Feral Fever

by Feral Fever (lit)

  "I'll need something like a feather. Do you know what a feather is?" Aisling asked.

  "Part of a bird," Proy stated.

  "Is there a kitchen here? Maybe they have some birds they're preparing for meals later."

  Proy bowed slightly. "I will find some."

  Mart chuckled after Proy's retreating form. "What an excellent excuse for a hunt."

  Yes. A hunt would be a nice change of pace. Warm sunlight. Fresh air. Although we just spent four days on war beasts. Maybe I still feel caged? Who wouldn't servicing a female.

  Mart studied me with those silver eyes. "Are you staying or going on the hunt?"

  How dare he tell me to leave? Did he have some plan to get the Marshal alone? From my experience, not even one's mother could be trusted. "I'm due a day simply spent lounging about." Somebody needed to watch these guards for Borun.

  Mart nodded and turned to Aisling. "I've learned over thirteen hundred symbols and still encounter those I can't define."

  "How much history have you learned with this handicap?"

  "Enough to know what is important."

  What importance does the past hold for those who no longer need it? I sank into a creaking chair and leaned into the biting wood.

  "What do you call important?" Aisling asked.

  Now, I like that question. Poke Mart just enough and he would growl. I watched Mart's face for any sign of irritation.

  "What do you mean?" Mart countered.

  "Everyone has a bias, a preference for what they learn and see. Just what have you been searching for in Luvk history?"

  This little female just might stir up enough trouble to make life finally worth living. So, I was still a slave to a female. What whirled through Mart's mind given the contemplative expression on his face?

  "I'm interested in reading how things happened." Mart went expressionless.

  "Well, back on my home world, I began studying the history of extinct cultures with an interest in one specifically. But I learned to appreciate them all. And learned not to see what I wanted to see."

  "She just might change our world," Mart announced in mindspeak.

  She already had just in telling us about the councils running her realm on her home world. A realm without queens. But her true purpose would be secret until she got what she wanted. And the blessed stars know I've yet to encounter a female who could be trusted.

  * * * *

  Borun ground his teeth where he listened to the bickering Queens in the great hall. His mother's stupidity would instigate another war among the clans. The squabbling had to end now.

  "I disagree. Wryn will make a fine queen for the Ice clan," Ishan bellowed and turned to Borun. "And Borun will gladly escort his sister to the Ice realm."

  "No." How dare she command me now. "I serve the Marshal now. You'll have to find another Royal Guard to do your bidding."

  Ishan turned the vilest glower my direction.

  She actually believed she could command Aisling and I. "No Queen reigns over the Marshals. And I have First Mate rights over Aisling. I can't wander off on errands."

  ?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Aisling rolled over in her sleeping furs wondering where Borun had gone off to. What was he hearing? And just why did I feel so nauseated? I hadn't eaten anything. Maybe the queasiness was blood lust? If Borun would just get his sexy butt back here, he could remedy the sensation.

  But we just shot up with blood a few hours ago. Why was I sick?

  Nausea roiled in my gut.

  I rolled over to try to shift the discomfort.

  Lehd sat near the dancing flames.

  Grabbing him and riding the discomfort into oblivion was an option. But I just don't think it wise to create friction between Borun and I and the other guards.

  Shooting up with Borun's blood might work. Since Lehd wasn't watching, I administered a blood libation.

  The nausea only intensified.

  The pressure built, pushing upward, searing my esophagus.

  God, I was going to puke. I threw myself at the edge of the sleeping skins and heaved.

  I have to be sick. Would foreign alien Luvk germs kill me?

  That's when I noticed Lehd's black boots at my side. I slid my gaze along their high shafts to the leather tags holding the sides of his pants together. His black stripes only toyed with my vision. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and met his concerned gaze.

  "Are you ill, Aisling?"

  Maybe. "I think so. Where's Borun?"

  "His mother is on a tirade. He may not return for a while."

  My gut settled down. "I think I'll just lie here and wait for him."

  "Let me know if you need anything." Lehd rose to tower overhead.

