Embracing Destiny

by Hutchins, Amelia

  “Oh, I’m not coming anytime soon. My body is healing slowly, and the goddess knows that we don’t need me to have an orgasm and bring a winter storm. So, rest assured, winter is not coming.” Icelyn shivered then smiled sheepishly.

  We laughed, which seemed to lighten everyone’s spirits in the room. Thanks to binge-watching Game of Thrones last month, we all had jokes about winter, and what happened when it came. Icelyn also affected the weather when she experienced mood swings, so the catchphrase was a big hit. At least that wasn’t one element I could control with my moods.

  “Sinjinn also thinks the babes and I should be held in the tower until it is safe to roam the stronghold. I don’t enjoy the idea. We’re up there the majority of the time as is, with all the alarms going off nonstop lately.” Icelyn frowned as she bounced Fiona in her arms, and I smiled sadly. Fiona had silver hair that, while different, was beautiful. Wide, green eyes like her fathers were alert. She peered at the woman who had carried her and Finn with an expression of love.

  My gaze strayed to Lilith, who had been silent, and she huffed out a sigh before standing and pacing in the middle of the room. “Asrian is an asshole. He told me today that if I couldn’t be useful, I should just go to my room. I mean, I get that they’re stressed out because of everything happening, but since when do they get to lock us up or order us about?”

  “Nobody puts Baby in the corner,” I muttered.

  “What?” Lilith countered.

  “Who is Baby?” Ciara asked, confusion playing across her face.

  “Never mind, it’s from a movie. Anyone else?” I turned to Olivia, who smirked, knowing exactly what I was asking. She would know since she had Fae-Per-View on hand, with Demon-on-Demand.

  “Zahruk used me and fed, and then he left without so much as a goodbye less than an hour ago,” Darynda grumbled from where she’d entered the room. “Like hey, I just fed you with my vagina, you’re welcome! He didn’t even pretend to care who fed him.”

  “I thought we decided to ignore Zahruk when he was hungry?” I asked softly without judgment.

  “Handmaidens don’t get a choice in the matter, Synthia. We’re here to serve, which means if he wants to fuck me, I bend over and take it. Not that it’s so bad. He’s a generous lover and hung like a horse.” The women laughed as Darynda blushed to her pretty auburn-colored roots. “It’s just that there are feelings involved, and not on his end. I want more than to be used for food, or being bent over a table in his bedroom, fucked for hours, and then told to leave.” Darynda’s sad eyes looked down to the floor in front of her. “This last time, he was rougher than usual. He used my hair to hold me, and then instead of only using my uh, well, using that, he used my mouth. He’s never done that.” She looked at me as a tear ran down her cheek. “Zahruk is normally gentle with me, and yet lately, he’s been darker.”

  We all stared at her, and no one said anything. “Well, I mean, darker isn’t always bad, right?” I offered to end the awkward silence.

  “Ristan won’t even have sex with me. Since he doesn’t feed from sex, he says it isn’t good for our daughter. We don’t even know if we’re having a daughter. I can’t help but feel he will be let down if it is a boy. I mean, yeah, sex hurts sometimes, but I miss it! I miss him being the kinky bastard he used to be.” Olivia huffed and looked at us matter-of-factly.

  “Ryder just shouted at me in front of the entire council. He told me to act and dress like the Queen of the Horde.” I sighed and leaned back in my chair, crossing one leg over the other. “I’ve been busting my ass until I’m exhausted. However, I still search for the Stag to understand how to control this endless pain ripping me apart from the inside out, which he doesn’t even notice. I get it, I do. I know he’s under a lot of strain, and that war is coming. I know that to run the horde, you have to lead by fear and strength. I don’t need to know everything, but being kept in the dark isn’t helping me help him.

  “He replaced the entire war council without even mentioning it to me, and we’re supposed to be a team? How can I help if he keeps me in the dark? I’ve been standing around with my thumb up my ass for weeks while he flitters about, fairy fucking around while I wait.” I looked at Olivia and met her eyes because I knew she would understand. “He doesn’t touch me the way he used to, and it feels like we’re being ripped apart.”

