“Fine. Let’s finish this,” I mumbled, pushing past her. I wasn’t angry with her, I was simply over the situation. I wanted to forget all the ugliness.
“Ryver,” she whispered.
In her hand was a glass vial. The contents were a lavender color. I would have never suspected that it had a malicious purpose. I rolled it around in my palm, studying the slow movement; it must have been thick.
With a nod, I started off once again. I noticed his helmet first, it had taken a beating, but someone apparently had seen fit to give it back to him for the return trip. The red horse hair that decorated it was stringy and discolored, with an unidentifiable substance.
It didn’t matter that he cowered in a ball, the red strip was all the proof I needed to hand him over. I opened the door and reached inside, uncertain if I had the energy necessary to jerk him toward me. Thankfully, when I grasped his wrist, he slid himself hesitantly toward the exit. I motioned him to step out and shut the door behind him, before pulling the vial from my pocket.
“Octavius’s personal well,” I reminded him, my finger sliced through the air emphasizing the importance of that detail. He snatched it out of my hand as if he feared someone might see the exchange that actually gave a fuck. It was shoved into his pocket, and just that fast, the man’s head violently snapped back.
“Ryett!” Azaria called, but the man in his arms was already buckled at the knees. Ryett tossed the rag on the ground and flung Eryx’s father to the dirt in front of him.
“There, he is ready for transport,” my brother dryly announced.
A few of the warriors stepped forward and grabbed Commander Thayer’s arms. They drug him off toward the forest edge without a word to any of us.
“Damn. They aren’t even going to put him on a sled or …” I started but her fingers lured me into a kiss that stole the humor from me. It turned into a low moan against her lips. I hadn’t tasted them in forever and the soul-searching way that we explored each other reflected it.
I didn’t have a cliff to dive from, all I had was her to distract me and pass the first few critical hours. Her fingers tangled with mine, perhaps reading my thoughts as we wove between the carts. She opened the door and playfully jerked me toward the entrance.
My hand caught the curve of her ass, and I stared at her like she had lost her mind. She could command men, she could captivate me, but she would never fuck me like I was one of her concubines. I used what weight I had managed to gain, to pin her against the edge of the seat. She had strutted around in that leather armor long enough.
The bottom of her ass was barely concealed when she walked, so when she poked it back at me, I was greeted with enough of her to realize she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it.
“If you’re going to show your ass, I suppose the only way to do it is in grand fashion,” I mused jerking the waist of it up to expose her completely. I started to get hard, and my hands shook with a year’s worth of need. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was what it felt like when the debtors were set free. The ungodly urgency that threatened to rob me of my sanity. I gave no fuck that my pants were dropped, and my ass was bared to anyone who stumbled to the far row of parked carts.
Her thighs strained, presenting the toned muscle beneath her feminine softness. I leaned into her, allowing the thickness of my prick to threaten her ample offering. The breath rushed from me, along with any remaining intelligence as Azaria began to buck herself backward, gyrating with promise and impatience.
“Fuck,” I growled against her. I placed my hand around the back of her neck and pinned it to the seat. My other hand wrapped around my cock and began to crudely explore the warmth of her slit. My crown slid until it connected with her pearl. She gasped and raised to her tiptoes, throwing her bottom all the tighter against me.
I held it firm and danced around the swelling bundle until she was clutching at the cushions. The silkiness of it almost took me over the edge. She was so wet and waiting, it made me forget all politeness. Once I found the hot promise of her cunt, I arched into it, raising my foot to rest on the step of the carriage until I felt like I could tap her womb itself. My hands instinctively curled up to her breasts, and I held myself there with a mouth that resembled the surprised sound I was making.
Her hips twitched, making any attempt to recover myself impossible. I allowed my hand to slip to her waist, securing it for the battering to come. Her body tried to pull away every now and then, when the trembling in her legs betrayed the fact that she was about to break, but I used the leverage of her breasts to pull her back to me.
