Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection

by C. M. Stunich

  How did he know what we had been discussing? I glanced between the two glowing men.

  “An advantage of a fully formed blood bond,” Audax answered my unspoken question. He and Orel exchanged a glance.

  “What?” I asked. “Please, there is too much unknown between us and of what the future will bring. Do not hide things from me now.”

  Orel sighed. “It is part of why I want our bond completed.” He paused, looking to the ground. “You cannot sense me, can you?” he whispered.

  I recalled my daydreams the day of the storm and how difficult it had been to pull myself from them. “I sensed something, but...”

  “You would know. When a bond is complete, there is a definite sense of the other. It is how coalition members track each other and ensure the safety of the family. For Audax, because of his ability, he is able to send thoughts to those he has bonded with.”

  “So much I don’t know,” I murmured. I glared at the copper gryphon. “You said you told me all I needed to know.”

  “I—” Kunil swallowed. “I apologize.”

  I stared up at him, but he didn’t say any more. “I can’t learn these things if you don’t tell me. By the Great One, I don’t even know what questions to ask half the time.” I blew out a frustrated breath and looked to Orel. “Just, don’t hold back. And stop being evasive.”

  Eyes down, they nodded, moving in unison.

  “Then let’s get to dinner.” As we walked, I told them what else I knew of the compound and its daily operations. I explained how the most mobile tended to the herds. I spoke of the shearing, carding, dying, and spinning. The information sharing had to go both ways, after all.

  When we neared the dining hall, I halted. “The weaving rooms are near here.”

  Kunil looked to his left, then held out his arm, silently offering to take me there. Operating once again on instinct, I took it and allowed the gryphon to lead me. Once there, I located my station. Running a finger over the frame, I grimaced and then wiped it against my leg. Katelyn was right. There was dust everywhere.

  “This was yours?” Orel asked. Audax stood beside him, eyes darting, taking everything in.

  “Yes.” It wasn’t a bad occupation, the weaving. I enjoyed it—the skill, the precision needed.

  “We will make sure you have this. Wherever we settle, our home, we will have a loom for you, and you may weave whatever you will.” Audax stepped to my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him.

  “A bit presumptuous.” I fingered the pendant at my breast.

  A gasp sounded from the door, followed by retreating steps. I sighed even as I settled in against the golden gryphon. “Do I want to know what the rumors are?”

  That pulled a chuckle from him. “I think you’d be surprised. For the most part, they are... curious. Wary. They wonder how you can be around us so, and why we have taken to you. Some—many—are protective. Not just Katelyn and Jamie.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. “Let’s get to dinner. It will be good for everyone to see you eating among them. The overseers and guards never joined us.”

  I was right. We entered the dining hall and silence fell, but instead of fearful, it was anticipatory. I led them to my usual table, and though Katelyn and David weren’t there, my other tablemates greeted me with quiet voices. The gryphons were polite, respectful—even deferential—when one of my fellow flawed scrounged up the courage to speak to them.

  Soon, all my tablemates were done eating. Instead of washing their dinnerware, they stayed seated.

  Orel rose and strode to the center aisle, and murmurs rose among those gathered. His brothers joined him.

  “People of Eusos. We have claimed this land as ours,” he began.

  I held back a groan. Well, that’s one way to start.

  “You will render a tribute, and in return we will protect you, nurture you, and allow you to live free of the oppression of your empire. Even now, my brothers and I”—Orel turned back to us and gestured to Audax and Kunil, who rose—“are putting in place plans to liberate the surrounding villages. We ask that you appoint representatives, those who can liaise with us on your needs and help govern the day-to-day operations. We would like you to continue your work, but instead of the empire taking what you make, they will trade and pay for it.” Kunil and Audax joined him.

  Silence fell. I could almost see the stunned and bewildered faces of those gathered. I would need to step in after all. I groaned and rose.

  “Mila?” Jamie said from just a few feet away. “What are they talking about? I thought we were killing more guards?” Her little hand slipped into mine.

  “Lead me up?” I asked.