  I drifted in and out of sleep, tossing, and flopping. Why? I wasn't dying. I just felt miserable from time to time. The feeling came and went. What if I had some horrible disease that rarely bothered Luvks? My gaze slid to one of Borun's weapon displays near his bed.

  He had every sort of cutting edge, long, short, or curved, set into every sort of what appeared to be wooden handle. If I'd felt better, I would have ventured over to handle a few. To contemplate ending my madness. Well, if Lehd wasn't so attentive. When would I realize sometimes it's better to just give into nature? To the darkness. And try to use Lehd to ease my misery?

  "Aisling, Morna has brought dinner to the guards. Would you like to dine with us?"

  Although it would be a dinner with Lords of various realms sharing all sorts of cultural information, I had to decline. "I don't think I can sit up. But go along without me. I can survive a few minutes alone."

  Lehd departed through the bath.

  For some strange reason, I finally drifted asleep. Until my gut roiled again. I jolted awake, scrambling for the bed's edge where I hurled again.

  Just what in the hell was happening? I felt so grimy that I headed to the bath to wash my face.

  Gravity wasn't with me. The room spun a little. But I grabbed at a leaning wall and managed to stumble to the edge of the pool's whirling water. Well, looking at the swirling bubbles only made my vision whirl.

  I grabbed for something else to steady me and fell onto my palms.

  My gut boiled with acid.

  Cold sweat dimpled my brow.

  Water. I just need some water. I reached for some without looking.

  Bile shot up my throat.

  I heaved and heaved until there wasn't anything else left to purge from my stomach. I splashed some on my face.

  The pool smeared into a blur of light.

  I fell.

  Into my puke. Why did aw man come to mind? But I felt suddenly clear-headed. I yanked off my shirt and shoved it into the water.

  "Aisling, are you alright?" Lehd asked from the door to the guard's quarters.

  Hell, I didn't have my shirt on. Not good with Mr. Puppy Love on my tail. "Uh, just a minute." I wrung the water from the fabric and trotted back into my room, closing the door behind me.

  I found a clean tank top and thrust an arm through the sleeve.

  Something dark on my abdomen caught my eye.

  What was that? A coiling leafless vine. Darkened just enough to a strong gray.

  What the Hell? Someone had snuck in and tattooed me. Maybe the ink they used was making me sick? Maybe the culprit was still in my room? I yanked on my shirt and grabbed a long-handled-death-sticky thing from Borun's collection hanging on the wall near my sleeping skins. "Lehd!"

  He burst through the door.

  I should have known he'd be on the other side. "Someone was in here."

  He started searching the room. Before the massive bundle of predator had taken two steps, the other guards were stalking the room's shadows.

  Lehd neared me. "Put that weapon away before you hurt yourself, Aisling."

  "Don't patronize me. I can kill if I have to." I hope. I didn't have to yet.

  Lehd chuckled and gently took the killing stick from me. "That's what we're he
re for." He hung it back on the wall and went back to work.

  Standing there alone wasn't going to help me in the long run. I followed him. Just in case.

  He worked his way around the room like the others until they all stood around me.

  Looking at me like I was some idiot female. "Look, someone was here."

  "Did you see anyone?" Mart asked.

  "No. But I've been so sick. I figured I just caught something. Until I realized I was probably poisoned by," I raised my shirt to show Mart my abdomen, "whatever they used to give me this tattoo."

  Mart tried not to laugh. But he did. And so did the others.

  After puking my guts up, I had no patience for the insulting reaction. I glared.

  Mart seemed to pull himself together, somewhat. "Aisling, nobody did that to you. It's the mark of a youngling."

  A youngling?

  Mart patted my shoulder. "You're pregnant. And I dare curse your luck by saying you're carrying two younglings."

  What the Hell? "Huh?"

  The room swayed a bit. I threw up a hand and found some warm iron muscles to block my fall.

  "You'll be fine. Var, summon Borun. I'm certain he'd relish an excuse to leave his mother's side today. But only tell him Aisling is ill. I bet he'd like to discover this for himself."

