Chapter 3 - Paulus

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Chapter Three - Paulus

I

        His muscles began to burn, but he was enjoying the sensation. The sun was bright and evaporated his sweat. He could feel the heat enter his skin, knowing a burn was forming. It did not bother him; for some reason, he had always enjoyed the sensation when the burn did not go too deep. Already well beyond its zenith, the sun’s rays were blocked by the surrounding tree lines at properties front, and shade stretched into the open fields.
        He was pleased with his progress today. Crops covered the field and only a third remained to be planted. A smile creased his lips as pride swelled in his breast. This was the fastest he had ever planted the harvest, and he knew he would be finished by the morrow’s midmorning light or early afternoon at the latest.
        “Paulus,” A voice sailed through the air. Its tune had a sweet almost musical note to it.
        Paulus turned from the crop rows and felt his breath stricken from his lungs. He always felt this way when his eyes met hers. At times, he could have sworn she was a celestial being from the stories his mother used to read to him as a child; sent to the World by the Gods. She was the most radiant being he had ever seen, and her caring but fun nature made him love her more each day. Once, he had told her that thought, and her crisp laughter cut joy into his heart, despite its playful and mocking nature.
    She stood on the small porch at their simple farmhouse’s head. Her blond hair seemed to shimmer in the afternoon sun as if it created its own light, and her green eyes were as clear as the sea’s water. She had a full figure but was far from unsightly. Her skin was a gentle pink, like the lilies that grew in the vast open fields just beyond the trees that surrounded the farm. Paulus could see her smile as she recognized his breathlessness. Her expression stole his heart in the best way possible.
        “Paulus, you silly man,” Aemilia laughed, “Come for dinner, my love.”
        “At your behest, my wife,” Paulus made a sweeping bow, with a hand on his stomach and the other stretched behind him; similar to those done in the Empire’s larger cities.
        “I have married a fool,” Aemilia called out as she rolled her eyes.
        Paulus jogged towards the house and with the last few paces, he broke into a sprint. Aemilia tried to run back into the house and screamed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her from the porch.
        “Let go of me!” She laughed as he spun her to face him.
        Paulus scoffed playfully and said, “I could never do that!”
        He buried his face between her shoulder and neck. She tensed and laughed louder, while struggling to get away.
        “Paulus!” She said between laughing gasps. “Your stubble! That tickles!”
        With as much slobber as he could muster, he kissed her soft skin and enjoyed the playful scream that left her lips.
        “Gross!” She complained and laughed.
        He set her down and tilted her chin so he could take her eyes into his own. He loved their closeness and how her breath mixed with his. She blushed as she cleaned the slobbery kiss from her neck and smiled in such a way that made Paulus feel light. It was as if he could float away and nothing else in the world mattered.
        “You are a goof,” Aemilia said.
        “I don’t think you mind,” Paulus grinned.
        “I’ll never admit to that,” She said with a wink.
        Paulus pulled her closer, squeezing any air gaps between them away, and kissed her with all the passion he had. Aemilia returned it and wrapped her arms around his head. Becoming lost to the passion, Paulus found his hands questing down her back. He found her rear, which caused her to bite his lower lip ever so slightly. A pleasurable thrill rolled up his spine. Before he could go any further, she pulled away with a seductress’s grin.
        “Dinner is ready,” Aemilia said, “And you stink from your labours. Go clean up, handsome.”
        She ran her hand up his leg and squeezed his hip before spinning on her heel to enter the house.
        Paulus watched her go and felt like he was dying in all the right ways. Every fiber in his body was alive. It took no small effort to calm the fire running through his blood. He breathed hard and took a moment to enjoy the heat, before making his way to the barrel just off the porch. The water was cool and crisp as he poured it over his face. Dust and dirt tinted the liquid as it ran down his body. He took another ladle full and poured it down his back, pausing to enjoy the water’s cool tickle running down his body. After repeating several more times, he felt clean.
        The sun’s light began to shift to orange, causing the shadows to reach the porch. Paulus took one last minute to enjoy the dying light from the setting sun and being out in the open air. He watched birds glide lazily - with the slight wind in the distance - in an arrow’s shape and took serenity into his heart from the sight. He felt like a child again. Adult responsibilities and stresses fell away from him with the water drops descending his frame.
        “Are you coming in, love?” Aemilia called from inside.
        Paulus shook from his pleasant revelry and smiled. “Be right there.”

