by Amber Burns
Dresdyn grinned up at the warrior whose towering stature and herculean physique masked the fact that he was a very content and loving family man. “Why would I need more when I have my two best soldiers joining me? As an extra precaution, we will take the main road. It will take longer than cutting through the back ways, but, it will mean an attack will be less likely.” He sighed. “In the event that I’m wrong, the three of us will be more than able to fend off any gnolls that dare attack. As emboldened as they might be as of late, their attacks have been limited to more isolated areas.”
“That’s true enough,” Olaf, the youngest of the three replied with a smirk while tossing his long, unruly blonde hair over his shoulder before then tying it at the nape of his neck with a leather cord. While more leanly built than either Dresdyn or Kelder, what Olaf lacked in mass or bulk, he made up for in speed and agility. “Any gnolls that dare to attack us will regret it the moment they open their yappy, little jaws,” he added with a glimmer in his green eyes.
“They’re bolder than usual, My Thane,” Kelder remarked. “Why do you think that is?”
“It might have everything to do with the resurgence of an ancient, elven artifact a few months ago,” Dresdyn mused while frowning in thought. “The Mask of...oh, bugger, what was it?” he grumbled. “Essence! Yes, that’s it, the Mask of Essence. I received word from Raeloun, the Lord of the Amber Realm. As a courtesy, he sent word to all the leaders of the various races and informed us of the mask’s destruction upon being found.”
“What does an elven artifact have to do with gnolls?” Kelder asked.
“From I remember of Raeloun’s report, the mask was an artifact of indescribable evil,” Dresdyn replied. “Apparently, it contained the powers and very soul of Tywyll, goddess of the dark elves...and, as it turns out, the twin sister of the elven goddess, Anfarwol.” He sighed. “No doubt, the gnolls felt the pull of so evil an artifact and saw it as their chance to push and test their boundaries.”
“Even now?” Kelder asked. “Months after the mask was destroyed?”
“No one ever accused the gnolls of being smart,” Olaf snarked with a smirk.
“Have a care, lad,” Kelder admonished mildly. “Gnolls are wickedly devious. They no doubt have an endgame in mind.”
“Indeed,” Dresdyn agreed with a serious nod. “And our people must put a stop to it.” He sighed. “Perhaps at the upcoming gathering, options can be weighed as the problem is examined by more minds than simply my own.”
Olaf gave a small wave of his hand. “I have no doubt that a solution will present itself, My Thane.” His smirk melted into a frown. “What puzzles me is why we are journeying to retrieve your mate’s family instead of simply sending them compensation as generations have done in the past. Far be it for me to question you, My Thane, but why have you broken so old and important a rule?” he asked while scratching the blonde scruff on his jaw.
“One day, when you find your own mate, Olaf, you will understand my predicament all too well,” Dresdyn replied with a sigh.
Kelder nodded. “Compromise will be the first lesson you take to heart, lad.”
“I have no intention of finding my mate,” Olaf remarked stubbornly. “Your mate has been in your life for exactly one day, and already, you have changed, My Thane. I have no desire to lose my sense of self.”
“You don’t lose your sense of self, boy,” Kelder remarked. “You simply become a better version of yourself.”
Dresdyn chuckled and grinned wryly at Olaf. “I too once thought as you. Blaiddwych knows that I was perfectly content with my life the way it was, and I had no intentions of settling down and being mated.” He sighed, and his grin softened into a small smile. “But then I found my mate, and I became all too aware of just how empty my life truly was.” He sighed again. “Colors are now brighter...food tastes better, and I truly can no longer imagine my life without her. When Fate sees fit to put your mate in your path, Olaf, you will feel the same way.”
“He speaks the truth,” Kelder replied with a nod and the smallest of smiles as he thought of his own mate, who was round and heavy with their first child.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that Fate saw fit to put Klaryssa in my path during the same week as the hunter’s moon,” Dresdyn remarked with a grin. “Her scent is positively maddening, and it will be torturous indeed to not claim her within the next six days; but, I know that other males were not so fortuitous in the timing in which they found their mates.”
