Page 12 of The Sea-Ogre's Eager Bride

She plants a fist in his mouth and kicks at the one holding her, screaming with outrage.

My temper soars, too. Who do these men think they are that they can grab a woman and attack her? There is a scatter of shells near their feet, evidence that she was minding her own business.

I snarl as I approach, storming toward them and flexing my four arms to look as intimidating as possible. They’re so focused on Vali’s flailing arms and legs that they have yet to notice me…which only pisses me off more. “What do you think you are doing?”

They turn to look at me, and as they do, their eyes widen. The one clutching Vali by the waist drops her immediately and she falls to the sand, her breasts spilling out of her ripped garment. She cries out, remaining where she is, and glances up at me. There’s a trickle of blood coming from her nostril, and the sight of that incenses me.

Theyhither? They came upon a pretty female on the beach and attacked and hit her? Are all humans such monsters?

“Why are you touching my wife?” I snarl at them, moving to stand in front of all three fishermen.

“We didn’t know she was yours,” the oldest—the one that ripped her dress—stammers. “We thought she was an escaped slave. A free prize for anyone.”

“And because you thought she was a slave you attacked her?” I march up to the bearded one, glaring down at him. “Explain this to me.”

He shoots a glance at the other men. “If she was an escaped slave, there’d be a bounty on her head. Easy coin. If not, then we could sell her again. That’s all. We were just looking to have a little taste and make a few coins.”

So they would rape a stranger and sell her to the first buyer all because they thought she might be a slave.

“She’s got cuff marks on her wrists,” protests one of the others. “And she’s wearing a slave shift. We did nothing wrong.”

“I should cut your throats and feed you three to my turtle,” I hiss at them. They quail, shrinking back from me and eyeing my trident. I tap my leg. “Vali, come here.”

That makes her look up. She gives me an indignant stare, clutching the remains of her dress to her breasts, but slowly gets to her feet and moves to my side.

“Should I kill them, wife?” I ask, folding two of my arms over my chest and brandishing my trident with a third hand. “Say the word.”

“Yes,” she says immediately.

I’m surprised. I thought she’d beg for their lives, say it was all a mistake. But her tone is hard and just as angry as mine, and it’s clear there’s a dark streak in her.

“Wait! Wait!” the bearded human says. “We can come to an agreement!”

“We have gold,” says another, taking a step back and glancing at the shack in the distance. He clearly wants to run for it. If he does, he’ll find my trident lodged in his spine.

“Show me your gold and I’ll tell you if it’s enough to buy your lives.” I turn to Vali, gesturing at Akara in the distance. “Return to the tent.”

She shoots me an equally venomous look—and I am surprised by her all over again—but does as she is told and retreats to the safety of the turtle.

The humans do havea fair amount of gold for poor fishermen, and it’s clear Vali is not the first they’ve attacked. I clean them out of their riches and find out which one hit Vali and deliver ahit of my own…and a warning. If they touch what’s mine again, I’ll kill themandrob them. The smell of urine follows me as I abandon them on the beach, as the eldest has pissed himself with fear.

I return to Akara’s side, moving to her head and running a hand over her sharp beak. She blinks large, dark eyes up at me, reaching out with her thoughts. She smells humans on the shore and doesn’t like it. I prod at her, wondering if Vali’s scent bothers her, but she only sends a mental picture of me back—she associates Vali with me now, her scent with mine. Hunh.

The humans are troubling, though. If they attacked Vali, then I cannot simply leave her near a settlement. If I do, she will be enslaved again before the day is out. I’ve seen the cuff markings on her wrists as well, though I didn’t know slaves had a particular sort of garment. All seakind wear as little as possible, our women as bare as our men. I know nothing of human dresses. It’s not my fault they mistook her for a slave.

Even so, I’m glad I arrived in time. I don’t like that they hit her. I don’t like that they tore her clothes and attacked her. Just thinking about it makes me furious, and I’m tempted to go back up to the hut and cut their throats anyhow, just to sate my anger.

I stroke Akara’s bony head and think of the large fish I saw earlier. Is this Lord Vor telling me that this female should be my bride after all? Did he send her to me? It is something I will have to think about. For now, I need to return to Vali and reassure her, as she will no doubt be full of tears and gratitude that I have saved her yet again. I’ll give her the gold from the men, I decide. And if she offers to touch me again, I’ll still turn her away, but I like the thought of her offering.

If she is to be my bride after all…the idea irks me less this day. I think of how warm she was, how soft in my arms last night. I don’tneeda bride, but perhaps I am too much alone after all.

I duck into the tent, looking for the woman. She is seated in the back, the bags neatly arranged to allow more floor space. Her dress is off and she’s busy knotting it, trying to piece it together again. The blood still trails from her nose, and when I enter, she looks up and sends me a look of pure anger.

“What am I to you?” she demands.

I am taken aback by her tone. She has been pleasant and eager to please all this time and now she is like this? “Excuse me?”

She grabs another torn end of the fabric in her hands, not caring that she sits naked in front of me. Her hands knot material in jerking, angry movements. “I want to know what I am to you. You asked for a bride. I volunteered. You said yes. Yet you treat me like I’m a wart that has suddenly appeared on your nose. It makes me wonder, and so I am asking you—what am I? Your wife or your slave?”

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