I bit the back of her neck, and it proved to be a button of sorts. One that provoked a slick squeeze around my cock that clutched at the head until I was rushing back into her for mercy. She provided none. The woman began to buck and roll her hips until I bit down again. Her entire weight seemed to surrender to me while her cunt locked and seized, greedily capturing my cock in a lewd tug of war that left us fighting for air—me, because I couldn’t breathe, and she, because Kais had opened the other door and slid in. He lay across the seat from the other direction, a hand around her head and his mouth warring with her own. I thrust into her for good measure and lifted her inside. Kais was already on his knees, helping her out of that little leather number.
How had I known he would be somewhere watching?
Chapter Thirty-Three
Azaria
My body ached in the sweetest of ways. It had been a day and a half since the weapon was released and I had spent majority of the time wrapped in the bliss of my reconciled family. I had already sent word for DeHaven to be brought to the Barizon. If it went wrong, I wanted him to be raised with Eryx, not nannies and advisors. Eryx would know what to do, he would figure out how to keep the crowns and our son safe if things went wrong.
“Goddess! Goddess, come quick,” Awilda screamed.
I had taken to the habit of sleeping in the carriage. The frantic sound startled me, and I nearly took my head off when I abruptly sat up. It left an ache beneath my braids and a scowl smeared over my features.
She met me as I rounded the front of the cart. Her hands coming out to excitedly embrace me.
“It has worked, the doors to the Coastal Castle have been opened in surrender.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“They sent Octavius’ head out with a horse and a note. The note implied that you are cursing Faustlin. They have done this as an offering in hopes you will make the suffering and illness stop.”
“How do we know that it is my father?”
“It is he. The peasants believed that your father was unbeatable. They feared him. In their eyes, your magic, even if deadly, freed them.”
“But it wasn’t magic,” Drayce slowly pointed out.
I leaned into him, letting my head rest on his large arm. I had intended on a coup, and while I had received it, the satisfaction was somewhat robbed by not having personally done it.
“We will wait three days. It will give the disease time to wane. Then we will send a dozen warriors to investigate. I want to be sure it is not a trick. Even if they surrender… Faustlin is mine. I am not leaving it for their leisure,” I quickly commanded.
“You do not need even three more minutes, my Goddess,” Pariah smoothly sang behind Awilda. His cock-sure smile lit up his face, and his eyes roamed freely over me. It made my lips curl and my fists clench.
“Or should I call you Empress?” It was his saving grace, the six words that perhaps kept his head on his shoulders. Everybody there could attest that my hand was already heavily on my sword. It rested there while I soaked in the meaning of them.
“Only a third of the army remains. They must have been gathered near the man when he delivered his tale.” He shrugged. It seemed as if he were enjoying stringing me along, sucking up the silence before anyone could get a word in.
“Your people have sacked the city?” I accused.
“There was no need. They already hailed you as their l
eader.”
My hand came up, and I turned to Awilda.
“Ride forward and announce to Faustlin that they will prepare to receive their Sovereigns. Leave the doors, windows, everything open. Have it properly fumigated and prepared for the Emperors.”
“Emperors?” Drayce asked, curling his nose. “Please don’t leave me here like you did Eryx in the Barizon.”
His whispered words were hurried, and his eyes were growing large. He had likely only known the High Country. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck giving him a ferocious hug.
“No. You are going to hold court in Meadow Manor. I believe you know the needs of our subjects best. You have spent time seeing to them with compassion and learning their faces and stories.”
His lips parted, and his eyes grew large. “You want me to be the King of Tauran?” His whisper somehow grew quieter, and I hadn’t thought it possible.
“You are already the King of Tauran,” I whispered back in reminder.
He gave a sigh of a laugh, and let it grow until it stemmed from his belly. “Wow,” he mumbled before he shook his head and stumbled off to gather his thoughts.
Ryver and Kais stood beside each other. They stared at me like I had just given them their dreams.
“Emperors.” I smiled, giving a mock curtsey.
“Please don’t ever do that again.” Kais laughed before he stepped forward and wrapped his arm around my head. He pulled back until his lips were pressed against my crown. “I can never repay you.”
