Page 25 of Feral Guardian
“Hold it up,” I tell Alastair.
“Lily, you cannot,” he warns quietly.
I raise my eyebrows at him. “You want to fix it the normal way? It’s obviousyoudid this.”
He purses his lips, unmoved.
“They know who I am. What harm is it?” I whisper.
“The harm is revealing your magus power,” he says, even quieter than me.
I put my hands on my hips. “I would rather the whole world know what I can do than leave this family with a doorwe broke.”
He grumbles and puts down the two small pieces of armor he had in his hands. He grips the side of the door, pulling it back into alignment. I place my hand over the first hinge at the top and use a small burst of my power to push the metal back into place and secure the pins. I do the same to the other two hinges, then fix the split wood on the other side.
“There, like new,” I say as I swing the door open and closed a few times.
Maria is staring at me when I’ve finished, a soft smile that looks pained. “There’s a privy out back where you can have some privacy for a moment.”
Her eyes drop to my groin, to the spikes made more obvious by my legs not being pressed together. My face flares with heat and I clasp my hands in front of me, covering the area.
“Thank you,” I say and hastily step outside.
It’s cold, sending an invigorating chill through me. The new spring grasses are covered in frost. The sun is just cresting the horizon, casting long rays from the pine trees around us. Birds call, and the laughter of the children coming up the hill helps wash away my shame.
Alastair follows me to the privy—little more than a shack with a pit—and waits outside. I pull up my holey skirt and complete my business before looking at myself in the low light.
Three-inch spikes—serrated, wicked things—protrude from the lips of my womanhood. There are another four lining the opening that stab into me as I move to get a better look at things. Three more line each side of my inner thigh, these designed to extend when I flex my thighs.
It’s despicable, but also…wondrous. I did this and lived. I escaped a terrible fate. I killed a man. The smell of the privy, though subdued by the cold, turns my stomach with that thought.
But I can’t let it sicken me because I might need to kill again. The way home is not short, or easy. By sea or land, it’s likely we’ll be waylaid again. I don’t ever want to be at the mercy of anyone like that without defenses.
I swallow my pride, strengthen my resolve, and summon my magic. I shrink and tuck the bones on my thighs into hidden pockets of skin. My womanhood will need more care and magic to make the space and set new muscular triggers.
I pull the weapons up inside me, widening the space of my hips to accommodate the spikes despite them being shrunk down. The new muscles I weave from some of my thigh tissue take a few tries to get used to, but eventually, I have a trigger to extend the spikes without needing magic. I’ve made them much shorter to fit in the concealed pockets of flesh, but still just as sharp. They will give any invader a grievous wound before they get very far.
I step out of the privy with a sigh, taking in the fresh air. Alastair has his back to me, his hand on the hilt of his axe.
“Want to give me that while I guard you?” I ask, flicking the metal axe head with ating.
He raises a brow at me. “I’ve handled my business.”
“No wonder it took you so long. Maria and I almost had breakfast finished,” I say, grinning up at him impishly.
He scowls at me with a sigh, then turns toward the rising sun.
We stand in silence for a moment and the weight of things settles over me.
“Who is Trask?”
Alastair’s hand tightens on the axe. “He was part of your mother’s guard. I saw him exchanging coin with the pirates before we left to retrieve you. He made excuses, and I believed him to be just an addict looking for a fix. I should’ve known.” He trails off in a deep growl.
I place my hand on his gently. “You couldn’t have known this would happen. I don’t blame you at all. You saved me.”
Alastair says nothing and his posture does not ease. He’s beating himself up and I hate it, but there’s more to this I need to understand.
If Trask is part of my mother’s guard, does that mean my mother…
