North of Lindum, The Kingdom of Ederath- Late Winter 15 years AR

“What you do to Erin, she’s mad,” Tira demanded when the group got a little ways away from the encampment, he looked back at her but could only shrug as he trudged through the slushy snow. He honestly had no clue what Aethred had done and by the looks of it, he didn’t either.

“I don’t fucking know! Maybe she’s bleeding from the crotch again,” he stated causing Karli to gasp and glare at him.

“Hmmm, nope. Didn’t smell it,” Tira informed them the information none of them needed to know, “but it would make sense.”

“Gross, you can sm- ew,” Karli said.

“To be fair, she doesn’t have much of a choice. It’s a lycan thing... Wasn’t expectin’ her to fucking agree with me though,” Aethred laughed at it. Which seemed to cause Karli to take note of what else Tira had said, Jon looked back again to see her staring at Tira with a betrayed look.

“Cramps make me cranky,” Tira shrugged which made Jon grin because of the change in Karli’s expression. It went from betrayed, to thoughtful, to a shrug of reluctant acceptance, to covering her mouth to hold in laugher. The final emotion was from something different, Aethred had just stepped into a hole hidden below the snow, dropping down to bury himself up to his thighs.

“Okay, fuck this! Jon, don’t you know any better way to walk through this shit?” Aethred asked, kicking some snow up for effect as he leaned back and Tira pulled him out of the hole. It was kind of surprising to Jon that he hadn’t thought it before and that Aethred just now asked but then again it was the first time it likely came to his attention where they weren’t surrounded by others. For much of the trip, Jon had either been on the caravan or walking behind it through the two lanes of packed snow it left as its trail. The only time he’d walked through the deep snow was when they were going up a slope, not wanting to add weight and not trusting being behind the heavy caravan in case the horses lost traction.

Jon knew what Aethred was asking but he’d gotten better at avoiding visions when people asked questions like that. His training to be a lycan had, in a way, helped him with stray thoughts. Because of that, he didn’t get a vision but after a few more steps through the deep snow, he stopped and kicked the snow himself. Why not?

A moment and a flash of knowledge later Jon had visions in his head concerning the subject of traveling snow-laden lands. That included skis which were common in Ederath but he had failed to buy any and wide net-like things you could strap to your feet called snowshoes. Those being the only two viable ones, the other things he’d suddenly learned of seemed only suited for going downhill or were far more complex to understand. He didn’t worry about Karli noticing because he acted like he was thinking, it wouldn’t be surprising if he suddenly remembered something. He nodded and pointed towards a group of trees on the other side of the clearing they were making their way across.

When they got to the trees Jon took out his hatchet and started taking down branches. He stopped after a moment of thought and hacked a large chunk of bark out of the trunk as a marker. He held up a few straight branches, each only a half-inch wide, ”give me a hand gathering sticks at least a foot long or longer if you can find them. They need to be thin and straight though and as many as you can get.”

Aethred grinned at him and did as he was told, while the other two spread out to followed suit. It didn't take the four long before they had a small pile from chopping away at the nearby trees. Jon sat on his pack and started weaving the sticks together like waddle, or more accurately wicker. With thicker sticks near the centerline strengthening both the length and width while another set of thicker branches went around the outside. Once he had a large enough elongated, ovalish shape... not quite, he unwound a length of rope, separating the three thinner lengths of cordage that made it. He secured it around the outside and wove it through the sticks until he tied the two ends on the back. It only vaguely looked like the snowshoe in his vision but he know it would work. The materials were different and it was shoddy work but the principles still applied. He started on a second one and pointed for them to do the same, well Karli was already doing it. Ten minutes later Jon finished the second one as Aethred stared at the pair and put down his sticks, “okay, how the fuck is that supposed to help?”

“Just watch,” Jon smirked and pushed cordage through the front and back of both. He put his foot on the weave of sticks and tied the two ends of one rope over his boot and took the second to do the same, bringing the two ends from behind his heel to tie in front of his ankle.

