Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection

by C. M. Stunich

  Orel nodded slowly. “Yes.” Then he smiled and ran a hand over my hair. “I am glad of you, Mila of Eusos. I am very glad of you.”

  It made me laugh. “I am glad of you too.” Not a grand declaration of love, but in its own way, better. “I am glad of all of you, no matter what happens.”

  I wasn’t alone, and I never would be again. No, I had three people in the back of my mind, three very special people. “Time to get to it, then?”

  Orel held out an elbow, and I took it.

  “Time to get to it,” he said, and I allowed him to lead me from our makeshift headquarters and to the central yard, where we parted ways.

  I was nearly to the dining hall when little feet ran to me, and a hand slipped into mine. “Where are we going?” Jamie asked.

  “Kitchen. We’re going to make sure there’s food for everyone. It’s going to be a long night.”

  “For when the soldiers come and we fight them off!”

  “Yes, exactly that.” I paused. “Were you listening in?”

  “Uh-huh. We’re going to beat them bloody.”

  I laughed. Jamie was a bloodthirsty delight. “I certainly hope so.”

  “So, we need to have food for the gryphons.”

  “They’ll be hungry when they’re done.”

  “What’re they doing?”

  I smiled down at the child. “Building a wall of sand and stone to keep the empire away.”

  Another hand, this one smaller than Jamie’s, grabbed the fingers of my free hand. “They can do that?” The awe in the boy’s tone had my smile widening.

  “Yes,” I said. “Yes, the gryphons can do that and more. Would you like to hear a tale of gryphons and humans living together? Helping each other?”

  Two more sets of feet ran up behind me. “Yes!”

  “Well, help me get a meal prepared and the dining hall set up, and I will tell it to you.”

  Hours later and deep into the night, when the air blew cold, my gryphons returned, exhausted and bloody. Audax was slumped between Kunil and Orel, and each had at least two partially healed wounds.

  I jumped to my feet and hurried to them. “Over here. To the healer’s station.” Audax’s head hung down, his feet barely moving. He was definitely worse off than the others, though I didn’t see any blood. But sometimes the worst injuries didn’t show blood. It could be something internal. We needed to get him seen to, now.

  Audax jerked and lifted his head to meet my gaze, then slumped back down. Just tired. Used too much. Not injured.

  “Should I get the food now?” Jamie whispered.

  “Please. And blankets.” I helped get Audax into the cot and turned to look the other two over. “You’re all right?” My voice shook.

  They nodded, the movement slow and weary. “Nothing fatal,” Orel said. “We just need rest.”

  Jamie returned, a bowl cradled carefully in her hands, with three more children behind her, arms filled with blankets. “Water?” I asked, and one of them dropped their blankets and hurried away. I studied the other two gryphons more carefully. Kunil had a puncture in his shoulder and another in his thigh. I didn’t know how he was on his feet. Orel was covered in scrapes all down his left side. “What happened?”

  “Got too close. Archers. Orel healed most of it already.”

  “Oh Great One,” I breathed out. “Sit. Now.” I grabbed Kunil’s arm and steered him to another cot. He pulled back, and I glared. “Indulge me.”

  “I got more water, Miss Mila.”

  I glanced over my shoulder, and a line of children stood there, some holding bowls, others cups, and still more a surplus of blankets. I looked back to Kunil and raised a brow. “Don’t make me have Jamie kick you.”

  Kunil grunted, but allowed me to put him in the cot. Then it was Orel’s turn. I didn’t listen to his protests either.

  It’s done. The wall. It’s done. And we took out a full third of the soldiers while we were at it.

  I glanced over at Audax. His eyes were closed, but a satisfied smirk was in full bloom on his face.

  Just remember, I sent. My vision showed you all alive.

  Not going to leave you now, stala.

  Orel had called me that the first day. What does that mean?

  Treasure. It means little treasure.

  “I will rest for a moment, but I must get back out there,” Orel said from his cot. “We need to keep watch.”

  My heart pounded. “I thought the wall was done.”

  “It is.”

  “Will it hold?”

  “Yes. But we need someone out there to report on the movements of the troops. Audax would be ideal, but he is in the worst shape. I am in the best.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out. Then another. “I’m not sure I’m made for war.”

  Kunil let out a pained laugh. “Oh, you are. You’re just not meant to be on the sidelines, stala.”

  “Hmmm… maybe.” I grabbed a stool and pulled it up between Audax’s and Kunil’s cots. “But you all will rest now, for as long as you can.” My hand found Audax’s and gripped tight. Kunil shifted, sliding his hand under my hair and cupping the nape of my neck. We stayed like that with the children running around us fetching water and broth and food and blankets for everyone, whether they asked for them or no.

  Now that the wait and flurry of panic was over, the warmth of their presence lulled me into a light doze.

  Our wall was not as high or as grand as the one in my vision, but it had done the trick. The empire’s advancement had been halted. The sands had swallowed some, while others had been torn by claw and beak. Others were injured when the sand became molten pits of glass. I hadn’t known the gryphons could do the last. The images Audax shared of that night were gruesome, but necessary for me to see. I, in turn, was able to reassure the workers that the defenses were holding, that we would triumph.

