I placed a hand on her arm. Then kissed her gently on the forehead.
“I never whor... sold myself out for our survival. Yet, I did sell off everything we owned, including Sir Watt's weapon and armor that were returned to me. I used those funds to keep this group of orphans and widows fed and clothed. This chat was my favors cashed in. I want you to note how I did not deceive you or force you into anything you did not want. I hope you got to learn about me as more than a pretty face and a nice pair of tits.” Pipi finished with a grin. She folded into my chest and I enclosed her in a hug. After a nice long sigh, we moved over to the festivities.
Everyone was in high spirits. I ate with gusto trying to tamper my hunger. I ate too much... My rock hard abs were ballooned into a very full belly. After eating I did a full rotation of saying hi and accepting gratitude from all the assembled villagers. Dennis pulled out an instrument I did not recognize and played music. The beat was fast and people quickly cleared a space to dance.
I watched with a smile and felt Velia hook an arm around mine and lean against me.
“It is so nice to see them all so happy. I take it Pipi had a talk with you?” She asked as people frolicked in front of us. The last of the sunshine had faded behind the horizon and the flickering flames illuminated the scene.
“She did, I am learning more and more each day. If we ever... No... Now. Let us go for a walk, I have been wanting to learn more about you. Who you are, what you desire, and what makes you happy. Pipi reminded me that sometimes life is short and things will pass you by if you don't make time for them. She will make a man very happy one day.” I said to her and we walked away from the fire.
“Oh, so that man is not you?” Velia opined.
We got far enough away from the feast that I felt I could talk freely.
“Probably, I do want to do naughty things to her. That would mean Lyna would have to go though. Which I understand. I am not tied to her or desire her the way I do you. You are my anchor here. My go to girl whom I instantly felt I could trust. Lyna is not that, and I will do what was recommended to me tomorrow.”
“Thank you. The decision was not easy but it will be best for everyone we think. Now about me. You know my history so let me tell you about my likes. I always wanted to be a teacher and I try to do so now but there is only limited time. I love to read by candlelight, be it story or instructional. I enjoy a glass of dark wine but despise being drunk and out of control. I also do not like men who get drunk often. An event or special occasion sure, one too many is fine. Outside of that, I find drunk idiots repulsive.
“I always wanted a house full of sons for my charming husband. I dreamed that husband would give me little gifts often and be there when I got sad. I enjoy tending to animals and for a while worked on farmer Parka fields. I always wanted to breed horses, but horses became food after the peace accords.
“When things get naughty I enjoy a light spanking and dirty talk. I stay quiet though. I also do not mind the touch of another woman and have coupled with Pipi, but prefer men. Back door is exit only, but I am okay with most anything else,” Velia said shyly. She was blushing red.
I looked over my shoulder seeing we were far enough away from the group. I pushed her against the tree, being mindful of my strength and kissed her deeply. She returned the kiss with a lustful passion. I felt her hands grab my ass. I thought she was going to stop me when I felt my belt come undone. The kissing increased until it became sloppy. Her hand slid around to my front now that my kilt hit the dirt. She was about to grab my throbbing boner when a scream pierced the night.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Unreal,” I muttered. Velia was already gone running back to the fire. I, of course, had to redo my belt and get my kilt on. I sprinted with my fast speed to catch up to her. Before I got to her I saw what the scream was about.
All around the villagers were griffins, I did a count and there were thirteen including Lydia. The villagers had frozen with fright but the griffins eyed the boar still cooking.
“Greetings Gryff, it is I Lirkon. I am sorry to intrude but we have an urgent crisis. Baron Liffa, unable to fulfill his quota of food to the Horde this month has ordered us to be butchered. Our water tonight was poisoned, but we figured it out. We have nowhere to go and I went to see how my mate was doing when I smelt the war boar. I am not certain how well you know, but we griffins love war boar. We really love war boar. It is sooooooooooooo good. I was supposed to be the only one who came, but once they caught the smell I couldn't stop the whole pride from arriving. Sorry. We have not eaten in days. May we please have some? Please!”
