Remnant II

by Randi Darren

  “Yes. They’re pretty and big,” Steve said. “But they can’t be your aun—”

  “They’re my auns,” Nia repeated, interrupting him. “My auns.”

  Sighing, and grinning at the Siren, Steve nodded.

  “I’ll make sure they’re your aunts,” Steve said.

  “I’m already your aunt. I’m Aunt Nancy,” Nancy said, then held her arms open to the little girl. “Can I hold you?”

  “Yes! Hold me!” Nia practically dove out of Steve’s arms and into Nancy’s. The little girl immediately grabbed hold of Nancy’s face and stared into her eyes. “You’re pretty, Aun’ Nanshe. Really pretty.”

  “Thank you. My mother tried very hard for me with what we had,” Nancy said, grinning at the little girl.

  Looking ahead, Steve practically forgot about everyone else.

  Standing there were Nikki and Gwendolin.

  Smiling at him, Gwendolin barely waited for him to cross the bridge before she intercepted him. Her arms were tight around him, her lips pressed hard to his.

  Pulling him bodily to one side, the Siren began to hum as she kissed him. Her hands pressed against his back and held him close.

  It was, of course, her Steve song.

  And it made him almost dizzy. It all did. This was so far out of character for her that he didn’t know what to do.

  Her song had changed as well. Last time he’d heard it, there’d been a need for intimacy in it.

  This time, however, it was overwhelming sexual need, lust, and screaming, shrieking, quivering desire all blown out with absolute dedication and love.

  The feeling that if he didn’t throw her down into the grass and maul her right here, she’d do it to him instead.

  Breaking the kiss, Gwendolin stopped humming and laid her lips to his ear. Then she kissed it.

  “Welcome home, my husband,” she whispered. “I’m coming for you tonight and taking you away. Before Nikki, after Nikki, and maybe a third time.”

  Kissing his ear again, Gwendolin turned to the side, slipped her arm through his, and began leading him over to Nikki.

  The Faun was watching him with a smile.

  It was in her eyes that he saw she wasn’t happy, however. As well as in the way she was holding herself.

  She looked unsure of how to proceed, but trying to push on.

  “Welcome home, my dearest,” Nikki said, reaching out and laying her hands on Steve’s face after a momentary hesitation. Gently pulling on him, she guided his head down and kissed him tenderly.

  She broke away some several seconds later and laid her brow to his.

  “Please… come with me?” she pleaded.

  “Of course,” Steve said.

  Nikki took his hand in hers and led him into the house.

  “I wanted to apologize,” Nikki said almost before she’d closed the door to their room.

  “Uh? Okay. What for?” Steve asked. “Did something happen while I was gone?”

  Moving over to the bed, he sat down on the edge of it.

  “Hmm? No, no. Nothing happened,” Nikki said as she laced and unlaced her fingers together. “I’m apologizing because I didn’t… didn’t really say goodbye to you. I was mad and… and I didn’t handle it very well.”

  “Oh, yeah, well… I could have probably gone about the whole thing in a better way,” Steve said.

  “Maybe?” Nikki said in a voice that lacked confidence. “Probably not. It wasn’t that you didn’t approach it well. It was just… the whole thing.

  “I didn’t like any of it. Geneva’s going to pull you away from the farm far more often, I think. To the point that you won’t really… be… here.”

  “Well, now that I took care of what she needed, I can probably lie low for a while. It’s not like I have to go back out there for a while,” Steve said.

  Nikki shrugged her shoulders, her arms folded atop one another in front of her.

  “Did it go well?” she asked.

  “Very,” Steve said. “Every city that was supposed to be hers is hers. They’re up north building a fortification and garrison.”

  “Oh,” Nikki said, walking slowly over to Steve. “That’s good then. That’ll help control the area. Especially with the Creep having come back.”

  “Yeah,” Steve said. “We had an entire wave of them to fight off at one point. We were trying to save a city. It been alright down here?”

  Sitting down on the bed next to him, Nikki nodded.

  “Well enough,” she said. “There’s been a fairly constant and steady stream of zombies at night. Nothing too terrible. They just… stand there unless we pull them into the moat.

