by Abby Aaron
“As a village daughter, I have more to fear than most.” Her pale, steel blue eyes lowered a bit, as if in submission. When she lifted them again, they were full of fire. “Such is the reason I implore you to allow me a chance to learn the skills necessary to protect myself. The brave warriors who patrol our village boundaries are powerful and capable indeed, but breaches are not unheard of.
“Aye, I understand all too well the peril I face if evildoers manage to capture me. All I ask is an opportunity to learn the necessary means to protect myself until our brave warriors can come to my rescue.” Her tone was silvery and demure. Her father had little doubt the elders found themselves ready to amend the rules for her, yet again.
Leodon stood up then, his triad at his sides. He remained silent as Ellias spoke, but kept a wary eye on their daughter. He noticed Ellena, their wife, holding counsel with Jemina. It was an ominous sign. Though he loved the stunning woman he and his triad had claimed from the city, he was not blind to the sly manner in which she conducted herself, especially where their only daughter was concerned. Born in the city, Ellena felt restricted with life in the village.
Ellena was loyal to each of her three husbands and would never consider returning to the city; Leodon was sure of it. But their wife understood the thirst for adventure their only daughter had. Ellena had nurtured it from infancy. With a sly nod, he watched her signal for Jemina to keep her lips closed and not argue as her eldest father spoke to the council.
Leodon could almost hear his wife’s warning. “Blatantly challenging your fathers, especially in public, will not improve your chances to succeed.” Walking away, Jemina must have decided it was indeed wise to allow her mother to help her win favor with the council instead of arguing further.
Leodon watched as his wife signaled her desire to be recognized by the elders. Once given leave to speak, Ellena begged the council to allow her to conference in private with her husbands. “Pray, give me but a few moments to explain my thoughts on this matter to my mates. Before we explain our family unit’s thinking on this matter, it is wise for us to come to a consensus. Don’t you agree, Alistrair?”
Her husbands groaned, knowing they now faced a battle of wits more formidable than dealing with the village elders. But Alistrair had already called a recess of the meeting, leaving the family unit alone to battle it out.
Once she had them in private, Leodon watched as their beautiful wife began working to soothe the protective rage coursing through her mates’ bodies. “My dear husbands, before you try to sway the council into rejecting our daughter’s request, allow me a few moments to explain why I think supporting Jemina is a better decision.
Jael will protect his twin sister if any trouble should befall her during training sessions. Aside from his watchful eye, she will be safe because none of the other fledglings would do anything to chance hurting the only surviving village born daughter of Urijah for ten cycles. Our mischievous offspring has a wild side that puts her in danger inside the safety of our protective village. One day she will move away from us. I would feel more at ease knowing she could protect herself if trouble arises and her loving fathers are no longer available to save her.”
“If?” Darnish quipped. “Ellena, surely you mean when? Trouble always follows our daughter. She thrives on it. Only the Creator could fathom why, but you encourage it.”
“All the more reason to allow her to train.” Ellena ran her hand under Darnish’s silver beard, her fingers circling a patch of sensitive skin she assumed only she knew existed. His eyes widened and she did not have to reach down to check if his body had responded to her coaxing. Leodon scoffed at how easily his friend had been won over.
Jemina had inherited her mother’s red hair, but while the younger female’s was untamed, Ellena’s was smooth and silky to the touch. Her mates had often said her beautiful hair had been one of the very things that made them select her when they had claimed their bride. One of the three was especially fond of her tresses. He liked to tug on them as he surged into her body. Leodon saw her brush the length against Ellias’ bare shoulder as she turned her charm on him next.
As the oldest and leader of the family, it was Ellias’ duty to be the voice of reason. Leodon silently bid his fellow husband to stay strong. It was a wasted plea. Once their wife pushed her hair back and exposed her neck, the leader of their family unit could not take his eyes off the delicate, pale skin. “Aye, Jemina’s twin and the other fledglings will protect her with their lives. We cannot watch over her day and night. As a fledgling, she would be too busy training to run us haggard.”
Leodon threw up his hands, determined to stay impassive until the matter was resolved and Jemina’s welfare guaranteed. He crossed his thick arms across his massive chest and mocked his triad with a raised, bushy eyebrow. They had no inkling they had been manipulated. He swore to himself that he would remain focused on their daughter’s fate and not his hard cock.
As if she could read his expression, Ellena addressed his fears. “What if someone did manage to breach the protection of our village? Wouldn’t you feel better knowing our daughter could protect me and our younger children when you rushed off to fight our enemies?”
Ellena turned to face the others after gauging his reaction. She accidently backed into him, and Leodon groaned loudly. The soft globes of her backside rubbed against his hard thighs. Stiffening his stance, he vowed to stay his set course. Her long hair swept across his bare chest as she turned her head to apologize for backing into him. But damn if she didn’t lift her backside higher until it rubbed against his swollen erection. She flexed the muscles in her ass and his manhood swelled eagerly.
