Herald of Shalia 5

by Tamryn Tamer

  “You think that flattering me changes anything?”

  “But you are so fluffy and your business sense is amazing and you’re merciful and generous,” Frost continued. “I love all those things about you. I don’t want something like this to taint my image of you. Is there anything you want instead of her tails or her head? You’re a business woman. So, how much to buy her tails?”

  “Buy her tails?” Madam Gardenia scoffed while scowling at the Kina prostrating herself before them. “How much are your tails worth to you Erena? How much do you own?”

  “I..I…” Erena began writing numbers in the blood on the deck using her finger. “Th-thirty-nine thousand rel…”

  “That’s it?” Madam Gardenia scoffed. “That can’t be all you have!”

  “I’m sorry,” Erena cried. “I-I can take on d-debt…”

  “I see,” Madam Gardenia said. “How much debt can you take on to save your tails?”

  “Yes, more debt…” the white-haired woman scrawled more numbers in the blood and cried. “F-four h-hundred thousand…please…let me buy them for four hundred…”

  “Three million rel,” Madam Gardenia coldly. “One million rel for each tail.”

  “I…I don’t have that much…nobody will loan me…”

  “Then find a better lender,” Madam Gardenia said while glaring at Frost. “Lord Sebastian. Surely If you want to save her so badly you can loan her the three million rel.”

  “Three million?” Frost sighed while patting the weeping fox-woman’s head. “That’s a lot.”

  “Please…you can have everything I own…” Erena begged. “I’ll pay you back every rel...so please save me…”

  “Madam Gardenia,” Jasmine interrupted. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh?”

  “She seems really sorry,” Zinnia said while pouting. “And Heral…I mean...Lord Sebastian really seems to like her.”

  “Four million,” Madam Gardenia said as soon as the words left Zinnia’s lips.

  “Not helping,” Frost said while glaring at the three beast girls. “I admit that I’m soft on women. But is there a chance you’re being a little harder on her because she’s a fluffier…”

  “Five million!” Madam Gardenia snapped angrily.

  “I did that to myself,” Frost groaned. He removed his hand from Erena’s head and walked over to Madam Gardenia. Her eyes seethed with rage. He gently wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and started stroking her crimson hair. “You know that you’re the most beautiful Kina in the world, right?”

  “Six million for treating me like I’m stupid,” Madam Gardenia growled as he stroked her hair.

  “Can’t we come to some other arrangement?” Frost asked.

  “Seven million for arguing,” Madam Gardenia said.

  “How about you spare her now and we negotiate the details later?” Frost suggested. “I’ll buy you some of those expensive oils you like and we’ll spend the entire day brushing your hair and tails while working out the details. I know you don’t want to actually hurt her.”

  “I want to cut off her tails,” Madam Gardenia said. “Or we can just throw her in the ocean and leave it up to fate. You’re too soft on women.”

  “I really am,” Frost said. “But if I’m not mistaken, you like soft.”

  “She’ll have to sign a slave contract with me,” Madam Gardenia said while staring at the trembling Kina. “The buyout on the contract will be three million rel or let’s say six hundred thousand hours of service.”

  “S-six hundred…” Erena said while looking up in terror.

  “Or three million rel,” Madam Gardenia said. “If Lord Sebastian wishes to purchase you after our trip, I’ll entertain it. Until then, I will own you. I assume you have the materials in your cabin to write out a slave contract Captain Cage.”

  “I do,” the large man answered while leading the prisoners across the plank to his ship. “But just so you know Bloodtail, their ship is mine.”

  “Of course,” Madam Gardenia said. “The ship as well as any cargo belongs to the captain of the triumphant ship to divvy up as he sees fit. But some of that better be divvied our way.”

  “You got it. As long as we understand each other,” Captain Cage said.

  “B-but…six hundred…that’s a lifetime…” Erena whimpered. “Can’t…”

  “I could always take your head or chop off your tails,” Madam Gardenia said sternly. “Or you can thank Lord Sebastian for convincing me to spare your life.”

