Chapter Three - Mending the Clock Spring
Morning found both, Bitte and I, feeling better than we had felt for several days and after a quick breakfast, we raced to town. Bitte kept watch for followers and though he saw no one, we couldn?t be certain that no one, other than the porter, saw us leave. But after the humiliations of the past week, I really didn?t care. Even though it was early, the smithy forge was already gushing smoke out into the air and Tamas was at the forge dressed in his grey linen shirt and heavy leather breeches. His braid was coiled on his head, the tassel sweeping the back of his neck; I stopped in the doorway and sucked in my breath, glad that the skirts of my doublet covered my awakening cock. Kinna shouted to me from the bellows and Tamas turned with a smile.
He gestured for us to come in but remained at the forge front, studying whatever was in the fire. I stepped into the smithy and circled around to the far side of the anvil, where I could watch but be out of the way. From where I stood, I could see two large pieces of thin-coiled metal, several inches wide but very thin. The larger one curled fairly tightly while the shorter piece curved in a loose arc, both were nearly buried in the coal bed. Tamas peered into the fire again; he nodded to himself, apparently pleased with what he saw.
?We?re fixin? a clock spring,? he said straightening up. ?The church clock mainspring snapped early this morn.?
?So that?s why I didn?t hear it! I thought perhaps I just wasn't listening,? I said surprised.
?Nah, nah, nuttin wrong wi? your hearing, Father John came a-runnin in at the crack of day, all in tears. Pulled me ri? outta my bed, he did,? he grinned, thoroughly pleased with himself. ?We need to repair the old spring for the poor Father, buying new ore is out o? the question, much too expensive for the church. However, if I understood Master Colin correctly this should fix it and send it back to chiming in no time.?
Tamas looked confident that the repair would work, if he was worried about whether he?d learned the necessary skills to repair the spring, he didn?t let it show on his face. His whole bearing was different now that he was Master: he?d always appeared self-assured and headstrong but now that self-assurance was as apparent on him as a layer of clothing was, now that his peers had acknowledged him as Master of his craft. He moved with the grace of a man who knew he was the one in control and there was a possessive air to him now. This is the Master of the forge now, it said. The only bad side I could see was that his sexiness had tripled and I was going to have a hard time keeping my hands to myself, while in the forge. Tamas crossed the forge in three easy strides, cupped my chin in his hand and tipping my head up he kissed me.
?Good morrow, Nicco,? he said breathily against my lips.
?Go-good morrow, Tamas.? I answered my voice breaking.
?Tam, Ah think tis abou? ready,? Teru said from the forge.
Tamas smiled at me and returned to the forge, where he pulled a heavy leather glove onto his left hand. Heads together, he and Teru, discussed the heat and the metal, while I stared ravenously at Tamas? broad back, suddenly wanting him with a hunger that threatened to consume me. Bitte brought me a stool and I perched on it precariously.
?You?re going to stay for the show?? He asked with a grin. ?I suppose he might take his shirt off if you ask him.?
He grinned and dodged my half-hearted clout, but I really did want to see Tamas without his shirt. I turned my attention back to the forge as Tamas and Teru separated, Teru heading to the worktable, on the right side of the smithy, where he hefted a sturdy file. Picking up a pair of tongs, Tamas reached into the fire and moved the smaller piece of the spring over to the side where it would stay warm but not get any hotter. Picking up the other piece, he rotated on his heel to the anvil. Carefully, without loosening his grip he switched the tongs to his left hand. Without looking, he picked up a hammer from the row at his feet. I wondered if lining them up correctly was one of Kinna?s jobs and what consequences there might be if they were out of order. However, in studying the handles, I decided Tamas probably knew by touch which hammer he?d grabbed.
Carefully, he hammered the hot end, folding it back onto itself and hammering it down again, making the end thicker than the rest of the spring. In hammering the spring, he also straightened it out semi flat for several inches, which I guessed would make it easier to reattach to the other piece. Grasping the cooler part of the spring in his leather gloved hand; he switched hammers to one with a smaller head. Artfully, he forged the end into a crescent shape that was slightly bulbous on the end, which made me think of the tadpoles in the castle moat with fatheads and narrower tails. When he was finished, he handed it to Teru who took it to the table and started to file the worked end. Tamas reached into the fire and pulled out the other half of the broken spring. Hopping down from my stool, I walked over to the workbench to watch Teru. He looked up at me and grinned.
?Ah have ta geh off all tha fire scale, thah's this stuff what sticks ta tha metal when tis been in tha fire. Tha metal won't weld tight i' taint clean." He picked up the file and continued scraping. After a few minutes, he rubbed it with a piece of pumice before filing it some more.
Tamas appeared at his shoulder and took the spring. He studied it closely before rubbing it with his thumb. Apparently satisfied, he handed Teru the second piece of spring. I noted that the "head" of the tadpole was swimming in the opposite direction from the first piece and they would fit together snug as two kittens in a basket.
"That was the easy part," Tamas said with a grin and a wink. He walked back to the fire and leaned close to it again. Judging the temperature, Teru whispered to me. Tamas made a slow-it-down gesture to Noah, who slowed his pumping.
Teru carried the two pieces of metal to the fire and with the tongs placed them in the upper part of the fire, away from the tuyere, the bellows nozzle on the side of the forge. Carefully Tamas covered them with coals, except for a tiny like opening through which he could judge the heat of the fire. The spring glowed bright red from the heat and Tamas called to Kinna, who grabbed a small box off the worktable and hastily brought it to his much-adored Master. Tamas pulled one piece of glowing spring out of the fire, even from where I stood, I could feel the heat and I wondered how Tamas could enjoy it so much. Kinna held the box up and Tamas reached in pulling out a handful of a finely ground gritty substance, that I later learned was a ground mineral that was common in Wallingfirth, being mined near there, and sprinkled it on the hot metal tadpole.
"Tis flux, keeps the metal sound," Teru explained. "An? keeps any new scale from formin'."
Tamas tucked the spring back into the fire in the same spot, repeating the dusting with the other section of spring and Teru shoveled hot coals over them once again leaving the tiny window for Tamas. Tamas held out his right hand and swept it side to side over the coals. The heat from the fire must have been horrendous but he never flinched and it wasn't long before the metal started to change colors, red turning to orange and then to yellow, fading to nearly white. The metal appeared to shimmer and reminded me of melted butter left in the sun on a hot summer afternoon. Something sparked and dropped into the fire, leaning forward just a little I saw a couple tiny sparks, no bigger than fleas, popping off the metal.
