Page 74 of Mastering their Maiden

CHAPTER 29

Aria

The next few days were a whirlwind.

Harvest had come and passed, but no procurement took place like it had in years prior. Kaiden’s troops had doubled since the king’s men defected, and they were planning on marching within the next few days. There was also the matter of getting things in the village settled. The Kavari assisted in cleaning everything up, getting the market running, and ensuring each of us had sufficient supplies to live. It was the first time in years things ran so smoothly, and the success only made Elder Micah and the others who remained furious.

But I paid them no attention. They were bound in the sept until we could decide what to do. A few times, Zander stopped me when I wandered over there, thoughts of interrogating Micah until he answered my questions on the forefront of my mind. But the more time passed, I reluctantly had to admit he was right. No answer he gave would be sufficient for the despair he’d brought onto me, and onto our village. No reason could justify the lies he, Hoval, and the others had told us all these years.

So, I dealt with the surges of anger in other ways. I sparred with Zander, and with Umber. I napped curled up beside Dex, letting him stroke his hands over my body and ease away the aches his partners caused. I walked with Kaiden, who let me listen in on their plans for reclaiming their city. He spoke of it fondly, but there was an air of whimsy about him whenever we strolled through the woods. I suspected he liked it here too.

But we couldn’t stay.

I didn’t want to stay.

“Esme always spoke about the ocean, but I want to see mountains,” I confessed one afternoon after we’d exhausted ourselves in bed. Kaiden’s fingers stroked through my hair, and I heard him chuckle softly.

“You can see both, Princess. Magilin is nestled in the mountains, and we have a glorious view of the sea, but I’ll take you there. I’ll take you north, too.”

“Do the others mind traveling?”

“We all want to return home and see things righted, but I think all of us would like to explore some.” He grinned down at me and bent to kiss my forehead. “Your wandering ways have rubbed off on us.”

“Good,” I said simply, and he laughed.

“We’ll have to settle eventually, though,” he added, letting his hand drift to my stomach. “At least, until our sons are a little older.”

“Sons. As in multiple.”

“At least one for each of us.”

He laughed when I shuddered. “Gods help me. Birthing four warriors sounds like a task in itself.”

Kaiden murmured unintelligibly, then crawled over my body and pushed my legs apart. “You’ll be well taken care of, sweet girl. Just as you are now.”

His lips met mine, but we weren’t able to begin anything substantial. The door to the cabin opened seconds later, and Umber walked in, eyes rolling when he saw how we were positioned.

“And to think, you once thought us brutes for how insatiable we were.”

“I still think you’re brutes,” I said, tipping my head to accept his kiss. His tongue filled my mouth, but when my hands started to go for his clothes, he pulled back and shook his head.

“Not now, Aleria. Tonight, I’ll fuck you like you want, but we have things to do.”

I pouted. “They can wait.”

Umber smirked, but shook his head and looked to Kaiden, who kissed my breast then sat upright in bed. I pouted playfully, though this was probably for the best. Umber and Zander had taken me late last night, Dex this morning, and now Kaiden.

Apparently I was just as insatiable as they were.

“Get dressed, Princess,” Umber said as he tossed me a dress. “There are people you need to see.”

I frowned, suddenly exhausted when I thought about what this might mean. Summer mentioned yesterday that everyone was asking what would happen now, with the Kavari marching on for a while, leaving us to fend for ourselves. We wouldn’t allow Micah and the others to take control again. That was certain, and I knew others in the village would have thoughts on how we should handle things now.

There was no point in delaying it any longer, I supposed. Kaiden washed, I followed suit, then, dressed in one of the few dresses I’d made myself, I marched after them toward the town square.

It was still fairly early, but the village was bustling. The market was full, and there were a number of people working on further cleanup. We were already managing well, so maybe this wouldn’t be as fraught a discussion as I thought.

But a few seconds later I realized it wasn’t just my people milling about. There were more Kavari present. A lot more Kavari. So many that I tensed.

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