  Now, we stood at the foot of the wall, Orel and Kunil in their gryphon forms. Audax patrolled above and sent me an image. Fifty feet away stood four of the empire’s men, one in the green of the messenger service. So, the emperor had sent word north. Beyond them, where the sands turned to grassland nearly a mile out, was their camp.

  I stepped forward, my strides measured and deliberate on the uneven sands, the gryphons flanking me. My heart pounded and my hands shook. I was careful to keep my face still and expressionless.

  There.

  We’d reached the halfway mark, and I drew to a halt.

  After a three day stalemate, this morning we had woken to the empire’s soldiers waiving a white flag. I kept my eyes forward and blank. I had insisted, and my gryphons had agreed, that these men of the empire would have to deal with a blind woman, one of the flawed that they so despised.

  Metal links rubbed against leather, and armor clanked as the men drew to a halt. A warm breeze played across my face and pulled out a lock of hair to tickle my collarbone. The silence drew out, but I knew we would not be the first to break.

  “Emperor Ameni the Fourth, beloved of the Great One and Light of this World, has heard your terms.” The voice was young and trembled on the last word. The messenger. “He—” The man’s heart pounded, and breaths were pulled in.

  Two gryphons touched down, one to each side of me and a little ahead, so I could just make out the flickers of dawn and silver on the periphery.

  Allies, Audax sent.

  Well, looks like they finally arrived. And I knew these colors, had seen them in my visions. The show of power was welcome.

  Again, we waited.

  A cough from the empire’s delegation. “Emperor Ameni will agree to your terms, but he has a demand of his own. The... remains of Lord Ishu must be returned to us.”

  I tilted my head. “And what if we are unable to do this?” What had we done with him? An image formed, a red-robed man missing an arm and the flesh of his face lacerated open at the cheek, skull misshapen.

  “The emperor insists,” a deeper voice said. “You would do well to listen. He is
being extremely generous with you fr—”

  “Lieutenant.” Metal clanked, and the second man stood quiet once more. “Do you have him or not?” the third man asked, his tone neutral.

  “We can get him. Though he has been dead nearly two weeks. And he is not in the best shape.” A faint sense of dread curled in my belly. “Why do you need him?”

  “The emperor has insisted on a proper burial. Lord Ishu was well loved,” the second man, the lieutenant, ground out.

  I waited, then reached out with my senses, trying to open my mind. I had never yet sought a vision, didn’t really know how or if what I did would work. My mind’s eye remained blank, and the dread receded, leaving me with only one thing—certainty that whatever had set off that feeling wouldn’t affect me or my loved ones. “Very well.” We had an obligation to our territory and our people. “It will take a few hours. He will be delivered to the edge of the sands. And then you will take him and retreat. Per the terms, you may continue to send people to us, but they will be cared for on their journey, no abuse. We will trade our goods as we see fit. The merchants are welcome to send emissaries, and we will entertain their offers. Now, I believe that concludes the talks.” I turned my back, dismissing them. Maybe not the most politic move, but I would not cater to these men. I set out, back to the stone wall, Kunil and Orel at my side. The new gryphons remained where they were, standing guard against the soldiers.

  Three new gryphons appeared above us, one smaller, of a rose color, and the other two of mint-green and sky-blue. I’d seen them before as well. They let out piercing cries of anger and defiance.

  I smiled. My visions were coming together.

  Epilogue

  I sat at my loom, the dust and grit cleaned from the workings. The familiar feel of smooth wood and silk threads greeted me. The room was silent, empty, as everyone else ate.

  A month had passed. We’d delivered the corrupt seer’s body to the soldiers, and they’d retreated. So far, no messages or offers of trade had come to us, but there had been an influx of flawed. We’d set them to work building a new compound to the west, where the sands had been cleared to allow for more farming.

  Every day was hard. Every night I fell into bed exhausted. The wall was expanding, and an aerie of sand and stone had been started for the gryphons. We’d finished cleaning up Saar and salvaging what we could of the crops. Rations were short, but most of us were used to that anyway.

  The new gryphons had joined us. Prika and her mates had gone to Robat, and Parvana, Suri, and Macon had decided to stay in Saar.

  Orel, Audax, Kunil, and I had returned to Eusos. It was home, after all.

  It was all coming together. Oh, there were issues and arguments, disputes among the workers. Some had decided to set off on their own rather than stay. I couldn’t blame them. This place did not hold happy memories for most residents. We’d given them what we could and wished them well.

  I rubbed my thumb over a chip in the front reed of the loom. It was a good loom, sturdy, and I hoped to use it again soon. First, though, I had to gather my courage for a talk with my gryphons. It was time we took the next step. Time we completed the mating bond.

  A new image came to me. The four of us in a chamber made of sandstone, sunlight streaming through jeweled glass windows and painting rainbows over the walls. We lay in a bed, one big enough to fit us all. I was secure between them, loved and safe.