"Move away Nicco, tis very hot," Tamas said briskly, his hand on my shoulder and I retreated to my stool once again. "Stay there, dohn move a muscle, Nicco, Bitte, there's no second chance with the weld, if I mess it up, the spring is done fer."
I shivered, suddenly quite nervous about being in the forge. Tamas leaned over the fire again and my throat went dry at how desirable and incredibly beautiful he looked with the shadows of the fire flickering against his pale skin. His brow and jaw were tense from concentration and I reflected on what a good look for him it was. He flicked a finger and the fire seemed to retreat. He nodded and flashed a ghost of that cheeky grin of his; I shifted on the stool trying to get comfortable with a rapidly hardening cock. Beside me, Bitte snickered and I shot him a piercing glance, he gazed off toward the forge with an innocent look on his face. I was debating on saying something to him when, across the forge, Noah shut the door and barred it before crossing to the back door, beside me, and shutting it. His face looked strained and I was suddenly sympathetic to the lad, working under such a demanding Master. Kinna scurried about the forge end of the smithy, moving everything that might be tripped over out of the way. Teru brought Tamas a heavy leather apron and helped him tie it before donning one himself. Standing in front of the forge, Tamas swung around and stopped in front of the anvil. He glanced down at his right hand and set his hammer in that spot on the anvil. Raising his head, he looked at me and held a finger to his lips. Grinning, he silently mouthed 'no water' and I flushed bright red, nodding fractionally, I willed my breathing to slow. Tipping my head, I listened to his heartbeat pounding, confident and self-assured with no trace of nervousness. He was truly the Master here.
"Teru, Noah, the tongs," he said with a ?come here? gesture. They hurried to his side each carrying a pair of tongs.
Taking one set of tongs one in each hand, he reached into the fire and pulled out the glowing pieces of spring. He spun sharply to the anvil and rested the right hand piece, the straighter section, against it on the flat, canting it upwards just a bit. Teru explained to me later that this was to keep the join from losing heat when by coming into contact with the cold anvil. Tamas lined the left hand piece up with the right one and touched them together. I heard a sizzle as the two almost molten pieces of steel joined together. Moving almost quicker than I could see, he handed off the right tongs to Teru and picked up his hammer striking a gentle blow on the weld. Just enough to "set" it, I learned later.
A spray of sparks, molten flux and not quite dissolved scale sprayed out from the weld in a shower of fire, that looked hot and hissed as they hit the floor of the smithy. Now I knew why he wore the apron and I suddenly had the urge to say a prayer for the future of that apron as the sparks bounced off his lower abdomen and legs. Tamas struck another blow to the metal, a more vigorous one, and then another continuing to hammer the spring. He worked from the center of the weld outward, forcing the two pieces to become one once again. The ringing blows echoed in my head along with his heartbeat in a sort of song that I would be unable to describe to anyone. But I knew for the rest of my life I would hear that duet of thumping bass and clanging ring anytime I came near Tamas.
Tamas held the piece up and studied it, before hammering it a few more times. When he was finally satisfied, he returned the spring to the fire. They reburied it under the coals and stepped back to watch. Kinna sidled up to me and leaned against my leg. His small body was shaking from stress and I stroked his hair softly. When the spring was just approaching yellow, Tamas pulled it out again and with Teru's assistance holding the tongs, Tamas forged it into a tight coil. Watching him hammer, I realized that if he hadn't thickened the broken ends at first, they, by now, would be thinner than the rest of the spring and in all likelihood would have broken once again. I suspected this was an esoteric piece of knowledge that one learned near the end of one's education in the ways of the smithy.
Tamas heated the piece one last time and bent the pliant metal into its final shape. Gently Noah smoothed the edges of a small rectangular cut out in the end of the spring, Tamas watched without comment, content to let his apprentice work. When it was finished, he nodded in satisfaction and wiped his brow and grinning over the finished product at his apprentice. Sweat, soot and something else that I suspected was metal residue streaked all three men?s faces. Kinna sprang away from me towards the forge. Tamas gestured to Noah and Teru, who carefully lifted the spring and carried it to the forge. Kinna opened a small door underneath and they slid the spring inside positioning it carefully under the fire above. Kinna shut the door carefully and backed up from the forge to Tamas? side. Absently, Tamas ruffled the boy's dark hair.
?It has to cool carefully,? Tamas said, tapping the boy on the nose.
?Cool?? I asked. ?But you put it under the fire.?
?Hai, it has to cool very slowly.? Tamas crossed the smithy floor to me. ?If it cools too fast on the outside, the middle gets brittle and it?ll break when put back in place in the clock. So we cool it under there.?
He let go of Kinna with a slight push toward the back door before taking a wet piece of cloth from Noah. Murmuring quiet thanks, Tamas wiped the soot and grunge off his face. I smiled in delight as his freckles reappeared on his nose. He turned to his workers, all of which were wiping down their own faces and hands.
"All right, let's break for lunch and the spring should be cooled and ready to install in the clock. Kinna stay close, you won't have the chime to tell you when to return," Tamas said, wiping his forehead on the scrap of cloth. I motioned to Bitte to join them and he left with Kinna. Tamas stepped over to me, his hand gently gripping my bicep. He leaned forward slightly, his head inclined towards me.
"I must smell like a bull," he said softly.
"Mmm, no," I said taking a deep breath. "I smell dragon musk and hot metal. Very stimulating, very sexy."
Tamas grinned and kissed me. I grasped the stiff leather apron feeling the roughness against my hands. I tasted hot metal on his lips and felt my knees wobble unsteadily. Tamas? hand slid down my arm and looped around my waist. His other hand tossed the scrap of cloth on the worktable before joining its mate on my waist, gently cupping my left buttock. Aching need coursed through my veins and I moaned softly, considering trying to throw him down right there in the smithy. Almost as if he?d heard my thoughts, he raised his head and looked at me.
?Yeh want me ta bolt tha back door again?? he asked his eyes glinting with mischief.