  “Thank you,” Erena said, crawling toward him and wrapping her arms around one of his legs. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

  “That’s enough,” Madam Gardenia sighed. “Jasmine, Iris, Zinnia. Escort Miss Erena to Captain Cage’s cabin. We’re going to fill out the contract immediately to ensure she doesn’t try anything.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Iris said while helping Erena to her feet. “There, there. Don’t cry. She might not seem like it right now but Madam Gardenia is really kind.”

  “She’ll feed you and clothe you and she’ll let you pick your job,” Zinnia said cheerfully. “You’re really very lucky. She’s not like other slave owners. She’ll let you work normal hours and take breaks and if you’re sick, she’ll buy you medicine without adding it to your debt.”

  “Th-this is so shameful…” Erena whimpered.

  “You should have thought about that before attacking our ship,” Jasmine said while giving the white-tailed woman a swift kick in the backside. “Now move.”

  “I’m sorry…” Erena said while crossing the plank to their ship.

  “Jasmine,” Frost shook his head. “Would it kill you to be a little nicer?”

  “She needs to earn nice,” Jasmine said. “Madam Gardenia’s right. You’re too soft on women.”

  Frost wanted to argue with them but he also didn’t want to do it so publicly. He wanted to remind them that Hansel was literally his enemy’s son and that Commander Grey was originally leading a force meant to eradicate the elves in his village. Sir Isaac and Sir Adamus both fought against him to protect Prince Erik and he not only gave them shelter but put them in charge of a village. Even the Arachne originally kidnapped both Brynn and Desdemona intending to ransom them off and they were some of his most valuable allies. But he’d have to lecture them another time.

  “If you say so,” Frost said as he followed them over to their ship.

  CHAPTER 23

  Lysandra was extremely curious about Lady Olivia.

  Olivia only seemed to only leave her room when Brynn was accompanying her. Otherwise, the young noblewoman simply sat quietly in her room reading books or playing games by herself as handmaidens brought her food and drinks. They even brought up washbasins to bathe her with so she wouldn’t need to enter the bathhouse. But whenever Brynn dragged her out of her room and showed her around the village, she looked content.

  It was curious. She was perfectly fine when interacting with people as long as Brynn held her hand but the moment Brynn let go, she would rush back to her room.

  Lysandra bowed politely as she passed the small army of handmaidens glaring angrily at Brynn as she and Olivia played with a small group of children. Based on their dissatisfied expressions the women were asked to keep their distance.

  She’d met with a few of the handmaidens and determined that they were all very jealous of the young noblewoman’s relationship with Brynn. Many of them had spent years slowly growing closer with Olivia and seeing Brynn make her laugh and smile infuriated them.

  Brynn’s reputation didn’t help either. Herald Law might have been an awful person but most of the people in Zira thought he was an amazing herald. Executing him was viewed as the ultimate act of betrayal by many followers of Zira, including Olivia’s handmaidens.

  “Lady Lysandra,” Ginette nodded politely. “Are you looking for an audience with Lady Olivia?”

  “Yes,” Lysandra answered. “But I think I’m just going to watch for a second bef
ore heading over. Have they been playing long?”

  “Nearly an hour,” Ginette said through clenched teeth.

  The group of children they were playing with was primarily made up of Arachne children but there were also some humans from Kald as well as a few other demihuman children. The only elves in the group were Emmy and Elion’s daughter, a quiet redhead named Isadora.

  For better or for worse, many of the children in the village admired Ena and Ena was very public about her feelings toward Brynn. So, it wasn’t entirely surprising that most of the elf children followed her lead.

  The group seemed to be playing a game called floater tag. The game was played using a small fabric ball stuffed with feathers that they called a floater because of its light weight. The objective was to hit somebody else with the floater by either tapping them with it or throwing it at them using either physical strength or magic.

  Brynn excelled at the game because she was able to summon the wind by playing her flute. All she had to do was blow a few notes and the floater would be chasing the children all over the field as they ran away screaming.

