by Raven Dark
Someday, he would tell me. And someday, I would find the courage to finally tell him I loved him.
Chapter 14
Lord Falnar’s Harem
The next day dawned as gorgeous as Lord Falnar’s castle, turning the huge estate to a glistening stone jewel. Awakening a few minutes before my masters, I sat at the window. We were staying in an extended guest wing that allowed a perfect view of the glorious Montreve estate and its surrounding hills and gardens. I’d only seen anything that beautiful in fairytale stories.
When I followed Steel and Pretty Boy down to breakfast, Doc called on me just as he’d promised. He’d left a message with Sheriff that he wanted me to join him in Lord Falnar’s slave quarters. I was more than happy to oblige, anxious to see what the slave quarters looked like and to meet the lord’s slaves.
Especially considering what Doc had said yesterday, that Falnar had other Violets here.
I’d only known two Violets in my lifetime, aside from my mother. Madi’san, the woman who’d tried to kill Sheriff, and Serena, Lord Falnar’s strange First Slave. The idea of seeing more women like me filled me with a mix of fascination, wonder, and quietly rising dread.
While I ate with my Four at the table with the other visiting dignitaries, I lost myself in considering my experiences thus far with other Violets.
The most interesting one I’d met was the unusual nameless Violet I’d seen in the marketplace in Zone 2. I’d never spoken to her, but I still felt connected to her somehow. Especially since that was the first time I’d ever experienced that mental buzzing of another person’s mind.
By far, Madi’san was the only woman I’d met who had acted the way so many people expected Violets to behave, the way Cherry had expected me to be when I’d first met her. Madi’san had appeared cultured and perfect, the picture of refinement, yet she’d been cold and calculating, especially when she’d tried to kill the general. Serena, on the other hand, seemed nothing like her, a detail for which I was deeply grateful. She was still elegant and poised like Madi’san, but her energy felt almost motherly, yet at the same time, childlike.
I wondered what the women here would be like. Not like Madi’san, I hoped.
I picked at my poached eggs. I’d been feeling nauseous all morning, and now I felt even more so thinking about Madi’san.
“A credit for your thoughts, sweetheart?” Sheriff leaned over to me.
I shook myself and met his mocking gaze. My cheeks burned. I’d been rude, off in my own little world instead of silently attending my men.
“Sorry, Master. What were you saying?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
I resisted the urge to scowl at him. That’s what I got for forgetting myself. At the same time, I felt an upsurge of affection for him at his playful tone. It warmed me to see this lighter side of him.
Pretty Boy reached across the table from me and touched my hand. “Princess, Lord Falnar wants to take me on a tour of his winery this afternoon. Afterward, I can take you to see his stables. Would you like that?”
I brightened. “Yes, Master. I’d love to.”
“Good. It’s settled then. You’ll come with us to the winery. Then you can pester Lord Falnar with endless questions while these fuddy duddies talk with the new guests that are arriving today.” He jerked his thumb at Sheriff and the other lords.
The dignitaries laughed. Hawk swatted him across the back of the head.
I giggled. “Yes, Master.”
T-Man came for me as soon as I finished breakfast. Strangely, now that I’d eaten, the nausea had dissipated, and without my stomach turning, I wasn’t nearly as unsettled at the thought of meeting Lord Falnar’s Violets.
“Doc’s gone to meet with some of Lord Falnar’s doctors,” T-Man said, leading me out of the dining room and down a long hallway. “The Violets are in the bathing area; he wanted you to join them until he’s done.”
“Yes, sir.”
He took me across the castle grounds to an extended wing designated as the slaves’ quarters. I stared at the long, high stone structure in wonder.
The slave quarters were as opulent as the rest of the place, if not as large. Windows spaced much closer together indicated smaller, yet still sizable rooms, but they had a gorgeous courtyard in the center of the wing and a large, gleaming pool that served as a bathing area.
