“There is no honor in an ambush, Jordania. You were taught better. There is no challenge, for she already beat you. I strip you of your command and your Trio. You will receive five lashes for your crime. When you prove that you are the Warrior I raised you to be, we will discuss your future.” She stopped the other woman’s protest with a glance, her face filled with barely contained rage. “Anyone who wishes to fight Teagan will challenge her in the way of a Warrior. Is that understood?” She finished, not waiting for an answer. “Come, Teagan, let us collect your men.”
She swept by me, tightly controlled rage seeping from her pores, the temperature next to her colder than it should be. I moved in beside her, shivering from the chill. I said nothing as I followed her from the Warrior’s Hall and into the stone passageways.
Deep inside the heart of the Palace, she stopped me.
Turning the full force of her anger on me, she said, “Go, Teagan. Leave this place. Take your Trio, if you want them, and go.” Her eyes were as flat and frigid as I ever saw them. Piercing me with the ice-blue of her rage, she continued. “You’ve stirred up enough trouble with the talk of magic and Goddesses. Just go. Take a horse, your slaves, and leave.” She was shaking as she spoke, whether it was rage or fear. I did not know.
“I can’t go back. You of all people know that. I have done nothing wrong. You wanted strong warriors, and you got one. I’ve played by the rules, Kharis,” I said, watching her face as the anger left.
“Ang’ali was like a child to me. I can never forgive you for this,” her voice rang like chimes, and I believed her.
“She did not intend to let me live, and, had I died, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself either. I didn’t ask for the attack, Kharis. There was no cause for it. I simply answered the call; it’s all I could do.” I inclined my head to her, watching her calm at my words.
She walked away, and I caught up to her. Neither of us said a word on the way to the pens. I worried about the men but knew they were safer there than with me. Could I take them and go? Maybe, but that was not our destiny.
I doubted Aramea would welcome me back, especially not with three silver men in tow. Our future lay here. This raw, desperate land had become my home, and I would do my best to see it freed.
Chapter Twenty
Kar
She walked through the pens with Kharis, swathed only in a thin, muslin wrap that did nothing to cover her nakedness. The blood did more to shield her body from the wandering eyes of the men around us. She was covered in it. Her sword sheathed across her back and bloodied hammer at her side.
She walked straight to us with ethereal grace that was both commanding and terrifying in its beauty. Kharis stood in her shadow, and everyone that saw knew who the Queen of this land should be. Magic rippled from her, causing gooseflesh to rise on the arms of the cowering slaves, and I knew her appearance would do more for the rumors than any words.
Teagan ran her hands over Syl’ta’s cheek, then reached for Lyros, tenderly caressing his shoulder. She dropped a kiss to my uptilted face, and I felt Kharis bristle.
“I apologize, my Trio, I was delayed. I’m glad that you were delivered safely in my absence.” She reached for my hand, pulling me up. “Let’s go home.”
Every face turned at her words, male and female alike.
“You are too free with them, Teagan. It goes against everything we believe. You need another Trio before you become too attached and make mistakes that will cost you,” Kharis said, her voice dripping with icy disdain.
“They are mine. That is your covenant with your warriors, Kharis. As long as I want them, they are mine, and I want them.” The smile she gave us made my dick instantly hard, and I shook my head, lowering my eyes before Kharis could see my reaction.
“Guard,” Kharis yelled, and I froze, fear filling me and chasing the warmth of Teagan’s smile away.
“My Queen,” the guard nearest snapped to attention as Kharis strolled to her.
“When did Teagan’s Trio arrive?” she asked, narrowing her eyes in our direction, and my fear grew deeper.
“The dark one got here first; I’d say mid-afternoon. The other two came later, but not much. Well before the evening meal,” the guard answered, and I stilled, holding my breath. Other than going behind the wall to the latrines, they have been where they are all night.
I smiled inwardly. A woman seldom saw a slave as an individual, and we had been together as a Trio since maturity. The guards saw me and saw my brothers though they were not here.
