by Logan Jacobs
“As she should,” Talise laughed, and this seemed to cheer the women up quite a bit.
It was my turn to give them a dirty look, and the women just laughed.
They were both sadists.
“I still have some of the compound I made to help Marella with her teething,” Talise finally said. “It will dull the pain, but it does increase the slobbering.”
“Like I haven’t been continuously covered in baby drool for the past month,” I snickered. “Go ahead and use it.”
Talise went and fetched the little clay jar for me, and then she put some on her finger and rubbed it all over Arrick’s gums while he smiled and cooed at her.
“Have you come to the same conclusion about Marella as George and I have?” I asked the women. “That she is a soothsayer?”
“Yes,” Talise sighed, “especially after her fit earlier today.”
“I spoke with Sela about it,” I said, and I held Marella against my shoulder as she hummed to herself. “She was having the same thoughts. She told me about your grandfather and said it probably came from him. She suggested we give Marella one of my old shirts after I have worn it as a security blanket, especially considering most of her visions are of me in danger.”
“That’s a brilliant idea,” the healer gasped. “I am willing to try anything at this point.”
“Well, then I will save the shirt I am wearing now for her,” I chuckled. “I put it on fresh out of a bath and have managed not to kill anything while I have been wearing it.”
“Maybe sleep in it tonight, if you can,” Talise suggested. “It will have a stronger scent for her.”
“I can definitely do that,” I said, and then I noticed the little girl had fallen asleep during our conversation.
I was afraid that would get me another dirty look, but both women just seemed relieved.
I walked over and laid Marella down in the crib I’d built for her the day she’d climbed out of her bassinet and into bed with Talise. My daughter looked like a little angel with her raven curls framing her chubby cheeks, so I pulled her little blanket over her and stood there just watching her sleep. I sure hoped the security blanket idea would help her. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being in such anguish over something she didn’t understand nor had any control over.
“Um, Ben,” Mira chuckled behind me, “I think we’ve had a blowout over here.”
I looked over to see Arrick’s diaper was leaking, and his whole back and legs were covered in yellow baby shit. It was so bad, it was in his silver hair and everything.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
“Thanks a lot, buddy,” I groaned as I carefully took him from Mira and held him out in front of me. “I guess we are making a pit stop at the bathing pool. No basin of water is big enough to handle all of that.”
Arrick giggled at me, and a string of drool ran down his adorable chin, but the stench radiating off the boy nearly put me down on my knees.
I was so glad the men’s bathing chambers were right across from Talise’s room. I sure didn’t want to carry him much further than that.
“I will go with you and help you,” Mira laughed. “You’re going to need more than two hands for that.”
“I think you have officially made my day better,” Talise snorted. “I am going to crawl into bed with a smile on my face.”
“Glad we could be of service, huh, little man?” I grinned and left her room with my shit-covered baby.
Mira followed behind me and held all the doors open for me, bless the woman. I really didn’t need to spread this foul stuff all over the palace when it had just been scrubbed down in preparation for the storms. The warrior then took Arrick from my arms, and I unceremoniously undressed and jumped in while she carefully peeled the baby’s clothes off him.
“I will go get him some fresh clothes while you get him clean.” She smiled with a mischievous look in her eyes as she handed him to me.
“You just can’t wait to tell your sister, can you?” I scoffed.
“Exactly,” Mira laughed and headed out the door.
I gently lowered Arrick into the warm water, and he let out a sigh and a gurgle. Then I grabbed the soft coconut milk soap and washed all the nasty off him while he cooed and babbled to me about his day. After he seemed to have finished speaking, I told him about the boar. His steel colored eyes watched me intensely as I talked, and I would have sworn he knew exactly what I was saying.
“We will have lots of time together over the next several weeks,” I told him. “Lots of time for more baths and songs and playing. You can even help daddy figure out how to build a boat.”
He cooed his response just as Mira walked back in with his fresh clothes and a huge smile on her face.
“Nerissa loved it, huh?” I asked with a smirk.
“So much,” Mira snickered as she took the baby and wrapped him in the towel in her arms.
“Of course she did,” I chuckled as I dried myself off and got dressed again. At least these women now had something to laugh at, even if it was me, but I would never let them know that I loved making them laugh.
Mira handed over the baby, who was yawning and all ready for bed. I put him up to my shoulder, and now he smelled so sweet and clean.
“If it’s okay with you, I will drain the tub and then use it,” Mira said and wrinkled her nose at me. “I kinda have some of his wreckage all over me.”
“Of course it’s okay with me,” I said as I kissed her goodnight. “Thank you for helping me with that mess.”
She just smiled at me as I turned and left for Nerissa’s room. I slowly made my way through the palace, but I was dragging ass, and holding this sleepy baby wasn’t making it any better. I was kind of excited about not having any pressing matters to attend to in the morning and could relax for a little while before I got going with the day’s work.
The queen was sitting up in bed with a humored and sympathetic look on her face when I got there.
“He did that to me yesterday,” she giggled, “I think it’s him teething that’s causing the issue.”