His green eyes filled with unspoken sentiment. I shook my head, and immediately denied them. “You gave me Tauran… and a son,” I reminded him with a wink. His face flushed a bit and he nodded.
“I suppose you are right. We did do that.”
“I have a surprise for you.” I winked and locked my arm with Ryver, pulling Kais toward me until I could fold the other around his elbow.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ryett
Azaria strolled down the row of wagons and carts with a swordsman on either side of her. A sight that would have left tongues wagging across the nation when she first arrived in Tauran. I couldn’t help but smile. When she was a few feet from me, she jerked her head to bid me over. Curiosity won out, and I followed along, keeping back a few feet so I could take in the trio. I wondered if they would be so open once Tauran adjusted to the new way of life that she had taught them. Would everyone walk around like that? It was refreshing to wonder about things that didn’t revolve around life or death.
She walked with them to the cart and hurried them inside before turning to face me.
“I want them to think it’s some romp or excursion, but in truth, I am taking Ryver to meet DeHaven. Will you join me?” she asked, rocking to her tiptoes with excitement before lowering herself ever so slowly.
How could anyone say no?
“Of course,” I instinctively responded.
“Good. Follow behind so they don’t catch on.”
I almost laughed, but then I grabbed for her wrist.
“You can’t bring the baby out here. What if some plague lingers? We passed a lot of places with sick people Azaria,” I reminded her.
“… and I boiled the water supply the entire time that the illness was within their proximity.”
I blinked slowly and recalled the trick she had played with the old man and the water. Relief rushed through me. She was quick on her feet and good at heart. We were lucky men, perhaps the luckiest in all three of her kingdoms.
***
The rainforest was quiet. I never thought it would be I who said it, but the Barizon was kind of peaceful. A beautiful, savage land with so many wonderous sights. I took it all in as we walked toward the Ivory Palace and the stone ramp.
Kais and my brother joked and talked amongst themselves. I noticed Lady Tatsy atop the ramp but said nothing. I wanted to see how they reacted. I didn’t have to wait long. Ryver’s hand shot out and Kais startled, reaching for his sword.
“Is that… him?” he asked, staring at the little guy perched on the lady’s arm.
“Isn’t he handsome?” I laughed.
Kais helped my brother toward DeHaven, while Azaria reached out for me. We held each other while Ryver shakily took our son into his arms. The man who stared down at DeHaven was one I had never met before. It was my brothers’ face, but his eyes were gentler, and all signs of worry vanished.
“You will travel with me, and ahead at times, to Zaith as an ambassador?” Azaria asked, drawing my attention back to her.
“I will follow you where ever you go in this life, my Goddess, and a million of them thereafter, if you will have us. Our souls are all corded together.”
The world around us melted as only happiness and fulfillment could allow. Her hands brushed over my face and her lips brushed mine. A caul screamed in the distance, and I remembered what she said about the bird being a symbol for war and freedom. I felt my heart smile and hugged my Savage Queen to me. We were a family, and we were all finally as free as the caul.
THE END
Keeper of the Norns
A crisis has struck the Norn Forest. The Goddess of Life has annihilated her twin, slowing the Fate Weavers production to the speed of natural causes.
With all their options exhausted, the disgruntled and desperate trio of men are forced to beg or trick someone into claiming a new title. They want a Goddess of War.
Zhenni, or as some would call her, the Goddess of Love is angry. While it is true that people are living longer, they are loving each other less. She has been around for two eternities and is devoted to preventing a third world end.
With no time for pride, the guys place their all into convincing Zhenni to embrace a darker path for the sake of saving the mortals.
PREORDER NOW
Also by Tyranni Thomas
Reverse Harem
The Thorns and Thrones Series
Of Princesses and Pawns
Of Sovereigns and Savages
Historical Fiction
The Scars Series
The Scars of Survival
Wearing the Scars
About Tyranni Thomas
Tyranni Thomas is a former nurse and history major with a passion for social justice. A writer of Reverse Harem, Historical Fiction and LGBT who believes that written words speak louder than most people’s voices ever could. She enjoys giving agency to historical figures and circumstances of injustices or abuse.
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