A minute later he stood with wicker snowshoes tied to his boots as the others watched. He began walking awkwardly through the snow but despite how it changed his gait and how weird it felt, he didn’t sink in as far and walked unimpeded. Despite the success, the others laughed at his awkward wattle as he tried to get used to the new range of motion and the requirement to walk with his legs slightly spread.

“I turn lycan,” Tira said with an amused look. She put down the sticks and walked around mimicking him before she shifted into her lycan form and walked normally, her taller frame moving easily through the snow. As he watched, Jon wish for a different reason he was a year older. She’d already completed her first snowshoe, which Aethred grabbed as Tira stepped into a hole and dropped to all fours, she shrugged and bounded through the snow in her new stance.

“If the choice is wattle around like a fat duck or fuckin’ gettin’ snow in my boots every other step. I’m walkin' like fuckin’ duck,” Aethred said and completed his pair, one shoe made, the other pilfered. Which made Tira quack at him while she walked back up to them, fur-covered in snow. They waited for Karli to finish hers, Jon giving her a hand, before they moved on.

“Why didn’t you bring these up before, milord. We could have had a few folk sittin’ in the wagons making them as we moved along, we might even have enough for everyone by now. I’m sure we have enough rope,” Karli asked when she got up and started moving again. Jon watched her awkward gait while he tried to think of a valid excuse.

“Jon’s fuckin’ smart but sometimes he needs reminding of shit like this,” Aethred covered for him which earned his friend a frown from Karli but the woman seemed to accept his explanation. He couldn't do anything but give Aethred a rude gesture to act out being annoyed.

With the addition of snowshoes, travel became smoother and despite the strange constructs on their feet, they started to get into a rhythm as they marched along. Occasionally he or Tira would mark their path with their axes. They talked about the sights and the occasional animal, the only dangerous one was a lone bear but one look at Tira was enough to scare it away. Soon enough it started getting dark as they wound their way around the bases of the hills or climbed the sides, trying to keep their path northward.

“We should probably make camp,” Jon said as he hacked a chunk out of another tree. Other than the single clearing where they made their snowshoes, there wasn’t anything suitable yet or at least suitable for the entire group. Luckily they didn’t need a relatively large area to fit hundreds of people and dozens of animals. so he looked up the tall hill in front of them and pointed up, “Should be able to keep a decent lookout from up there.”

Everyone looked where he was pointing and Aethred groaned, even if he was having less trouble with his snowshoes than Jon because of his lighter build and lack of steel armor he also didn’t have Jon’s strength and endurance. Karli seemed more determined and Tira stared at him for a moment before she flash him a grin, “race ya!”

Before he could answer she dropped to all fours and bounded through the snow towards the hillside, kicking back snow on them as she did it. After a moment of hesitation and brushing off snow, Jon and the others started moving. They didn’t make any attempt to win the race, there was no way they would ever catch up. Jon could only watch as the beautiful lycan scaled the hill with only a few setbacks in the form of sliding but she used her claws to dig into trees to regain her control and pull her up a far steeper part than the one they were going up. Her ease of movement wasn’t lost on the others either of his remaining companions.

“Jon? Gotta question. Can you turn someone into a lycan?” Aethred asked. His tone sounding honestly curious, so Jon didn’t think it was a joke. That and Jon knew what he was implying.

“Eh… yes and no,” Jon admitted, “I can deem someone worthy but…”

“But you have to be a knight?” Karli attempted to finish his thought when he stopped to decide how to word it. She was close but still a bit off.

“No, well… I would have to convince a knight that a child was worthy. Then either of us could bite them and the knight would take them as a squire and teach them the new way. I can't do it myself because I don't know the new way and I doubt many would want their children learning the old way. As for grown people, I can’t bite adults at all... Well... Afgheir said if I were ever to bite a grown man or woman, I’d better have started the old way already, the meditation part at least, have a good reason to do it, and be ready for the consequences,” Jon explained.