  “I suppose that’s enough watching,” Lysandra said as she watched Olivia tap a small Arachne child with the floater before rushing back to Brynn’s side.

  She started walking across the field to join Brynn and Olivia. She was eager to set up a time to meet with Olivia since she had yet to speak with her alone.

  “Sister Lysandra!” Ka shouted as she elegantly landed in front of Lysandra. “Are you going to see sister Brynn and sister Olivia? I can join you, yes?”

  “Of course, Ka,” Lysandra said, forcing a smile. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the sister thing…”

  “Yes! I was very surprised to find out that we are considered sisters, yes!” Ka said cheerfully, powering through the conversation.

  The Arachne had unfortunately gotten to Ka before Lysandra and gave their own confusing explanation of marriage.

  The Arachne didn’t really have a good understanding of what marriage was since their culture didn’t really have traditional marriages. The closest thing they had to marriage was a queen taking the highest quality males as consorts. Herald Frost wasn’t really considered a husband as much as he was considered a very exceptional consort. A few of the Arachne males had even started referring to him as the king of consorts.

  Typically, a consort was exclusive to a queen but Herald Frost had several wives. The only way the Arachne could justify it was by classifying all of his wives as queens and since all Arachne queens were children of Sthilinna, they were all considered sisters. The sister bit was what Ka and the other harpies latched onto.

  “Marriage is very strange, yes. A partner is a partner for life but not family since being family would make it strange, yes,” Ka said.

  “That’s what I wanted to explain,” Lysandra said. “That’s not what marriage is. Marriage is just a different word for partnering. You agree to raise a family together but not become family. You become husband and wife.”

  “I am aware of that, yes,” Ka said defensively. “I am not stupid. I asked several elves if their wife was their family and they answered yes. So clearly a husband or a wife is family. So, elves mate with their family, yes!”

  “No, no, no,” Lysandra sighed. “I’ll try to think of a way to explain it to you later but elves do not mate with family. It’s very frowned upon to mate with family.”

  “I’ve heard that you mate with your mother, yes,” Ka said while tilting her head.

  “Who told you that?” Lysandra snapped as her face turned red.

  “The little green-haired elf called Renna,” Ka said cheerfully. “I like her very much, yes. She’s also delivered me a great many very nice gifts, yes.”

  “I do not mate with my mother,” Lysandra growled. “My mother and I both mate with Herald Frost but we do not mate with each other!”

  “I see,” Ka smiled and patted Lysandra’s back several times with her ivory wing. “I will be sure to inform Renna that she’s mistaken tonight, yes.”

  “Tonight?” Lysandra asked. “What are you doing tonight?”

  “Renna wishes to bathe with me, yes,” Ka said as her face turned pink. “She makes me feel very nice. She says that I am very beautiful and how our partner is so lucky to have me. And she smells very pleasant and is very gentle. All of my handmaidens love her as well. I think she would make a very good sister, yes.”

  “Shalia help me,” Lysandra grumbled under her breath.

  “What was that?” Ka asked.

  “Nothing,” Lysandra sighed.

  “Hello sisters!” Ka shouted while flapping her massive wings.

  Brynn and Olivia stopped what they were doing as Lysandra and Ka approached.

  “I came to check on Lady Olivia,” Lysandra said as they approached. “I wanted to make sure that she’s feeling comfortable.”

  “I am very well Lady Lysandra,” Olivia quietly said while bowing her head. “Lady Brynn has been doing a very good job helping me acclimate to my new home. It is taking some getting used to.”

  “Yes, the village is very strange, yes,” Ka said while staring at one of the Arachne children. She patted the small Arachne girl on the head several times with her wing. “Hello little predator.”

  “Hello big prey,” the black-haired Arachne child said while sticking out her long tongue.

  “Ah, right,” Ka blushed and covered her face with her wings. “I apologize. I forgot that I am not supposed to call them predators. Hello little spider child.”

  “Hello big bird adult,” a different Arachne teased while throwing the floater at the first child.

  “It is a very tricky village, yes,” Ka said.