“Don’t remind me,” Kelder grouched while rubbing a large hand over his shaved head. “I had to wait nearly three months before I could mate with my Meera, and there were moments in which I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it.” He grinned and chuckled then. “I took matters into my own hands more often in those months than I did when I was a lad of Wilem’s age.” He grinned when Dresdyn and Olaf snorted and chuckled. “Speaking of which, how does the boy fare?”
Dresdyn sighed. “He is starting to go through the change.”
“Any loss of control yet?” Kelder asked.
Dresdyn shook his head. “Not yet, but I have been watching him closely all the same.” he sighed. “I will need to be doubly vigilant now in light of the two new additions joining us today...especially since one of them is a thirteen-year-old girl.”
Olaf slowly let out a low whistle.
“Great Wolf preserve us,” Kelder muttered with a heavy sigh.
“I will help when I can, My Thane,” Olaf said.
“I would appreciate that greatly,” Dresdyn replied with a nod of approval. “Wilem is a good lad, but I can sense the impending arrival of the inevitable, volatile moods. Adult though you are, you are still closer to his age than I. He might be more willing to listen to reason if it came from you during the more trying instances.”
Olaf nodded in understanding. “I remember being more receptive to my elder brother than to my father when I was that age. I will do everything I can to help, My Thane.”
“That is all I ask,” Dresdyn replied.
Kelder cleared his throat and gave a small nod upon seeing Klaryssa approaching. “Our Lady Thane comes. For the sake of clarity, My Thane, just how much does she know?”
“Only that I am breaking a rule by allowing her family to come here,” Dresdyn replied in a low voice without any worry of the two soldiers not being able to hear him. “In light of everything that happened yesterday, I feared it would be too much too soon. I plan to tell her everything tonight,” he added hurriedly.
“Understood,” Olaf and Kelder replied softly together before turning and bowing their heads respectfully as Klaryssa drew near. “Lady Thane,” they greeted.
Dressed in a riding dress, boots, and a heavy, fur-lined, hooded cloak to stave off the chill in the air, Klaryssa stopped and tilted her head to the side. “Lady Thane?” she asked curiously.
“While I am the Lord of the fief bequeathed to my family many centuries ago, I am also the Thane of the entire y Blaidd clan,” Dresdyn explained. “As was my father before me, and his father before him, etcetera, etcetera,” he added with a small motion of his hand.
“I see,” Klaryssa replied with a small nod of understanding. “Is a Thane like a Lord?”
“More like a King, actually, M’Lady,” Olaf replied before Dresdyn could answer. “Within our clan, our Thane’s word is law. What?” he asked when Kelder nudged him in the side with his elbow. “It’s true. Our Thane settles disputes within the clan, enforces the rules, and administers punishments when needed.” He glanced over to Kelder who was staring at him while silently shaking his head. “What? It’s all true.”
Klaryssa looked to Dresdyn with wide eyes. “Is it?” she asked with awe.
Dresdyn sighed. “Yes.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Klaryssa whispered.
“Have you seen his throne yet?” Olaf asked with a grin. “It’s quite impressive.”
“No, I haven’t,” Klaryssa replied with a small shake of her he
ad.
“All in good time,” Dresdyn said with a smile. “In any case, as my mate, your formal title will be Lady Thane within the clan, and we will share the responsibilities of leading them, as well as seeing to the fief.”
Klaryssa smiled shyly. “Lady Thane...I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that, or any of the other things that come with the title, for that matter.”
Dresdyn smiled and held a hand out to his mate. When Klaryssa placed her smaller hand in his, he gave it a gentle squeeze. “Give it time, my sweet doe. In the meanwhile, allow me to officially introduce Kelder, and Olaf to you. They are two of my best soldiers, and they will be accompanying us on our journey today as a means of extra protection.”