“I would imagine so,” I agreed. “I just didn’t know something so small could produce so much shit.”
This caused her to go into a fit of giggles and made Arrick smile in my arms. I handed him over to his mom for his last feeding of the night, and then I climbed in the bed next to her.
“Gods,” I sighed as I burrowed into the blankets, “I think I could sleep for a week straight.”
“I imagine you could,” the queen agreed, “you have been quite busy.”
“Busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest,” I groaned.
“You are so weird,” she scoffed.
“So I’ve been told,” I laughed.
Dear one, something needs your attention, said a voice in my head.
“Ah, fuck,” I muttered. “What’s going on?”
You just need to look out of your eastern window, George said.
So, I climbed out of the bed, worked to unlatch the storm shutters, and then opened it up. I looked all around but couldn’t see what I was supposed to be looking at.
“What am I looking for?” I kind of snapped, but I was tired, I couldn’t help it.
Look to the sky over the jungle by the shore, George said patiently, not fazed by my grouchy ass.
I looked and saw huge strikes of lightning high up in an enormous group of dark, heavy clouds. The first storm was definitely here. I started to say something to my dragon when a bright bolt of lightning lit up the sky, and I saw the silhouette of two giant flying beasts.
“What the hell are those?” I gasped.
My guess would be they are what was hunting the boar, George said, but what they are exactly, I have no clue.
“They don’t look like they are heading this way,” I muttered as my heart rate slowed a bit.
No, George confirmed, but the island isn’t large. Eventually, you will have to deal with them.
“And when you say ‘eventu
ally,’ I’m guessing you mean ‘in the next few days?’”
Probably.
I sighed. Sounded about right.
Chapter Seven
“Where do you want me to put the bamboo for the storm shutters?” Mira asked me the next morning as she wrestled with a huge load of the wood we were using to secure the windows. “I don’t remember who is working on them.”
“Hali has some women from the kitchen making them,” I replied, and I grabbed some bamboo from her to help out. “We will take it over there. I think this will likely be enough to finish up.”
“What else needs to be done?” the warrior asked and looked around the palace. “Things seem to be in good shape.”
“They really are,” I said with a grin. “There are a few places in the palace roof that need to be patched, and we need to get the rest of the beds set up in the common area. Other than that, just getting the shutters up and making sure everyone from the far village is moved in. I also want to go through the nearby huts that are going to be occupied to make sure they are all in good shape.”
“I can help you do that later,” Mira offered. “What needs to be done in those?”
“Well, it’s pretty simple.” I shrugged. “We will make sure the new roofs are secure, the chimneys aren’t blocked, and the shutters are correctly installed and ready to go. That’s about all we can do.”
“Hurry up and wait,” she chuckled. “Sounds like a whole lot of fun.”
“I do what I can,” I said as I threw her a shit-eating grin. “What was the longest storm season you can remember?”
“Nearly six months,” she groaned, “but that was when I was fairly young. I almost lost my mind until Tiana took the opportunity to start training me at the request of the king and queen. I was making them crazy with my constant groaning and boredom.”
“Fucking hell,” I muttered. “That might very well make my cheese finally slide all the way off my cracker.”
“Why are you so weird?” Mira rolled her eyes. “What is cheese? Or a cracker?”
“Cheese is deliciousness made from milk,” I laughed as we approached the alcove outside of the kitchen, “and a cracker is a thin, crispy bread. But what I said is just a phrase that means to completely lose your mind, which will happen if we are stuck indoors for six months.”
Mira just shook her head at me and put the bamboo we were carrying with the rest piled in the alcove. Three women were working diligently on shutters and were cranking them out far better than I could have imagined. These shutters were sturdy and going to go a long way to keep us safe and dry.
“These look great!” I exclaimed. “I couldn’t have done a better job myself.”
“Thank you, Draco Rex,” said a very young, and very blushing, lavender haired woman. “We are happy to do our part.”
I got a good look at all three of the women and realized they were probably the youngest in the village. They looked like they were maybe eighteen to twenty years old, which meant they were maybe ten years old or so since these women aged faster than humans. None of the women really kept track of their actual age once they reached the one-year milestone, though, so it would be pointless to ask them. Still, they definitely had more growing to do and were probably three of the last to be born on the island before I showed up.
“Keep up the good work, ladies.” I smiled. “Maybe you can tell me more about yourselves over the storm season. We will have plenty of time.”
They all just nodded before going back to work. Their sudden reluctance to chat more with me kind of put me off, so I stepped away and walked back over to Mira.
“What’s wrong with them?” I whispered to Mira. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Not at all,” she assured me. “They were just days old when their fathers and brothers were killed in the same battle that Arrick died in. Other than Jonas the old soothsayer, you are the only man they have ever seen, much less talked to.”
“Oh,” I mumbled, “I guess that makes sense. They don’t know how to relate to me. I need to work on that.”
“Ahhh, not exactly,” Mira giggled softly. “They are only eager for their chance to become your lovers and bear you a child.”
