Bróðir Vegask Bróðir III

Posted on Wed Mar 15th, 2023 @ 6:52am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov
Edited on on Wed Mar 15th, 2023 @ 6:53am

Mission: In-Between (S1:E4-S1:E5)
Location: Holodeck 1
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 1945
5198 words - 10.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Andrei had admittedly been surprised by the feint and was taken by surprise when their shield smacked together. He stumbled, but didn't take the bait, instead bracing himself again and watching Torsten. His brother was tricky and as big as him, but he has always been smarter. He took two steps forward then and reset. He wouldn't be too predictable either.

"You will dine with the disgraced. And I just might make good on my promise about your wife." Andrei said, referencing their barbs from earlier. "You may have given her a son, but you've never made her quiver and shake. She told me so."

Torsten just grinned. "You speak of my wife in such a way when your own woman stands in support for you. It is you, brother, who are a disgrace." His eyes slid to Lyra behind Andrei and he smirked. "Ah, never mind. She stands with you no more."

To be honest, if this hadn't been a giant fantasy, Andrei would have turned to check, but there were times when being on the holodeck couldn't be forgotten. He didn't imagine Lyra would have been terribly angry with him for rhetorical references to sleeping with a hologram. He grinned and said nothing. He could provide some comeback, but he felt he won more with silence than with banter.

Suddenly, he advanced, swinging his shashka to the left, and Torsten blocked it with his shield, then to the right, and Torsten blocked it with his sword, all the while the older brother gave way to Andrei's advance. Then he mimicked Torsten's attack with a charge of his shield, and when he swung his sword again, it was aimed at the Jarl's side., between his tunic and his armor.

Torsten endured Andrei's assault, stepping back and back and never losing his footing. When Andrei mimicked his opening attack, Torsten recognized this immediately. He braced against the charge of the shield but instead of trying to block Andrei's strike, he rotated around the shield to the other side so the blade caught nothing but air. With his momentum, he brought the thick pommel of his sword directly into the back of Andrei's head with a loud crack.

"You never could think of anything original could you, little brother?!" Torsten yelled, using the momentum he had to come around and strike at Andrei again with the sword, this time going low toward his knees.

Andrei felt the strike, but wasn't dazed. He jumped to avoid the slashing of the sword. And rebounded with several swings of his own sword, hitting nothing but air again. The damn shield. He never used shields and he hadn't been trained with one. With a growl, he tossed it to the side. He then stood up straight, changing his stance to one consistent with his own training. He waved the shashka around with a flourish and spun it between the fingers on his right hand and then changed it to the other. It was elegant and impressive. The crowd reacted with surprise and interest, seeing a style of swordplay from a different land, more like a dance than the fighting they were accustomed to.

Andrei advanced on Torsten, striking at his shield three times in a row in quick succession, using the saber as it was intended to be used. The surprise was evident, and though he had little to block him but the blade itself, the blade would likely be enough. He slashed low, quickly cutting Torsten's sword arm and drawing blood. He grabbed the shield on the jarl's arm and yanked it quickly, hoping to remove it and, therefore, give himself a substantial advantage.

"Surprise!" he said through his teeth, angrily.

Torsten had indeed been surprised by his little brother's shift in tactics. He was on the defensive now, trying to calculate how to counter the aggressive style that was made more so by the lack of shield. He let out a growl of pain as the blade cut into his arm. When Andre grabbed his shield, his arm tensed and his grip tightened. He managed to keep Andrei from yanking it away. He pulled it back slightly, and then used Andrei's pulling momentum to aid the strength of his own shield bash right into Andrei's pretty face. There was considerable force behind it and likely it was enough to knock even Andrei off his feet.

Andrei reeled back suddenly, the pain shooting through his nose. This would cause some bruising, but it didn't seem to be broken at this point. He stumbled back and nearly fell to the ground, but instead he was stopped by a line of women standing nearby. They stretched out their hands to stop him from falling on top of them, but they were strong warriors, so his collapse was stayed. He stood and looked at them, issuing a wink and a pained smile.

"Andvari!" It was Lyra's voice that called to him above the crowd who had progressively gotten louder and more into the fight now that it was going. She was standing in front of one of the two weapon racks and reached over it to rattle one of the swords that appeared to be another saber. Of course she hadn't left him as his brother had claimed.

Andrei smiled upon seeing her. The smile was devilish and amused, all at the same time. He strode over confidently, ignoring the pain in his face, and grabbed the second sword. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips slowly, eliciting a throng of anonymous cheers from around the square. Then he turned back to Torsten and began to dance with two swords. When he stopped, he lifted his chin.

