“Nothing for now,” I said. “Kuroda says they are no longer his. He has funny ideas about this shit.”
“Yeah,” the hacker replied as she shifted in her seat. Then she glanced at Eve, Paula, and Kasta. It was a quick movement, but I knew all of the women well enough to know that something was amiss.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Well,” Zea said as she cleared her throat. “Sooooo, uhhh, we all got to talking when the five of us were on Ganymede.”
“Yeah?” I asked as I let go of my wine glass and laid my hand down on the table.
“So, you were going to do the rite, but now it seems like you don’t have to,” she said.
“I spoke to Madalena about it,” Sivaha said as she forward over the table. The silver-haired woman was wearing a dark burgundy dress with a skirt that flowed out to her knees in the shape of sunflower petals.
“Yes,” the Prime Valkyrie said as she turned her gray eyes to me. “My aegis has started to change. I didn’t notice it, but when Sivaha told me, I turned it on and looked in the mirror. We are all beginning to take on the visage of a cat.”
Her pleasure and pride pulsed into me, and the stoic woman actually smiled.
“You’re pretty happy about that,” I chuckled.
“I already knew you were chosen by Odin,” Madalena said. “But now there is physical proof.”
“Look, I don’t know about the Odin thing,” I said, “but I’m just happy I don’t need to do the rite. I would run out of lives hanging for nine days.”
“You would live,” Sivaha said. “It is what Odin wishes. You will reunite the clans. Then we will destroy the Draugr.”
“As I said, that’s what I want to do. I just don’t think I’m sent by Odin.”
“It does not matter what you believe, Husband,” Sivaha said. “It only matters what Odin wants.”
“You sound exactly like Madalena,” I said with a smirk.
“We are of the same mind on this topic,” Madalena said.
“Sooo, since we are talking about wives, can I finish?” Zea said, and we turned back to her.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I said.
“It’s okay, ahh, so you are Nordar, and king, and have wives, but like I said, we have all been talking, and…” Zea paused and looked at Madalena quickly. “I want to go through the rite. Well, we all do. When we get back to Nordar - 13.”
“We kind of talked about this before,” I said as I turned to Madalena. “What is involved.”
“You can set the rite,” the Prime Valkyrie said. “You have various options to choose from, but the one I would recommend is the one I went through to become Nordar.”
“The one where you had to journey through the same snowy shithole and kill the uiun-bair that I did?” I asked.
“No,” she replied. “You had Odin’s rite. It was nine parts. They would just do the first part of your journey.”
“But they would still have to kill one of those monsters?” I asked.
“Yes, or another type of creature.” Madalena didn’t seem concerned.
“Does every Nordar have to do this?” I asked her.
“Only if they wish to join the military,” Madalena said. “Most on the world do not. They are still considered Nordar, but have a slightly lower status.”
“Look, Zea,” I said as I turned back to the blonde hacker. “It’s really dangerous. I don’t think you should do it.”
“I want to,” she said as she crossed her arms.
“Why?” I asked. “You don’t need to be Nordar. I already--”
“Because I want to marry you,” she interrupted me. “I want to submit to you. I want the same as they have.” Zea nodded to Sivaha and Madalena. “I’m the only one who can’t feel you. I hate it. I feel like I don’t have the same place in your heart that they--”
“That’s bullshit,” I said. “You know I love you. I’ve told you a hundred times.”
“But this is what I want,” she said. “I want to be their equal. It’s my hang up, I know, but there is another advantage for us going. We’ll all get to use the aegis armor. It will make us safer in shootouts.”
“Talk her out of this,” I said as I turned to Eve.
“I am sorry my love, but I agree with her,” the vampire answered with her usual shrug. “I will join her on the quest, since I also wish to be your wife and submit to you.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “I don’t want you both to go. It isn’t safe, and we don’t have the time. Once we drop my sister and mom off, we’ll need to visit the other clans.”
“It will be safe,” Zea argued. “All four of us will be together. Eve has her powers, and Madalena has been spending a few hours every day going over survival stuff with us.”
“Four of you?” I asked, and then Paula and Kasta raised their hands.
“We are going,” the twins said in unison.
“It’s not the marriage stuff,” Paula said as she waved her hands. “I just want to spend some time on a planet doing survival stuff. I never have, and I’d like the opportunity to try it. I also would like to wear the aegis.”
“You are so full of shit,” Kasta said as she made a face at her sister.
“What? I am not!” Paula rolled her eyes.
“Well, I’m not going to beat around the bush with the tiger-man,” Kasta said as she turned to face me. “I have no idea if I can become a Nordar, or if I can wear the aegis or not, but I’m going to do this rite, and submit to you, and then I’d really like you to fuck my virtual brains out. Puuuleeezzze.”
“Sis,” Paula moaned.
“You just don’t quit do you?” Zea asked.
“Oh don’t act all surprised, Zea,” Kasta said as she scrunched her nose up. “Everyone on the ship wants to fuck him. It’s my turn.”
“Adam will make the decision,” Eve said, and the dark-haired woman’s voice cut off Zea’s retort before she could speak.
