Henrietta

Negotiations

~Chapter Fourteen~

Luther took a seat near the bed and gave an outbreath as he turned over his shoulder to stare at her. Her cheeks blushed with a honeyed touch of pink as her chest rose and fell. Her hair cascaded around her almost as if adorning her head with long locks of soft brown waves. There had been plenty of beautiful captives ones he had had the pleasure of bedding, not by force but because they had claimed to never met a man with such tenderness. If Luther had ever allowed his men to take the women for their own gain he was certain they would have been raped and left in the many trees that surrounded their hide outs. So he took it upon himself to claim them and spare their lives. Each face had been forgotten, even their names had vanished from his mind.

However, Henrietta had eyes that were like the dark blue sky at night, suddenly seizing you under their spell. Her lips were a hint of rose, a petite nose, and a fragile graceful jaw. He slipped from his shirt and tossed it aside as he forced his eyes to look from her to were his bronze tub sat. He neared it striping from his attire and slipped into the water letting out a heavy sigh.

After a long stroll through the woods, he came to discover that the shock of knowing Lydia had passed away quickly settled in him. He had come to the terms that long ago he had left her to live her life. He had asked, and even begged for them to elope but she had always refused. Maybe Lydia had loved Calvin long ago and only slipped into his arms to pretend her world was set right. Truth was he did not know what to make of it, Nathaniel had never mentioned that she had died and he understood why. His brother had known of their affairs and always considered that if Calvin ever found out he was well deserving of it.

He let the water soak his dirt-covered skin and rested his head against the rim of the tub feeling his pulsing headache slowly vanish. Another thought entered his head as he thought about the young lad named Henry. What if the child was his? Was it the last piece of Lydia he could claim, what if he could go in search of him and keep him, raise him as his own? However, how could he prove that the child was his?

Instead of letting the thought's set in, he sat forward and reached for the cloth to scrub every inch of his body. He rubbed until his skin grew red and finally pulled out of the water patting himself dry and quickly dressing into a pair of slacks and a light cotton white shirt. Outside a sudden argument erupted as he took a seat next to Henrietta's sleeping body and quickly slipped out to see what the matter could be.

"Luther!" someone else snapped out.

Slipping into his brown shin high boots, he slung his sword around his hips and walked out of the tent.

"What business do you have intruding in our part of the lands!" Luther snapped.

A man sat mounted on a white stallion, his cloak preventing Luther from looking into his eyes to identify the intruder.

"I suggest you answer." Luther said.

The man dismounted and Luther's gang of thugs quickly surrounded him, pointing their swords, spears, and arrows at him.

"Is that anyway to receive your family?" the man said.

Luther inched closer and felt his eyes grow wide as he stared into a hauntingly familiar face.

***

Calvin reached to remove his hood and finally revealed himself to Luther, who held a priceless expression on his face, almost making Calvin smirk. Instead, he held the stern look upon his face and quickly surveyed the men surrounding him. There were at least thirteen mercenaries pointing deadly weapons at him, but it was nothing he could not handle.

"The only family I have are the ones pointing their swords at your throat, now what are you doing here?" Luther sneered.

"You have something that belongs to me." Calvin said.