  Oh. Shit. I'm so not ready for children. Especially on a world in turmoil.

  "Aisling?" Mart called. "Why do you look so distant?"

  How could he know I'm pregnant? He was male. Males lived to impregnate females on Luvk. And kill each other. "I just feel a bit lightheaded."

  "Come now."

  Someone pulled my elbow. "Sit by the fire."

  I was pushed down onto soft pillows.

  "Everyone back to your duties. I'll sit with Aisling," Mart said.

  Pillows shifted beside me.

  All I could manage was staring at the dancing flames happily doing some exotic dance in the fire pit. Teasing me with silent taunts.

  "Aisling," Mart gently patted my arm.

  Couldn't he leave me alone? I slid my gaze to his broad sparkling smile.

  "Most females are happy to learn they carry the mark of a youngling. And two! This is a monumental occasion. Aren't you happy?"

  Babies. All was too fast. "I hadn't even thought about getting pregnant. Borun was there. All over me. Yes. But in charge. I just never-"

  "But you knew what arose from mating?"

  Of course. I almost glared at him. "I just wasn't thinking we'd end up with a child so soon. And it's almost impossible to have children in Marshal marriages. Or so the record goes."

  His brow furrowed with thought. "Are you certain? Because a youngling gives you a reprieve from Kruk's demands. This is your answer to that problem."

  "But on my home world, women choose to have babies. We choose to never have them too. And with my quest for knowledge, like yours, I chose not to have children as of yet in my life."

  "But you're on Luvk now."

  "Yes, I know." I searched his glowing blue-gray eyes for something to indicate he truly understood. Did he know how violent his people were? Yes, my guards were noble. But did I want to have a baby in this world?

  The door swung wide.

  Borun strode across the threshold in his mask like a killing machine.

  My baby's father. Uh, the twins' father. His muscles working in his casual stride still managed to take my breath away.

  He pulled off his mask and shot me a gaze dripping with concern. "Aisling? You're ill?"

  Mart shot him a grin. "I think she'll be just fine." He rose and left the room by way of the bath, closing the door at the heels of his black boots.

  Borun suddenly walked so determinedly that I couldn't think of anything but his approach. He'd been harassed by his mother all day. He definitely wasn't in the mood for games. Not that I intended to toy with him. But the babies-are-coming alarm just sounded, and I wasn't ready.

  Borun knelt beside me, all his muscles bulging in the side splits of his black pants. His elbows landed on his knees leaving his lower arms to dangle between his legs.

  The concern in his golden eyes only made my heart sink.

  What was I going to do? I just wanted to go cry on my bed. Scratch that. His bed. My life was total madness. Couldn't I have a moment to digest this new awareness, universe?

  "What's wrong, little one?"

  "I've been sick all day." What else could I say? I guess showing him was best. I pulled up the hem of my tank top.

  His stare widened, softening. His chest shrank as his body forced every molecule of air from his lungs in one tumultuous jolt of realization. When his gaze slid back to mine, those eyes wielded so much emotion that tears welled up to burn my eyes.

  I'd be damned if I didn't carry those babies for him.

  He just stared at me.

  Maybe he tried to breathe? I couldn't breathe either. The big dumb warrior was just as shocked as I was. I shoved up onto my knees and leaned between his. "Mart says there are two."

  He nodded in slow motion, never blinking, never yielding my gaze.

  "Aren't you happy?" He had to be by his reaction.

  "I never thought I'd have a youngling."

  I couldn't fight back the tears. If it killed me, he'd have two.

  ?

  Chapter Nineteen

  "Little one," Borun didn't want to say what had to be said as he gazed upon the tear trails painted upon his mate's cheeks, "I have never been happier." He pulled her against his chest and held her as she trembled. Mother would insist on sending me with Wryn now. But I didn't want to tell Aisling yet. Not until the problem arose.

  She sniffed and pulled my head down until I stared into her gaze. "What did your mother do to you today? The others were muttering about it."

  She would ask. I suppose honesty was my best recourse. "She wants me to escort my sister to a realm for a political marriage."

  Aisling's jaw dropped. "But you can't leave me now."