"Murder and trickery are the name of your game, brother. My woman remains beside me." he said, and then advanced with both swords ready. If he couldn't take the shield from Torsten, he would make him regret he had it in the first place. He sliced at the shield with a succession of cuts from both swords, creating an impressive display of cuts along the blue surface, but doing nothing more than intimidating. As Torsten gave ground again, Andrei concentrated his flurry of saber blows on his brother's right side, forcing him to place his sword hand more completely behind the shield or risk being very seriously cut. Then Torsten tried to surge forward and stun him again with the shield, but Andrei stepped back quickly to avoid the impact and reached his saber over the top. He heard the piercing of flesh near the jarl's stomach and heard the man yelp in pain.

Not waiting for the man to assess his wounds, Andrei resumed his attack on the right side of the shield, forcing the older man to hide his sword arm. And every time he brought it out to strike back, Andvari would repay him by taking a chunk out of it.

Torsten growled from behind his shield. He'd been able to land another couple hits on Andrei but they were superficial at best. While he was strong indeed, he was older and his stamina was starting to wane in the face of his brother's savage attacks. He knew he had to end it now. He used his shield to bash again, placing it fully in front of himself and tilting it up slightly to give him room to swing. He brought his sword arm up behind his shield and swung down under its protection toward Andrei's knee. The blade bit into the flesh there and left a wound that would usually bring a man down to that knee.

"Kill him!" Lyra yelled over the cheering crowd.

Andrei reeled back, feeling the bite of the sword and trying his hardest to do the opposite of what was natural. The opposite of what Torsten was expecting. He moved back and then fell into the urge to drop, except, when he did, he entered a forward roll that got him underneath the protection of Torsten's shield. As the man moved back in order to use the shield as protection, Andrei kicked with his uninjured leg and knocked the piece of wood out of the jarl's hand. It went bouncing off to the edge of the square.

As the jarl started to move to get the shield back, or another, Andrei grabbed at his sword arm with his hand and wrapped himself around it. Torsten sent his fist flying into Andrei's face several times, knocking him back slightly and causing him to sputter, but Andrei still climbed the man as if he were a battlement. Then, when he was standing, he grunted and sped his shashka through the man's eye with lightning speed, and out of the back of his head. It was quick enough that the man had time to gasp in surprise before he breathed his last.

As Torsten collapsed to the muddy ground, the blood-red sword slid from his eye. Andrei favored his uncut leg and looked out at the crowd, his face a mess of paint and blood, his braided hair matted with both.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" he shouted, holding up the bloody sword and looking at the men and women around him, his chest heaving from breathing and pain.

The culmination of the fight had brought great excitement to the crowd who watched enthralled as blows were traded again and again. When Andrei stumbled, people cheered; when he disarmed Torsten of his shield, other people cheered. As the final blow finally came in a quick, violent way, the majority of those gathered cheered for Andrei, though above the cheering was the shriek of grief of Freydis as she raced out onto the field and dropped to her knees by her husband. She touched his face, his hair, his chest, but he was gone.

Lyra had walked out of the crowd having handed Brandr off to one of the other women and telling her she was to stay right where she was with the child. As the cheering continued, she moved up behind Andrei and simply placed her hand on his back.

Freydis pulled herself to her feet and looked around at the people, then to Lyra, and then to Andrei. She swallowed hard, and then yelled. "Hail, Jarl Andvari!"

The crowd's noise lessened, and she yelled it again louder. "HAIL, JARL ANDVARI!" This time, she dropped to her knees in front of him. For her to do this, it was an obvious cry for mercy for her and her child, acceptance of his new position.

The cheering became focused now, and the crowd began to chant, "Hail, Jarl Andvari! Hail, Jarl Andvari! Hail, Jarl Andvari!"

The assembled people knelt before Andrei, and Lyra pressed herself closer to provide steadiness to his injured side. She brought her lips up to his ear and whispered quietly to him, her voice low and full of desire. "Hail, Jarl Andvari."

Andrei smiled, particularly at Lyra’s touch, and raised his sword again. Of course, this victory would be bitter sweet. He turned his eyes to Freydis as she sobbed on the ground. The desperate would say anything to save their own lives. He gestured to the woman holding her baby and bade her to come forward. Once she was nearby, he gestured toward the child.

“Take my nephew, Freydis.” He commanded her.

Freydis stood, wiping the tears from her eyes and reached out to take her son. She immediately began to try to console the boy who was of course crying given all the cheering and screaming that had been happening. She cradled him close, and then looked up to Andrei fearfully.

He stepped close to his brother’s widow, his eye on hers, until he was very close and then he spoke to her in hushed times, so only those who were close by could hear.

