Marri's Approach (Brackish Bay) Read online

  Marri’s Approach

  Brackish Bay, Book Seven

  By

  Cerise Noble

  ©2016 by Blushing Books® and Cerise Noble

  All rights reserved.

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  Noble, Cerise

  Marri’s Approach

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-68259-557-2

  Cover Design by ABCD Graphics & Design

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the Author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

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  Table of Contents:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  About Cerise Noble

  Ebook Offer

  Blushing Books Newsletter

  About Blushing Books

  Dedicated to:

  Cruithne – You believed in me, even when I didn't, and better, gave me the tools to make your belief come true.

  Chapter 1

  My head broke the surface of the water, and I snorted before cutting towards the shore with strong strokes. My patrol followed—Zarilla, Sami, Petunia, Carol and Dawn. They were from Cinitar, a city-state famed for its fine cloth. They weren't weavers, though Sami's family was a prominent one, and Petunia's mother one of the better embroiderers. They were soldiers.

  And right then, they were swimming. We fought the current of the river, staying low, staying quiet. The lack of sunlight didn't help, and while moonlight would have been helpful, it would have also made us more visible.

  The current pulled on me, and I cursed silently, weighed down in my armor. I didn't carry a pack with me, nor did any of the others, so the only supplies we had were what could fit in our pockets. My lungs burned with exertion, and I breathed as quietly as I could, attempting to keep from detection by the sailors or passengers on the ship we'd slipped from just minutes before.

  I slid under the waves, and when I broke the surface again I was nearly there. I plowed forward, and finally the toes of my boots hit the mud. Thank Fortuna. I stood up and slogged forward, keeping my movements as smooth as possible so if someone happened to look over—but the boat was a ways downriver by now— he wouldn't know what he was looking at.

  I leaned against a nearby tree trunk and watched the rest of my patrol land. Petunia was first, even though she had started last, and Dawn was right beside her. I smiled as they came towards me.

  “Excellent.”

  Dawn fetched up beside me while Petunia kept a little more distance, frowning into the waves where Sami, Zarilla, and Carol swam towards the shore.

  “Carol's struggling.”

  I turned my attention to the blonde head bobbing in the water. It was true; the current had pushed her much farther southeast with the flow of the river than it had the rest of us. But she was still swimming steadily.

  “She'll be all right.”

  “You think I should go in after her?”

  “No.”

  Petunia continued to watch. Tall and willowy, her dark skin and dark hair were the opposite of Carol's light skin and light hair. Zarilla landed, muttering curses under her breath. I spoke to her.

  “What happened?”

  “Could have sworn a damned crocodile nibbled on my toes.”

  “They're asleep right now.”

  She fixed a baleful gaze on me. “Something nibbled on my toes. And this river is damn near infested.”

  I shrugged. “You made it; you're fine.”

  She shook her short hair, making sure to spray me with water. I ignored her.

  “Carol's not on shore yet.” I looked at Petunia. “Go to where she'll land and help her out. But don't go back in the water yourself.”

  She sprinted off without acknowledging the second part of my orders. I sighed, and Sami slogged ashore, then flopped down dramatically.

  “I do not want to do that again.”

  “You're going to have to when we get to Brackish Bay.”

  “What the Krist?”

  “We're going to sneak in. I want to know how secure his city actually is from outside infiltration.”

  “You really plan to spy on your master's city?”

  I shrugged. “Of course. An outside
r's eyes may see more than those who are familiar. Brackish Bay is important to William, and therefore it is important to me. I don't have many skills to offer, but I’m good at spying and sneaking and gathering information and assessing threats. These are things I could do, and so I will.”

  “With our help.”

  “With your help.”

  Only a few weeks before—had it been that short a time, Fortuna?—they had helped my master, William the Poet, thwart an attempt by Zalactown to poison their army. I helped, too, and in their esteem for my work, they had asked their general for a leave of absence.

