If the welcome given the mercenaries by the village notables had been a bit lukewarm, then that of my parents – and particularly my mom - continued to compensate. Turfing my dad out of their room, she made it up for two of the guys, converting mine for the other two. Dad and I made up our own beds in the living room, but we did it without complaint.

“They’re such nice boys,” my mom kept saying as she rushed about, bringing them food and drink, offering to clean this or darn that. “Who’d have thought they were so violent?”

My mom would have described a man-eating lion with a toothache and grudge against the world as ‘nice’ if it had helped me, but the guys were on their best behavior. It had clearly been some years since any of them had been in a family home, and it was fun to see them in that environment. It made me wonder what they might have been like as youngsters.

I was pleased to note that the rest of the village, once Bren had told them what the guys were doing here, sided more with my parents in welcoming the guys as saviors. To the extent that, by evening, a large welcome party was taking shape. A fire was built in the village square to roast goat over, the village’s best musicians set up and a space was cleared for dancing, while all the men and women of the village rooted about for their best clothes. I couldn’t help noticing that the girls seemed particularly excited about the event, and I was reminded that, while the guys wouldn’t be staying long enough to form any relationships, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t take advantage of whatever local entertainment was on offer. They were mercenaries, after all, wasn’t that what they were supposed to do when they descended on a town? Eat, drink, and defile as many women as time permitted. It was hard not to wonder if that was all I had been to them. But hadn’t they made that clear? All three of the guys I had slept with had tried to push me away, knowing that nothing could come of it. I had made my own bed, and I’d had a lot of fun in it, but soon enough, that bed would be empty.

As night fell, the wine began to flow, the smell of the food drifted through the village and the band struck up a lively number that soon had people heading to the dance area. I had always loved the dances in my village, even before I discovered the pleasure of dancing with boys. There was something in the air, the fun, the laughter, the excitement. Just the sound of the music made my heart skip faster. There had been days in my captivity when I had wondered if I would ever dance again, here or anywhere, and to be back here amongst friends and family was a wonder that I was determined to enjoy to the fullest.

First, of course, I danced with my dad, as I had used to when I was little, and I could see from the tears in his eyes that he, too, had wondered if we would ever be able to do this again. Next, I danced with Bren. He was not the most graceful mover in the world, but we always saved a dance for each other.

“Who have you got your eye on?” I asked – these dances were always an opportunity for the young men of Stenheim to make their feelings clear to local girls in a more casual setting.

“Dana’s saving me a dance,” confided Bren – I knew he’d had a thing for her for a while. “I’m hoping to stretch that to more than one.”

“If she’s got any sense, she’ll spend the whole evening with you.”

“I guess I don’t have to ask who you’re looking to dance with. Or, at least, I can narrow it down to four.”

I guess I must have blushed to confirm his suspicion, as he then shrugged and added, “You might have to wait your turn.”

I had been so caught up in the dancing that I hadn’t looked over at the guests of honor to see if they were enjoying themselves, and now I did, I was pretty sure that they were. It seemed as if every single girl between the ages of eighteen and fifty, who was not already on the dance floor, had descended on the guys. They didn’t seem to be keen to dance, but there was no mistaking how much they were enjoying being the center of attention. Taka’s quiet smile had broadened a half-inch – which, for him, was practically a grin. Rex had a girl on each massive knee, and didn’t know which way to look. And Kai was beaming like a hyena as he recounted his adventures to a growing audience of wide-eyed women seated at his feet. Only Luca remained on the outside. A few women came optimistically up to him, but a look and a few snapped words was enough to see them off. Not that many even approached – however handsome and well made a man Luca was, he gave off an aura that kept people away.

“If you’ll excuse me,” said Bren, as the music changed tempo. “I’m going to find Dana before she joins their fan club.”

He hurried off, leaving me staring at the guys in unconcealed jealousy. I’m not proud of it, but the idea that they could even look at other women made me madder than all the hells. If I’d stopped to think about it, I’d have asked myself why they weren’t dancing, why they weren’t taking the girls off for a bit of private time, why Taka gently removed a girl’s hand from his thigh when it was placed there. If I’d stopped to look, I might have noticed the regular glances in my direction. I might also have noticed that some of the men of Stenheim were almost as mad as me – the younger, at having their options for dance partners seriously reduced, and the older, at the potential corruption of their daughters by these slick newcomers. But I was just mad. Heading for where the bar was set up on a hastily arranged wall of straw bales, I downed a few drinks and looked about me. Thanks to the guys’ monopoly, there was no shortage of potential dance partners for a girl looking to make her men jealous, and my gaze lighted on Cirac, who had always had a bit of a thing for me, which I had never really reciprocated.

I grabbed him by the arm. “Fancy a dance?”

I think he was more surprised than pleased as we hit the floor. I might have been dancing with Cirac but my eyes seldom left the four guys and their gaggle of women.

When the song changed, I said thanks to Cirac, downed another drink, and moved on to Asus – I figured I wasn’t really leading them on as long as I danced just one dance with each. Seeing Rex look over at us from between the women on his knees, I flattened my body shamelessly against Asus, grinding myself against him, and was pleased to note the tightening of Rex’s features. Next up, was Martak, probably the best dancer I knew and the two of us put on quite a show, making Kai lose the thread of his story as he watched, quite disappointing his eager audience. Dore was less of a good dancer, but he was a handsome boy and, while not comparing to the guys, a tall and strong one who many of the village girls had their eye on. I danced close to him, brazenly flirtatious, the alcohol making me act in ways that the sober me would have frowned upon, but at that moment I did not care. I looked across at the guys again. While Rex and Kai were still looking irritable, it was Taka who was now drawing my gaze. He was watching me, but instead of envy, I just saw him smile that little smile of his, and shake his head, as if to tell me that I wasn’t fooling him. Damn him.

I had another couple of drinks and was feeling pretty light-headed and a little heavy footed when I dragged Pieter onto the floor. I was determined to make it look good, to make it look real, to make them feel what I felt when I saw them with all those girls – whether they were interested in them or not. At this point of the evening, I might not have been sober enough to make that happen, but I gave it my best shot and looked across to the guys. I saw Luca staring back at me, his face hard set, his eyes burning.