“You have done nothing wrong, and you will be no slave of mine. My promises to my brother to satisfy you cannot be kept.” He said, offering her a sad smile. “You and Brandr will take my house. I will care for you as my brother’s widow. But see that you always show the loyalty and praise you have so eagerly shown today, or you will find I am capable of changing my mind, woman.”

Freydis was shocked to say the least. When he mentioned not being able to satisfy her, her blue eyes shifted over to Lyra and she grimaced slightly. Putting her attention back on Andrei, she began to nod. “Yes… of course Jarl Andvari. I will remain loyal and serve you… in any way that you wish.”

Lyra let out a long, drawn out sigh. With an attitude like that Freydis was not long for the world.

“Right.” Andrei said, eyeing the blonde woman and then turning away from her, toward the crowd. “Today is a new day for us. Thorsten is dead and we are still breathing. We are still fighting. I promise you that we will join the war as he said, and we will collect such riches as we have never seen before.”

The crowd cheered again for Andrei, but it had started to disperse slowly given the issue had been resolved and Freydis had been spared. Most of the warriors remained however, and Lyra watched Freydis start to very slowly wander away.

“Shall we go inside then?” She prompted him quietly, not wanting to appear she was pushing him into anything, but he was clearly injured and needed tending to.

“We shall.” He said quietly. Then he started off toward the Great House with Lyra there to help him along the way. They took the rising stairs outside the largest building in the village and walked through doors being held open by slaves. Each of them looked nervous, not knowing what to expect from Andvari or his woman. “Bandages and hot water.” He said aloud to them as they entered the threshold of the hall.

The slaves looked at each other until an older woman spoke up. “There has been a bath drawn already, Jarl Andvari, if that would suit you.”

The woman who spoke was a free woman likely in her late thirties who had assisted the wife of the former jarl in keeping the slaves on task. Obviously, if a bath had been drawn, Torsten had pictured himself the victor in their fight.

Lyra stood by Andrei’s weak side, helping to support him with an arm around his hips and her body against his. Given their relationship, it was more inconspicuous than any other method and gave the illusion of a woman simply wanting to be close to her man instead of Andrei being injured and needing support.

Andrei accepted Lyra's help without complaint or concern and seemed to be more gracious than he ever showed himself to be in real life. They walked back past the common room and the tables where, just a short while ago, people were celebrating. They went back into the area where the jarl and his family lived and Andrei walked over to a chair. Lowering himself into it, he started to strip off his clothing to assess the damage.

"We might do what we can to avoid bloody bathwater." he said, pulling off a boot.

Lyra didn't answer him and instead simply went over to the full bath - it was large, large enough to accommodate Andrei given it had been made for Torsten who was nearly equal to Andrei in size. Grabbing a basin, she filled it from the bath and grabbed a few rags. Bringing it over to Andrei, she went about helping him with the ties of his armor and getting out of his clothes. She then reached up to undo his bloody braids so she could first inspect the area where Torsten had struck Andrei with the pommel of his sword.

"How does it look back there, Thyra?" he asked, leaning his head down to accommodate her. "My brother, though old, had a way with a pommel."

“Like you’re lucky he didn’t strike just a little lower.” Lyra replied and moved his hair out of the way. She dipped one of the rags and dipped it in the water to clean around the wound on his head. “Not feeling dizzy or nauseated, are you?” She asked, though didn’t seem concerned. He hadn’t shown any signs of it.

He winced at the sting of the hot water on the open wound but he didn't cry out. He knew she was being as gentle as she could; it was her way with him. He checked his senses for answers to her question about how he felt.

"I feel fine, besides a bit of a headache." he said simply. "Do you think people will fall in line easily?"

"The people respect strength. You won the title by right and proved that Torsten was a liar." She pointed out, continuing to take care as she cleaned the wound on his head. Once it was clean, she pulled the small dermal regenerator out of her bracer and ran it over the wound slowly. Leaving a head wound open was just a stupid idea. Once she was done, she temporarily tucked it back into her bracer and helped him strip down the rest of the way.

"Now let me see this leg." She said and knelt down next to him, bringing the basin down to the floor to clean the blood away.

"You'll have to decide if you want to honor the agreement to aid Cnut in England."

“Is there any reason you can think of why I might not?” He asked with a raised brow as he watched her getting access to his leg. “Seems like an excellent opportunity to test our mettle.

"You just became jarl. We were set to leave in two weeks. Is there a warrior here that you would trust to sit in your stead and not usurp your power while you are away?" She asked and looked up to him briefly and then continued to wash off his leg with as much care as she could. Thankfully it had stopped bleeding, but it was a rather nasty wound. She pulled the regenerator out again. The small cuts and bruises she would just leave for immersion sake, but not ones like these.