“M’Lady,” Kelder and Olaf said together with bows of their heads.
Klaryssa blinked and shifted her gaze from the pair to Dresdyn. “Protection? Protection from what exactly?”
Dresdyn gave a small wave of his free hand to downplay the true gravity of the situation for Klaryssa’s benefit. “I have gotten reports of an increase in gnoll activity. I would rather err on the side of caution and have a few extra blades at the ready in order to assure your safety, my sweet.” He raised the hand of Klaryssa’s that he still gently held and brushed a kiss to her knuckles. “As I mentioned last night, you are completely irreplaceable to me, my dear. I will protect you at all costs.”
“Gnolls?” Klaryssa asked worriedly with widening eyes.
“You need not concern yourself, my dear,” Dresdyn soothed while tenderly patting Klaryssa’s hand before kissing it again. “Everything will be fine.”
“We’re even taking the main road as an extra precaution, M’Lady,” Kelder added with a small smile. “The reported attacks have been occurring on isolated back roads, so, we really shouldn’t have any trouble.”
“Better safe than sorry though,” Olaf chimed in with a grin. “As my father always used to say, it’s better to have a sword and not need it, than to need a sword and not have it.”
“Oh, well, when you put it that way,” Klaryssa said with a small laugh and a shy smile. “I suppose it makes perfect sense.”
“It pleases me that you see it that way, my sweet,” Dresdyn said with a smile while leading Klaryssa over to one of the saddled horses.
“But, if you think there could be a possibility of trouble, should the three of you not be wearing armor?” Klaryssa asked after sweeping her gazes over the three men who were dressed in nothing more but boots and belted tunics over their trousers.
“Fighting gnolls takes a certain amount of flexibility and agility,” Dresdyn replied simply.
“Aye, M’Lady,” Kelder replied with a nod. “Crafty and slippery, little buggers,” he added.
“Are you warm enough?” Dresdyn asked Klaryssa, changing the subject.
“Yes, thank you,” Klaryssa answered with a nod and a smile before allowing Dresdyn to lift her onto the saddle. “And thank you again for today,” she murmured.
Dresdyn grinned cheekily up at Klaryssa. “Think nothing of it, my sweet doe. Besides, you have the entire rest of your life to thank me for it.”
Klaryssa smiled bashfully as her cheeks turned pink, though her brown eyes glimmered mischievously as she watched Dresdyn climb up onto his own steed. “And just how will I do that, I wonder?” she asked.
Dresdyn’s grin grew. “Oh, we will think of ways, my little doe,” he rumbled with an underlying growl. “We will think of ways.”
6
As Klaryssa and Dresdyn rode beside each other through the countryside, Kelder and Olaf rode behind them with two other horses; and though their faces were concealed by the hoods that were pulled down low over their faces, Klaryssa could feel them watching her. She wondered if they were silently passing judgment upon her for forcing their master to break so sacred a tradition, but Klaryssa simply could not find the energy to care. She had not even bothered keeping track of how long they had been traveling. She was simply too jubilant that she would be reunited with her father and sister, but there was also something else entirely...
Her mind was filled with thoughts about the man riding beside her.
There was no longer any doubt in Klaryssa’s mind that she and Dresdyn belonged together. She was completely at ease in his presence despite having known him for only a short while, and her very thrummed with joy whenever she was in his presence. Though they had met only the day before, Klaryssa had no doubt that it would not be long at all before she fell in love with Dresdyn. Already, she could feel her heart succumbing ever faster to the powerful emotion, and it did not feel unnatural to Klaryssa in the slightest.
There had not even been any awkwardness when Klaryssa awoke in bed beside Dresdyn that morning after their salacious night together. There had been passion, yes, but no awkwardness. Merciful Dynol, there had been so much passion!
And Klaryssa was proud in the knowledge that she had been the one to instigate it.
