Page 49 of Degradation

“Was sheep shearing difficult?”

“No. Being away from you was the only difficulty we faced today.” He opened one eye and grinned mischievously. “I often found Edmund staring off into the distance. He’s likely trying to plot how to bed you again before Garron and Liam do.”

“You have no tact,” Garron said from behind me.

Laughing, I handed Eadric the cloth and stood.

“He doesn’t,” I agreed. “But I rather like his blunt honesty. It makes up for Brandle’s secrecy.”

“Does it upset you?” Garron asked.

“Not enough to leave, but it does hurt that he doesn’t trust me to stay. Is whatever he’s holding back truly so terrible? Does he sacrifice small animals while I sleep?”

“No,” Garron said, looking horrified. “No. Nothing of the like.”

“Well then, I see no reason for him to worry.”

“I disagree,” Garron said. “We all still have cause to worry.”

“Why?”

He considered me for a long moment, and I could feel that he was weighing his words.

“If I would take you to market and openly show you non-familial affection, would you allow it?”

I couldn’t help but hesitate, for if Garron showed me that kind of affection publicly, then I would need to take extra care with the others or?—

“That’s what he fears? That I will leave if it becomes known that I am with all of you.”

Garron nodded, and Eadric tugged on my skirt to gain my attention.

“We know you still feel a measure of shame,” he said. “We love you and don’t want to hide our devotion to you from the rest of the world for our entire lives. We want to wed you in grand splendor without shame.”

My hands trembled at the thought. I felt a good deal of terror but also a measure of yearning.

“I want that, too,” I said. “But that is not the world in which we live. I doubt very much that the seven of you would be condemned harshly, but I could find myself beaten and driven from Adele.”

“Never,” Edmund growled from the doorway. “We would never allow it so long as we lived.”

“What exactly are you asking of me?” My gaze met each of theirs. “Right now, what do you want me to do?”

“That’s easy,” Eadric said. “Love us openly within our own home.”

“Haven’t I been?”

“You wouldn’t leave the bed until Daemon and Darian did first; then you made Garron turn around so you could dress this morning,” Edmund said.

“Gossiping fishwives,” I grumbled under my breath before saying, “And what would you have liked me to do? Parade myself naked through the house?”

“Is that an option?” Eadric said. “I would very much like that.”

“Less shame,” Garron said. “We simply wish for you to feel less shame when you’re with us.”

“Modesty isn’t shame,” I said primly.

“Isn’t it?” Edmund asked.

I thought about it and slowly frowned. Perhaps my modesty was rooted in fear of being shamed by others. Yet, hadn’t I allowed them to bed me with another present more than once? That certainly wasn’t modest.

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