II

        The wagon bobbed with the gentle runts in the cobbled road. Paulus could feel Aemilia’s excitement along with his own. He decided to surprise her with a trip to the closest town, Lavici. They were some distance from the Empire’s capital, Carthirose, but Lavici was still an established and civilized settlement opposed to those further north beyond the Old Defenses; the fortresses that marked the Empire’s original borders and once lined the frontier.
        Paulus had once visited the Old Defenses’ with his father. The fortresses dotted the land within each other’s sight every few leagues. He still remembered them fondly. His father described their purpose and grandeur at great length. Paulus marveled at his father’s stories from his days in the citizen legions and wished those days still existed. Carthirose’s Empire was founded by the citizen and the citizen carved out the foundation with strength and purpose. That was something, he felt, the professional Legions lacked. They had no stake in the land and no passion to defend Carthirose - beyond coin and promises for a better future from the Emperor or the senate.
        Those days had passed into memory, just like his father. Many fortresses that made up the Old Defenses no longer bore a garrison due to the Empire’s expansion into the north and every other direction on the compass. Though they were shells from the past, the fortresses were still an imposing sight. Before Paulus and Aemilia had inherited the family farm and before they were married, Paulus had taken Aemilia on a sojourn through the old fortresses, like his father had taken him. Every night they would lay awake in the abandoned court yards, watching the endless stars slowly churn in the heavens and talking the entire night away.
        “What are you smiling at?” Aemilia said.
        “Memories,” Paulus replied as he came back into the present.
        Aemilia pinched his thigh and said, “Of last night?”
        Paulus laughed and began to blush. He met her seductive eyes, feeling heat rise.
        “Of nights we spent under the stars,” He said.
        “Oh, you are such a romantic,” She teased playfully.
        “I don’t think you mind.”
        “It can be quiet taxing at times, but I do my best to put up with your behaviours.”
        Paulus laughed, “I appreciate that you put up with me.”
        “I bet you do,” She grinned, “You are so lucky to have me.”
        “I am!”
        “There is that romance thing coming out from your face again.” She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner.
        “Still, I don’t think you mind.”
        Paulus laughed at Aemilia’s playful punch to his shoulder. He took his hand off Argento’s reigns and whispered to the horse to be calm from the sudden release in tension on the leather straps that guided the old nag, then wrapped his arm around Aemilia. Passion heated his chest, like fresh flames sprouting from newly cut wood.
        “I love you,” Paulus said.
        “I love you,” Aemilia replied and let her head rest on his shoulder.