“Please!” “Please!” “Please!” “Please!” “Please!” “Please!” “Please!”
All the different voices of the griffins talking in my head overwhelmed me. The whole situation overwhelmed me.
“Enough!” my roaring demand silenced the griffins.
“Tonight has been a night of celebration and thanks for good food and company. I will not spoil that by turning away those in need. There is a fresh orc body over there, save the important parts and what is left of the cooked boar is yours to eat. Also, Lydia said you griffins digest unripe smelons with no issues. So eat! Eat to your stomachs content! I welcome you!” I shouted at them and the villagers.
“Fernlan welcomes you,” Elan proclaimed echoing my sentiment.
Velia grabbed my arm. “What does this mean? What happened?”
“Baron Liffa needs to be removed from Cern, and we recently took in twelve more refugee griffins. I am exhausted and will worry about it tomorrow. I am going to go collect pine straw so when I sleep the ground doesn't chill me so badly tonight. I look forward to cuddling with you later.” I said.
I gave her kiss and walked away as the griffins quickly reduced our food supply I had worked so hard to build up. I wondered how I would solve this new problem... Add it to the list.
CHAPTER 6
I awoke to the morning sunshine with a big yawn. The soft pine needles I had spent hours after the feast collecting proved very comfortable. So comfy I overslept a bit. I got up and stretched. All around the half shed griffins slept.
The whole area seemed busier and crowded. A breakfast meal of boar was already roasting over a flame. Velia was ordering people about for the start of the day when our eyes meet we waved at each other. I went to the potty pits to do my morning thing.
I looked over the griffins on my way back to find Lirkon. I was trying to find a big set of balls, white feathers with blue tips, and a purple tail swatter. Found him. I went over to the mighty sleeping beast and poked him in the side. My first thought was to nudge his head but then I realized this way it was harder to kill me if he thought I was a threat.
“Good morning sleepyhead,” I said to Lirkon.
“So full, so tired. Why bother me Gryff. Did Lydia not explain that we griffins require very little food if we stay inactive and that if we eat a large meal it makes us almost useless.”
“Lydia and I will be leaving soon. You need to know your orders before I go.” I told him trying to sound confident.
“Our orders?”
“Yes, things are different here than Cern.” The massive head lifted and gave me a long look as if to scold me ‘with keep saying dumb things’. “Whoever drew our boundary lines for this village's safe zone left a decent amount of room to expand. I need you and those who ate my food last night to help me. A favor for a favor. I request every tree that does not bear fruit picked from the earth. You are to neatly stack the trees over there by the western boundary where the creek enters. If you finish before I return or find the time, run a claw down the trees to remove the braches. If you finish that and I am still gone, go into the village and every condemned building is to be torn down. The remains placed in a separate pile on the other side of the creek.”
“What does condemned mean?” Lirkon asked.
“It means something is deemed unfit for use.”
“Hey Traz,” Lirkon said to a different griffin who lifted his head and looked at us. “Dina complained so much this month we have to condemn your penis!”
Traz snorted in reply while a wave of cackling griffin laughter rumbled from the giants. Who knew griffins told jokes.
“Alright human Gryff, we find such manual labor beneath us. Yet, things have changed and it is time for us to adapt. We are now a pride without a home, and you did not have to harbor us or feed us as you did last night. For this, we will do as you ask. As long as the trades are fair we will be open to further deals.” Lirkon said.
Every griffin looked my way, gave a nod then went back to sleep.
“Take care Lirkon. Lydia, I will be back shortly after I get myself ready for travel. If you need anything now is the time to ask.
“I am ready and when you return we will fly south for Lakeland,” Lydia said to me.
I walked away to find Velia, but Donnie found me instead. Lily was following behind him with eager eyes. Before Donnie could say anything Lily interrupted.
“Mr. Gryff, may please I go with you?”
“I don't know, Lydia is with cubs and the flight might be dangerous.”