  “Some of the guards take it as a game. They use long poles and pull them into the water. They make little bets on how long they’ll burn and—well, anyways. Yes, everything is going really well.

  “Ina’s up at the outpost. She’s been working hard to get it into a manageable location. Farm and outpost both.

  “Misty and Shelly are still both at Filch. They’ve been tied up there for a little while. Linne’s been sending messengers back and forth. Demanding food and other things.”

  Raising his eyebrows at that, Steve waited. It sounded like there was more to it.

  “And?” he asked after several seconds.

  “And…” Nikki said and then paused. Leaning over, she laid her head down on Steve’s shoulder. “And you were right. We sent them a little bit of food with their first demand. We claimed it was all we could spare. I figured they’d take it and go elsewhere.”

  My poor little optimist.

  Steve lifted his arm and gently laid it around Nikki’s shoulders.

  “They came back again, demanding we give them all the food we had, regardless of what we could or couldn’t spare,” Nikki said.

  “Uh huh,” Steve said. That didn’t sound very surprising to him. In fact, it seemed like a guarantee given Linne’s personality the last time he’d seen her.

  “We couldn’t really give her anything at that point,” Nikki said. “All of our excess has been spent trying to keep everyone in Filch fed.”

  Of course it has.

  Because the moment I left, you took it up as your personal crusade to care for everyone.

  “I’m sorry, I know. I know,” Nikki said, taking Steve’s arm in her hands. “Shelly sent a note that she had a large number of people who were about to go without food.

  “And with the Creep having vanished, everything returning to normal, I thought we could spare it. Have them come work some fields in return for their meals.”

  Mm, at least that’s better than just giving it to them.

  “I’m not sure you saw, but I expanded all the fields. We still have a lot of room left to grow, but I used all the workers to get more planted. They’ll come back when it’s time to harvest and collect their pay. In food,” Nikki said. “We have more than enough food now, and everyone’s fed.”

  “But our personal trade fell out the bottom, didn’t it?” Steve said.

  “I… yes,” Nikki said, shaking her head and looking at her hooves. “No one wants to trade for food; they’d rather come work for it. So many that the outpost has to be used to assist in providing work for them.

  “I’m sorry. I thought it was just… you being the brute, my brute… I never… never thought it would turn out like this.

  “Now we can’t really go back and… yeah.”

  “Well.” Steve leaned over and kissed Nikki’s brow. “Thankfully, with the inclusion of Faraday, Hilast, and Rennis, we’ll probably start getting trade up and going again. It’ll take longer for villages and smaller things to get back into motion, but… should be moving.”

  “Oh, yes. Good,” Nikki said, then sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think doing good things like feeding people would just… sink everything like that.”

  “That bad?” Steve asked.

  “They wouldn’t even sell me anything for food,” she said. “There’s no value in food when everyone has enou
gh to eat and it’s readily available.”

  “I… yeah. Yeah. Well, that’ll end quickly enough,” Steve muttered. “We’ll just have to… well, I dunno. We’ll figure out something. I certainly don’t have an answer to it, though.”

  “I hired a bunch of craftswomen onto the farm instead,” Nikki said. “And a… a leatherworker. I mentioned it to you?”

  “Oh? Good,” Steve said. “That’s at least a good answer for the meantime.”

  “Exactly!” Nikki said. “I’m so glad you feel that way. So glad!”

  “I mean, it makes sense. We need leather, you don’t really like working with it, so… leatherworker,” Steve said. Then he thought about his “bedroom knights.” “Speaking of… additions.”

  “Yes, I noticed them. Witch-knights.” Nikki leaned to one side and looked up at him with a grin. “Something new?”

  “Kinda,” Steve said. “They were all champions. I made them, uh… service me… or die. It was mostly to humiliate their cities into surrendering and—why are you laughing?”

  Nikki laughed for a short while longer, then patted his arm.

  “My brute, you sweet, silly man. Only you would be able to force a champion, on her home turf, to do that,” Nikki said.