III

        Paulus paid Lavici’s Beastmaster three copper coins; a small fortune for him. Only after the, rather plump, Beastmaster tested each coin with his few remaining teeth, did he nod his assent to take Argento and roughly grabbed the horse’s reigns. With one last check over the cart, Paulus took Aemilia’s hand and led the way to the market. It took some time to find their path as people trickled onto the main market street from every possible route. At last, the off-white stone buildings to either side fell away and acted like cliff faces to the bustling man-made valley.
        Lavici’s market was an activity hive. Street vendors pushed into the crowd and roared for attention, while brightly dressed performers danced, juggled, and blew bursting flame blasts into the air from their mouths. To Paulus it seemed like a festival was taking place; to Lavici’s citizens it was an ordinary day at market. The sights, the smells, and the splendor threatened to overwhelm his and Aemilia’s rural senses. It had been sometime since they had visited such a place after taking on a farmer’s lifestyle, but even in the times before the farm, it was a rare treat to explore the Empire’s bustling towns.
        “I can’t believe this!” Aemilia said.
        Paulus smiled and enjoyed his wife’s genuine delight.
        “What shall we do first?” Aemilia asked.
        As if an answer to her question, rich roasted meat smells enchanted Paulus’ nostrils, and he felt his stomach twist with hunger as his mouth watered in turn.
        “I think a meal is in order, so we have the strength to enjoy the market’s pleasures,” he suggested.
        The rich aroma filled Aemilia’s nostrils as well because she bobbed her head eagerly. With some effort, they squeezed through the crowd and found their way to the smell’s source. Paulus exchanged copper for two meat skewers and wine. Aemilia was an excellent cook, but their ingredient selection was limited on their farm, which led to simple stews and flat breads most days. Therefore, after the first bite Paulus devoured his skewer without pause for breath, enjoying the rich juices swirling around his tongue. There was no telling if the meat was poorly cooked as the flavours were so unique to his normal palette that he did not care. He could tell Aemilia was in an equal ecstasy as his own, from how she closed her eyes and savoured each small mouthful.
        They shared warm spiced wine from a single cup and blushed as heat rose to their cheeks. All said, it was a simple meal and did not bare any special extravagance to Lavici’s people, especially on a market day, but to Paulus and Aemilia it was what they imagined Carthirose’s nobility ate daily.
        Paulus gave Aemilia the remaining wine and let her finish, before taking her back into the crowds. They were lost to the wonders around them. In another life, when he did not know Aemilia, he would have been tense at the leisurely pace they took through the street. He would have known what was needed and with quick efficiency would do what was necessary to have his tasks completed. Aemilia, however, stopped at every market stand and was awe-struck by the street performers’ spectacles, which caused the bodies in traffic to divert and protest as they passed her. She did not notice how her travel jarred the crowds and with eager pointing, she pushed Paulus’s attention to the unique sights and goods around them, with delight clearly written on her face. In so many ways, she stood apart from normal educate, but not in any negative way. This made Paulus love her even more. Aemilia had changed him and, for that, he was grateful to take pleasure in the World’s smaller marvels that he never noticed before.

IV

        With their cart loaded, Paulus returned to the Beastmaster and was forced to pay another copper to free Argento. He expected the blackmail and managed to argue the price down to a single coin, rather than the three the toothless man demanded. The haggling did not bother him as much as it once would have in the past. The joy Aemilia expressed throughout the day lifted his spirits to such a degree that nothing could dampen them.
        He secured Argento to the cart’s harness with youthful ease and took no time to hop into the driver’s seat beside Aemilia. With a whip and pull on the reigns, he guided the cart around and down the road to leave Lavici.
        Aemilia nestled beside him and said, “Thank you, Paulus. Today was amazing.”
        Paulus smiled with a schoolboy’s joy after his first kiss.
        “I love you,” She said.
        “And I you.” He kissed her crown and pulled her tighter to his side.
        The sun hung low in the sky but was slow to sink towards the horizon. Spring was pushing into Summer and the world outside Lavici was a colourful natural painting that could only be mimicked by the most skilled artists. Bees and other bulbous insects, which Paulus could not quite identify, flew lazily in the early evening air. Small birds sang their last hymns for the day and housed themselves on the large trees that dotted the fields. A rabbit raced across the road at one point and it took Paulus’s reassuring touch to keep Argento from jolting at the sudden movement.
        Slumber took Aemilia and she breathed deeply against Paulus’s chest. Again, he could not help but think about the joy she brought into his life. Just like any couple, they argued and struggled to find the balance between the chores on the farm and the adventures needed to maintain their love, but they did their best; even though they each sometimes got it wrong on occasion. No matter what, they came together in the end, however; for that - above all - Paulus was grateful. He loved that she put in the effort to love him and he did the same for her. He hoped they would never lose that balance and deep down he felt they would not.
        He looked at his sleeping wife and enjoyed the peace expressed across her face. The pace to return home was slow, as he did not want to disturb her, but he ensured it was steady so they would make it back to the farm just as night took the sky.
        It had been a good day and he smiled.