Though middle aged, his lovely wife could arouse him with a mere glance. Getting her back to their home and undressed soon pushed any thought about protesting Jemina’s training away. Ellias was right. With Jemina training as a fledgling, the husbands and wife could catch up on more intimate pursuits. Besides, what harm could come of letting her train. Village born females where confined to the boundaries of the village of Urijah. Not until potential mates came here, to compete for the gift of claiming her as their village bride, would she be in any real danger.
“Ellias, as leader, it is your responsibility to share our family unit’s desires, I mean thinking on the matter of Jemina training. Take your time explaining. Darnish and I will be with our dear wife in her center room. Join us when you can.”
Jemina’s blue eyes darted about, trying to drink in everything around her. The whole lot was so green and free. Branches sprouted off of trees, no meaningful order to their direction. The sounds of wild creatures in the distance had her wondering what kind of animals she might finally get to see. Oh, the warriors who hunted for the village often brought in various beasts, but they were limp and cold when she finally got to examine them. What would it be like to touch a warm, wild, living creature?
Wild cats roamed this area, if her brother Jael was to be believed. They flashed sharp teeth and thrived on ripping flesh from the body of anyone crazy enough to stumble within reach. Jemina did not bother to fret on the matter. Jael also thought the healer Dalia’s dogs were dangerous beings. So did many of the other fledglings and even a fair number of warriors back in their village.
It was pure nonsense, she knew. With a little meat and patience, Jemina had managed to win over the healer’s alpha male hound. The others followed his lead, accepting her and allowing her to pet them and lead them around. Why the image of the Elder Alistrair suddenly popped in her head, she knew not. Probably because the dominant dog was furious looking too, but once won over, a loveable creature at heart.
Giggling, she remembered the time she had led a large pack of the dogs into the barracks where the fledglings lived. She had tried to convince the elders into allowing her to live among the others who trained beside her. Until that moment, she had assumed the others were her friends and allies, but they proved they were traitorous beasts at the meeting. As a united group, with Jael of all peopl
e as their spokesperson, the men she trained alongside demanded Jemina be banned from even entering the area where they rested at night.
The elders had sided with the boys, no doubt, Jemina realized, because she had forgotten to act demure and obedient while in their presence. In her disgust with the other fledglings’ betrayal, she had started chasing after various young men, threatening to use her sword to unman them for their mean words. The elders had laughed at the sight of a wee girl raging at young men who were supposed to be future warriors.
It had been Alistrair, the leader of the elders, who raised his hand to end the chase. “There are some places daughters cannot go, sweet Jemina. It is time you learn this hard fact.” Though he had weather-beaten skin and a penetrating voice, she did not flinch at his words. Rarely did Alistrair deny her wishes, and it hurt her pride to have him side with the others now.
“Just as there are places where men are not accepted?” she asked boldly, when Jael started to sanction her, Alistrair raised a hand to halt him. “How often have you warned the villagers about the wrongness of the city dwellers who separate themselves from others merely by gender, sir? If their action is wrong, wouldn’t stopping me from living with the fledglings be just as wrong?”
She had not been trying to shame him, as some of the other elders were quick to assume. She truly sought to understand the leader’s reasoning, for she valued his opinion above all others, save for her mother. Alistrair knew this and walked over to stand before her. “No men are allowed inside the city’s inner wall. Ever. This is not true of women entering the fledglings’ barracks.”
“So I may move there?” She knew his answer before he spoke. His warm, wide set eyes were easy to read. “If women are allowed to enter, why not me?”
“Unlike you, the women who go to the fledglings’ beds are there to do an important task. They help train our future warriors for a job you will never have to concern yourself about. Has your mother or fathers not yet explained the purpose of the cast-offs who service our village?”
Jemina was confused by his words. She reflected on what little she did know about the cast-offs. There was a group of women who lived off on their own, without a triad of fathers to boss them around. The men in the village often smiled at these ladies, though never if a wife was around to witness such affection to someone not of their family unit. Alistrair seemed to ponder if he should provide more information or send her back to her parents for them to do so.
“Please explain their duty, sir. I am not a small child anymore. In a few years, warriors will come here hoping to claim me as a bride. I do not wish to be ignorant of important matters involving our customs.”
Her words touched him. “They show the fledglings how to please a bride, Jemina. Your future husbands are no doubt being trained by their village’s version of this system. It is a very private and complex ritual, one that an innocent, village daughter, soon to be a village bride, need not witness.”
It was futile to continue arguing, but Jemina often dared to question matters on the off-chance things might change. “Don’t I need to learn how to please my future mates? Maybe I can watch from afar, as I did when I first observed the training sessions for battle?” A collected gasp of outrage filled the meeting area, both from her fellow fledglings and the council elders.
Alistrair turned to stare the others into silence. Then he grasped Jemina’s hand and offered some words of wisdom she would remember forever. “It is not your job to please your husbands, my sweet Jemina. As their bride, your mates are responsible for making you happy, not the other way around. It is one of the few powers a woman holds in the villages. The other women will not thank you for challenging it. This matter is closed. You don’t have to like the outcome, but I expect you to respect it and drop all talk on moving into the fledgling’s barracks.”