Blushing, I nodded and he grinned. He crossed the room to the rear door and dropped the bolt down pulling the string latch inside. Stretching slightly, he hooked the open shutter of the nearby window and pulled it nearly shut. The smithy became very dim, lit only by the glow of the fire and a little sunlight oozing through slightly ajar shutters. He untied the apron and hung it on a hook near the door. Turning around, he pulled his shirt out of his breeches and tossed it on the back table. He crossed the smithy to a large bucket which he leaned over and splashed water on his arms, face and chest. He looked up and shook his head side to side. Water trickled down his chest and evaporated with a sizzle. He grinned at me with a leer and I decided that he was going to rib me for that bit of daftness for some time. I stuck out my tongue and started awkwardly to unbutton my doublet. Tamas crossed the smithy in a flash and gently pushed my hands aside.
?Let me do that,? he said softly. ?I do enjoy undressing yeh.?
I blushed and watched his hands work their way down my front, enjoying his graceful movements. Tamas bumped his forehead against the crown of my head and when I looked up startled, he caught my lips in a kiss. My hands slid helplessly down his arms, seeking a handhold, as I struggled to stay on my feet. He finished the buttons down my front, lifting my left hand to reach the buttons at my wrist, he turned his head, and tipping my hand took my middle finger into his mouth. I moaned at the feel of his tongue on my finger. He easily popped open the three small buttons on my sleeve. Switching wrists, he sucked on my pinky; I moaned and clung to his belt. Letting go of my hand, he caught me under the elbow as my knees decided enough was enough and I started to sag to the floor. Tamas caught the back of my doublet and I half slipped out of it. He wrapped his arms around my waist and backed me up to the wall. My doublet finished its journey to the floor and lay there unnoticed. Pressed to the wall, I had no escape and for a moment, I was a bit nervous about being caught between the solid plaster wall and the solid young smith. However, the anxiety disappeared as he started kissing me again. I moaned softly into his mouth, my arms wrapped around his neck. It didn?t take Tamas but a minute more to finish undressing me. Still kissing me, he wrapped his arms around my butt and lifted me into the air. Startled I broke off the kiss with a squeak and a frantic tightening of my arms around his neck.
?Nicco, wrap yer legs roun? me,? he said huskily.
Hastily, I wrapped my legs around his waist. His belt buckle pressed coldly against my butt and I groaned in pleasure at the pressure on the sensitive nerves there. Tamas crossed the smithy in a couple strides, still supporting my weight in his arms, to the back table and set me on it. I squealed in surprise at the cold metal and he chuckled amused. Laying his hands on either side of me, he leaned forward to kiss me. Heat radiated out from his hands warming the table to a temperature that made me feel slightly drowsy. His lips slid across my cheek to my jaw, sucking gently on it. I moaned and cried out, my hands gripping his upper arms as I pulled his shoulder to me and nipped at it. He sucked in his breath and tensed up pressing his shoulder to my teeth. I had discovered quite by accident that he actually enjoyed a bite or two during sex. It had puzzled me at first but I quickly worked out the best ways to use it to my advantage. I sucked the small piece of flesh between my teeth and Tamas? head rolled backwards as he moaned in pleasure.
?Ahh Nicco,? he groaned. I let go of his shoulder and leaned close to his ear. A stray red curl tickled my nose and I caught it in my teeth and gave it a gentle tug.
?Tamas,? I whispered in his ear. ?Make love to me, I want to forget for awhile my father, my brother, my station in life. I only want to know the feel of your body against mine.?
?Nicco,? he whispered huskily.
Grasping my head, he pegged me in a kiss that felt like fire flooding my body. Waves of heat and fiery passion swept through me and I cried out as his hands caressed their way down my front. I fumbled awkwardly at his belt, until one of his large hands covered mine and the belt slid open almost as of it own desire. I pushed his breeches and hose down frantically, my fingers catching in the hair curling over the edge his braies. He hissed softly and untied his braies, sliding them off his hips. Tamas reached over my shoulder and picked up a small metal pot, which he set down out just outside of bumping reach. Tipping me back against the wall, he leaned forward, with tongue, lips and fingertips teased my nipples, belly and cock. I cried out and thrashed under him, twisting and arching, my belly pressing up against him. He thumbed the lid off the small pot and I smelled honing oil. His fingers teased at my hole and I cried out.
?Tamas, please, now,? I gasped.
He grunted and slathered the oil on his cock. Pressing up to my hole, he leaned forward and devoured my mouth once again. I moaned into his mouth and pushed down until he was fully sheathed inside me. He made a noise that was more like an animal snarl than anything I?d ever heard before and started moving. I felt the rough wall scrape my shoulders and smelled hot metal, burning wood and honing oil. Tamas? hands slipped between the wall and my shoulders, at once protecting and pressing me down. Somewhere far away, the fire popped and I heard a low growling animal like noise. My heartbeat thundered in tandem with his heart and my back arched as I felt my orgasm rip through my body. I cried out grappling at Tamas? shoulders and felt his fingers dig into the soft flesh between my shoulder and collarbone. Close to my ear, I heard another low growl and I blinked in puzzlement.
?Nicco, oh heaven Nicco,? Tamas groaned as his orgasm drove him deep inside me and his back arched.
We stayed like that for a few moments longer, but it was getting close to the time when the others would be returning to the forge. Tamas kissed me again and went to fetch the water to clean up. By the time, Teru returned from town, we were cleaned up, dressed and Tamas, with Noah, was checking on the spring in the annealing oven. Tamas looked Teru up and down quirking an eyebrow at him. Teru flushed and looked away flashing a small bite mark on his neck and I wondered if he?d been up to the castle doing the same thing we?d been doing, with Mellys. However, I doubted he?d have had time to go that far, which led me to ponder what excuse Mellys may have offered Mother to allow her to run to the village. Tamas? shirt hid the bite I?d put on his shoulder but still I couldn?t help blushing.
"The spring is cooling nicely." Tamas said looking back into the oven. "Looks like the weld will hold."
"Was theh any doubt?" Teru asked with a grin.
Surprisingly, Tamas blushed a fiery color of crimson from embarrassment, for all his self-assurance, he was still unused to being the man in control and the one whose judgments were followed and relied on by others without someone with more experience offering advice first. His embarrassment at the confidences of others was just another addition to his overall sexiness. He rose to his feet and brushed his hands together as he looked around the forge.
"We have plenty o' work to keep us busy 'til the spring is ready to re-install. Let's get goin' fellows!"