“You’re sure?” Kharis asked.
“Yes, Kharis. This Trio is in the pens so seldom that we noticed them immediately.
“Very well,” Kharis sighed, and I could feel her tension mounting. “You are dismissed, Teagan. Take your Trio and consider my offer. I hope you change your mind and accept it.
Teagan inclined her head and asked us to rise. We dusted ourselves of the hay and dirt that covered the pen’s floor. Moving in behind Teagan, we walked toward the gate. She said nothing and did not look back.
As we moved into the passageway, we heard the Queen pick a Trio of men to ease her wrath.
We said nothing as we walked the stairs to the passage that led to our rooms. Teagan didn’t look at the body the cleaners were wrapping in cloth. Blood ran into the center of the stones and splashed up the walls around. Girls with soapy buckets scrubbed the rocks and did their best to remove the stain.
I recognized Ang’ali’s body, even without her head attached to it, and my fear spiked anew. Teagan had killed her. I knew Syl wouldn’t lie about that, but it was one thing to hear and another to see.
Teagan reached out and grabbed our hands, holding them tightly and pulling us up beside her. The girls stilled as they watched us walk away.
She opened the door to our rooms and crushed my mouth with hers before I could close the door. Her hot tongue found mine, and she moaned into me. She was shaking with the adrenaline a good fight leaves behind and sought to ease it. Pulling the others to her, she ran hands over their chests and arms, worry etched on her face.
“Are you alright?” she asked, breaking the kiss and shivering against us.
“Teagan, we’re fine. You were right, sending me to the pens, you saved us.” Syl pulled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth. “Everything is okay,” he finished.
“Everything is not okay.” She pulled away from him, crashing into the stone wall of Lyros.
He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck softly. She moaned against her will, arching her rear into him. “I’m bloody,” she said, her breath coming too fast and eyes growing too round.
She scrubbed at the blood on her arms, trying to free herself from Lyros grip.
But freedom isn’t what she needed. She isn’t the first warrior to be horrified by their actions later, justified or not. Had Teagan walked through the door, grabbed a bite of food, and a shower, I would have thought less of her.
Her reaction to the violence, even though it was necessary, proved she was the woman I thought she was. I closed the distance between us, stilling her arms where they tried to dig into her flesh.
“Shhhh, Teagan, let us care for you,” I said. Her body trembled harder, threatening to come apart. I silenced her with a kiss. I felt one of my brothers relieve her of the coarse fabric that barely covered her.
Our hands were everywhere, forcing her to think about anything but what happened in the halls. We would talk later, but talk is not what she needed. Unspent adrenaline has a way of lasting for days, making one jumpy and less focused. She couldn’t afford that, and neither could we.
Picking her up, I took her to the bed, following her body down and immediately placing myself between her thighs, thrusting into her hard. She cried out, and I crushed her mouth, silencing her. She didn’t need gentle, and I would not give it to her.
My brothers lapped at her nipples, the only part of her not covered in blood. But the blood of our enemies made her more desirable, not less. She was
a true warrior. Filled with heat and passion, she killed for what she believed in, not for enjoyment.
I punished her with my hips so that she would not punish herself. I snapped into her hard, my strokes unforgiving. I could do this all night, and I would until she was relieved of any misplaced guilt and the adrenaline that poisoned her faded.
Syl pulled her hair, arching her neck so he could shove his cock into her mouth, and she fell apart. Shattering around me and gripping me so tight, I had to think of cleaning latrines to keep from filling her. She wasn’t ready yet.
I rolled her, placing her on top of me, pinning her legs between mine, it tightened her already impossibly tight core, and I shuddered. Using every bit of my training as a slave, I held out. Syl pushed back into her mouth, and Lyros positioned himself behind her, slowly easing his cock in next to mine.
She arched and cried out. “No. I can’t take it,” she said, going limp between us.
“You can, Teagan. And you will,” Syl said, gripping her hair tightly and pulling her face up to meet her eyes, his cock still stuffed in her mouth.