  Oliva nodded silently, and I continued. “The most I have gotten lately is a quickie on the balcony or bent over whatever was closest to us to be fucked. I can’t reach through to the man I love, and I’m losing him to this war.” I put my elbow on the arm of the chair, resting my forehead in the palm of my hand as I rubbed my temples. “I miss our children, and soon they’ll be leaving my father’s kingdom to go to the City of Gods.” I looked up, taking in all the women. “When they return, my kids could be old people! And what does it even mean to dress less human? Humans raised me, and he hasn’t cared about how I dress since forever.”

  Everyone was silent, staring at me with expressions of horror or disbelief, totally at a loss for words. We were all lost in thought on how the men were behaving for several moments, and I smiled. I plotted, taking in the faces of the women who looked beaten, brow-ridden, and outright defeated with how they had been treated. Standing, I frowned before considering our options as I started pacing.

  “We can take it and wait for them to realize the error of their ways, or we can remind them we’re women and we don’t fucking heel like dogs just because they demand it. I don’t know about you, but I’m dead fucking tired of being beaten down by the men.”

  “Personally, I want to know how you plan to do the second option,” Ciara asked, pointing at her belly while Fury held onto her fingers.

  “Like this,” I said, snapping my fingers and changing the entire room of women into slinky dresses. Ciara’s dress was red, representing dragons, and the bottom was a dark orange, resembling a flame. Icelyn’s dress was ice-blue with a darker blue bodice, drawing the eye to her milk-filled breasts, which had grown two cup sizes. I decked Darynda out in silver, while Olivia wore white, with a flowing skirt and sapphire blue streaks winding up to her waist to hide the fact that she was overly pregnant. Lilith wore nothing but shadows that slithered around her in the form of a dress, exposing just the right places to the eye when she moved.

  My dress was black, with a deep V-neck that stopped at my pelvic bone, leaving the back exposed to the arch of my spine. My arms held silver torques, marking me a goddess and royalty. Upon my hair, which was decorated in war braids, sat obsidian crystals resembling a crown. My feet were covered in strappy heels that left my freshly painted Good Girl Gone Plaid—amethyst-colored, and a new favorite polish—showing. I painted my lips blood-red, and the smirk I wore told the ladies everything they needed to know.

  “Okay, ladies. Listen closely to the plan, and by the time they leave for battle, we’ll all either be divorced or delighted women,” I said conspiratorially. “Keely, Maryam, and Meera, please take the babes to the tower. We will be there shortly after we’ve finished reminding the men who make their worlds go round.” Smiling, I headed for the door. “Shall we, ladies?”

  Chapter Nine

  We entered the throne room unannounced, throwing open the doors with magic. The men paused, turning to look as we stormed the room silently, the only sound coming from the clicking of our heels. My gaze brushed over Ryder, then dismissed him, fully aware he’d noted the outfit I wore and wasn’t happy about the amount of flesh shown. The dress exposed my sides, my slender hips, and a lot of other things. Releasing power, my brands pulsed, dancing over my skin in delicate silvery-blue hues, and I smirked, knowing every male present felt my power, raw and unchecked, as I moved further into the room.

  I walked right by Ryder, moving toward the raised dais without stopping as every eye in the room inspected us. Once there, I spun around to show the slim waist the dress exposed. I silen
tly watched as the women moved into their places in the empty chairs reserved for the family during ceremonies. It was a place of honor and was heavily warded against enemies, offering them more protection should shit hit the fan. Once they were seated, I turned to the guard and nodded.

  Sitting upon the throne, I stared straight ahead as Ryder approached me. He lifted a dark brow while I glared at the door, not bothering to acknowledge he was there. I felt the heat of his gaze as it slid hungrily down my body, noting my dress exposed a lot of skin; skin he wouldn’t be touching anytime soon.

  “A word, Synthia?” Ryder growled.