  And tucked in the corner was a cradle. A small head, crowned with feathers a dusty blue, poked over the top. It smiled at me before transforming the rest of the way into a fledgling. Then it slipped, squeaking as it fell to its mattress.

  Yes, there was much work ahead of me—of us all. But there was also hope and love and freedom.

  Being the treasure of a gryphon or three wasn’t a bad fate at all.

  Time to get moving. I stood. Faint gray outlined my surroundings, and I could get around very well on my own. I still liked to count.

  Two steps to the right, a quarter turn, twelve strides to the door. Three steps forward, turn left, forty-seven strides to the well, pass to the other side, turn left, two more steps, then turn right. Sixty-four strides to the entrance of the dining hall.

  I didn’t stop there, though. Twenty more strides took me to the yard where whipping posts once stood, but now a small grove of pear trees grew—simply because I’d mentioned two weeks ago that I liked the taste of honey drizzled over pear tarts. Kunil had disappeared and returned with the saplings a full day later. I’d caught him digging up the yard. When I’d asked him why, he simply said, “A treasure should be taken care of.”

  We’d have the fruit in two years.

  A quarter turn and forty-two strides to the bottom step of my new home.

  Five steps up to my destiny.

  I found the latch and pushed the door open. Three gryphons waited for me, outlined in shades of white-violet, gold, and copper.

  Yes, this was the good dream.

  The End

  Check out other works by Cecilia Randell.

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  About the Author

  Cecilia Randell was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in a home with her very own Cheerful Bulldozer. After some brief adventures in various places such as California and Florida, she returned to her hometown and took up a career in drafting.

  A lifetime lover of words and stories, the transition to writing was two-fold: a comment from a relative and a short line from another author, saying to write what you want to read. And thus the new adventure was born.

  Now she can be found most days curled up in a comfy chair and creating new tales to share with others.

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  Indebted to the Vampires

  Erin Bedford

  Indebted to the Vampires

  A broken vase wasn’t all this maid owed her masters.

  Piper needed a job. Any job would do. However, when the temp agency assigned her to clean the house of a bunch of snobby rich boys, she wasn’t sure it was worth.

  Stuck in a job she had no choice but to keep, Piper ends up even more indebted to her employers when she breaks a priceless vase.

  Breaking a vase was the least of Piper’s troubles because her employers have a secret. One that they are willing to kill to keep. Now, she’ll be lucky to keep her job let alone live through it.

  1

  I can’t believe I got talked into this, I thought for the millionth time since I left the house. So, what if I’m in between jobs right now? That doesn’t mean that I’ll take whatever the temp agency will throw at me.

  “It’s not like I didn’t have other offers,” I muttered to myself as I turned down the road toward my new place of work. “Sure, all those offers are for jobs I wouldn’t want to do if I was starving, but that doesn’t mean I want to be someone’s maid.”

  My words trailed off as pulled into the driveway of my assigned house. A wrought iron fence wrapped around the entire premises with an intercom box at the gate entrance. I could barely see the brick mansion behind the gate between the large hedges doing their best to block my view.

  “Can I help you?” an annoyed voice barked out of the intercom, making me jump. The fact that I had heard the voice even through my closed window did not make me feel any better about this job.

  Quickly rolling the window down, I stuttered, “Um, yeah, hi. I’m Piper Billings. The agency sent me.” I paused and then added, “To, uh, clean.”

  The voice didn’t answer back, but a buzz sounded, and the gates opened slowly before me. I shouted toward the box, “Thank you!” then inched my way into the circular driveway.

  Now that the gate was out of the way, I could see the brick mansion in its entirety. Large columns held a roof over the porch where two black double doors stood looming before me. All of the windows in the house were covered by heavy drapes. I couldn’t even take a peek into th
e house I would be working at for the next few months.

  I sat in my car, gaping at the house. Sure, I’d complained and complained about going from a cushy desk job with benefits, two weeks’ vacation, and holiday pay to temporary work, but I’d never imagined I’d end up working in a place like this. No, I wouldn’t be living in it, but cleaning it had to be a bitch, which more than put things in perspective.

  Knock, knock, knock.

  I jumped in my seat as I turned to my driver side window. A man in a suit with white gloves had bent over and knocked on my window. The impatient look in his eyes showed that they had definitely noticed me loitering out here.

  Turning my car off, I grabbed my bag and quickly got out of the car. “I’m sorry. I always get nervous on my first day.” I chuckled nervously and tucked a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear.

  The man’s face was as straight at the slicked back black hair on his head. “This way, Miss Billings.” He strode across the driveaway, his long legs carrying him into the house before I had time to realize I was supposed to follow him.

  When I stepped into the house, my mouth fell open once more. The foyer had vaulted ceilings with a shiny chandelier filling the room with artificial light. Two sets of staircases sat on either side of the room, and a balcony off of the second floor could be seen from the ground.

  I had my mouth hanging open so much that my time I stopped gawking I’d already lost my guide. My eyes darted around the room looking for the severely-in-need-of-a-blow-job guide, but he was nowhere to be found. Taking a chance, I decided to go through an archway to the left which led into what looked like a living room.