Dresdyn had awoken her that morning with slow, deep kisses and tender caresses, and Klaryssa’s hand had been only too eager to slide down her man’s sculpted stomach and begin stroking his already semi-hard manhood. She had been so amazed upon feeling it lengthen and harden in her hand, and Dresdyn’s wordless moans of pleasure had been the only motivation Klaryssa had needed to shift herself down and begin using her mouth in tandem with her hand. This time, she had been prepared for the outcome of her ministrations, and so when Dresdyn climaxed with a wordless roar, Klaryssa had eagerly accepted his salty offering.
And then, the tables had turned.
Wetness pooled between Klaryssa’s legs as she remembered the relish with which Dresdyn had buried his face between her legs that morning after flipping her over onto her back and covering every inch of her body with heated kisses. Klaryssa’s heart raced excitedly in her rib cage as she thought of the more possessive kisses that had left physical markers upon her body. The ones on her right hip and just beneath her left breast had been particularly pleasurable, and Klaryssa could not help smiling as she moved one hand away from her horse’s reins she could rest a hand over the love bite under her left breast.
“Is everything alright, my dear?” Dresdyn asked.
“Oh, yes,” Klaryssa answered with a smile as she looked over to her husband-to-be. There was no point in her pretending that she did not enjoy being marked by Dresdyn, because she did. She could not wait for him to mark her again. “Everything is wonderful.”
Nothing could ruin her mood!
Dresdyn seemed to sniff the air before regarding Klaryssa with a slow smile and half-lidded eyes. “It pleases me to hear that,” he replied with an underlying growl.
Klaryssa could have sworn that she saw Dresdyn’s eyes briefly glow, but she could not be sure as a result of his hood. “Are you certain that Wilem will be alright in his task? I would hate to put him out.”
“He will be fine,” Dresdyn assured with a smile. “You needn’t worry yourself. Besides, focusing on a task will do him a great deal of good.”
“How do you mean?” Klaryssa asked.
“The chores will give my nephew something to focus on other than all the changes currently occurring within his body,” Dresdyn replied amiably. “Rather than sullenly dwelling upon the awkwardness that is so commonplace for young boys as they begin turning into young men, Wilem will have a distraction.”
Klaryssa smiled and gave a small nod. “I can understand that. Cerridwyn is going through her own share of awkwardness. The poor girl is all limbs and feet, and she constantly laments that she will grow to be too tall, rather than remain small like me.” She giggled softly. “Not even when I point out to her that her increasing height will allow her to reach things off tall shelves while I still require the use of a stool, will she stop mourning her former shortness.”
Dresdyn chuckled. “One day, she will see the practicality of her height.”
“Funny, I didn’t think that boys suffered as much as girls during this trying age,” Klaryssa mus
ed.
“We suffer in decidedly different ways, but yes...we suffer,” Dresdyn replied carefully without going into further detail.
“Well, at least my sister and your nephew won’t be alone in their suffering,” Klaryssa remarked with a fond smile. “They can commiserate on the cruelties of their impending adulthood.”
Dresdyn simply gave Klaryssa a small smile before frowning a little in thought. “How long did you say your father’s farm has been barren?” he asked.
“Nearly four years,” Klaryssa answered.
“To your knowledge, have any of the other farms been affected in the same way?” Dresdyn asked curiously.
Klaryssa sadly shook her head. “For as long as I can remember, our farm was always the envy of others. Our crops were bountiful beyond compare, and we never wanted for food. But, then one day, everything changed without any rhyme or reason. It was as though the life was simply taken from our land. That was also around the time that my father’s health began ailing, now that I think about it. He always soldiered on for the sake of both my sister and me, but this past winter, his health took a drastic turn for the worse, and has been spiraling ever downward.” Her eyes watered with tears. “My sister and I sold everything we possibly could in order to pay for the services of a healer, but nothing worked.”