  "I have Breeding Rights. But that doesn't mean I have to stay with you. You're carrying my younglings now. The clans are troubled, little one. Nobody knows who is killing the Queens-"

  "But I'm a target too. You showed me that when you had the guards search the lodge before I entered."

  Why did the Marshal have to be so smart? "Look, little one, your guards can care for you long enough to allow me to take Wryn to her brood."

  Aisling grimaced. "That sounds so horrible. Is she agreeable? Will the males even accept her? She's low-caste."

  Those same thoughts were all I'd heard all day. "That's why Ishan wants me to escort Wryn."

  "And you'll be attacked by rabid bastard warriors who don't care for the decision? I think Ishan's ideas serve a purpose but won't get her the results she wants."

  Maybe so. "But there is no other choice."

  "Does the deceased Queen have a daughter married to another clan? Have that daughter return to take the mother's throne."

  I really don't want to throw in something else for Aisling to worry about. But she insisted on discussing this topic. "Her daughter died in childbirth."

  Aisling's face went blank.

  "You aren't dying in childbirth." I hugged her nose against my neck.

  "You don't know that." Her warm breath singed my skin.

  She was such a feisty thing. I couldn't help but laugh.

  "Stop laughing. Pregnancy is a huge change for me. I'm in the process of dealing with all the things that could go wrong."

  Oh what fortune the stars shower upon me. My mate is a pessimist. "Let's eat. You're probably starved working through the youngling mark. You should be able to keep food down now."

  "Ugh." She didn't move. "Not after the day I've had. Keep your food."

  "Well sit with me then. I'd love to rub your belly while I eat a Lord's meal."

  * * * *

  Mart sat patiently, almost watching Aisling, while she jotted down her key for the symbols in Luvk's written language. Working with hi
m over the past two days had become the one thing she truly enjoyed on Luvk. The one thing that reminded her of home. Throw in how he looked like one of those damned medieval princes with his cropped shoulder length kinky black hair… And dastardly black stripes dominated his beard. He was all sex and power. Where is Borun?

  I really needed to focus on my hobby of translating ancient text, or I'm going to have to explain to Borun why I seem to want to have sex twenty-four-seven. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones. The tattoo had some effect on my physical state. But I just can't seem to find a peaceful satiated state. At least the nausea only comes about every twelve hours. This aching groin has got to go!

  "Is something wrong?" Mart asked.

  I blinked, realizing I stared at him while deep in my lusty thoughts.

  My hand trembled so much from the blood lust that I had to squeeze the quill like it was a poisonous snake I gripped just behind its head.

  Where in the hell was Borun? I'd been pregnant two days and his mother wouldn't leave him alone. "Can we arrange Ishan's death next? She's pissing me off."

  Mart's concern metamorphosed into a sexy conspiratorial gaze.

  And oh the way those shimmering gray-blue eyes glimmered could really light fires among Luvk females. No wonder they had a preference for blue eyes.

  "You shouldn't joke about that, Aisling." He tapped the leather where I studiously focused to scratch out lines and dots matched by their equivalent in English with the tip of a quill and my handy dandy caveman ink.

  But my damned blood was racing. Hot. Gurgling like it was about to explode into steam. I just needed Borun. Or Mart would be growling instead of grinning. I dipped the quill's point into the creamy black ink and turned back to my glyph of mountain.

  My hand shook where I poised the quill.

  Certainly Mart saw my problem. Hell. Muscles poised everywhere in my peripheral vision. Everyone saw my shaking hand.

  My heart raced like a demon chased me.

  God, they had to hear the runaway organ.

  "Aisling?" Mart asked.

  Yes. He heard my raging lust. I carefully placed the quill down on the leather document I'd created and rose, trying not to look into those eyes that seemed to read my soul. But they couldn't. No, Aisling. They only hear your heartbeat. Play off your dark thoughts of a fuck fest by acting sick. Confuse them until Borun arrives for therapeutic sex. "I'm not feeling well. I think I'll go nap." I managed to skirt the table without losing sight of the wooden table top.