He walked purposely to the front workbench, where a row of broken farming implements was lined up awaiting repairs. I nodded and gestured to Bitte to follow me, we'd crowded the smithy enough for one day and the smiths had work to do, except Kinna, who would be napping in the house. He would do the cleaning and small jobs in the evening before it got dark.
I was hoping to sweet talk a little food out of Nayne since my lunchtime had been taken up by her red headed son, not that I really minded, of course, but my stomach was complaining. The afternoon sun shone down on the courtyard warming the cobbles and my nose twitched to the smells of warm stone and earth. A homey clatter of crockery in the kitchen told me that Gisela had started cleaning the lunch dishes. A piece of song drifted out the door and I smiled, maybe she still loved Tamas but she?d shed her sullenness over the winter and was a much happier young woman these days. I stopped on the threshold and breathed in the scent of food, soap and something sweet I couldn?t name. Gisela looked up and saw me. She nodded and smiled at Bitte at my shoulder.
?Is there anything left to eat?? I asked.
?Mistress put a pair o? covered bowls i? tha larder fer yeh and Master Tamas, afore she went inta town,? Gisela said, jerking her head in the direction of the pantry.
?Thank you,? I said,
I glanced over my shoulder at the pantry door and saw Bitte, already as tall as the older girl, hip resting against the counter, lean forward to talk to her. I smiled and the thought flitted through my mind that she might very well be his first experience with sex. I pondered what I should do, if anything, about it as I entered the pantry. The pantry was cool and dim being on the sheltered side of the house. I?d always liked the pantries in the castle and as a child, they?d been a favorite place to hide form my brother, Michael, and his fellows. Nayne?s pantry was as neat and clean as the rest of her house and surprisingly well stocked. I hadn?t really ever thought about it before but Tamas? ability in the forge must bring in a nice income.
The larder door stood open just a crack; studying it I decided it leaned from either a bad hinge or a warp and I wondered why no one had ever fixed it. Perhaps Nayne only thought about when entering the larder and then forgot to mention it to Tamas later. I made a mental note to tell him and offer to take it to Sayji or Will for repair. Because there were no windows opening into the larder, it was quite dark in there and I waited for my eyes to adjust. Three wooden shelves covered the outside wall. Dishes draped with cloth filled them and I wondered what might be in each one. A well-carved thrawl, a stone shelf, made of a pretty cream-colored stone and braced up by wooden trestles rested against the interior wall, farthest from any outside heat. Meat and possibly fish would be stored there, but I doubted Nayne would put our lunch there. Returning to the outer wall shelves, I peeked under several cloth covers, placed over the dishes to keep the flies and other household pests out. At the end of the middle shelf, I found a pair of bowls containing thick bean and lentil soup and a loaf of fresh bread. I called to Bitte, who came at a run and carried one bowl and half the bread out to the kitchen.
He reheated the soup by warming a handful round metal discs in the warming pan placed in the fire. When they were quite hot, he tipped the pan over my bowl, dropping them into the soup. Stirring the discs around heated the soup quite nicely, after which he cleaned them and returned them to a small basket on the hutch. Carefully, I carried the bowl and bread outside in the crook of my arm. My usual place near the rosebush was dry and warm from the sun and I sat down carefully to eat. The thick stew was seasoned with pepper and butter and melted in my mouth. I ate it using the bread, first, as a scoop and then as a mop to clean the bowl. When it was completely gone, I stared at the almost clean bowl, I hadn?t realized I was that hungry!
Bitte appeared shortly after I finished to take my bowl and brought me some ale to wash everything down. He carried the bowl into the kitchen and returned moments later. He dropped to the grass beside me and laid back, his arms crossed behind his head. I smiled down at him indulgently. He was something far more to me than a mere servant was and I treasured his companionship. I made a mental note to thank Tamas once more for bringing him into my life.
?You spend a lot of time with Gisela,? I said.
?She?s lonely,? he answered, his arm covering his eyes so I couldn?t read them. ?Her house was so full and she had lots of younger brothers and sisters to take care of.? He turned his head and peered out from under his arm at me. ?She works less here, but there?s no one to talk to a lot of the time. So I talk to her.?
?Hmm, that?s good.? I poked him in the nose. ?You remember what we talked about in the archive??
?Nicco!? His voice cracked in agitation and he flushed bright red.
?All right,? I said with a grin. ?I just don?t want her taken advantage of is all.?
?Nah,? he said covering his eyes again with one arm. ?She?s had plenty of offers from the village lads but she wanted Tamas.? He paused a moment before going on, ?Gisela recognizes that Tamas isn?t interested in her but it?s not so easy to stop liking someone. I told her not to let anyone try to ?comfort? her and get her in trouble.? He chuckled and I sorted at the old mannish attitude coming from a lad of barely fourteen.
?She blushed bright red and stammered,? he grinned. ?But I think she?ll be okay, she wants someone to love her and offer her a good house of her own, so I don?t think she?ll fall for honeyed words.?
?Well I hope not, she?s still a child,? I said suddenly feeling much older than my twenty years.
?Besides she?s much too concerned with not disappointing Mistress Nayne, though she?s not that much younger than Nayne was when Tamas was born, so I wonder how much disappointing there?d actually be..? His voice trailed off and he was silent for several moments.
?Oh and just between you and me,? he went on after a short pause, ?she really did love Tamas just for himself. Not because he could make her life better but because he was so very nice to her when she moved here. She was very scared and he helped her feel safe.?
?Mmm, that?s good to hear,? I said softly looking across the courtyard to the smithy.
Bitte yawned and closed his eyes and in a few minutes, the regular sound of his breathing told me he was asleep. I smiled at him again, thinking that I had done a lot more smiling in the last year than I had done in the whole of my prior nineteen years. I had this dark haired, black eyed, unreadable child to thank for most of that, him and a tall flame haired young man.
With Bitte asleep and Tamas working, I felt somewhat abandoned, which struck me as odd since up until a year ago, I had spent most of my time alone. I hadn't brought my rucksack or any copying to the forge today as my hand still hurt from hitting Lehi and I wondered what Tamas would say when he finally saw the bruise on my knuckles. I leaned back and laid my head on Bitte's leg, closing my eyes, I listened to the sound of bird song alternating with the clang of hammer on metal in the forge. Far away, I heard laughter, and the rumble of Tamas' voice. I would do whatever I needed to remain here, I wasn't going to marry some elderly dowager, no matter how much Father yelled. What I didn't realize was that Father didn?t intend to yell anymore.