When she relaxed around us, we started to move, and the sensation was incredible. The feel of her walls and Lyros’s cock against mine was so delicious; I knew I couldn’t hold on much longer.
Lyros took over the work, pounding into her and moving us with his thrusts. A scream ripped out of her, Lyros latched onto her nipple and bit it gently. Her head dropped despite Syl’s hold, and he let it. Taking in the sight of us tearing her apart. She came, clenching two cocks with enough force to slow Lyros, and I let go, filling her with my seed, my cries adding to hers.
Undeterred, Lyros picked up where I left off, pushing my spent cock from her body. He wrenched her from me, placing her between him and Syl’ta. Lyros pulled out with a sharp slap to her ass, and she arched again, whimpering at the feel of it. He slapped it again, bringing a beautiful red mark to the meat there.
Syl slid under her as Lyros pulled her to her knees. The looks on their faces fiercely tender. Using the wetness from between her legs, Lyros slid into her sweet ass. He moved slowly until fully seated. Her howl tore the air. Syl silenced it by entering her again and slamming his mouth into hers, drawing a trickle of blood. He pushed into her hard. Her cries became whimpers, and she went limp between them.
They worked her. Maybe harder than she wanted, but it was what she needed. They broke her apart and rebuilt her without the chinks in the armor. The memory of sweet submission now replaced the ones created earlier. Letting someone else control the situation instead of always being the one in charge of the decisions would go much further than talking it out.
Maybe we needed it too. We’d taken women in every way possible, but never without their direction. Teagan might tell us we are men, and our opinions are valued, but this divine moment of her yielding completely to our wills healed more than words could.
Through it, we saw our worth. And hers.
That she trusted us to handle her roughly and give her what she needed spoke volumes. To her, we were worthy. Actions speak, in this and all instances, much louder than words.
The intense concentration on Kar’s face as he pumped into her faltered, his eyes met mine, and I knew he felt the same thing.
Worthy.
We had never been deemed worthy of anything. Our sex had been demanded but not wanted. Our work in the Capital was necessary but not integral to its survival. Any slave could do those things. It’s what we were trained to do. We had been replaceable our whole lives.
But this was something new, this feeling of worth. From the dirt floor and pain of the slave pens, this woman found us and deemed us worthy. A man’s value is measured not in words, but actions. And those two things are very different. Only we could deliver Teagan from the doors of doubt.
She whimpered again as Syl thrust deep, his balls slapping on the meat of her ass, as he slapped his hand onto her round cheek again. Her breathing came harder, and she groaned, coming again. He arched back and emptied into her with a shout. Only his arms held her up, and I was afraid she had passed out.
Lyros rammed into her twice more and stilled, his face going slack with pleasure. I smiled as Syl laid her down, our seed drenching her and spilling out onto the bed beneath.
“I’ll run a bath,” Lyros said, easing from her.
“Make it a hot one,” I said, giving him a wink.
He grinned, shaking his head.
We had never been happier, and it showed on all our faces. This volcanic Fae had done more in a few days than a hundred or more women had done in a lifetime, and I loved her for it.
That’s what this feeling in my gut had to be. Love. It went deeper, settling itself into my bones, and I felt the pain of it. I watched Teagan sleep, mouth softly open. So comfortable and free with us. So unguarded.
When the bath was ready, I carried her in and slipped into the water with her in my arms. My brothers and I washed her reverently, soaping her from head to toe. She sighed but did not awaken. Syl used the mixture on her hair, and we scrubbed until all traces of blood were gone. We rinsed her and ourselves.
Lyros put clean sheets on the bed, throwing the others in the corner. Arranging her between us and covering her with furs, we slept.
Chapter Twenty-One
Teagan
I awoke with a start. The feeling of approaching storm dragged me from the deepest of sleep. My body was deliciously sore and tender in all the best places. Languid as a cat, I rolled to my feet, taking up the sword one of the men had placed by the bed.