“Adam,” Paula said, and we all turned to her. “It will take us a few weeks to do this, but you don’t have to wait for us. The crew is almost full. You can go visit the other clans and form the treaties and then come back to get us.”
“Uhh, no,” I said. “I’m going to be glued to the observer drone watching everything you do.”
“Oh shit, that sounds terrible,” Zea moaned. “Don’t do that. It will drive me crazy. Just continue on with the plan. We are four grown women who have killed countless mercenaries, military, and slavers. Eve can fucking move shit with her mind. She can pretty much do all of this herself and the rest of us will just be along for the ride.”
“What do you think?” I asked as I turned to Madalena.
The Prime Valkyrie’s lips pushed together, and her gray eyes glanced at the four other women before she looked at me. “We had some disagreements at the start of our relationship, but now I have come to care for these four women. I would welcome them as sisters and as wives for you.”
“You aren’t worried they could die?” I asked.
“If they are too weak to pass the test together, then they are too weak to be Nordar, and much too weak to be submitted to you,” Sivaha said.
I half expected the other four women to object to the silver-haired woman’s words, but they all surprised me by nodding. Then they turned toward me, and I realized that they really wouldn’t go if I told them not to.
“Aren’t I the king?” I asked Madalena. “Can’t I just declare they are Nordar warriors and have everything be done?”
“You can,” Madalena said, “but that will not allow them to wear the aegis or submit to you. That magic comes from the gods, and they have demanded that we pass the rite of passage to use their magic. As king of a blood overlord clan, you can assign a different rite of passage, but this is the easiest one.”
“This isn’t going to be hard,” Zea said, but then she laughed and shook her head. “Okay, it’s going to be hard. I fricken hate the snow, and cold, and monsters and hiking, but Eve, Paula, and
Kasta are going to be with me. We’ve been through a lot together. This really won’t be hard. Yeah, I wish it was over right now and we could get on with the mission, but I want to get it over with. I want to feel like I’m an equal to Madalena, Sivaha, and Eve.”
I turned down to my wine and then played with the glass for a bit while I thought through the matter. I knew what saying “no” would mean: Zea would do as I said, but she wouldn’t like it, and she would continue to feel jealous of what I had with the other women. Eventually, we would drift apart. Sure, I would try my hardest to love her and show her how much I loved her, but the relationship with Madalena, Sivaha, and Eve was easy. The love I shared with Zea was hot, bitter, sweet, and salty. We both burned for each other, but while passion kept love fresh, it was the daily connection that continued to power the relationships. It wasn’t her or my fault that I had a magical and psychic bond with three other women, but it was the crazy reality we lived in.
“Alright,” I said at last, and the three blonde women let out long exhales of relief.
“But you are going to be responsible for their training, Madalena,” I said as I turned to the Prime Valkyrie.
“Yes, my lord,” she said.
“If they are injured or killed during the rite, I will hold you accountable. So, I want you to force feed them as much training as you can in the short amount of time we have.”
“Yes, my lord,” the Prime Valkyrie could sense my emotions, so she knew I wasn’t joking. Her eyes were hard, and I could feel the power of her intensity.
“Well then,” Zea said as she stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “I’m pretty beat. It’s time to hit the sack and--”
“No,” Madalena said. “We are starting now. Let’s head to the training hall.”
“But, I’m pretty buzzed,” Paula argued.
“I will not risk angering my king by sending you unprepared,” Madalena said as she stood from her chair. “We have roughly three days to train. You will be spending every second of it with me.”
“Excellent,” Eve said as she stood. “I am happy to train with you, Madalena.”
“Uhh, yeah,” Zea said as her eyes opened wide with horror.
“Get up,” Madalena said. “Get moving. Now.”
Zea, Paula, and Kasta sprang up from their seats, and then the blonde engineer teetered a bit before her android sister caught her. Then Madalena turned and walked out of the galley. Eve followed quickly, and the three blonde women gave each other apprehensive looks before they walked behind the vampire.
I guessed they were probably going to regret wanting to do this after a few hours of Madalena kicking their asses in the training room.
“Hello, Husband,” Sivaha whispered as she slid across the chairs to sit next to me.
“Hello, Sivaha,” I said as I turned to her. “I’m guessing this didn’t count as the dinner you wanted to cook for me?”
“It was close enough,” she said. “Although, we did not drink any aquavit.”
“That can be remedied quickly. I’ll grab a bottle out of the freezer.” I stood from the table, walked over to the fridge, grabbed one of the many bottles we had in the freezer, and then turned to find that she had walked up behind me without making a sound. The silver-haired woman held a clean glass in each hand, and we were sitting at the kitchen bar drinking a few moments later.
“Skol,” we said as we tapped our glasses together. The water of life burned my throat sliding down, and I felt it begin to warm my belly almost instantly.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Thanks for the backrub. How long did it take for me to fall asleep?”
“A few moments,” she replied. “You were exhausted.”
“I’m not exhausted now,” I said, and my eyes met hers as I took another sip.
“Neither am I, but I would like to become exhausted.” Her pale skin flushed a bit around her chest and shoulders, and her left hand reached up to stroke her hair.