Chapter Three - Mending the Clock Spring
Morning found both, Bitte and I, feeling better than we had felt for several days and after a quick breakfast, we raced to town. Bitte kept watch for followers and though he saw no one, we couldn't be certain that no one, other than the porter, saw us leave. But after the humiliations of the past week, I really didn't care. Even though it was early, the smithy forge was already gushing smoke out into the air and Tamas was at the forge dressed in his grey linen shirt and heavy leather breeches. His braid was coiled on his head, the tassel sweeping the back of his neck; I stopped in the doorway and sucked in my breath, glad that the skirts of my doublet covered my awakening cock. Kinna shouted to me from the bellows and Tamas turned with a smile.
He gestured for us to come in but remained at the forge front, studying whatever was in the fire. I stepped into the smithy and circled around to the far side of the anvil, where I could watch but be out of the way. From where I stood, I could see two large pieces of thin-coiled metal, several inches wide but very thin. The larger one curled fairly tightly while the shorter piece curved in a loose arc, both were nearly buried in the coal bed. Tamas peered into the fire again; he nodded to himself, apparently pleased with what he saw.
"We're fixin' a clock spring," he said straightening up. "The church clock mainspring snapped early this morn."
"So that's why I didn't hear it! I thought perhaps I just wasn't listening," I said surprised.
"Nah, nah, nuttin wrong wi' your hearing, Father John came a-runnin in at the crack of day, all in tears. Pulled me ri` outta my bed, he did," he grinned, thoroughly pleased with himself. "We need to repair the old spring for the poor Father, buying new ore is out o' the question, much too expensive for the church. However, if I understood Master Colin correctly this should fix it and send it back to chiming in no time."
Tamas looked confident that the repair would work, if he was worried about whether he'd learned the necessary skills to repair the spring, he didn`t let it show on his face. His whole bearing was different now that he was Master: he'd always appeared self-assured and headstrong but now that self-assurance was as apparent on him as a layer of clothing was, now that his peers had acknowledged him as Master of his craft. He moved with the grace of a man who knew he was the one in control and there was a possessive air to him now. This is the Master of the forge now, it said. The only bad side I could see was that his sexiness had tripled and I was going to have a hard time keeping my hands to myself, while in the forge. Tamas crossed the forge in three easy strides, cupped my chin in his hand and tipping my head up he kissed me.
"Good morrow, Nicco," he said breathily against my lips.
"Go-good morrow, Tamas." I answered my voice breaking.
"Tam, Ah think tis abou' ready," Teru said from the forge.
Tamas smiled at me and returned to the forge, where he pulled a heavy leather glove onto his left hand. Heads together, he and Teru, discussed the heat and the metal, while I stared ravenously at Tamas' broad back, suddenly wanting him with a hunger that threatened to consume me. Bitte brought me a stool and I perched on it precariously.
"You're going to stay for the show?" He asked with a grin. "I suppose he might take his shirt off if you ask him."
He grinned and dodged my half-hearted clout, but I really did want to see Tamas without his shirt. I turned my attention back to the forge as Tamas and Teru separated, Teru heading to the worktable, on the right side of the smithy, where he hefted a sturdy file. Picking up a pair of tongs, Tamas reached into the fire and moved the smaller piece of the spring over to the side where it would stay warm but not get any hotter. Picking up the other piece, he rotated on his heel to the anvil. Carefully, without loosening his grip he switched the tongs to his left hand. Without looking, he picked up a hammer from the row at his feet. I wondered if lining them up correctly was one of Kinna's jobs and what consequences there might be if they were out of order. However, in studying the handles, I decided Tamas probably knew by touch which hammer he`d grabbed.
Carefully, he hammered the hot end, folding it back onto itself and hammering it down again, making the end thicker than the rest of the spring. In hammering the spring, he also straightened it out semi flat for several inches, which I guessed would make it easier to reattach to the other piece. Grasping the cooler part of the spring in his leather gloved hand; he switched hammers to one with a smaller head. Artfully, he forged the end into a crescent shape that was slightly bulbous on the end, which made me think of the tadpoles in the castle moat with fatheads and narrower tails. When he was finished, he handed it to Teru who took it to the table and started to file the worked end. Tamas reached into the fire and pulled out the other half of the broken spring. Hopping down from my stool, I walked over to the workbench to watch Teru. He looked up at me and grinned.
"Ah have ta geh off all tha fire scale, thah's this stuff what sticks ta tha metal when tis been in tha fire. Tha metal won't weld tight i' taint clean." He picked up the file and continued scraping. After a few minutes, he rubbed it with a piece of pumice before filing it some more.
Tamas appeared at his shoulder and took the spring. He studied it closely before rubbing it with his thumb. Apparently satisfied, he handed Teru the second piece of spring. I noted that the "head" of the tadpole was swimming in the opposite direction from the first piece and they would fit together snug as two kittens in a basket.
"That was the easy part," Tamas said with a grin and a wink. He walked back to the fire and leaned close to it again. Judging the temperature, Teru whispered to me. Tamas made a slow-it-down gesture to Noah, who slowed his pumping.
Teru carried the two pieces of metal to the fire and with the tongs placed them in the upper part of the fire, away from the tuyere, the bellows nozzle on the side of the forge. Carefully Tamas covered them with coals, except for a tiny like opening through which he could judge the heat of the fire. The spring glowed bright red from the heat and Tamas called to Kinna, who grabbed a small box off the worktable and hastily brought it to his much-adored Master. Tamas pulled one piece of glowing spring out of the fire, even from where I stood, I could feel the heat and I wondered how Tamas could enjoy it so much. Kinna held the box up and Tamas reached in pulling out a handful of a finely ground gritty substance, that I later learned was a ground mineral that was common in Wallingfirth, being mined near there, and sprinkled it on the hot metal tadpole.
"Tis flux, keeps the metal sound," Teru explained. "An' keeps any new scale from formin'."
Tamas tucked the spring back into the fire in the same spot, repeating the dusting with the other section of spring and Teru shoveled hot coals over them once again leaving the tiny window for Tamas. Tamas held out his right hand and swept it side to side over the coals. The heat from the fire must have been horrendous but he never flinched and it wasn't long before the metal started to change colors, red turning to orange and then to yellow, fading to nearly white. The metal appeared to shimmer and reminded me of melted butter left in the sun on a hot summer afternoon. Something sparked and dropped into the fire, leaning forward just a little I saw a couple tiny sparks, no bigger than fleas, popping off the metal.
