everything for these men that they could no longer do for themselves. They would need to work together to move him around to avoid sores and pressure points, and to feed him as often as four times a day, or to prepare his meals and get his bath ready, as well as other things.

With all of that to do, they would have little time to sleep.

Monique was not sure that anyone unconscious could still take food or water without risk of choking, but soon learned that the pangs of hunger brought these Thorians closer to consciousness; enough to be able to take food and wine, but without actually waking up. They would subside back into unconsciousness again when they had eaten enough.

It seemed very strange.

Barbara, the first Kelt, explained everything in detail and would even show them, where she could.

“They will need to be shaved twice each day. Thorians are always careful of their appearance, knowing that they must never present a less than perfect impression wherever they go, so you must do that for them.”

These two Kelt women with them, taught them all that was required. They would start with showing them what was required in order to shave him.

With the bed being relatively high, compared with their smaller size, the leader of the two Kelts had no hesitation climbing onto the bed with him, sitting on his upper body over him, pulling her tunic up from her legs and out of the way, as her companion brought everything she would need.

It all looked faintly improper, with her straddled across him like that.

Monique could see herself doing that… but it all seemed fairly risqué and could too easily lead to trouble.

She had changed a lot in the time that Stoker had been with them. She had often let her mind entertain many different thoughts about herself and someone like Stoker. And this Thorian was like Stoker. But so must Liam be. Except he had gone, for the moment.

Monique and her companions watched everything Barbara did in this strange ritual that they had never seen done before.

Barbara looked pointedly at them, and then firmly passed her hand over his cheek, so that they could hear the rasping sound that his bristles made on her rough hand.

She then encouraged them forward to feel for themselves.

It felt strange.

They felt lucky not to have to shave for themselves.

“When you can hear that sound… he needs to be shaved.”

She took the water and soap her friend passed her, raising a lather on his face. Taking a sharp open blade from the dish beside her, she swept it slowly down his cheek in a noisy way as it cut the hundreds of bristles, leaving a clear trail in the soap. She rinsed the blade off and did the same again.

“Now you try.”

She passed the small and murderous blade to Monique.

“Slowly and gently.”

She watched Monique copy what she had done, as Monique stayed to one side, hearing the hair coming off, and then she indicated that Sophie should try, and then the third helper.

“You may draw a little blood here and there,” she pointed out. “It is practically unavoidable, especially under his chin and nose, which is why you must pay close attention to what you are doing, lean over him, and stretch the skin as you sweep down it.”

She demonstrated.

She completed shaving him as they watched, and then rinsed off the soap before drying his face.

His skin shone after that. There had been surprisingly little blood.

The exact same thing was happening in each of the other rooms.

“While they are here like this, there is little point in dressing them, or having them dressed.”

What a strangely disturbing thing to consider.

“He will need to be undressed for massaging, for exercise, and for bathing, which will take up most of the day, so why bother with anything so needless? He is not going anywhere like this. A light sheet is all he will need at any time.”

She directed them to take off his sandals and then the rest of his clothes as they moved him around, pushing, lifting, and pulling, to free his clothing from being trapped under him. She sensed their reluctance to do so, and their shyness, as well as their alarm, as more of him appeared.

They would soon lose those feelings when they were alone with him and could give free rein to their obvious curiosity.

Young women were always curious about a naked man when he was unconscious, and there was no one there to see them or to judge. They were drawn to this kind of a man, but it could also be dangerous too, if they ever got careless, or went too far, as they would always be tempted to do.

They had never done this before with any man, and it had been a long time since Stoker had surprised them by stripping down to nothing, as he was used to doing before wrestling. However, Stoker had never repeated any of that after that first time; recognizing his mistake and making sure that he retained some protective covering on both himself and them, after that. Or that was how he’d described it… for protection. His protection; as well as not wanting to shock them again as he had done; and after sensing his own response to that moment.

They were shy to do any of this with the Thorian until Barbara reasoned with them as the other Kelt stood back and smiled.

“If you leave him dressed, he will likely tear his tunic, and may even slip out of your hold when you need to move him to his bath. You do not want to drop him.”

She sensed Monique’s question.

“Yes, you may even shave him in his bath. That will save some time.”

As well as opening them up to other difficulties.

She went on to the next stage.

“Now, he is ready for massaging, to loosen up the muscles for exercising, which will be the hardest thing for you to do. It will give you both, all three of you, a workout like none you have ever had before, so you will need to co-operate with each other, moving him, bathing him, and then feeding him. You will need two of you for most of that. Shaving, is the only thing that one of you can manage alone.”

She continued to teach them, telling them what to do as she supervised each activity.

Getting him into the bath was a difficulty even with three of them, so they might need to get help from the others to execute that particular move. Four of them carrying him would be safer. They would soon be able to joke about it, and chuckle at what they could see, and the changes that occurred in his body as they worked around him, and as though that male item had a life and a mind of its own, even with the man unconscious to what was happening.

They would soon find out about that for themselves; touch, explore, give freedom to their curiosity, and learn about the many other things that made males special. It all could lead to only one conclusion, but that was still for them to find out. And they would find out. It was a thought, growing in each of their minds, and was a thought that she could also... but only barely... detect in the minds of each of these comatose men.

Thorians were always ripe for trouble, and mischief, and they’d already got a good start on that.

The hours seemed to speed by, but they had done well for their first day. The second day, if there was a second day, would be harder, and then it might get easier with practice.

After this, they would be able to sleep like babies, having got the hardest work-out that they would ever know.

Barbara, the first Kelt, and Ella, her companion were complimentary.

“Don’t worry, you will soon get used to this, and both you, and he, will improve as time goes by. You will develop an even stronger bond with him, as the others will with their charges, as a result of this. You are very lucky to have been so easily accepted.

Except all of this had long been planned. All of it, though what would these women know of that?

“I shall come by each morning and evening to see how you are progressing, and to assess each of them for consciousness and their condition. This is a situation that we have no experience of, but these men are tough.

“If the worst comes to the worst, Boril will need to invade each of their minds and shock them awake, but he has never needed to do that before, and that, is a last resort whose consequences cannot be foreseen. One should never take a Thorian by surprise.

“Boril says that he will give them a few more days.”