“She is fine, the flight will be safe and she weighs nothing,” Lydia said. I glanced over to her and rolled my eyes.
“Yes, you may come, but you follow my word exactly or you will never get any favors from me again.”
“He means it, Lily. Gryff will not like to play your games. Be direct, no tricks, and do exactly as he says.” Donnie said to her backing me up. Not that I needed it, but it was nice to hear from him.
“Alright, Donnie, quiet day for you. I expect the eastern wild lands to be swarming with orcs for the next week. So don't go out there for those smelon trees. We got enough to last until collection day. Which if no one shows up we will be doing very well and need to take fewer risks. I want you to help Velia today. Be mindful, and work hard. I will see you soon.” I told him.
“Yes sir,” and with that, he was gone.
Lily followed happily behind me in my shadow as I approached Velia and Elan. They stood behind a makeshift desk that had an ink container, pen, and paper on it. They were reviewing a list when they looked up at Lily and me.
“Lily, what has you in such a fine mood?” Velia asked her.
“Mr. Gryff said I can go to Lakeland with him.” She beamed in reply.
Velia gave me a ‘why would you’ stare. I could tell she was curious.
“I am going to marry her off after I adopt her,” I said. Velia gasped, Lily hit me, and Elan chuckled.
“You would adopt me? Only to marry me off?” Lily asked with conflicting emotions.
“Lily you were the first friendly face I saw on Vin. You still are a starving little girl, with patchwork clothing, and boots two times too big for her feet. The Duke will probably push someone's daughter at me for marriage. I am pretty special after all, but so are you. If I can get you into a good family, you could live in a big city, with three meals a day. You could play instead of work, learn instead of toil, and be a kid. So yeah, I will adopt you, then I will use whatever power I can to get you a better life than you have out here on the frontier.”
She absorbed my words and thought about them.
“Another piece of paper to buy then Elan,” Velia told the man.
He handed her the paper and Velia scribbled away at it.
“I bought paper for these list with your coins, I hope you don't mind. We had a lot of lists and some too long to etch into bark. Elan gave us a good deal on them.” Velia said. Of course... Elan had the best deals. “The first list is specialists needed to build, improve, train, and upgrade the village. This list is the goods and tools the village could use. It looks like everyone added something to this list, it includes Melina's items. They all gave coin that should cover the costs but only you will know if they over or underpay. It is a long list but it has been a while since the town was able to do a big trade. Most were upset they missed the Cern trade.” Velia said. She handed me a list that was three pages long and it came with a large purse of coins. I was definitely going to need to hire a merchant to tackle this amount of stuff. Velia shoved another list into my hands.
“This list is for the livestock we would like to buy. Livestock for sale may be short in Lakeland but know a city that big will still be actively trading. If they don't have it they can probably get it... For a price. If you get on the Duke’s good side, those prices should not inflate too badly. Some of these lists could be longer but this should be enough to start. This last list is an inventory of what you are bringing to sell. Some of these items, like the orc heads, may fetch more coin further south. Here is your purse, I kept a few silver in case we need it while you are gone.” She handed me my purse which I tied to the inside of my belt. I wanted to laugh when she said the lists could have been longer. I can show her a long to do list.
Velia then got down on both knees and handed Lily a piece of paper. She whispered something into her ear, then touched their foreheads together. Lily cried and hugged Velia tightly.
Lily, paper in hand turned to me. “I would be honored to be your daughter and will happily go with you to see the Duke.” She said and handed me the paper.
“I accept. No reason to get all mushy, this will help you immensely, plus how often do ten year girls get to ride a griffin.”
“Never,” “Never,” both Lily and Lydia said in unison.
“Alright, Lily go run over to Lydia and wait for Gryff,” Velia said.
Elan stepped up with a piece of paper of his own. “This is a petition signed by the majority of Fernlan residents and its current leader. Me. This letter calls on the Duke to elevate your status to a Knight of the realm. Rarely is such a request denied. I hope to call you Sir Gryff upon your return. It is the least we can do for you.” He handed me the paper, shook my hand, and left me alone with Velia.