  “If you’d like to schedule time with Her Majesty, Synthia, Queen of the Horde and Goddess of the Fae, I can see if she has time next week, My King,” Ciara snapped angrily. “Otherwise, Her Majesty is about to hear grievances from the people of the horde and has no time for petty nonsense or small talk, Your Grace.” She bowed her dark head before glaring at him, daring her brother to argue.

  “The fuck, Ciara?” he snapped.

  “I am the Queen of Dragons and Princess of the Horde, Your Grace. Respect the titles I wear, as I am respecting yours,” she said fiercely, her violet glare boring into his, once again daring him to argue. “Would you like to be scheduled?”

  “She’s my wife!”

  “Mmm, yeah, but she has a duty to fulfill, does she not?” Ciara clapped her hands at the guards near the back of the room. “Run along and play your war games, brother. Let the people in; the queen will hear their grievances now.” Dismissing Ryder, Ciara moved back to her seat.

  I stared ahead, observing Ryder’s angry glare while I surveyed the people filing into the room. I sat back, materializing the staff that mirrored Ryder’s. He used the staff when holding court and listening to complaints and disputes happening around the palace and throughout the kingdom.

  He opened his mouth to speak, and I pounded the staff against the floor three times to signal the first citizen to be heard, dismissing Ryder before he could say more. The crowd was filled with couples who stared up at the throne, frowning, expecting it to be the king who would listen to their protests and pass judgment.

  Ryder stepped back, narrowing his burning amber eyes on me before turning on his heel and heading back to where the men now openly securitized us. Blane’s mouth had yet to shut. Ristan’s eyes were acting like lasers, as if he could stare hard enough to see through the dress Olivia wore.

  Sinjinn’s mouth was tight, probably because his wife’s ample cleavage was exposed, and her figure was back, thanks to her inhuman healing. Zahruk stared at me cautiously, which was disheartening.

  I was positive he felt that at any moment, the entire palace would implode because of the tension filling the room, and I was the only one who could hurt the king, whom he protected. Asrian, on the other hand, appeared to be considering ways to hide the perfected body of his wife, who wore nothing more than a dress created of shadows.

  We were fucking hot, and everyone was fully aware of it. Even the males entering the room took notice, staring at me and then the entire row of women dressed scantily, oozing sex from our pores.

  I sat up straighter as the guard brought forth a chubby man who hadn’t even bothered brushing his hair before coming to court. His wife fidgeted with her torn, work-worn dress. Looking them over, I noted her hands were calloused, while his were soft. Her skin was red from burning beneath the sun’s unforgiving heat; his wasn’t. In fact, his skin looked as if it hadn’t ever seen the sun, he was so pasty.

  “My Queen, this is Dothan, and his wife, Clara,” the clerk said. “His wife has not fed him properly and is charged with neglecting her husband.”

  My eyes moved from the couple to the clerk and then back to the couple. “You’re not feeding your husband?”

  “He refuses to provide shelter for our children and me. We have twelve mouths to feed, and the roof hasn’t been patched in months. He expects me to take care of the children, fix the house, and tend the fields while he watches. I am also supposed to care for the animals we sell to live off year-round.”

  “Is this true?” I asked Dothan.

  “No,” he sneered and waited.

  “No? That’s it?” I tapped my finger on the arm of the throne impatiently.

  “Clara was gifted to me and is mine to feed from whenever I want.”

  “And does Clara tend to the children, the fields, the livestock, and your house?”

  “She was gifted.”

  “And?” I demanded, losing my patience.

  “And she is my wife. She does what I want her to do, and she feeds me when I want to be fed! Clara refuses to suck my cock when I demand it from her, saying she is too tired from working in the fields. She smells like horse shit most days, and should be happy I even allow her into our bedroom after she’s tended the livestock! How is a man supposed to be able to get his cock sucked when the stupid bitch does nothing but complain?” Dothan looked to the men around him for support, and they nodded their heads in agreement.

  “So you want to get your cock sucked, is that it?” I asked carefully.

  “Exactly,” he smiled, licking his lips, regarding me with a beady glare.