Andrei furrowed his brow at the unpleasant tickling sensation of rapidly healing flesh. He was quiet as she ran the device over his leg, preferring not to speak while it was happening. Then, when she was done, the pain in the wound was gone and he felt much better.

“They would lord over elderly, children, pregnant women, and those who don’t fight. Meanwhile, I would spend my time with the warriors of our people. If such a resistance took place, would it not be easily put down?”

Lyra shook her head and stood again, starting to wipe down the rest of his body from the blood, dirt and mud. "Not necessarily. Fighting alongside Cnut to reclaim his rightful seat in England may take weeks if not longer. If someone were to try and claim power, it is possible they could form an alliance and we would come home to a fresh fighting force with exhausted warriors and be at a steep disadvantage." She wasn't pressing him either way, simply offering the potential - and likely - scenario.

"Our village is small but well positioned. Many covet it."

"Then perhaps we should do something a bit closer to home." Andrei said, standing up. "If we build alliances, weaken our enemies, and exalt our friends, then there won't be anyone in the area left to challenge us."

He grabbed her hand and walked with her to the bath. Since it was big enough for him, he was confident they could find room for her as well. He stripped off the rest of his clothes and put a foot into the water.

"What do you think?"

"I think that's the better plan." She said and kept him steady as he stepped into the tub. Once he was in, she let him go and began to take off her chestpiece and bracers at the very least. As she put the armor aside, she looked at Andrei and smirked. "So, are we getting married then?"

Andrei lowered himself into the bath, the sting of the water lighting his nerves up his entire body and nearly causing him to hiss from the simultaneous pain. But it was, at the same time, so very pleasant, that he knew it would be over soon. He closed his eyes once he was in the water completely and then, only after a few seconds, he opened them again and looked at Lyra.

“Yes, we will marry.” He said, and then grinned, “unless you have your eyes on Magnus now?”

Lyra continued to strip down out of the dress she had put on and her smallclothes while standing by the tub. At his comment, she smirked playfully and looked over her shoulder to him. "My eyes are only on you."

She repeated the words he had given her on the holodeck after she had put on the display of the red matter weapons for him. Naked then, she moved to step into the tub with him; not waiting for his verbal invitation before getting in. Lowering herself down, she sighed out against the heat of the water and settled herself down at his feet. She stretched her legs out over his and leaned back against the other side of the tub to face him.

"We'll have to find somewhere to raid to make sure you are well stocked with sabers." She looked into his eyes, not caring that one was covered - she acted as if she simply looked through the patch.

“That would be nice, but I’m more concerned with our neighbors. Drengavik, as you said, is coveted by others and a change in leadership is an excellent time to strike. I want to rally us and strike first. If we make a show of strength, bare our teeth, others will fall in line.”

“So a fist rather than an open hand first?” Lyra asked, wanting to make sure she understood what he wanted to do. Her hands began to move over her body and arms to spread the warm water elsewhere and drive the chill off her skin for a while.

Andrei’s hand found her caramel leg and his fingers moved there gently, seeming to be more about closeness than anything more physical, though he didn’t seem closed to the possibility.

“Yes. And once they know that we are strong, once they understand that we are to be feared and not underestimated, we can open our hand and make good on the connections and opportunities our new power affords us.” He said, his eyes both on her, though only one was visible.

Nodding, Lyra considered for a moment while he touched her leg. "I think perhaps the best choices would be Kegthveit and Jorgustoft. Jorgustoft is the smaller village and one we could easily level; they aren't powerful nor overly rich, but they do tend to have many stores saved up for the winter that could help us in the coming months. Kegthveit would prove more of a challenge as they have a fighting force more equal to our own, but they have supplies and riches that we could also take to distribute to those we would like to call friends."

Andrei seemed to think about it for a few moments, weighing their options in the balance to see which would be the best.

“Then we take Jorgustoft first. If we go for the larger of the two and then take the smaller, people will expect we won’t stop. But if we take the smaller, they will think much less of it, and when we finally take Kegthveit, people will start to fear and the time for making friends will be ripe.” He said pensively.

"Taking Jorgustoft will also ensure that we have plenty of supplies to feed and arm our people." She nodded in agreement and then shifted, deciding she wanted to be closer to him. She did just that and moved toward him and then turned so she could sit between his legs with her back to his chest and his manhood pressed up against her impeccable rear. Her hands found his and she pulled his arms around her body while her head went back against his shoulder.

"Do you know how to ride a horse?"