  “Huh. You don’t need me for that.”

  “No. But maybe when you get there, you can kick the big one. I think it will help show everyone what I want them to see.” This was a bit of a mess, and Jamie was a great equalizer.

  “I can do that. The big one is fun.” Jamie tugged me out into the aisle and forward.

  Kunil spun as I stopped next to him. There was a small thud and an “oof” from Jamie.

  “He’s too hard. I need a knife to do real damage,” she said.

  Kunil stared down at the young voice. Then his head tipped back, and he laughed. Loud and long.

  I squeezed her hand and bent down. “Good job. Take a seat, but if I need someone beaten or stabbed, I’ll call for you.”

  She giggled, and her hair rubbed against my cheek as she nodded. A moment later she was gone.

  I straightened and pushed through the brothers until I stood in front of them. I turned my head to the left, then the right. I wanted everyone to know I knew they were there, that I was aware of them. “These men are gryphons from the desert. You’ve seen their other form.” There were a few whispers throughout the gathered crowd, but most remained silent. “They stopped a whipping last night and rid us of the guards and overseers that abused us. They are offering us a chance—all of us. Without them, and others like them, the empire will simply send more guards, more overseers, and more emissaries. They will eliminate us and find more flawed to send here. The beatings will continue, and the starvings. Not just for us, but for your fellows in the neighboring compounds.”

  “We’ll just get rid of them again!” a young voice yelled from my left.

  I grinned. Jamie was rubbing off on the little ones. “But how?” I asked.

  There was no answer, but the murmurings increased.

  “You saw what these men can do with the sand storm. You saw their other form. There will be a fight with the empire. The gryphons have claimed this land. They will battle on our behalf, no matter what. This is not what the meeting is about. What you really need to decide is who, other than Jamie, will join the battle, and how you will move forward from that.”

  This last drew some chuckles, but most were silent still.

  “Drake,” I called out.

  A moment later a gruff voice to my left acknowledged me.

  “You have been here longer than any but the healer. You know the workings of this compound. Would you coordinate with Ben to see what is needed to continue our work?”

  He was silent so long I was sure he wouldn’t answer.

  Then, “Yes.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Ben, will this be acceptable to you? I know you are not a flawed, but you have always treated us with a certain level of... kindness. You may go, if you like. I would like it if you stayed. Will you?” I wasn’t even sure if Ben had come.

  “It is acceptable, and yes, I will stay.” Ben’s voice rang out from my right, strong and clear.

  I took in a breath and suppressed the trembling of my hands. “Thank you.” Again I turned my head to the left, then the right. “I am the first to admit I do not know what I am doing. We will need people willing to step forward to take over the positions the overseers filled. But not as the overseers performed them. And we will not call them that.”

  “I’ll dye the c
loth!” Another child, this one no more than five or six years old, judging by her voice.

  “No,” another cried. “Everything will end up pink.”

  “I’ll take charge of the dyes, Mistress Mila.”

  I started. “Please, do not call me that...” I raised a brow in inquiry.

  “Justine.”

  Ahhhh. “I apologize for not recognizing your voice, Justine. Katelyn speaks highly of your work.”

  “And I will wrangle these unruly younglings and the herds.” A deep voice with gravel in the throat. Liam.

  “Thank you.”

  A scuff at the entrance to the dining hall. “And I will take over the weavers,” Katelyn said.

  My eyes filled, and my heart lifted. “Thank you.” It came out a strained whisper as my throat closed.

  Orel laid a hand on my shoulder, squeezing in encouragement and comfort. I sucked in a breath and continued. “We will release the emissary in the morning to carry our terms to the empire.” A vision of blood and stone and sand filled my mind. It echoed the earlier dreams, the bad ones. “I have no doubt that their answer will be to send an army. We will not ask you to fight if you are not willing. If you are, there is time to prepare.” A sense of urgency filled me. “Though not much. We must secure the other compounds.” Yes, this was correct. A threat came from one of them. I just didn’t know which.

