Page 36 of Mastering their Maiden

Umber gave my nose a kiss then moved back, bending down to lift the slat in the fence. He ushered me through, and as I walked, I felt the weight of the bracelet on my ankle. My mother gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday. Something pretty to remind me of her always. Esme had gotten a necklace that she never took off. I think she wore it when she left the village.

It was the last gift either of us received from our mother before she and our father were killed. It was the only piece of her I had left now, unless I saw Esme again.

If things went the way Kaiden said they would, it wouldn’t be long before that happened.

And then what?

Umber walked alongside me, and I put my hand in the pocket I’d sewn into my dress and clutched Esme’s letter, wondering what I was supposed to say to her now that both of us had changed so much. She’d betrayed everything she’d stood for since I saw her last. She’d submitted to those men, bore them a child. From the sound of things, she loved them.

From the looks of it, she had reason to.

I pulled out the letter when Umber jogged ahead to talk to a soldier, tracing the picture at the bottom with my fingers, my throat tightening at the sight of the image. I didn’t know who’d drawn this picture, but there was love in every single line. They’d captured the softness of Esme’s cheeks, the slight wave to her dark hair. They’d even taken the time to shade in the freckles on her shoulders and the hook in her nose. There was affection in the drawing of the man as well, who looked just as large and broad as Kaiden against Esme’s soft frame. The way his hand curved around her shoulder made my heart ache, and that was nothing to the way he cradled his son as Esme held the baby against her breast.

My sister had left me behind, fallen in love, and I’d stayed here and dreamt of her coming back. I’d learned to hunt and kill and fight under Frayne’s tutelage while I prayed to any god who might be listening that my sister would come back to me so I wouldn’t feel so alone. We were supposed to be in this together after all.

But now it was just me.

And Kaiden. And Zander. Dex and Umber.

She’d begged them to look out for me and pleaded for me to trust them.

Could I? Could I abandon my principles as easily as Esme had and trust the four Kavari who’d laid claim to my body and vowed to master me?

Umber walked back to my side, smiling when I tucked the letter into my pocket. “I’d forgotten that Lavan is quite the artist.”

I narrowed my eyes and he laughed. “I should have suspected it was his work.”

“You two will get along well once all this is settled. I promise.”

“Because I’ll be forced to?”

“No, because he is just as fiercely protective of Esme and that baby as you will be.”

I couldn’t argue with him there. I was already fiercely protective of that baby, and I had yet to see his face. To me he was the same as any other child I’d known in this village, and I worked hard to make things better for them.

Worked so hard that I’d made my own bargains with the enemy. An enemy who had kept their promises to me.

Despite my skepticism, the four of them and their soldiers had come through. Even now, I could see Kaiden’s men watching the Elders and the other Kavari distribute supplies. The market booths were full of produce, bread, and dried meats. The women I shared quarters with were happy, no longer afraid of the Kavari, or of the Elders attacking them. I spotted Summer walking around with Lucan, holding his tiny hands as he toddled about on chubby legs and tried to keep up with the other children running around, happy and vibrant thanks to full bellies. She felt safe bringing him out and exploring since Micah had stopped hounding her. I credited that development to the two Kavari men who were always somewhere nearby, their eyes fixed on her and her son, small grins on their faces. Anytime Micah dared look at Summer, they glared at him so fiercely it shook my own bravado.

I was reminded of when Lavan had followed Esme around. How he’d frightened me at first, then slowly that fear turned to annoyance.

Looking at it now, I wondered if he was doing the same thing for her that those two Kavari were doing for Summer.

Umber kissed my cheek, pulling me out of my thoughts as he slipped an arm around my waist, and we walked toward their hut. The four of them brought me back for a nap each morning, insisting that my nightly excursions in the woods were fine, but I needed sleep. I would need to be rested for all the things they had in mind, Zander promised.

He was by the fence near the barracks with Kaiden, who was standing near one of the large steeds the Kavari rode. Giant work horses with hooves the size of my head and saddles to match. I watched Kaiden throw a blanket over the horse’s back and frowned.

“I take it Kaiden is leaving?”

Umber looked at his partner and nodded. “We all are. Most of the squadron is coming with us.”

I took a step back, surprised at how casually he said this. Anxious threads worked their way into my chest, and I almost asked if they were planning on taking me with them. Or if not, why they hadn’t told me until now about any little trips.

“I see.” It was the only response I had, but my attempts at making it casual failed miserably. Umber tilted his head, turning his body toward mine and lifting a hand to sweep my hair back from my face.

“We’re headed to the northern village to greet some soldiers other masters have sent to bolster our troops. Kaiden wants to help them get acclimated face to face rather than through more letters.”

It made sense. Letters could be intercepted or stolen. Lost, even. Face to face was always better for communication, and Kaiden and the others were the masters in charge here. They were responsible for the other soldiers, even their tyrant king’s men, and over the last few weeks all those men seemed to be falling in line. I’d seen them show respect—real respect—to Kaiden, and the Elders seemed to follow suit. Their attempts at dispersing power or unsettling the balance of things had ended, or they’d simply given up.

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