“Yes, it’s Shashka 101 in my family.” He said with a nod, cupping her breasts with his hands, but not making a statement of it. Behind her bottom, he began to subtly harden. He couldn’t help it. “My mother taught me to ride starting when I was just a boy. She also gave me my initial training with the sword.”

She hadn't really taken Yana for a woman to use swords, but at the same time she wasn't really surprised by it. She was internally surprised though that he had mentioned it given he was usually so buttoned up about anything having to do with his mother. She released his hands, one of her hands drifting down to rest on his thigh while the other just lay in her lap. She could feel him hardening behind her but for the moment she made no move to engage him more.

"Did you enjoy the sword when you first started it?"

“I liked cutting things and hacking away like a little boy would. But the rules came into play and I got frustrated with it. Eventually, though, it became clear I had a talent for it. My talent for riding horses was less apparent and my skill was much harder earned.”

"I sometimes feel that the harder it was to master a skill, the more fulfillment I get out of using it." She noted and turned her head so she could lightly kiss his neck. "How did your mother go about teaching you?"

He accepted the kiss readily, moving his arms through the water to cradle her and encourage her to turn around and lay against him front-ways.

“She believes in practical challenges. Her instruction would start with simple travel and, once we were on to advanced lessons involving combat, for example, we would go to our holosuite and try me against programmed opponents. It was a very exciting thing as a boy, especially because I was determined to beat everyone I encountered.”

"Well, some things don't change much." Lyra smirked as she complied with the movements of his arms and turned over slowly in the water, her rear lifting out briefly to be put on display for him and then sinking down as she brought herself up to straddle his legs and now sit chest to chest with him. His manhood pressed and rubbed against her silky toned thighs and her soft breasts barely grazed the hard plane of his chest, but she still hardly seemed to acknowledge either. Her lips however did find his and she kissed him slowly, passionately, and then pulled back with a little smile.

"And now how do you like to learn new things, hm?"

“It depends on what it is.” He responded with a grin. She was probing; trying to get to know him. She certainly liked to do that. He knew better than to resist the effort at this point. They were too close and it would only upset her. His hands found her hair and he ran his fingers through it slowly, leaning in and kissing her again with the same slow passion. Then, when he pulled back, he continued his answer. “Most of the things I pursue, I already know something about and have already gained a bit of experience in one way or another. But if one introduced something totally new like an alien philosophy…I guess I’d get fucking pissed about it.”

He chuckled at that, his hands slowly meeting her large toned bottom under the water and squeezing quite slowly. He remembered what they had started earlier and doubted they would be interrupted a second time. He released one side and reached up, removing the patch from his eye and revealing the emerald bionic one underneath. He set it down on a nearby low table placed close to them for convenience sake. The natural vision the patch provided disappeared along with all the extra sensor and database information, leaving him with the infrared and heat vision that remained. Lyra and he were a cloud of warmth, a result of the bath and their closeness.

“Mika and I have both always been a bit perfectionist about achievement. It’s hard for a Petrov to accept failure.” He said, his other hand finding her bottom again and massaging pleasantly and slowly.

A soft, pleased sigh escaped her lips as his hands moved over her body and grabbed her rear. She was relaxed in his arms and still seemed quite content to not press for more. She listened intently to Andrei's words; she enjoyed getting to know him, it made things easier in its own way and she did actually want to know about him. It hadn't escaped her notice that he rarely seemed interested in learning anything about her, but she chose not to let it bother her nor dwell on it. If he didn't care to know the woman he claimed to love and was - by his own declaration, not request - going to marry, then that was his choice to make and she wouldn't worry about it. In truth it was probably better for her in the long run anyways.

When he mentioned the difficulty that Petrovs had in accepting failure, she couldn't help the smallest of smirks that touched her lips, though she leaned in to kiss him again so it was mostly hidden. Pulling back, she looked into his eyes and finally slid her hands slowly up his chest and over his nipples, catching them between her fingers and rubbing them slightly. She knew it was a hot button for him that would near instantly make him very horny, especially given the position they were in to begin with.

"I'll make sure I keep things interesting for you then, darling." Her voice held promise on multiple levels, low and sultry. She kissed him again.

Her efforts had the desired effect, and this fact became apparent as the young Russian began to move his hips to a certain rhythm. He looked at her like she was doing something dangerous.

"What do you say, Thyra, that I...follow one last order from my dear brother?"

Lyra saw the look he was giving her; she liked it.

“Don’t worry, Andvari,” she began sweetly and then her little smirk grew into a devilish grin. “I’ll be gentle.”

With that her lips and hands began their quest. They had the rest of the evening to plan, but right now it was time for a little play.

END