Page 19 of Mastering their Maiden

I froze as Kaiden’s voice ripped through my haze of fury. Makan’s hands were on my arm and he was kicking, trying to shove me back but it was like battling a teenager. He was weak. Ryne kept his soldiers that way on purpose. He whipped them just like he did his girls, kept them caged, forced them to obey and show loyalty to him, but never allowed them to grow stronger, either on their own or through a bond.

I knew that firsthand.

That had been me for years. Scarred by Ryne’s daggers and his whip as he tried to break me of my fury. Tried to destroy the fierce desire I had to defend our people instead of just him. Kaiden had gotten me out and brought me to Dex to heal and Umber to train. They took me in when I would have been shunned for defying my king.

Ryne had never been my king. He would never be my king. Power among the Kavari was not meant to be held by one man, it was meant to be shared.

I backed away when Kaiden put a hand on my shoulder, looking back to meet his eyes. They were warm when they looked at me, but hardened when they settled on Makan, who was rubbing his throat.

“You need to get your guard dog under control,” he sneered.

“And you need to watch how you’re speaking to me,” Kaiden replied in an icy tone. “You’ve forgotten who the masters are in this village, Makan. Again.”

He looked the man up and down, narrowing his eyes before flicking them to the open gate. “There’s been reports of Skepna east of here. I want you to take eight men, go on a scouting mission. Three days at minimum. Send me reports but stay out there. Understood?”

Makan scowled, but he adjusted his tunic and ran a hand over his shorn hair. “Yes, Master Kaiden.”

He sneered at the title, then jerked his head, and most of the soldiers wearing Ryne’s tunics followed. I watched the group go, still seething, and not realizing for a few moments that two men had stayed back. Beside the fence, there were two men dressed in purple, but they tugged at the clothing like they hated it.

It was hard to tell them all apart with the short hair and matching colors, but one had dark hair he kept short rather than shorn. The other had let his coppery hair grow out some since he’d been down here, and the color reminded me of Lady Indre, one of only three Kavari women left. After Kaiden got me out from Ryne’s service, she taught me how to use a spear. It was still my preferred weapon.

I should teach Aria how to use one.

“Do you need something, Ellis?” Kaiden asked the ginger-haired man before his eyes turned to the darker, broodier one. “Kaze?”

Both men stilled, their eyes flicking to Makan and the other soldiers then back to Kaiden.

“With your permission, Kaze and I would like to stay in the village, Master,” Ellis said. “If there is a Skepna threat, we should have more men here than are out scouting for them.”

Kaiden considered him, arms folded behind his back. “Makan can find other men to go with him. You can stay.”

Both men nodded, but I watched Kaze’s eyes as they fixed in the distance, settling back on the stall where the last of the villagers stood getting their rations. He was staring at a woman who’d been in the back of the group, one I’d seen a few times. She was tall, with a round face, and ringlets of brown hair that hung past her shoulders. There was a boy in her arms. Not a baby, but he was barely walking. I’d seen her around the village a few times holding his hands as she tried to teach him, and when she walked away from the stall with her food. Kaze and Ellis’ gazes often followed her until she entered a small hut.

“Keep your eyes on her,” I said as I put the dagger back in its sheath. Kaze glared at me, and Ellis followed suit.

“To keep her safe from you?” Kaze asked, and I scowled, but Kaiden spoke before I could.

“You’re not allowed to claim a woman. Ryne’s orders.”

“Ryne wants us to pick women out for him. He wants three,” Ellis said.

“And do you want to bring him three?” Kaiden asked, watching Ellis and Kaze stiffen, then he looked back toward the hut, raising one eyebrow. “Do you want to bring her to—”

“No,” Kaze growled, and when Kaiden tilted his head, he corrected himself. “No, Master Kaiden. I don’t want… no.”

I looked him up and down. Most likely, he’d seen the same things Kaiden and I had inside that palace. And by the looks of it, these men were just as enraptured with this girl as I was with Aria. Kaiden saw it, too, and he nodded, tilting his head toward her hut.

“See to it she’s taken care of, and I will make it happen. Do you have partners at home waiting for you?”

Kaze shook his head. “Ryne does not allow us to form bonds. But Ellis and I…”

Ellis gave him a half smile, shrugging one shoulder. “We’ve had each other’s backs since we were assigned to the palace. If not for each other, we…”

He cut himself off, and Kaiden nodded, raising his eyebrows at me. If not for each other, they would have left. As many others had. Leaving our village, our sacred city, to travel across the mountains and through part of the wasteland to meet up with Quade, Klev, and the others in hopes of being free and forming bonds with each other. And eventually a woman who could bear them each a son.

“We’ll talk soon,” Kaiden said, giving them a dismissing nod. Both men marched off toward their barracks, pausing by the woman’s hut before moving away. I watched Kaiden shake his head, then he looked at me, a slightly scolding expression on his face.

“You didn’t need to attack Makan.”

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