  What did I do with such loyalty? Of course I took it with me, and decided to test it against the hardest mission I'd ever been on. William allowed it, allowed me to plot a mission on my own, with one caveat. He obtained our oaths to harm no citizen of Brackish Bay. We agreed reluctantly. I'd found killing an invaluable tool in my arsenal.

  He also warned us that the governor of Brackish Bay, Roy, was ruthless, a hard, powerful man. The roads in his outposts had often run red with blood. He defended his city at all costs. But I had broken into many a well defended city before, had learned the information needed to cut in and slice the insides open so my army could take what it wanted, and then established a violent rule before it moved on. I did not believe that Brackish Bay was any safer than those, and I intended to prove it. We merely had to sneak in, multiple times, and not get caught. If we were caught, and he didn't kill us outright, Roy would make us slaves.

  I've been a slave, Fortuna. I have no wish to be one again. Still, my belly clenched at the desire the thought invoked. I wish you had made me otherwise, Fortuna. But I play the cards I'm dealt, and it was true—the fact that violence aroused me had come in very, very useful many times before. Not that I would do something so foolish as let the sailors know when we disembarked. The last thing I needed was an irate male bumbling around my mission. Even Dinis, my sometimes lover who had also worked towards the resolution in Cinitar, knew better than to get in my way. He'd opted to stay with William, William’s lover Amadeus, and their foster daughter Katherine, all of whom he owed a debt for helping him when he was near death. But it doesn't do, Fortuna, to wrap my thoughts around one who is not with me.

  We rested in the trees that night, too tired to want to deal with a fire. In the morning, we hiked downriver, following the boat we'd vacated, until we came upon the tiniest shore settlement I'd ever seen. There was nothing more than a small building for trading, and a little house for guests to stay, eat, or drink in. There were quite a few horsemen on the outskirts, but we ignored them, hiking into the woods just beyond, quickly losing sight of the ancient road that lay crumbling under our feet.

  Three days later we were deep in the woods that lined the bank just north of Brackish Bay's southwestern-most outpost. I reminded my patrol of William's rules.

  “No killing. If you have to choose between dying and killing a citizen of Brackish Bay, you may kill them, but that is an absolute last resort. First you must exhaust all options to run away, hide, or surrender. Surrender is not defeat. You will either escape, or we will free you.

  “Keep quiet. I do not want the governor to know what we're up to. If we alert him, he will be better equipped to thwart us. I want to prove how lacking his defenses are in times of low alert, not show how good they are when there is a known threat.

  “Gather information. The first mission is merely to enter his territory without being noticed by any of the guards, without being checked at the docks, without being harassed or hassled by any of his officials. The more information we can gather each time we enter his territory, the better we'll be able to plan the next one. Also, gather something to prove where you've been and what you've seen. If we do this correctly, they will not know we were there, and we will need to prove it.

  “Any questions?” There were no questions. “We will use this tree—” I marked it with a cut through the tender bark. “As our meeting point. Gather here three days from now.”

  We separated, each planning to attack the city from a different direction. Dawn and Petunia were the strongest swimmers, so they were going to cross the river and enter each of the outposts on the northeast bank. Carol and Sami were going to enter the outposts on this bank. Zarilla and I were going to appear on the island, the most difficult of locations. We'd each picked a different side in order to maximize the potential for success, and we set out just before dawn when it was light enough to see, but still dark enough to offer some concealment.

  I slipped into the water and let myself drift along, carried in the current. There were rocks and workers, but I let myself float rather than swim, so there was no splashing to attract attention. I slipped under the large bridge, narrowly avoiding the tall concrete pylons that must have cost a fortune to build. I had left my armor at our gathering place, judging it too heavy for this swim. The last one had been difficult, and the armor was too conspicuous for a mission.

  Zarilla was taking the nearest edge of the island, while I was taking the farthest. I caught myself against a log three quarters of the way around the island to rest and plan my entry now that I could see the far end of the island. There was a small stretch of gravel beach; that was probably the best place. It would take some strong swimming to reach it due to the current, but there weren't many people on this edge, so I didn't think I'd attract attention. And if I did, I was wearing a sort of generic tunic like women wore in many cities, so I was sure that I would be overlooked.