"Move away Nicco, tis very hot," Tamas said briskly, his hand on my shoulder and I retreated to my stool once again. "Stay there, dohn move a muscle, Nicco, Bitte, there's no second chance with the weld, if I mess it up, the spring is done fer."
I shivered, suddenly quite nervous about being in the forge. Tamas leaned over the fire again and my throat went dry at how desirable and incredibly beautiful he looked with the shadows of the fire flickering against his pale skin. His brow and jaw were tense from concentration and I reflected on what a good look for him it was. He flicked a finger and the fire seemed to retreat. He nodded and flashed a ghost of that cheeky grin of his; I shifted on the stool trying to get comfortable with a rapidly hardening cock. Beside me, Bitte snickered and I shot him a piercing glance, he gazed off toward the forge with an innocent look on his face. I was debating on saying something to him when, across the forge, Noah shut the door and barred it before crossing to the back door, beside me, and shutting it. His face looked strained and I was suddenly sympathetic to the lad, working under such a demanding Master. Kinna scurried about the forge end of the smithy, moving everything that might be tripped over out of the way. Teru brought Tamas a heavy leather apron and helped him tie it before donning one himself. Standing in front of the forge, Tamas swung around and stopped in front of the anvil. He glanced down at his right hand and set his hammer in that spot on the anvil. Raising his head, he looked at me and held a finger to his lips. Grinning, he silently mouthed 'no water' and I flushed bright red, nodding fractionally, I willed my breathing to slow. Tipping my head, I listened to his heartbeat pounding, confident and self-assured with no trace of nervousness. He was truly the Master here.
"Teru, Noah, the tongs," he said with a `come here' gesture. They hurried to his side each carrying a pair of tongs.
Taking one set of tongs one in each hand, he reached into the fire and pulled out the glowing pieces of spring. He spun sharply to the anvil and rested the right hand piece, the straighter section, against it on the flat, canting it upwards just a bit. Teru explained to me later that this was to keep the join from losing heat when by coming into contact with the cold anvil. Tamas lined the left hand piece up with the right one and touched them together. I heard a sizzle as the two almost molten pieces of steel joined together. Moving almost quicker than I could see, he handed off the right tongs to Teru and picked up his hammer striking a gentle blow on the weld. Just enough to "set" it, I learned later.
A spray of sparks, molten flux and not quite dissolved scale sprayed out from the weld in a shower of fire, that looked hot and hissed as they hit the floor of the smithy. Now I knew why he wore the apron and I suddenly had the urge to say a prayer for the future of that apron as the sparks bounced off his lower abdomen and legs. Tamas struck another blow to the metal, a more vigorous one, and then another continuing to hammer the spring. He worked from the center of the weld outward, forcing the two pieces to become one once again. The ringing blows echoed in my head along with his heartbeat in a sort of song that I would be unable to describe to anyone. But I knew for the rest of my life I would hear that duet of thumping bass and clanging ring anytime I came near Tamas.
Tamas held the piece up and studied it, before hammering it a few more times. When he was finally satisfied, he returned the spring to the fire. They reburied it under the coals and stepped back to watch. Kinna sidled up to me and leaned against my leg. His small body was shaking from stress and I stroked his hair softly. When the spring was just approaching yellow, Tamas pulled it out again and with Teru's assistance holding the tongs, Tamas forged it into a tight coil. Watching him hammer, I realized that if he hadn't thickened the broken ends at first, they, by now, would be thinner than the rest of the spring and in all likelihood would have broken once again. I suspected this was an esoteric piece of knowledge that one learned near the end of one's education in the ways of the smithy.
Tamas heated the piece one last time and bent the pliant metal into its final shape. Gently Noah smoothed the edges of a small rectangular cut out in the end of the spring, Tamas watched without comment, content to let his apprentice work. When it was finished, he nodded in satisfaction and wiped his brow and grinning over the finished product at his apprentice. Sweat, soot and something else that I suspected was metal residue streaked all three men's faces. Kinna sprang away from me towards the forge. Tamas gestured to Noah and Teru, who carefully lifted the spring and carried it to the forge. Kinna opened a small door underneath and they slid the spring inside positioning it carefully under the fire above. Kinna shut the door carefully and backed up from the forge to Tamas' side. Absently, Tamas ruffled the boy's dark hair.
"It has to cool carefully," Tamas said, tapping the boy on the nose.
"Cool?" I asked. "But you put it under the fire."
"Hai, it has to cool very slowly." Tamas crossed the smithy floor to me. "If it cools too fast on the outside, the middle gets brittle and it'll break when put back in place in the clock. So we cool it under there."
He let go of Kinna with a slight push toward the back door before taking a wet piece of cloth from Noah. Murmuring quiet thanks, Tamas wiped the soot and grunge off his face. I smiled in delight as his freckles reappeared on his nose. He turned to his workers, all of which were wiping down their own faces and hands.
"All right, let's break for lunch and the spring should be cooled and ready to install in the clock. Kinna stay close, you won't have the chime to tell you when to return," Tamas said, wiping his forehead on the scrap of cloth. I motioned to Bitte to join them and he left with Kinna. Tamas stepped over to me, his hand gently gripping my bicep. He leaned forward slightly, his head inclined towards me.
"I must smell like a bull," he said softly.
"Mmm, no," I said taking a deep breath. "I smell dragon musk and hot metal. Very stimulating, very sexy."
Tamas grinned and kissed me. I grasped the stiff leather apron feeling the roughness against my hands. I tasted hot metal on his lips and felt my knees wobble unsteadily. Tamas' hand slid down my arm and looped around my waist. His other hand tossed the scrap of cloth on the worktable before joining its mate on my waist, gently cupping my left buttock. Aching need coursed through my veins and I moaned softly, considering trying to throw him down right there in the smithy. Almost as if he'd heard my thoughts, he raised his head and looked at me.
"Yeh want me ta bolt tha back door again?" he asked his eyes glinting with mischief.