  “Well, whatever. They’re mine now. I made them get bitten, let them die, then ran them through a pit filled with watering-can water. I also did it to the entire royal guard of Hilast and Rennis. They were traitors,” Steve said. “So now I have a good-sized force of Creep Witches.”

  “Previously, I think I would have bristled at the idea of making more… soldiers… so to speak. But it seems you were right about Linne. She wasn’t going to back down, nor was she going to take no for an answer,” Nikki said. “Anything else I need to know?”

  “Not that I can think of?” Steve said, then shrugged. “Geneva is up north building her fort. Xivin is at Filch. Jaina went to the outpost.”

  “Okay,” Nikki said. Then she leaned up and kissed his cheek. “How about… how about you show your lonely Faun that you love her?

  “She made a mistake… and she’s been lonely with only her regret for company. She’s very sorry for how she acted, and she shouldn’t have sent you away as she did.”

  Grinning, Steve laid a hand on her shoulder and eased her into the bed, immediately beginning to kiss up along her neck and jawline.

  “Ooooh, yes,” Nikki said with a soft laugh. “Show your Faun lots of energy and attention. She feels terrible and really needs some reassurance.”

  Steve was going to do just that.

  Twenty-Five

  Groaning, Steve slowly drifted out of a deep sleep.

  His head felt heavy.

  He was also sweaty, the sheet was sticking to him, and he felt like his night shirt and shorts were twisted around him.

  The fact that Gwendolin was sprawled over him, her hair partially draped over his face, didn’t help any of that at all.

  Ugh. Sleeping next to Gwen isn’t so fun.

  Like sleeping with a heater.

  The very naked and lovely Siren shifted around, then pulled her hair back behind her head. Turning his head slightly, he found Gwendolin staring up at him. Her green eyes watched him like a dog at point.

  “You okay?” Steve asked, reaching up with his hand to run his fingertips through her hair.

  “Yes,” Gwendolin said, then smiled at him. “Just… enjoying my new life. You were very… eager… for me. In a way I didn’t expect.”

  Steve grinned at the memory and shrugged his shoulders. Gwendolin had done exactly what she’d told him she would. She’d collected him before Nikki took him to bed, then again after Nikki. Except after the second time, he’d just stayed with Gwendolin in her bed and did his best to keep her awake for most of the night.

  “What can I say? I’m a big fan apparently,” Steve said. Then he leaned down and kissed her.

  The equally sweaty and sticky Siren snuggled up to his side and kissed him back. A few seconds passed before she eased his head back.

  “Oooh, so I’m discovering,” Gwendolin said, and then she sighed. “I have to go take care of Nia, though. She’s probably running around with Ryker and hasn’t even bothered to eat anything.”

  “You sleep a bit longer,” Steve said, his hand running along Gwendolin’s side. He really was a fan of hers. From her looks to her song, to her being a caring mother, she fit something Steve needed. “I’ll go get her fed. She need a bath or anything today?”

  “No. She doesn’t. You will? Really?” Gwendolin asked, smiling at him.

  “Yeah. Sleep in, Mama. Daddy’s got it,” Steve said, then patted her hip. “You get some rest. You’re making us a baby, aren’t you?”

  “Yes… yes, I am,” Gwendolin said with a wide smile. Then she took the sheet and pulled it up to her chin. “Okay… I’ll… sleep a bit longer. I’m… making a baby, after all.”

  “Good,” Steve said. Then he kissed her quickly and slid out of bed.

  His goal was simple.

  Get a quick bath in Misty’s inside pool, get dressed, and get Nia fed.

  By the time he got out of the house freshly cleaned and dressed, Gwendolin the beautiful and womanly Siren was snoring like it was her job.

  No sooner had he got the door closed behind him, Steve was searching his farm and its fields. Walking out into the morning sun while stretching his arms above his head, Steve realized it was just past dawn by a minuscule amount.

  Nia wasn’t far away, running through the grass with Ryker chasing after her, the dog ever doing as it was told. Giggling the entire time, the small girl seemed to have no cares in the world.

  Feed Nia, start working on a place for the knights to sleep.