“Consequences?” Aethred asked and looked at him.

“If I were to bite you and the training didn’t take, we’d both be executed,” Jon told him bluntly in an attempt to get his friend to drop the issue, it succeeded as his words made Aethred cringe.

The law was explained in detail to him, Leo, Jaes, and later Cara. It was brutal and had no exceptions but made sense. Lycans weren’t just knights, they were farmers, merchants, storekeeps, cooks, and many other professions. Only a fraction of them were among the elite soldiers of Ederath. Even though it would make sense in a way to allow more people to become lycan. Like a skilled blacksmith would get centuries to hone his craft for example.

Yet that would mean the risk of someone failing to train the grown person in the few months they had would increase. Even civilian lycans were powerful but unlike the knights, a lycan blacksmith or one that grew up farming would have a harder time dealing with a werewolf on their own. Both because of their lack of experience fighting and the possibility they knew the person before they were lost to the beastmind. In all, it would lead to deadly monsters being released onto the isle, something the kingdom actively fought to prevent.

There were only a few acceptable reasons to go about it, one was marrying a human. The spouse could put in to attempt it but it was one of the services that the knights gave and the new family would have to pay for it. Though to follow the gods' will, it was made affordable and the only reason it cost anything was knights needed coin like everyone else. Another was a mercy bite, the last ditch effort to keep a human from dying that a lycan deemed worthy but that was rare according to Afgheir, a good example of a mercy bite was Cara.

“Hey! I see sea!” Tira yelled from the summit of the hill above. Jon could barely make her out but her announcement ended the conversation and spurred the group on faster.

“We really that fucking close? Thought you said we were only halfway through these gods damned hills?” Aethred said as he struggled up the hillside, having to walk back and forth as the snowshoes didn’t handle the slopes very well. Jon shrugged, it was only a guess. They zig-zagged up with dozens of switchbacks and soon they arrived on the summit to find Tira looking to the northwest.

“See,” Tira said with a smirk and then pointed. Jon caught his breath from the hard climb and stood up. He could see the tall troll hills turn into gently rolling hills, beyond that was flat land filled with forests and open meadows, the latter might have been lakes but it was hard to tell a flat meadow from a snow-covered frozen lake. Finally on the edge of the horizon was the coast.

“So this is your lands milord? It’s so...” Karli asked, taking in the sight.

Jon could only nod. It was vast and untamed. Far more than the lands around Terra controlled by House Barling which made sense as he was a higher tier of noble. The closest thing to House Barling in the north was the pseudo-noble title called a Drengr. A designation he’d been told about when the prince gave him the title and an explanation on how nobility worked in the north. It used to be a name associated with an honorable warrior that fought alongside a noble, his or her core fighters but had long since changed to a more administrative position.

Unlike a Magistrate, it wasn’t hereditary and a Drengr’s appointment was supposed to be based on merit, to take the role of a village headman or leader of an outpost in the name of the noble who granted it. On death, dismissal, or retirement, they’d be considered no different than commoners and their children would only gain the title if the noble considered them as the successor. In short, it was a job that a noble could hire someone to fill but came with a bit more prestige.

Jon didn’t need to worry about that though. It would be a long time until he had to appoint a Drengr other than naming someone to help run Strondheim, which he’d already decided to offer Erin. He could hardly appoint a subordinate to run a second settlement in his name before they’d even decided on the location of the first. Though, he could technically have more than one Drengr help him run a Srondheim. Such as, the captain of the watch being a Drengr and another that handled the settlements finances being a Drengr but that was something only done in large towns and cities.

“There’s fucking fire,” Aethred blurted out and pointed in the distance. Jon jerked, his mind immediately going to the inferno the fae unleashed upon the Dain but instead of a wall of fire, he saw thin columns of smoke rising in the distance. It could only be spotted after shifting to Aethred’s side, a break in the trees upon the hill letting them see. The smoke didn’t rise far before it was dispersed in a haze by the wind, but from their vantage point, they could still see it clearly.