“I’ll bring the aquavit,” I said as I lifted the bottle from the table.
“I will bring the glasses,” she whispered as she grabbed them.
Then we were walking down the hallway.
Then we were in the elevator
Then our lips were devouring each other.
Then we were in my suite tearing each other’s clothes off with animal intensity.
We didn’t drink any more of the aquavit. Instead, we spent all night licking each other’s bodies, making love and then resting for a few minutes before we attacked each other again. Her passion was hot, she bit, scratched and screamed when her orgasms took over her body.
Just like Madalena, I could feel Sivaha’s emotions, but we also seemed to have a more subtle bond, and we often found each other guessing what the other wanted a few moments before it was thought.
I lost track of how many times she climaxed, or how many times I filled her with my seed, but eventually, we did become exhausted, and she lay on my chest while we both took long calming breaths.
We hadn’t spoken a single word to each other during the endless hours, but she lifted her head off my chest, kissed me deeply on the mouth, and then lay back on me.
Then I wrapped my arms around my wife and joined her in sleep.
Chapter 12
When I wasn’t recovering from a shift, I was normally a light sleeper, so I was a bit surprised to find Sivaha gone from my bed when I woke up. I did hear the shower running in the bathroom, so I twisted myself out of bed and then walked toward the sound of water.
“Hello, Husband,” she said when she saw me enter the bathroom.
“Hello, Sivaha,” I replied.
“Join me?” she asked as she opened the door. The water flowed down her pale skin in silver rivers, and our eyes met as I stepped inside with her.
It only took a moment for our lips to wrap around each others, and then her legs circled my hips while I pushed her against the wall. She bit my shoulder and growled while we fucked, but then those growls turned into moans that became whimpers of ecstasy when we both climaxed together. Our spiraling emotions danced while we came down from our euphoria, and we both found ourselves slumped up against the corner of the shower holding each other tightly.
“I have not felt this way about another man,” she whispered, but I was still in a bit of a daze from the warm water and bout of lovemaking, and it took me a moment to understand her words.
“Oh?” I replied.
“They were toys,” she said. “Playthings. They did my bidding in and out of bed. I exchanged them when I got bored. Nar was useful because of his family connections, and he was capable of pleasuring me, but I realize I never loved any of them because they were too busy trying to love me.”
“I once regretted killing him, but now I don’t,” I said.
“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow.
“He got in my way,” I said. “So he had to die, and you needed to submit to me so that we could win against the Draugr.”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “It is odd. When I think back to that day, I was angry, but on reflection, my anger was more that you saw through me and foiled my plans, and less that you killed my people.”
“That seems fucked up,” I said.
“It was,” she said. “I am supposed to protect my people, but I was arrogant. Well, I still am arrogant, but my anger toward you turned to rage when you wouldn’t give me attention. I couldn’t gain a handhold with you. When you sent me to my room while you went to Kuroda’s party, I spent the time wondering if that was how all the men in my life had felt. I both loved and hated you at the same time. The hate was there because you would not love me in return.”
“But here we are,” I said as I ran my fingers down her shoulder.
“Yesssssss.” She shivered at my touch and then let out a long sigh. “Now I know that I serve Odin by being your wife. I have been blessed and given a second chance. I will not fail him, or you, Husband. Whatever yo
u need of me, I will give. I am yours for as long as I live, and when we both die, I will serve you in Valhalla alongside the Prime Valkyrie.”
“I’m glad you get along with her,” I said.
“Of course,” Sivaha replied. “She is worthy of respect. The other women will be when they become Nordar and submit to you. Although, I do not know if Odin’s magic will work on Kasta.”
“Paula and Kasta won’t be submitting to me,” I said.
“Why not?” Sivaha asked. “They are both beautiful and intelligent. They seem to have a way with the drones on our ship, and they are eager to please you. I am not threatened by their presence.”
“I never really intended for this to happen,” I said as I let go of her and reached for the soap. “I love women, of course, but I always thought I’d just be with one. Now I have four, and you want me to have two more. Kuroda wants me to have another four more. I’m just one guy that is supposed to rule a kingdom and also stop the threat of a super powerful race of vampire assholes. I can’t keep this many women happy.”
“Husband, you are thinking of it wrong,” she said as she reached for the soap dispenser. “You do not make us happy, we make you happy. You are our king and are chosen by Odin.”
“That’s not how I was raised,” I said as she started to rub soap on my back. “I want to take care of my women.”
“You do,” she said. “You provide for us and treat us with love and respect. You are a very talented lover and a man of honor. What more could a woman want? To possess you so that no other can feel your blessings?”
“You sure do know how to stroke my ego,” I chuckled.
“I am learning how to stroke all of you,” she said with her cat-like grin. “I will get very good at it.”
“Yeah,” I agreed as I closed my eyes and enjoyed her hands on my muscles.
“Your resistance comes from Zea,” she said after a few minutes.
“No,” I said.
“You lie,” she chuckled.
“I love her,” I said. “I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Yet she also has Eve as a lover and wishes to deny you another woman’s love.”
“You are phrasing it like she is a hypocrite,” I said. “That’s not how she is.”
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