V

        After a few hours, Paulus guided the cart off the cobbled road onto a dirt path, trenched with thin wheel tracks. It was the final stretch to the farm. The trees that edged the fields and shielded their home from the cobblestoned road’s sight swayed slowly in the evening breeze. The horizon glowed orange and red with the sun’s last rays. Twilight took the sky behind them and various purples consumed the sun’s brighter colour spectrum. The moon was already glowing above the horizon, eager to take the sky.
        Something felt off, but Paulus subconsciously ignored the intuition and focused on the warmth in his chest. The evening was silent. No birds called or animal scurried away from the cart’s loud approach. Not even an insect stirred. Air was still and thick with humidity from the day’s warmth. A chill began to creep along the grass on the path’s edges, causing the greenery to shrink imperceptibly.
        The trees broke away, revealing the farm’s fields. Dying orange light reached through the branches and cast an eerie glow across the open plain. Argento lifted his ears and the horse’s eyes widened in fright.
        “Easy Argento,” Paulus said and tightened his grip on the reigns.
        The cart shook with the struggle and Aemilia startled in her rest. She asked, “What’s going on?” Then paused and said, “Oh we are home already, I am sorry. I must hav-”
        Aemilia was interrupted by Argento’s sudden renewed fight against his harness. The cart lurched. Paulus felt his stomach drop from the sudden change in momentum and it took all his strength to control the nag.
        “Argento!” He cried and gritted his teeth in effort between words, “What has gotten into you, boy!?”
        Froth oozed from the horse’s lips and he whined with madness. Paulus drew the small knife, he always kept on his belt, and slashed at the cart’s harness straps. The leather snapped, rather than cut as pressure was applied by the blade. Argento pulled free, twisted round the cart, and raced with all his strength back the way they had come. Paulus watched the old farm horse and marveled at the nag’s speed. Argento ran, like a young stallion in its prime and did not show his age.
        Frustration overtook his awe, and Paulus said, “What in the god’s name has gotten into him!?”
        “He looked spooked by something,” Aemilia said in a somewhat dazed tone.
        “God’s be damned,” Paulus swore, “I will have to go find him.”
        “Paulus...” Aemilia’s voice turned to fright, “Please don’t leave me.”
        “I will see you to the house, but I can’t leave Argento overnight to the wolves.”
        She nodded reluctantly. Paulus sheathed his knife and jumped from the cart. He turned and offered a hand to his wife. Aemilia took it, and Paulus took her weight as she eased herself down. Paulus led the way down the cart path’s remaining distance. He could tell Aemilia wanted him to stay by how she clung to his side and from his lover’s instinct, but he could not. Argento was their only horse and they would not have enough saved to buy replacement at auction until after this harvest.
        “Please be safe,” Aemilia said as they reached the porch.
        “I will be,” Paulus said, “Although he is a pain in our ass, Argento is family. I can’t leave him to get hurt. Also, we can’t survive this harvest without him.”
        Aemilia bowed her head to hide the tear, “I know. I’ll be here when you get back.” She forced a smile.
        Paulus returned the expression. He turned and opened a hanging bronze lantern at the porch’s highest step. The metal was somewhat tarnished with sickly green spots, but where it was regularly handled, it looked as polished as the day it was crafted. Paulus took the nearby flint stone, hanging from a string on the lantern’s handle and pulled his knife free once again. He struck the knife’s blunt guard along the stone and sparks flew into the lantern, like swarming angry wasps. A few found the candle’s wick and greedily took, becoming flame.