  Kunil stepped to my side. “Audax and I will leave tomorrow to begin our survey of the compounds and their defenses.”

  Dread filled me. “No.”

  Kunil stiffened, and the whisperings increased. Anticipation and fear filled the dining hall, grown stuffy with too many bodies.

  “No,” I said again. “We will all go. Ben and Drake and the others can manage while we are gone.” I looked up at Kunil. I needed them to trust me on this. Something was stirring, something I couldn’t yet see, but it was important that all four of us went to the next compound.

  He nodded, and the room exhaled as one.

  I faced forward and raised a hand, seeking to quiet those gathered. I had one more thing I needed to say.

  “Everyone, shut your yaps!” Jamie yelled, pulling forth a few more chuckles than last time. They were beginning to relax. Good.

  “I just want to say one more thing. I... used to believe my life had ended when I came here. Instead, I found a family more loyal, more caring than my own blood. I used to think the Great One had turned his back on me. Now, I wonder if he didn’t have a purpose for me greater than being the wife of some lowly lordling. I wonder if I was meant to be here for you, for this, to become the beginning of the end to the atrocity that is the Citizens’ Improvement Initiative.” My hand closed around Orel’s pendant. “And I wonder if there is not more in this world than we have been taught. How many of the whispered tales, so long dismissed as fable, hold a grain of truth?” My lips turned up in a smile, unbidden, and I gestured to the gryphons beside me. “I used to believe my hope had gone, and my fight. These three, these gryphons, have brought it back. If nothing else, they have brought that back to us.”

  There was a beat of silence, and then all around me benches scraped back and clothing rustled. A few gasped breaths, muffled against cloth, sounded through the room.

  “They bow. To you,” Audax whispered in my ear. “Looks like you get the leader position after all.”

  I sighed, even as my grin spread wider. “Well, you three were doing your best to mess this up. Someone had to step in,” I whispered back. “Now, how the hell do I get out of here?”

  “There is much to do,” Kunil said, his voice projecting to the reaches of the room. “While we are gone, the priority will be to continue the cleanup and to fortify the buildings. Good night.” With that he picked me up, much as he had before, and strode out of the dining hall and into the night.

  “Okay, that worked.” I bit the inside of my cheek, worrying it gently. Now that the immediate necessity was gone, some of my courage deserted me. “Will they be okay while we’re gone?”

  Kunil glanced down at me. “I don’t think that is the immediate question that needs to be answered. Why do you and Orel need to accompany us on our scouting mission? Also, I am not sure you understand fully how a gryphon travels.”

  I grimaced. “I didn’t think of that. But I know it is important you and Audax don’t go alone.”

  “How?” Orel asked as he ascended a set of steps. His tone was curious, no trace of confrontation.

  As Orel opened the door and Kunil carried me through, I thought over what had happened. “I think it’s that fate thing again.” Then quieter. “Maybe there is something to being a seer. I just… knew.”

  Kunil bent and set me on the bed, then moved to lean against a wall opposite me. Orel went into the bathing room. Audax appeared before me and held something out. A small bundle of soft cloth. “To sleep in,” he said.

  I fingered it and thought of who this must have belonged to. “I think I would prefer my own things. They are in the dormitories.” I handed the bundle back to Audax. “Please.”

  He nodded. The mind reading was a convenient ability to have around. No awkward questions to ask or answer.

  He was back minutes later with a small bag filled with my meager possessions. Two dresses, two night shifts, one shawl for when it became too cold, and a thin bracelet made of twisted silk threads Katelyn had saved from the scrap.

  Laying it on the bed, he sighed. “Is this really all you have?”

  I raised a brow as I gathered my belongings to me. “It’s as much as any of us have.”

  “Even the poorest of the desert has more than this,” Kunil said.

  Orel reappeared, his fingers curled around something.

  “Do you regret taking this territory yet?”

  “No.” Three voices sounded as one. “Nor will we,” Orel finished. “Now, change, and we will let you rest.”