  I let my body drift out from the log, my mind focused on the beach to the exclusion of everything else, even the coolness of the water on the remnants of my bruises from the last time William had punished me. Then I saw it. One big glassy eye stared at me from the other side of the log, and my heart stopped. That is one big, mean, scary crocodile, Fortuna. Now or never. I let go of the log, and the current swept me away just as the open jaw snapped shut. A tremor wracked my body even as I praised Fortuna's name. And then it was time to work. As predicted, the current would miss the beach, so I began to swim, taking long, smooth strokes that angled towards the low point on the land. Nearly there, I grew over-confident, and then the undertow yanked me back towards the river.

  No, Fortuna! I struck hard for the beach. It was exhausting. When my legs brushed sand, I wept and stood up to stumble forward. Crawling as far from the water as I could, I curled in a ball to rest.

  Noon light battered me awake. I flinched away from the over-amorous sun and rubbed the sand from my skin. At least I wasn't crocodile food. I tugged at my tunic and bemoaned my lack of forethought in not removing it to dry before I'd gone to sleep. It was a wrinkled mess, a strange mix of dry and wet. I considered wetting it down again and letting it dry before I attempted to infiltrate the island, but my impatience got the best of me. When does it not, Fortuna?

  I scrambled up the steep incline to the regular level of ground and looked around. There were clusters of houses, a dock in the distance, some buildings for processing fish and other catch from the river, and a number of laundry lines with fabric flapping in the breeze in the distance.

  What would prove I've been here, Fortuna? I walked steadily along, observing everything I could see while not gawking like a tourist. Someone's dress would do nicely, but I would also probably end up causing someone a beating for losing it, and I didn't want to do even that little harm. I saw a woman sitting outside her door, spinning wool into yarn. Her feet pressed, back and forth, up and down on the pedals while her hands moved back and forth, feeding the lump of wool onto the bobbin. I stopped to watch, fascinated. Having spent the later half of my life in the cities or the army, I was far more familiar with markets than with actual craftspersons.

  She called me. “Good day, mistress.”

  I came forward. “Good day, madam.”

  She giggled. “My name is Sarafina. I'm no one's madam.”

  “Well met, Sarafina. My name is Marri.” I watched her steady rhythm for a long time. “You're so precise. It's am
azing to watch.”

  She giggled again. “Thank you.”

  A small child peeked around the frame of the door. “Mama?”

  She didn't turn, evidently recognizing the child from its voice. “Yes, Yasmine?”

  “I'm hungry.”

  “All right, sweeting. Let Mama finish this basket of wool.” She continued to spin while the child eyed me curiously.

  “Who's that lady?”

  I smiled at the little one, who was maybe five years old. “My name is Marri.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I find out things.”

  “What things?”

  I wondered what the child knew of soldiers. Probably not enough. I thought about Katherine.

  “Stories.”

  The child's face lit up. “Stories? Like William?”

  I grinned. “Yes, like William. But he tells them much better than I do.”

  “He's gone. He hasn't visited in a long time.”

  “Oh, no. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure he'll be back soon.”

  Sarafina made a small sound, so I paused. She spoke up.

  “Remember that William the Poet travels, sweeting. He might be gone for a long, long time. But when he comes back, he will be sure to tell you a good story about whatever you want.”

  “All right.” The child sounded disappointed. “Can Marri tell me a story?”

  “Perhaps. Why don't you ask?”

  “Marri, can you tell me a story?”

  “I can, if your mama allows it.”

  Sarafina smiled. “A short one, while I finish this.”

  “All right.” I settled onto the ground. “Once there was a woman who was a soldier.”

  “A soldier?”

  “Yes. Just like the men, she was strong and could swing a sword or shoot a bow or even, sometimes, when they had ammunition, she could shoot a gun.”