  That thought popped into his head when his eyes fell on the massive lean-to that held all five knights and Nancy. Five of those six people were sleeping.

  Felisa was apparently on duty, as she was sitting on a stump not far away, watching everything. Her head turned his way, and her eyes leapt to him.

  Raising a hand toward her, Steve kept moving towards Nia. He had a job to do, and he wanted to take care of it correctly.

  “My lord,” Felisa said, coming up next to him. “Do you have any needs I can attend to?”

  In other words, can I service you?

  She’s… the oddest one of the bunch. She always volunteers, always wants it, and volunteered to fight me only to immediately surrender herself to me.

  What… what is she again?

  Felisa Cana

  Witch-Knight

  Banshee

  Property of Steven Bril

  Father: deceased

  Mother: deceased

  Traitor- betrayed her nation

  Condemned Criminal- has been condemned as a criminal

  Depraved Predator- lives on the suffering of others

  Reborn- living dead

  Sellout- willingly became the property of another

  Prostitute- willingly sold herself for gains

  Knight- one of the five knights of Steven Bril

  Black-magic contractor*- vile magic enthusiast *This title is hidden.

  The hell is a Banshee?

  “What’s a Banshee?” Steve asked, not responding to her previous question.

  “I… I’m a Banshee. We, or I, ah… we’re a type of Undead, I guess? We survive on the… the deaths of others,” Felisa said. He wasn’t even looking at her, and he could tell she was staring at him. That her cold, dark brown eyes were boring down hard on Steve.

  “Oh, so you’re like Nancy,” Steve said. “Is that why you wanted to die?”

  “My death was amazingly beautiful, and… it was delicious,” Felisa said, her tone becoming rather strange.

  “Uh huh. So you’re crazy like her, but you feed on death. Right,” Steve said. “How often do I need to feed you?”

  “Once or twice every six months, if it’s sentient,” Felisa murmured, her voice becoming much softer. “Animals work, but that’s more of a monthl
y thing.”

  “Fine,” Steve said. “You can slaughter one of the rabbits when you’re hungry. They’re breeding far faster than Jaina seems to have expected them to.”

  “Okay,” Felisa said. “Thank you, my lor—”

  “Yeah, no more of that,” Steve said. “I’m Steve. Call me anything else at your own risk.”

  “I… okay, Steve,” Felisa mumbled.

  “Daddy!” Nia shouted, apparently just having noticed Steve was headed her way.

  She turned and began to run straight at him.

  When she was close enough, he reached down and grabbed her, picking her up and settling her on his hip.

  “Hey there,” Steve said with a grin. He couldn’t begin to explain how being called Daddy made him feel like the world was better. “Mama said you need to eat something. What do you want?”

  “Uhm… can… can I have apples?” Nia asked.

  “Apples? We have apples?” Steve asked. He hadn’t remembered there being apples on his farm.

  “Ena planted them,” Nia replied with a laugh. Then she pointed to one side. “See?”

  “Ena…? Oh! Enart? She’s alive?” Steve asked, looking where Nia had pointed.

  “Yes! Ena came. Said she won’t be my aun’ but she’ll help out,” Nia said.

  In other words, she wants to stay and utilize the farm, and provide for it, but not officially be wed to me.

  That’s fine. I’ve got more than enough to keep me busy anyway.

  As he walked over to the apple trees that were suspiciously large and overflowing with apples, Steve didn’t really know what to say.

  “They got big fast,” Nia said, and then she pointed to an apple. “That one!”

  The apple she wanted was higher than Steve could reach.

  Felisa jumped up and snatched it off the branch. Landing with a thump and a light clatter as her armor resettled, she held the apple out to Nia.

  “Thank you me, Aun’!” Nia said and took the apple, immediately biting into it.

  “That’s it? That’s all you want for your breakfast?” Steve asked.

  Nia nodded and then started wriggling every which way in his arms.

  “Down please,” she said.

  Getting the hint, Steve put her down. As soon as her feet hit the grass, Nia was off and running, giggling and holding her apple above her head like it was a victory prize.