“Must be Miss Sunada’s people,” Karli suggested and it was a good bet considering there wasn't supposed to be anyone else there. It was too late to make it back to camp but they’d be able to get back quickly in the morning. In fact, when Jon turned to the way they had come from, he could see the smoke rising in the distance to the south, where his own people had set camp.

They made camp on a flat area just below the summit of the hill to protect themselves from the wind and sat around the fire. Jon started working on something he wanted to try but he didn’t tell anyone what it was. They spent the night occasionally asking about it until he set it aside. He volunteered to take the last watch and planned to finish it then, it was a surprise and he planned to keep it that way.

“Jon? Are you sure?” Tira asked the following morning, sounding nervous for once as she sat on a long platform made from wattle in a similar fashion to a fence. The front had been curved around itself and the rest was flat. Under her was a blanket for comfort and behind her were Jon and Aethred, both had their hands on her back and smiles on their faces. In front of her was the start of a slope on a section of the hill that had the fewest trees. She’d volunteered to be the first but was now having second thoughts. Jon looked at Aethred and nodded, they both pushed off with all their might, “Jon? Jon! JOOOOOOON! AAAAAAAH! HAHAHAAaaaaah!”

Jon watched as his girlfriend barreled down the hill on his homemade sled. Her yells of anger turned to screams of excitement as she continued on. Halfway down the hill Jon stopped laughing and watched in horror as the entire field of snow around her moved and began to slide down the hill with her. It wasn’t a large avalanche that could bury her alive, the snow was far too wet for that but it turned into more of a mudslide made of ice and slush that pushed her out of control. As she tried to stop herself from going sideways Jon started running down the hill after her, ”Shit!”

He watched as her attempt at control failed, the sled overturning and Tira being unceremoniously thrown into the snow as she continued to roll. Jon dropped his axe and pack, the latter started to slide down the hill while he dropped to his back to take a similar route with his snowshoed feet in the air. Snow was going up his tunic but he didn’t care pushing with his hands to continue sliding at a faster pace than he could manage walking. He was focused on the redhead that lay motionless below, having come to a stop thanks to a tree. When he was halfway to her, he saw her stir. She stood up and raised her hands in the air, “YES! We do that again!”

Jon arrested his slide with a sigh of relief, Tira’s laughter echoed through the small valley. He looked up to see Aethred with a smile on his face. He was carrying Jon’s battleaxe and using it to push Jon’s pack in an attempt to slide it down further to him. Beside him walked Karli, a look of excitement on her face. The girl also known as mini-Tira looked like she wanted to try as well, the only problem was the sled… Tira may have been alright but it wasn’t.

Jon could see it at the bottom of the hill and, even from much higher up, he could tell the weave of the sticks had come undone. It was a shame but they’d have plenty of opportunities to do it once they got past the troll hills, preferably on a hill that wasn’t as large or covered in trees. Jon lunged over to grab his pack as it slid by him and started fixing his snowshoes. It was time to get back and spread the news, they were almost there!

**********

Willow woke up late the following morning and looked over at her bedmate who was still asleep. She couldn’t help but smile at the night before, they had stayed up well past midnight but they had plenty of time to sleep while they waited and she planned on spending it the same way as often as she could. Roland was more than a couple of years older than her but he was kind of handsome, sweet, and very, very generous. Oh fuck, was he generous with the endurance of a man that was used to long days and the dexterous fingers of someone who worked with their hands.

She scooted down and crawled under the quilt as she started playing with his cock. Even before he awoke, it started growing harder in her hand. Responding to her experienced touch. She stroked slowly until his eyes shot open and he jumped in surprise. She pulled back the quilt and smiled at him while biting her lip. He smiled back as she started again.

“Ah, good morn- Oh gods!” Roland let out as she bent over and licked the full length of his member. In her mind, there was no reason to be ashamed or shy at this point. Not after what they did the previous night. How could she be shy after swallowing the man’s seed?