“Ohhh.” I cleared my throat, glanced over my shoulder, and caught one of the women looking at me.
“Yes,” Mira laughed louder. “I am very excited about the storm season.”
“Uhh, excited?” I asked.
Mira grinned with way too much enthusiasm for my liking. “It should be fully entertaining to watch you take these young women as your lovers. They all think you are as sexy as slices of bread, and they all are eager to have your seed inside of their wombs.”
“The saying is, ‘It’s the best thing since sliced bread,’” I sighed. “Also, bread isn’t sexy.”
“Depends on who you ask,” Mira guffawed.
We found Hali in the kitchen working on sealing and seasoning a new, giant pot the twins had made out of clay. It was going to be perfect for making large batches of soups and stews, which we would definitely need over the course of the storm season.
“How’s it going?” I asked the cook. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Hello, Ben.” Hali smiled while she wiped some sweat from her brow. “I think things are going great. It’s the best we have been prepared in years.”
“I am glad to hear that.” I smiled. “I heard the storms could last for six months.”
“It’s possible,” she sighed, “but I have also been in seasons that only lasted a few weeks. It all depends on Oshun’s plans.”
“This does make me feel better,” I chuckled. “Here’s to hoping this is a short one. We are going to head out to the nearby huts to double check they are ready if you don’t need us.”
“No need.” Hali grinned. “The twins just got back from doing that and have declared the huts ready. They are staying out there and took it upon themselves to make sure all is well.”
“Wow,” I exclaimed with wide eyes, “that’s phenomenal!”
“You have really inspired us all.” Hali shrugged. “I have faith all will go well because of you.”
“You give me too much credit,” I told the chef, “but thanks. I guess we will go get the last shutters installed and the holes patched.”
“Actually,” Hali snickered, “if you will help put the shutters up in the kitchen and storage room, everything else is done.”
I looked at Mira, who just grinned and shrugged her shoulders before she and I got to work getting the shutters up. I’d already used a sea-glass arrowhead and a hammer to drill small holes for the pegs that would hold the shutters, so half the work was already done for us.
“That should do it,” I said as I pounded the last peg in. “I think we are all ready to go.”
Right as those words left my mouth, a huge crack of thunder shook the palace, and the sky opened up right outside the window.
“Well,” I sighed, “looks like the storm season has begun.”
“Now,” Mira laughed, “we’re in for the long haul. Hopefully, we don’t go crazy.”
“How could I go crazy in a palace full of beautiful women?” I asked her with a grin.
Mira tried to roll her eyes and brush me off, but I didn’t miss the way she blushed and covered her giggle with a hard cough.
And sure enough, I proved myself right.
Between my two children, my unborn child, their three mothers, and the amazing women who surrounded me, I wasn’t the least bit bored.
But, admittedly, after about a week, I had grown a bit antsy.
I was a Coast Guard man, after all. I needed to work, to build things or solve problems or do something that made me feel endlessly useful.
I had just put Arrick down for his regular afternoon nap, and I stared down at my not-so-tiny son as he snored softly in the bassinet. I’d always heard human parents complain about how fast their kids grew, but that was nothing compared to the ultra-fast growth of my dragon-kin children.
Soon, Arrick would be talking in full sentences and doing all the things I’d always figured I’d have time to grow used to.
Every parent feels like you, human or not, George chuckled in my head.
Suddenly, our attention was ripped away from my son when a giant crack sounded outside. A crack that was way too loud and way too long to have come from lightning.
“What the hell was that?” I demanded as I looked over at George.
My dragon friend’s expression was just as wide-eyed as I imagined mine was, but the look in his eyes told me he knew the answer.
And it wasn’t good.
Do you recall when I told you the jungle beasts would come? he asked.
Shit.
The giant beasts, the ones that felled trees and terrified huge boars with giant tusks, had come, just like George predicted.
Another crack sounded, and I dashed to the window to get a good look at what was going on right as Nerissa charged into the room.
“What is that?” she asked, and I could hear the queen in her tone, but underneath her forced composure was an intense layer of fear.
I yanked open one of the bamboo storm shutters just as a third crack sounded, but this one was followed by an impossibly loud boom that shook the walls of the palace and sent my heart into overdrive.
It was black from the rain and clouds outside, but over the jungle, I could make out the bestial flying figures of two beasts. As I watched, one swooped down over the edge of the jungle, and with a single, giant, sharp claw, it ripped a twenty-foot-tall palm tree straight out of the ground, swiveled in our direction, and then proceeded to toss the giant fucking tree right at the village.
Holy shit.
The palm tree landed on the outskirts of our village with an explosive boom, and it flattened a hut completely, effortlessly, as if it was nothing more than paper.
“Oh, my gods!” Nerissa exclaimed from behind me.
“We have to stop this thing,” I told George. “Now.”
My dragon companion didn’t even hesitate, and we sprinted through our home and past the shocked and terrified faces of everyone I loved so damn much.
Everyone who was now in danger of being flattened by some sort of palm tree throwing beast that had apparently decided to attack us in the middle of the fucking storm season.