Jemina had conceded then, not wanting to turn the women against her, nor chance having Alistrair harden his heart on any future pleas she might make. But she was determined to prove herself equal to the others who trained alongside her. She was just as brave and skilled as they were. Their small victory might make them think she was weaker, she reasoned. Jemina used bits of meat to lead the healer’s most threatening looking hounds toward their barracks where the fledglings slept. Then she coaxed them inside, being careful not to cross the threshold herself. Aye, she respected Alistrair’s decision, even if she did not like it one bit.
She sat back on the green grass surrounding the fields where they trained for battle. She waited patiently, sure Jael and the others would notice their new visitors soon enough. They would have to admit she was braver than they when it came to dealing with the hounds.
Within minutes, loud shouts of alarm filled the air. But it wasn’t her fellow fledglings running from the building, but several cast-off women. Jemina’s small mouth popped open as she realized they were in various stages of undress. The dogs, thinking the runners were playing a game with them, gave chase.
Soon her fellow fledglings emerged, many with exposed portions of their bodies that Jemina had never seen before. While she had helped to care for her baby brothers, it had not prepared her for the sight of a grown-up version of what hung below the pants men wore.
Jemina had planned to run toward the fray, sword raised to drive off the dogs with her friends, but it was out of the question now. Closing her eyes, she prayed none of the dogs got hurt because of her poorly planned plot. She was sure she never wanted to see another grown man naked again.
Three years had passed since that time. Jemina had not hit puberty when it had transpired, but within a few months, she discovered her interest in the opposite sex was healthy, though sorely challenged. It was impossible to look upon the boys she grew up with as anything but brothers. The full-grown warriors were all matched up with city brides. Besides, people within the village were related through the common ancestor of Urijah. She was not meant to mate with any of them. She dreamed of mysterious men, from far off settlements, who were trained to please a woman. In her dreams, she had strong opinions about what they would look like and how they would act. One must have sky blue eyes. Auburn-hair, pulled tight with a leather strap at the base of a thick neck. The leader would be a gentle lover, one who learned about making love alongside her instead of finding his way with a slew of cast-off women.
Soon she would have men competing for the honor of claiming her as a bride. Jemina was eager to wield the power her mother and the other village wives already held. She would have three husbands whose duty it was to please her. Parts of her body tingled eagerly at the mere idea. If her fathers were not mere feet away, she would dare to stroke herself as she fantasized of the pleasure awaiting her.
2
Aras: Bound but Resolved
Jasper and Barden eagerly started to gather their various weapons that hung on the exterior wall of the city. Then they started collecting what sparse belongings each had in preparation for the approaching opening that led to the next wall surrounding the city. Aras put off the task, dreading moving another cycle closer to their doomed fate. Had they already completed two cycles of their three rotations? Their duty was clear. Their triad helped to shield the city of females, which had long ago insisted on separating itself from the three outer villages.
History suggested the female leaders within blamed the men for causing the war, which had nearly caused the extinction of humans many cycles before. At first, the few survivors, men and women, had bonded together after the disaster. Slowly they started rebuilding, forming small communities. A strict code of behavior was established, and those who did not follow the rules were exiled.
The communities flourished, but when men started developing weapons and showing signs of aggression, most of the women had quickly departed to establish their own community. Within their peaceful community, fighting was outlawed. Citizens worked for the common good. Weapons and males were forbidden. The women even built a tall wall around their city to keep the hostiles, as they labeled a
ll men, out.
The male village elders had ordered two more walls built around the city of fools. They understood the threat of those evildoers from outside the villages was real; even if the city women did not admit as much, nor have sense enough to prepare a proper defense. The women inside were guilty of clinging to the naïve belief that their puny wall would protect those within it.
Eventually, the elders of the various villages reasoned, the women would finally realize how precarious their situation was and agree to soften their stance on the topic of protection. Even talented healers from the city had abandoned it, preferring to settle close to the village people who needed their skills.
It took numerous cycles before the prediction had come to pass, but eventually the city had been forced to acknowledge the flaw in their oversight regarding defense. The leaders of the women, called priestess of all labels, finally lowered themselves to broker a deal with those they labeled as hostiles. If the village men agreed to protect the three walls surrounding their city, provide small provisions of meat to supplement the mostly vegetarian diet of those inside the walls, and share fuel rations to help power their factories, the city would allow the villages to select a limited number of brides from a group of young ladies offered at the end of each cycle.
The proposition had come at a time when the village leaders realized their already small number of female citizens was dwindling fast. While those inside the city seemed to have mastered a process of reproducing without need of traditional means, the villages still depended on the old-fashioned coupling method.
Barden sighed. His boyish face had only a few whiskers despite being many cycles since he had shaved. Others often mocked him for this youth, so he often tried to dispel the notion with crude talk. “One more cycle of service, and we shall finally be considered warriors. I cannot wait for the honor.”