VI

        Paulus made his way from the porch - once he was sure the candle’s flame was strong - and headed back down the path. He refused to look back at Aemilia, knowing she was watching with a face writ in concern; he doubted his courage to venture into the night if he saw her expression. The sun’s last rays disappeared beneath the horizon and clouds obscured the moon’s light. The lightlessness felt like an ominous omen. He held the lantern high so that his night vision would not be impaired by the candle’s direct light. Even still, it did not illuminate this night’s lightless black void, and he could only see a few yards in any direction. The intuition, he subconsciously ignored earlier, curled his guts and he felt the hairs on his neck raise. He took a breath, and it did little to settle his nerves, but he pushed on none the less. It was a matter of survival to continue.
        He reached the cart, set the lantern on it, and took a moment to ensure the wheel locks were secure. There was little chance he was going to be moving it tonight even if he did find Argento, especially with the harness straps cut and torn. With the cart secured, he grabbed the lantern, and took tentative steps into the featureless darkness.
        “Argento!” He shouted into the black, after what felt like an eternity alone.
        Hoping his call would at least stir the horse to give him a direction to search, he swore as there was no response. The unease would not lift, and he could feel his blood increase its speed in his veins. It felt like he was being watched. He kept fighting the urge to look over his shoulder. It was as if something was following him. No, stalking him. Snarling wolf’s teeth entered his imagination and he shivered from a cold sweat that tickled his spine as it ran down his back.
        He stopped in his tracks, at what sounded like a stick snapping sharply to his left and felt something touching him after a tense moment. A low tree branch almost poking his stomach. Even with the lantern’s light he did not see the sharp pointed wood. Only after he stopped did he feel the branch’s point beside his belly button. He let out a breath he did not realize he was holding. A chill ran along his clammy skin. With a sudden realization, the snapping stick had nothing to do with the branch that had almost skewered him.
        “Argento?” He said, in the sound’s direction, far more feebly then he intended. Again, he thought about the wolves that roamed the nearby hills.
        Paulus stood still and his breath was deafening in the soundless night’s void. Not even the wind rose to cut the emptiness in the thin air. As if frozen, he did not move and sought something, anything, with his senses. Whatever caused the noise did not stir again, and he did not know how to feel. He wanted to turn back. His courage was cracking, and his resolve was determining this was a useless gesture, but he could not accept Argento was lost. The horse had a sentimental value to him as well. Paulus had raised the nag from a foal. Argento was family.
        He pushed forward. Tree branches folded around him. He used his free arm to brush them from his path. That did not prevent the undergrowth and saplings from lashing out at his legs and attempting to trip him. He started to become frustrated with the situation and anger began overtake his frayed nerves.
        “Argento!” He screamed, “Please!”
        Silence met his call, once again. Nothing stirred and his last nerves frayed. He swallowed hard and defeat rushed into his heart, crushing his chest.
        The lantern was smashed from his hand without warning and a force took him from his feet. Undergrowth lashed at him and tore his shirt as he fell. A sapling cracked and bent as Paulus’s weight obliterated it. The young tree got its revenge by stabbing its splintered trunk into his lower back's soft flesh, puncturing him as his weight settled onto the earth.
        His breath was pushed from his lungs as a mass dropped on him and pressed down. It snarled, gasped, and writhed. Heavy wet drops splattered on Paulus’s face and he cried out from both pain and the pressing weight.
        “Get off me!” Paulus cried.
        He pushed with all his strength. It was a struggle to get the mass off. Whenever he pushed, its girth shifted and redistributed, like loose potato’s in a sack. Again, it gasped and gurgled in response to the struggle. Paulus could feel the hot heavy liquid that hit his face pour onto his tunic and soak through onto his chest. The liquid had a metallic smell and was sticky, like warm tree sap.
        He cried out again as the broken sapling tore at him, but he managed to wiggle himself out from under the wet mass. The instant his legs were free, he put them under him and ran backwards until a tree stole his flight. Branches lashed at his flesh like a whip, and his torn cloths did little to soften their blow. Paulus greedily gulped air. The torture his body was put through flared. His lower back swelled where the sapling had punctured him, but he could feel a burning hurt roll from the torn skin. Tentatively, he reached to the hurt and hissed in anticipation as he touched the wound. Fresh sting rolled under his skin with a lightning bolts fury. He withdrew his hand as if avoiding a hot coal in a low burning fire.
        “Help me...”
        Paulus sucked in his breath. It took a moment to register the voice and another for his eyes to adjust to the night in order to see the wet mass in the undergrowth.
        “Hello?” Paulus said slowly, as if using the word for the first time.
        “Help me...” The mass repeated and stirred slightly.
        Somehow, Paulus recognized the voice but could not place it. The pain subsided as he focused on the new revelation. He eased himself out from the tree’s trunk. With a sheepish pace, he approached the prone mass. Whether from adrenaline or time without the lanterns light, his eyes were beginning to make out the mass’s form and details in the dark. He could clearly tell it was a man now, but the lightless night hid all specifics as to the man’s identity.
        The clouds in the night sky parted dramatically, as if written in a story to create tension and atmosphere. The moon’s faint blue light cut through the black void and worked between the trees’ branches. Paulus gasped at the glistening trenches and punctures spread across the broken man’s back. Worse yet, he finally recognized the torn face half buried in the undergrowth and screamed.

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Brett