  “You’ll figure it out,” Brynn said reassuringly. “I’ve heard you’ve already made a lot of friends.”

  “A great many, yes,” Ka nodded excitedly.

  “Hello, High Priestess,” Emmy said as she rushed toward them with Isadora. “Are you going to play with us as well?”

  “Oh, I’m here to talk to Lady Brynn and Lady Olivia if that’s okay,” Lysandra said.

  “What about you harpy lady?” Emmy asked while staring at Ka.

  “I am also a High Priestess,” Ka said while bending over. “Who might you be, little elf?”

  “Emmy,” she answered while pulling Isadora’s hand. “This is Isadora.”

  “Hello Emmy and Isadora,” Ka said while spreading her wings. “I am Ka, The Sun Chaser, The Moon Hunter, The Softest Lover, The Storm Racer and High Priestess of the Goddess Twi!”

  “Softest?” Emmy scratched her head.

  “Who’s Twi?” Isadora asked.

  “Twi is the goddess of beauty,” Ka said excitedly. “She has giant wings that sparkle with all of the colors and flies across the sky leaving sparkling fragments of light wherever she goes, yes!”

  “Oh, she sounds pretty,” Isadora said.

  “She is!” Ka said while stretching her large elegant wings. “It is with her blessing that I’ve grown into such a beautiful woman! Even Herald Frost could not resist the allure of a woman blessed by Twi, yes!”

  “Really?” Emmy said, suddenly excited. “You mean if we worshipped Twi, we’d become so beautiful that Herald Frost would want to marry us someday?”

  “Absolutely not!” Lysandra said harshly.

  “Hmmm,” Ka glared at the young elves. “I believe you are far too young. I’ve heard rumors that Herald Frost has what is called an old woman fetish. He prefers women that are as old as the desert with wrinkles the size of canyons, yes.”

  “Stop talking to Renna!” Lysandra snapped. “And girls, you are far too young to be thinking about doing anything with Herald Frost! Now run along before I tell your mothers!”

  “Aww,” Emmy whined.

  “Nice to meet you High Priestess Ka,” Isadora said as the girls sprinted off to play with the other kids in the field.

  Lysandra placed a hand on her stomach and took a deep breath as she rem
inded herself that yelling wasn’t good for the absolutely most perfect baby ever to exist in all of the universe that was growing inside of her stomach. Just thinking about the beautiful child inside of her filled her with so much joy that it washed away every ounce of stress. She looked up at Brynn and Olivia and smiled.

  “How are you both doing today?” Lysandra asked while staring at the scratch marks on Brynn’s neck and arms. While Brynn didn’t dislike the Arachne, the skittering sound that larger groups of them made gave her mild anxiety.

  “We’re doing well,” Brynn said while glancing at Olivia. “I’ve been introducing Olivia to some of the children.”

  “I see that,” Lysandra said while glancing at the small group. She knew that many of the village children were likely avoiding Olivia since she was always with Brynn. “I was hoping that I might be able to show Olivia around myself if that’s alright.”

  “Thank you for the offer Lysandra,” Olivia said while shaking her head. The tall raven-haired woman moved closer to Brynn and quickly grabbed her hand as if Lysandra had just threatened to kidnap her. “But I would rather stay with Hildy if that’s alright.”

  Olivia’s behavior was just too curious.

  The woman latched onto Brynn like a child latched onto a security blanket and the behavior reminded her of Aila and Lith.

  When the two women arrived in the village they refused to go anywhere unless the other joined them. They would only agree to group sessions with her and it took three years before the women were willing to have private sessions. And even though they eventually agreed to private sessions they still told each other everything discussed in their sessions. The women were completely codependent.

  Olivia and Brynn seemed to have a similar relationship, although more one-sided. Olivia was completely reliant on Brynn.

  Which brought her to the most curious part. Brynn allowed it. She neither nurtured the dependence nor pushed for Olivia to be independent. She would occasionally ask Olivia if she wanted to try something but never seemed to ask twice or demand an explanation of her decision. She simply accepted her.