  I snapped my fingers, and the sound of Dothan’s spine cracking and breaking echoed throughout the room as those around him gasped. I glared coldly at him with amusement as a horrified look of pain tore through him. He hunched awkwardly in a painful position, and several pops sounded as his bones fused, preventing them from being healed. I inspected my handiwork with a satisfying smirk on my lips.

  “What the hell did you do to my back?” Dothan demanded from his newly hunched form.

  “I removed a portion of your spine so that you may suck your own cock. That way, your wife can continue to do everything while you enjoy sitting around on your ass, pleasuring yourself.” I smiled at his wife and dismissed them, tapping the staff on the floor again. “Next.” The entire room was eerily silent as Clara helped her husband out of the room, snickering on her way to the doors.

  “My Queen, this is Darrion. His wife drinks potions to prevent breeding with him and is emotionless during the feeding process.”

  “Is this true?” I asked the wife, Darrion growling deep in his chest until his wife cowered in his presence. Her face was covered in bruises, probably from his brutish fist. She had marks around her throat and arms that bespoke of recent abuse.

  “It is, My Queen,” Darrion answered for his wife.

  “I wasn’t speaking to you, Darrion. If I had addressed you, you’d damn well know it,” I countered coldly, looking at his wife. “Is this true? Do you refuse to breed with your husband?”

  “I don’t enjoy him or what he does to my body, Your Grace. He forces himself on me and allows his drunken friends to use me after he is done. I use a potion once a month to prevent pregnancy. I fear I will have someone else’s child and be tossed out because of it, even though it isn’t my choice to take other lovers. I don’t like being used by all the men in our town, or hated by their wives. My husband makes me available by tying me up to the post outback at night, freeing me in the morning to wash before I am given to the men again.”

  “Did you choose to marry him willingly?” I inquired carefully, nausea swirling in my stomach from the pain in her voice.

  “No. Darrion killed my parents when he raided my village and took me as a trophy when I had barely had my first breeding cycle. I have been with him ever since. When the king took you as his wife, Darrion turned it into a joke, forcing me to marry him naked before the entire town. He fucked me in front of everyone and allowed any man who wanted to do so fuck me as well. I was raped by every man that attended the marriage, some more than once. I was left hanging there overnight because Darrion forgot I was there when he passed out drunk.”

  “Is this true?” Darrion nodded dismissively, beady
eyes smiling as if he assumed I couldn’t do anything about it. “And now that she refuses to breed, you bring it before me? Tell me, was it my face you saw when you fucked your bride on her wedding night, or when you stood back and let any male who wanted to fuck her take their turn?”

  “Does it matter?” he laughed huskily before letting his lecherous stare trail over my thighs, exposed from the slits in my skirt.

  “I assure you, it does.”

  “Fine, I imagined it was you I was with, and then you who the entire town took turns fucking as I watched.”

  “And what is it you want from me? To force the poor girl to breed with you,” I laughed emotionlessly. “And if she breeds with one of the many men who you allow to rape her, you would probably murder her babe, or what? If it is a daughter, would she also end up on a pole to be used for your entertainment?”

  “Do your fucking job,” Darrion hissed, and Ryder stood, staring at me as if he would intervene.

  “You want a pussy you can share with your friends, one that’s submissive, allowing you to breed and use it however and whenever you want?”

  “Exactly!”

  I snapped my fingers, and Darrion screamed, looking down at his hand in horror. “What did you do?”

  “I gave you a pussy that you can share with the town, but I’m afraid it’s only good for fucking, not breeding. A man like you shouldn’t be allowed to procreate. You,” I said, turning to Darrion’s wife. “You’re divorced. You can begin working in the kitchen of the castle effective immediately. If you need an escort to retrieve the items from your village and ex-husband’s home, we will appoint someone to assist you. Hopefully, he argues with them or stands in their way and loses his head in the process. You’re dismissed, enjoy it!”

  Darrion’s face grew red, and he seethed, spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke. “My hand is a pussy! What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?” He waved his hand in the air for all to see.