Page 26 of Warrioress

“Why would you gift this to us?” Laro suddenly asked. “We know that you have plenty of supplies to care for our needs while we are here. Why would you go out of your way to get us something so...” he faltered uncertainly.

“Nice?” Kam volunteered.

“Suspicious,” Vrin supplied, though it didn’t stop him from giving the meat pie in his hand another sniff.

His eyes narrowed on Uma for a long moment, and Kam was certain that he was about to throw the food down in revulsion and storm away when the captain suddenly rolled her eyes and made an exaggerated expression of disgust at him instead.

“Look, hairball, I really don’t care if you eat it or not,” she retorted. “I decided to do it as a gesture of goodwill before we head out in a day or two. I figured after your, uh... “she waved her fingers with a grimace, “ordeal, you could use a little something extra. Nothing packs on extra calories like a bunch of sugar,” she added. A tiny frown tightened the corner of her mouth. “I figured it was the least that I could do considering the crap I’ve been more or less ruining before feeding it to you.”

“I knew that was intentional,” Vrin growled, but he suddenly took a bite of the meat pie in his hand as if all of his hostility and paranoia suddenly melted away. An expression of surprise crossed his face, and he took another bite as he glanced over at Uma. “This is good,” he admitted. “I do not like those sweet things, but this is pleasing. And the tart,” he admitted reluctantly.

Kam’s jaw dropped, his mouth gaping as he turned an indignant look to his brother. “Then what was all that staring at my cussy?” he demanded, the exact name of the gooey pastry abandoning him, though he dared not to think too closely what it reminded him of.

“That was to mess with your head,” the male admitted unabashedly as he took another large bite, demolishing the last of it before reaching for another and taking a huge bite. He grinned smugly over at Kam and waved the half-eaten meat pie at him, its brown innards dripping from it. “Your cussy looks like a steaming stream of Laro’s seed—but the wrong color.”

Kam gagged a little, but he belligerently took a huge bite of his pastry just to prove to himself and his triad that the male’s words did not bother him. It was not seed. He knew that. Even if the consistency was rather similar to all the seeping, dripping—

“Blessed Mother, Vrin, what is wrong with you?” Uma demanded, her nose wrinkling and lips twisting with disgust as she tossed her own food aside and grabbed a jug. Tipping her head back, she took a deep pull of it before finally lowering so that she could draw in a sharp gasp of air. “I will never eat another custard-filled pastry in the foreseeable future,” she mourned.

Vrin scoffed and took another bite of his meat pie as Laro finished off his pastry and reached for another only to snatch the meat pie right from the other male’s hands and eat it in a single bite.

“That is good,” Laro rumbled in surprise as he grabbed two more meat pies and then immediately snatched up some sweet twists with his lower hands. He dipped his head toward Uma with a small smile. “Many thanks, Uma. Your efforts are well appreciated.”

Kam grimaced guiltily. He was not being grateful. Uma was a good female who showed care for them, and he was balking like a rog. And the treat was not filled with seed but cussy. But just to be sure... he lifted the pastry and shoved it under Uma’s nose.

“This is not made with seed from your males, is it?”

Uma’s brows shot up, but her laughter that followed was filled with so much merriment that it eased the prick of embarrassment he instantly felt.

“I assure you,” she chortled, “there is no way anything of our pastries would be made with human seed, or that of any other male. You can eat and enjoy if you can get over the imagery.” She sighed a little and cast a sad look at the remaining pastries before shaking her head and standing with her jug in hand. Leaning down, she scooped up several of the tarts and twists and a couple of meat pies before jovially raising her hand to them as she headed for the door. “I will return to secure your cell shortly. Enjoy your meal and get plenty of rest. The next part of our journey will begin soon enough.”

Kam grunted in agreement as he picked up one of the jugs and sloshed the contents into his mouth. A tart sweetness filled his mouth with the taste of apples, and he swallowed it down with a quiet sound of pleasure.

Or perhaps not as quiet as he thought because Uma chuckled knowingly.

“Enjoy!” she called but turned at the last minute to point to one of the clay jugs. “And save one of those jugs of cider for me. I will be back for it when I’m ready for a refill.”

“If we are not thirsty,” Vrin challenged tauntingly and grinned at her rude gesture in reply as she left before tipping the contents of his own jug into his mouth.

Kam eyed him, waiting for the moment to come, and then burst out laughing at the startled look on the male’s face as he lowered his jug and gave it an awed look. Perhaps the secret of this cider was something that they needed to learn more about.

Uma kept giving. Little did she know that this just made him all the more certain to never let her go. Smiling smugly at the door, Kam shoved another cussy into his mouth, this time relishing the rush of flavors as the cream broke over his tongue.

It took some getting used to, but it wasn’t bad. It seemed that was the case for many things that the citadel had to offer them—especially a certain female. He only hoped that his brothers would come around to see it as well.

He glanced at his triad brothers curiously as they ate and drank with mixed expressions of fascination and enjoyment. Perhaps this was the first step for all of them.

Chapter 20

Uma frowned and crossed her arms over her chest as she glowered at the woman standing at the corner of the street. Although the woman’s back was to her, the warder was clearly spying on the female slowly filling her wagon with the help of her Ragoru mates. What was she up to?

“Fucking Ava,” she snarled quietly to herself.

She was going to need to talk to the guild foreman when she submitted her report on the warder and see if Renny could pull some strings to have bullies like Ava removed from their position. While Ava had what could be perceived as the “right look” given that she was as tall as most average men and possessed the bulk to not be easily pushed around by most citizens of the lower district, the woman lacked integrity, discipline, and responsibility that came with rightfully earned authority. She was a bully, and like all bullies, she was a coward at heart who used people to her advantage and easily abandoned those under her care when it benefited her to do so. The situation with the triad alone, if she were a good warder, she would have had the mystery Ragoru removed from Betani’s home, regardless of any threat made to her, until private verification could be provided from Betani. Only then would they have been released to her care, and with treatment to their lead.

But she wasn’t interested in Betani’s welfare. She only wanted to maintain power over her and keep whatever she was up to a secret.

Fortunately, like all bullies, she cracked quickly when it came to those who were bigger and stronger. And Uma, who towered over most average men in the citadel and possessed considerable martial skill from years of training within the guard, was just the one to crack her like a nut.

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