She licked the head and shuddered as she felt a hand caress her breast. A fingertip softly tracing the outside of her large, pale nipples before slowly making its way inward and giving her chills as her nipple hardened. Normally she was self-conscious about the paleness but Roland didn’t care. In fact, he seemed to relish every part of her. Something she was very grateful for.

She thought about putting her tits in his face so she could feel his tongue doing what his fingers were currently but decided she wanted his tongue elsewhere. She shifted in the bed and lay on him backwards while taking his full length into her mouth. As she bobbed her head up and down, using her tongue to massage the hard shaft, something wet ran between along her slit before it entered her wet pussy. At the same time, a strong hand squeezed her ass in a slightly painful but exhilarating way. She split her focus on trying to please him and enjoying her own pleasure. She soon felt his fingers take over inside and his tongue moved to her-

The door opened!

Willow pushed the hair out of her face and looked up with her eyes only. Her gaze met with Thane Jon’s as he froze at the sight of her with a penis in her mouth… naked… and in his bed.

“Shit! I’m sorry! So, so sorry!” She sat up quickly, which only made things worse! Roland’s cock was there for him to see but so was every bit of her. Tira stepping in the doorway only made it worse and on top of that, her new lover got a nose full of asshole. She snatched Roland’s member to hide it the best she could while the man it belonged to started to struggle to breathe under her ass, he pushed her up from behind, lifting her onto her knees, which just resulted in the dumbfounded nobleman getting a far clearer view of her lower bits. Thinking of nothing better to say, she said in a sheepish tone, “You can squeeze one if you want.”

Jon just stared in shock while Tira looked at her with an open-mouthed smile and started to laugh. Her mirth spread to her eyes while she waved, before giving a thumbs up and smacking Jon out of his stupor. Willow watched her young friend reach out and close the door, “Well, that’s fucking great.”

********

Jon walked away from his caravan, still not sure how to process what he’d just seen. Part of him thought he should be happy for Willow finding someone, another that he should be disgusted because they were in his bed, and the final part, the young male part, was yelling in delight for seeing Willow naked.

“Maybe we try that,” Tira said and licked her lips. The male part started screaming in delight until the more rational part of him remembered the fact she had a lycan set of chompers, even in her human form she had elongated canines, same as him. That meant sharp teeth were very much included. The male part of him turned more to an ‘Umm, yay!? Is this gonna hurt?’.

The two of them walked up to the nearest fire to sit. He’d given orders to hold camp until they returned, he just didn’t expect to be gone a single day before spotting the coast. The fact they likely identified the Inari settlement made it even better.

He hadn't told many yet, just Andrew and Erin, who ran out to meet them when they were spotted. Their short scouting trip just got back to camp and he felt he should notify Sunada before making a mass announcement, though people already knew something was up because of how quickly they returned. He'd have to explain and ensure everyone was ready to go at first light, there wasn't any decent place to camp ahead of them. Hopefully, they could make a push and get past the hills by nightfall.

Once there they’d make first contact with the Inari and hopefully set camp nearby allowing the two groups to interact and be nearby to provide support if something dangerous came out of the wilds. From their more permanent camp, they’d scout out the area as thoroughly as possible before deciding a permanent spot to settle once the snow melted and the ground thawed. The plan they discussed on the walk back was to locate the rivers and go from there, constant clean water is always a boon and it meant they could easily navigate downriver to find the sea. Preferably an area with an ample supply of limestone as well. Once the spot was chosen, they’d move camp. Whether or not the Inari decided to relocate as well was up for debate but Jon had decided to view them as refugees and accept them into his lands as settlers or allow them to stay until they found a way home. The final part was once they moved to Strondheim, they’d start stocking and preparing resources so that they could start construction and planting fields as soon as the snow melted and ground thawed... Or at least that was the plan.

“Milord, I mus-” Roland came running out of the Caravan, bring Jon back from his distraction. Jon just held up his hand to stop him from continuing, the man took it as an order to stop moving too and quickly stood still in a bow.