Blushing, I nodded and he grinned. He crossed the room to the rear door and dropped the bolt down pulling the string latch inside. Stretching slightly, he hooked the open shutter of the nearby window and pulled it nearly shut. The smithy became very dim, lit only by the glow of the fire and a little sunlight oozing through slightly ajar shutters. He untied the apron and hung it on a hook near the door. Turning around, he pulled his shirt out of his breeches and tossed it on the back table. He crossed the smithy to a large bucket which he leaned over and splashed water on his arms, face and chest. He looked up and shook his head side to side. Water trickled down his chest and evaporated with a sizzle. He grinned at me with a leer and I decided that he was going to rib me for that bit of daftness for some time. I stuck out my tongue and started awkwardly to unbutton my doublet. Tamas crossed the smithy in a flash and gently pushed my hands aside.
"Let me do that," he said softly. "I do enjoy undressing yeh."
I blushed and watched his hands work their way down my front, enjoying his graceful movements. Tamas bumped his forehead against the crown of my head and when I looked up startled, he caught my lips in a kiss. My hands slid helplessly down his arms, seeking a handhold, as I struggled to stay on my feet. He finished the buttons down my front, lifting my left hand to reach the buttons at my wrist, he turned his head, and tipping my hand took my middle finger into his mouth. I moaned at the feel of his tongue on my finger. He easily popped open the three small buttons on my sleeve. Switching wrists, he sucked on my pinky; I moaned and clung to his belt. Letting go of my hand, he caught me under the elbow as my knees decided enough was enough and I started to sag to the floor. Tamas caught the back of my doublet and I half slipped out of it. He wrapped his arms around my waist and backed me up to the wall. My doublet finished its journey to the floor and lay there unnoticed. Pressed to the wall, I had no escape and for a moment, I was a bit nervous about being caught between the solid plaster wall and the solid young smith. However, the anxiety disappeared as he started kissing me again. I moaned softly into his mouth, my arms wrapped around his neck. It didn't take Tamas but a minute more to finish undressing me. Still kissing me, he wrapped his arms around my butt and lifted me into the air. Startled I broke off the kiss with a squeak and a frantic tightening of my arms around his neck.
"Nicco, wrap yer legs roun' me," he said huskily.
Hastily, I wrapped my legs around his waist. His belt buckle pressed coldly against my butt and I groaned in pleasure at the pressure on the sensitive nerves there. Tamas crossed the smithy in a couple strides, still supporting my weight in his arms, to the back table and set me on it. I squealed in surprise at the cold metal and he chuckled amused. Laying his hands on either side of me, he leaned forward to kiss me. Heat radiated out from his hands warming the table to a temperature that made me feel slightly drowsy. His lips slid across my cheek to my jaw, sucking gently on it. I moaned and cried out, my hands gripping his upper arms as I pulled his shoulder to me and nipped at it. He sucked in his breath and tensed up pressing his shoulder to my teeth. I had discovered quite by accident that he actually enjoyed a bite or two during sex. It had puzzled me at first but I quickly worked out the best ways to use it to my advantage. I sucked the small piece of flesh between my teeth and Tamas' head rolled backwards as he moaned in pleasure.
"Ahh Nicco," he groaned. I let go of his shoulder and leaned close to his ear. A stray red curl tickled my nose and I caught it in my teeth and gave it a gentle tug.
"Tamas," I whispered in his ear. "Make love to me, I want to forget for awhile my father, my brother, my station in life. I only want to know the feel of your body against mine."
"Nicco," he whispered huskily.
Grasping my head, he pegged me in a kiss that felt like fire flooding my body. Waves of heat and fiery passion swept through me and I cried out as his hands caressed their way down my front. I fumbled awkwardly at his belt, until one of his large hands covered mine and the belt slid open almost as of it own desire. I pushed his breeches and hose down frantically, my fingers catching in the hair curling over the edge his braies. He hissed softly and untied his braies, sliding them off his hips. Tamas reached over my shoulder and picked up a small metal pot, which he set down out just outside of bumping reach. Tipping me back against the wall, he leaned forward, with tongue, lips and fingertips teased my nipples, belly and cock. I cried out and thrashed under him, twisting and arching, my belly pressing up against him. He thumbed the lid off the small pot and I smelled honing oil. His fingers teased at my hole and I cried out.
"Tamas, please, now," I gasped.
He grunted and slathered the oil on his cock. Pressing up to my hole, he leaned forward and devoured my mouth once again. I moaned into his mouth and pushed down until he was fully sheathed inside me. He made a noise that was more like an animal snarl than anything I'd ever heard before and started moving. I felt the rough wall scrape my shoulders and smelled hot metal, burning wood and honing oil. Tamas' hands slipped between the wall and my shoulders, at once protecting and pressing me down. Somewhere far away, the fire popped and I heard a low growling animal like noise. My heartbeat thundered in tandem with his heart and my back arched as I felt my orgasm rip through my body. I cried out grappling at Tamas' shoulders and felt his fingers dig into the soft flesh between my shoulder and collarbone. Close to my ear, I heard another low growl and I blinked in puzzlement.
"Nicco, oh heaven Nicco," Tamas groaned as his orgasm drove him deep inside me and his back arched.
We stayed like that for a few moments longer, but it was getting close to the time when the others would be returning to the forge. Tamas kissed me again and went to fetch the water to clean up. By the time, Teru returned from town, we were cleaned up, dressed and Tamas, with Noah, was checking on the spring in the annealing oven. Tamas looked Teru up and down quirking an eyebrow at him. Teru flushed and looked away flashing a small bite mark on his neck and I wondered if he'd been up to the castle doing the same thing we'd been doing, with Mellys. However, I doubted he'd have had time to go that far, which led me to ponder what excuse Mellys may have offered Mother to allow her to run to the village. Tamas' shirt hid the bite I'd put on his shoulder but still I couldn't help blushing.
"The spring is cooling nicely." Tamas said looking back into the oven. "Looks like the weld will hold."
"Was theh any doubt?" Teru asked with a grin.
Surprisingly, Tamas blushed a fiery color of crimson from embarrassment, for all his self-assurance, he was still unused to being the man in control and the one whose judgments were followed and relied on by others without someone with more experience offering advice first. His embarrassment at the confidences of others was just another addition to his overall sexiness. He rose to his feet and brushed his hands together as he looked around the forge.
"We have plenty o' work to keep us busy 'til the spring is ready to re-install. Let's get goin' fellows!"