“This pile of paperwork is getting big, what else have you got for me?” I asked her.
“I know we have not had as much time together as we would have liked. I also know we enjoy each other’s company, and we have intimate desires. A few times I have let suitors out of my grasp for fear of the future. I have hope now and I will not sit idly by. Here is our marriage proposal. If you would have me, all you need to do is sign this, and then have a clerk of the realm affirm it. The Duke himself can too but he is probably too busy. I mean the amount of paperwork a Duke must have to do is...” She was nervously rambling and I paused her with a finger on her lips.
“Are you certain this is what you want? I am uncertain what the future holds for me. If you bind yourself to me, I doubt it will be all good days. I also worry some future lady may cause you undue strife. I literally told you that I will use the Duke’s proposal to get Lily a better life. Are you okay with that?” I asked as I gazed deeply into her eyes.
“That is exactly why I offer myself to you. You see an opportunity to help someone else and you take it, knowing others will think poorly of you by adopting an orphan. You will be swarmed with similar proposals as more people learn of you and what you offer. I know I will not always be as pretty, or as well learned, but I will be a faithful, loving, understanding wife. I will stick by you, not for politics or greed. Hopefully to bear your children and help guide you to a long happy life. So take the damn piece of paper, sign it, and then kiss me.” Velia said. She held out the paper and pen to me. I placed it on the desk, then signed it. I added it to my pile which I set on the desk.
I raced around the piece of wood and picked her up in my arms. We kissed until I felt other parts of me start to swell. Velia felt the throb of my erection starting to rise and broke the kiss.
“Later, for now, I need to ask a favor. I ask you to consider adding Pipi, and Micka as sister wives. Pipi and I have been attached at the hip and… fellow bed warmers for a while. Also, I consider Vern a son. I know... It is a big ask and a lot to take in. If you say no I w
ill not hold it against you. Micka made it clear that she desires you and is a good woman. If you marry a noble lady, for example, one of the Duke's daughters. Well anyone after that woman not of noble birth, will be looked on as a concubine and not a real wife. Honestly, they will look down on us regardless probably, these things matter in the noble circles and more importantly in the sister wives' hierarchy. We have deemed you a worthy husband and even though we have not blossomed a deep love with you yet. Keyword yet, we know we will. Marrying you now will greatly improve our standing in your household.”
I exhaled heavily and threw my hands in the air in frustration. Why must things be like this? Everything moves so fast here it can make a man dizzy.
“Pipi yes, Micka no. Pipi yes because she is honest, caring, and our talk last night makes me feel more than lust for her. Micka no because of Donnie, I respect the young man too much and no offense to the situation, I don't know her well. I also do not want twenty wives.” I told her.
She nodded and gave me a hug. “I will bring Pipi over for you to tell her the good news while I explain to Micka the situation. It is better I do it, than you. She will fight to get you to say yes, and the last thing we need is a confrontation that I can avoid. Please know she may request help to move to Lakeland if they allow some of us to resettle. Her young man has a woman that watches after him, and a man who takes him out into the wild lands. He is no longer a little boy and she will probably seek a new life elsewhere instead of lingering here.”
I went about studying the list of goods and tools the villagers had made for me while I waited for Pipi. I couldn't believe it was three pages long. Ore, tools, nails, bottles, potions, bags, and it just kept going.
“Gryff?” The soft voice of Pipi brought me out of my thoughts.
“Pipi, I see you have a piece of paper for me. Are you sure about this?” I asked her.
Her hazel eyes bore into mine and she closed the distance with a solid kiss on my lips. “Yes, husband. I know you will be good to us. Vern will come around and I promise to be everything you need me to be. I understand that I will share a busy household and promise to be truthful, loving, and caring. I will do my best to make you happy when you seek it and give you space when you need it.”
Gryff Boxset Page 13