“Jon! I’m so-” Willow ran out too, only wearing her pants, boots, and a light tunic. Again he raised his hand, Jon could clearly make out the shape of her nipple through the thin fabric, it was cold. She ran next to Roland and bowed as well. He gestured for them to stand up and stop doing that, “I’ll buy you a new mattress and quilt!”

“And curtains,” Roland said. Jon looked at the two and blinked. He looked at Willow who was blushing hard as she tried to ignore her unkempt hair in her face and he tried to keep from looking at her chest. Jon felt his own face turning red, so he switched to Roland and after a second he couldn’t look at the man he'd just seen exposed either. It wasn’t tension that was palpable, it was awkwardness.

He understood the mattress and quilt, but the curtains? They divided his bed from the rest of the caravan and were usually tied back, what did they do to his curtains? After a thought, he didn’t want to know. He was annoyed but it wasn’t a commoner disrespecting a noble thing. He didn’t care about that point of view at all and had a hard time remember he was the one in charge most of the time, having been under the command of the expedition for so long. It was more general than that. No one wanted to walk in and see others making love… fucking... whatever that was in their bed.

“Flip the mattress, grab one of the quilts we brought for the Inari until his is washed, and next time do it in Aethred’s bed. Not like he’s going to be doin’ anything in it,” Erin said somewhat harshly from beside the fire. Willow shot her pitiful look that just confused Jon. He realized he should say something.

“Just… not again, please… Not saying it as a Thane, just…”

“Just he’s a virgin and you’re scaring him.” Aethred walked up and said something that Jon had heard before. When he continued it was something new… no, he’d heard Aethred say that before as well, “Kinda chilly today. Nice nipples!”

Erin threw down her bowl and stormed away at that. Jon watched her head towards her caravan, which led to Willow bowing again and pointing at her. With no idea what in the gods’ names was going on, Jon just waved her to go. She ran back to his caravan and came back out a moment later with her cloak, breastband, and other articles of clothing in hand. Roland just stood there looking as confused as Jon. Until he realized he was just standing there and bowed quickly and walked away from the group.

“Women confusing,” Tira of all people said. He could only agree, even if a woman saying that only added to the confusion. Though the fact that she was just as confused as him made him love the fact that she was with him even more, it was nice being on the same page. She leaned in to kiss him and rubbed her hand against his chest, then pushed him over backwards into the snow with a laugh before running away. He lay there stunned for a moment before he grabbed a handful of snow and chased after.

After she finally let him catch her, he tackled her into the snow. They kissed as they rolled around but soon got up as they realized how wet their clothes were getting. A fact that Tira didn’t care about as she was wearing her leather skirt and simply took her wet tunic off. Jon walked back to the caravan to change and spotted Roland leaving, carrying a quilt and a set of curtains that had a questionable stain on them. Not wanting to get into it again, Jon just nodded and went inside to change, grabbing his new fiddle on the way out… his old one was a little charred after the fae.

He went to the fire next to the men’s caravan to find Andrew sitting with Sunada. Andrew looked up at Jon as he approached. He smiled, “I hadn’t told her yet.”

“You didn’t actually have to- never mind,” Jon sat down next to her, with Tira wandering off to find something to eat. Being a longer stop meant stews and even grilled meat rather than hardtack and dried meat. Jon was looking forward to it just as much as she was.

Getting his mind off food, Jon looked at Sunada and smiled as she stared back with eyes full of curiosity. He pointed to his eyes and pointed to the north, “Inari.”

He and Andrew both laughed as her eyes went big and her ears shot up in a smile. She quickly started speaking in her language, something that Jon didn’t understand beyond yes and no. Andrew wasn’t much better but he managed to get her to calm down and tell her that they’d leave in the morning. Sunada graciously accepted food from Tira when she came back with bowls of meaty stew and hunks of bread but even through her politeness, her ears stayed straight up. Jon ate slowly, enjoying the change and when he was finished he rosined up his bow.