He walked purposely to the front workbench, where a row of broken farming implements was lined up awaiting repairs. I nodded and gestured to Bitte to follow me, we'd crowded the smithy enough for one day and the smiths had work to do, except Kinna, who would be napping in the house. He would do the cleaning and small jobs in the evening before it got dark.
I was hoping to sweet talk a little food out of Nayne since my lunchtime had been taken up by her red headed son, not that I really minded, of course, but my stomach was complaining. The afternoon sun shone down on the courtyard warming the cobbles and my nose twitched to the smells of warm stone and earth. A homey clatter of crockery in the kitchen told me that Gisela had started cleaning the lunch dishes. A piece of song drifted out the door and I smiled, maybe she still loved Tamas but she'd shed her sullenness over the winter and was a much happier young woman these days. I stopped on the threshold and breathed in the scent of food, soap and something sweet I couldn't name. Gisela looked up and saw me. She nodded and smiled at Bitte at my shoulder.
"Is there anything left to eat?" I asked.
"Mistress put a pair o' covered bowls i' tha larder fer yeh and Master Tamas, afore she went inta town," Gisela said, jerking her head in the direction of the pantry.
"Thank you," I said,
I glanced over my shoulder at the pantry door and saw Bitte, already as tall as the older girl, hip resting against the counter, lean forward to talk to her. I smiled and the thought flitted through my mind that she might very well be his first experience with sex. I pondered what I should do, if anything, about it as I entered the pantry. The pantry was cool and dim being on the sheltered side of the house. I'd always liked the pantries in the castle and as a child, they'd been a favorite place to hide form my brother, Michael, and his fellows. Nayne's pantry was as neat and clean as the rest of her house and surprisingly well stocked. I hadn't really ever thought about it before but Tamas' ability in the forge must bring in a nice income.
The larder door stood open just a crack; studying it I decided it leaned from either a bad hinge or a warp and I wondered why no one had ever fixed it. Perhaps Nayne only thought about when entering the larder and then forgot to mention it to Tamas later. I made a mental note to tell him and offer to take it to Sayji or Will for repair. Because there were no windows opening into the larder, it was quite dark in there and I waited for my eyes to adjust. Three wooden shelves covered the outside wall. Dishes draped with cloth filled them and I wondered what might be in each one. A well-carved thrawl, a stone shelf, made of a pretty cream-colored stone and braced up by wooden trestles rested against the interior wall, farthest from any outside heat. Meat and possibly fish would be stored there, but I doubted Nayne would put our lunch there. Returning to the outer wall shelves, I peeked under several cloth covers, placed over the dishes to keep the flies and other household pests out. At the end of the middle shelf, I found a pair of bowls containing thick bean and lentil soup and a loaf of fresh bread. I called to Bitte, who came at a run and carried one bowl and half the bread out to the kitchen.
He reheated the soup by warming a handful round metal discs in the warming pan placed in the fire. When they were quite hot, he tipped the pan over my bowl, dropping them into the soup. Stirring the discs around heated the soup quite nicely, after which he cleaned them and returned them to a small basket on the hutch. Carefully, I carried the bowl and bread outside in the crook of my arm. My usual place near the rosebush was dry and warm from the sun and I sat down carefully to eat. The thick stew was seasoned with pepper and butter and melted in my mouth. I ate it using the bread, first, as a scoop and then as a mop to clean the bowl. When it was completely gone, I stared at the almost clean bowl, I hadn't realized I was that hungry!
Bitte appeared shortly after I finished to take my bowl and brought me some ale to wash everything down. He carried the bowl into the kitchen and returned moments later. He dropped to the grass beside me and laid back, his arms crossed behind his head. I smiled down at him indulgently. He was something far more to me than a mere servant was and I treasured his companionship. I made a mental note to thank Tamas once more for bringing him into my life.
"You spend a lot of time with Gisela," I said.
"She's lonely," he answered, his arm covering his eyes so I couldn`t read them. "Her house was so full and she had lots of younger brothers and sisters to take care of." He turned his head and peered out from under his arm at me. "She works less here, but there's no one to talk to a lot of the time. So I talk to her."
"Hmm, that's good." I poked him in the nose. "You remember what we talked about in the archive?"
"Nicco!" His voice cracked in agitation and he flushed bright red.
"All right," I said with a grin. "I just don't want her taken advantage of is all."
"Nah," he said covering his eyes again with one arm. "She's had plenty of offers from the village lads but she wanted Tamas." He paused a moment before going on, "Gisela recognizes that Tamas isn't interested in her but it's not so easy to stop liking someone. I told her not to let anyone try to `comfort' her and get her in trouble." He chuckled and I sorted at the old mannish attitude coming from a lad of barely fourteen.
"She blushed bright red and stammered," he grinned. "But I think she'll be okay, she wants someone to love her and offer her a good house of her own, so I don't think she'll fall for honeyed words."
"Well I hope not, she's still a child," I said suddenly feeling much older than my twenty years.
"Besides she's much too concerned with not disappointing Mistress Nayne, though she's not that much younger than Nayne was when Tamas was born, so I wonder how much disappointing there'd actually be.." His voice trailed off and he was silent for several moments.
"Oh and just between you and me," he went on after a short pause, "she really did love Tamas just for himself. Not because he could make her life better but because he was so very nice to her when she moved here. She was very scared and he helped her feel safe."
"Mmm, that's good to hear," I said softly looking across the courtyard to the smithy.
Bitte yawned and closed his eyes and in a few minutes, the regular sound of his breathing told me he was asleep. I smiled at him again, thinking that I had done a lot more smiling in the last year than I had done in the whole of my prior nineteen years. I had this dark haired, black eyed, unreadable child to thank for most of that, him and a tall flame haired young man.
With Bitte asleep and Tamas working, I felt somewhat abandoned, which struck me as odd since up until a year ago, I had spent most of my time alone. I hadn't brought my rucksack or any copying to the forge today as my hand still hurt from hitting Lehi and I wondered what Tamas would say when he finally saw the bruise on my knuckles. I leaned back and laid my head on Bitte's leg, closing my eyes, I listened to the sound of bird song alternating with the clang of hammer on metal in the forge. Far away, I heard laughter, and the rumble of Tamas' voice. I would do whatever I needed to remain here, I wasn't going to marry some elderly dowager, no matter how much Father yelled. What I didn't realize was that Father didn't intend to yell anymore.