  When I emerged from the bathing room, my cleanest shift and shawl around me, all three of them were still there. I made my way to the bed, stopping as my knee met the mattress. I reached out, finding the edge of the covers, still rumpled from when I had slept there. Sliding my legs under them, I scooted up until I could prop myself against the headboard.

  Orel stepped forward. “If you would allow it, I would brush your hair for you.” His hand rose, still holding what I now presumed was a brush.

  I tilted my head, studying him, then Kunil and Audax in turn.

  Gentle hands. The thought floated through my mind. Gentle hands and gentle hearts it seemed, despite their ferocity in dealing with the empire’s agents yesterday.

  “I would like that, thank you.” I sat forward and turned as Orel went around the other side of the bed and sat, the mattress sinking under his weight. He gathered my hair and undid the ribbon holding the braid in place. Then he started at the bottom, getting the few tangles out and working his way to the scalp, just as my aunt used to do.

  “Have you done this before?” I asked.

  Orel didn’t answer right away. Audax dragged a chair beside the bed, the legs scraping against the floor. He sat, eyes trained on me. The copper swirled and brightened as our gazes met.

  “I had a sister,” Orel said. “She enjoyed this. Mother and the aunts were often busy, so our father encouraged me to spend time with her. When we lost her...” His voice trailed off, though he continued to brush.

  I thought of the pendant I still wore.

  “Yes, it was hers,” Audax said, tone wistful. He traced a pattern on the table, his finger leaving behind the slightest trace of gold on the surface.

  “Not much can kill a gryphon, but she was young and hadn’t mastered the sands.” Kunil shifted his weight and twisted his face away.

  “She fell,” Orel finished the tale. Just that. She fell.

  I pulled the necklace over my head, interrupting Orel’s self-appointed task. I stared down at those three feathers and the small claw. A child’s claw.

  “I’ll do it,” I said, making the decision
even as the words slipped out. “I’ll complete the bonds, the bloodings.”

  Orel’s hand stilled, the brush halfway down my hair. Then he gripped my shoulders, turning me to face him. Our gazes met, his searching. “You’re sure?”

  I was. At some point today I had embraced the new Mila, the wild Mila, and that Mila knew this was the right thing to do, knew it was this moment I had been coming to for the last seven years. This is where a revolution would begin and a new power would be born. Not in a sandstorm or a mess tent, but in an overseer’s quarters. “Yes, I’m sure.” Then I rolled my eyes, breaking the too-solemn moment. “Wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t. So, how do we do this?”

  “It’s simple. A drop of blood, spilled from me. I have already spilled yours.” Orel twisted and leaned down, drawing a blade from his boot—the same one from earlier in the day, the one I could see.

  “What is it made from?” I asked. “And will it work? Shouldn’t I have claws or something in order to make this work?”

  Orel grinned, dispelling the last of the melancholy air. “It is a rare metal found only in the Grypes mountains. Yes, it should work. If not, we can use the baby talon.”

  My thumb glided over the smooth bone of the claw. “Well, let’s get to it then.” Two rumbles, one deeper than the other, filled the room behind me, and talons clacked against the wood floor.

  Orel slid off the bed and came to stand before me, Audax and Kunil flanking him in their gryphon forms. Spice surrounded me, hot, sweet, and smooth. He held out the blade, and I took it. As I gripped the hilt, an outline of my fingers appeared, and the blade itself transformed, glowing with a purple to match my own.

  Orel’s hand hung in front of me. Cupping it in my smaller one, I pressed the tip of the blade to the pad of his middle finger. It was sharp, and soon a bead of blood welled up. I pulled the blade away, not wanting to cut him more than necessary.

  White-violet spun in a ribbon of light, blooming from the dot of blood and twining around my own fingers and up my wrist. The light diffused, outlining my arm before sinking into my flesh. A faint echo of that light remained. Even the little hairs on my forearm were visible. I brought up my other hand and examined the ragged cuticles of my nails. Glancing down, I saw thin feet, scars crisscrossing the tops of them, that cut off at the hem of my nightshirt.