Placing my fingers to my lips to silence them as they startled awake, I tiptoed to the door, engaging the lock with a soft snick.
I felt them coming toward us. With nowhere to go, I gestured toward the mirror. Lyros held up one finger, asking me to wait. On silent feet, he walked to one of the hanging tapestries, pushing it aside.
I felt my eyes round as he removed the bar from the door hidden behind the tapestry. My men keep secrets, I thought.
He eased the door open as I heard the sound of a key placed in the lock. We dove for the mirror, leaving tangled sheets in our wake.
“Search the room, they must be here,” Kharis said, stepping in and raising the lights.
“It reeks of blood and sex. The Fae are base creatures, rutting like animals with animals.” Hel’r stepped from behind Kharis, sword drawn.
The Queen’s own sword dangled at her side. For all her talk about honorable fights, she came to assassinate us. She did mean for me to leave this place, one way or another.
We watched through the glass, knowing she could not see us. They split up and searched the room: the Queen, Hel’r, Evar, and Ronin, who made up her sometimes Trio. They all held swords and looked like they could use them.
“They aren’t here, but look,” the one called Evar pointed at the passageway. “They’ve gone this way.”
“But why?” Hel’r asked, his eyes hot with rage. “They couldn’t have known we were coming.”
“No,” Kharis said, “They couldn’t have. They are up to something somewhere else.”
“What now?” the other man said. Ronin was his name, or so I thought. The Queen’s on again off again Trio was rarely seen with her, but I knew of them.
“We wait,” Kharis answered. “This failure costs us nothing; she doesn’t know I’m going to kill her by any means necessary. Let her spread her lies and tales of a false Goddess. When I hang all four of their heads on the palace gates, the others will forget. If they do not forget, I will kill them. This Goddess cannot help them now.” With one final glance around the room and a lingering look at the mirror, they left.
“This Goddess can help you now.” A chuckle sounded behind us, and we whirled as one. Kar pushed me behind him in a protective gesture, and The Goddess chuckled again. “You are doing so well, Teagan. Even better than I hoped. You should hear the prayers I am getting from the Eruhini. They’ve begun to find their magic.” Her smile brightened her face, making it even mo
re beautiful. “You can release her, Kar, but I applaud your protectiveness.”
Slapping him fondly on the shoulder, I walked out from behind him. She wore a sheer lavender gown that made her eyes glow purple, long silver hair hung straight to her waist, and a thin circlet of silver crowned her head. In her hands were four swords. I recognized my blade from Talamh na Sithe.
Forgetting our nakedness, I reached for it. Smiling, she placed it in my hands. I ran my hands over the crafted steel. Tracing the runes I thought I would never see again in speechless wonder. It glowed faintly red as it picked up my aura.
“Thank you,” I whispered, bowing before her.
“These blades were made for your mates by Ari’s Laith. As you prepare for war here, so prepares Talamh na Sithe. Your victories are not independent of one another. To truly win, both lands must be free,” Dani said, handing swords to the men. “Someday, Ari will call on you to help her defeat Aramea, and you and your people will go. She will not know to whom she is calling, but you will hear her battle cries. Between now and then, you must train slaves to be warriors and warriors to want freedom. Defeating Kharis will be the easy part; the rest will be hard fought.” She stepped to me, taking a curl and tucking it behind my ear.
“Dani, I don’t think we have enough. Not enough training, not enough allies, not enough time. You seem sure that we will win, but I am not so confident,” I said, curling into her warm touch.
“You have more than you know, and you are far more than enough. Learn your magic and teach them theirs. Remember, there is very little that you cannot do. Only one has more magic than you, and she is yet to be born.
“Ari’s daughter?” I asked breathlessly.
“Ari’s daughter,” she confirmed with another smile. “Perhaps, she will take my place someday, and I will retire to a white sandy beach to be waited on by handsome cabana boys. Your path is not to be a Goddess but to be a Queen. It’s almost time, Teagan. Be strong and know that I will be with you every step.” Bowing her head, she paused, then turned and walked away.
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