I almost gasped when I saw the bathing area through the wide glass windows that looked in on it. The entire pool, stretching over what had to be fifty feet across, was surrounded by golden and cobalt blue marble tiles. Potted plants with large blossoms of every color hung about the place, and bronze bowls of oil hung from chains, lit with fire that gave the lavish surroundings a romantic glow. Women bathed in the pool or sat on wide marble steps and on lounge chairs, some of them splashing each other and laughing. Nearly all were bare from the waist up.
T-Man dropped me off at the huge entrance to the bathing area, where Serena had come out to greet us. Two armed guards, each dressed in brown tunics, leather pants, and wide belts, stood to either side of the double doors. Both had swords strapped to their hips.
“Doc’ll take you back to the main part of the castle when he’s done here,” T-Man said. “Don’t enjoy yourself too much.”
He was gone before I could reply.
“Setora.” Serena hooked her arm in mine. “It’s nice to see you again.” Her high, breathy voice carried easily in the huge hallway. She glanced back at T-Man. “He’s a cheerful sort, isn’t he?”
Already, that buzzing filled my head, but it was stronger this time. I had the feeling of many minds, as if each had a hum with a different pitch. The feeling was a little overwhelming, making my head light.
The two guards opened the doors to the bathing chamber, and Serena escorted me in. The place looked bigger now that I was standing in it, with high ceilings painted in fanciful murals. Tall glass windows looked out onto the courtyard garden. Those lamps hanging above gave off a subtle, pleasant scent of lavender and vanilla. The water looked so clean and clear, it had to have taken an army of servants to keep it clean.
My skin longed to feel the water washing over me, refreshing and cool.
I saw at least twenty women in the room. Twenty! In one place! It took effort not to let my jaw drop. No one had that many females. And at least eight were Violets, purple hair darkened with moisture from the water. I even caught sight of one woman with dark hair and violet eyes, the one non-True Violet I could see.
“This place is fantastic, Serena.” I heard my own voice before I’d considered the words.
“It is, isn’t it?” She led me over to the wide marble steps. “A flood of perfection, they will come, like water from the gods.”
“Pardon, Mistress?” I glanced at her.
Serena shook herself. A previously dazed, distant look replaced itself with a quizzical one. “What? What did I say?”
“Setora!” Diamond called from the middle of the pool. She and Emmy waved at me. “Come on in, the water’s fabulous.”
I was about to strip off my cadris when another woman stood from the steps and walked over to me. “So this is the famous woman of the Four.” Her dark purple eyes were cheery, her smile welcoming as she bowed her head the same way I had done to Serena. “I’m Tarina’san.”
For a moment, I could only stare. She was a slave to a nobleman, but she was bowing to me. I shook myself and returned her bow.
“Are you going to introduce me, or are you going to hog our heroine all to yourself, Tari?” Another woman, with the same freckles dusting her nose and the same cleft in her chin as Tarina’san crossed her arms in front of her.
Tari rolled her eyes. “And this is my pain in the patella sister, Gita’san. Git, for short.”
“Don’t call me that.” She pushed her sister aside. “My name is Gita’san, but please call me Gita.” She gave me the same bow.
Beside me, Serena gave a tinkling giggle. “Sisters.” She looked at me and added much too slo
wly, “You know, six sisters come to he who waits.” That distant look took over her face again.
I shot the girls a questioning look.
Gita gave me a subtle shake of her head, and Tari pulled me toward the water.
“Come on, Setora. Join us.”
“Are you coming, Mistress Serena?” Tari invited with a wave.
“Not today.” Her voice was focused again, her eyes warm. “Lord Falnar wants me up there greeting guests. You girls enjoy yourselves.”
She turned and left, not so much walking as seeming to float out of the room like a swan.
“Maker, this place is just amazing,” I said, glancing at the sisters and indicating the room.
“I know, right?” Diamond swam to the edge of the water and folded her arms on the marble deck.
I stripped off my cadris and waded into the pool with the sisters. A few other women joined us.
Oh, the water was truly glorious. It wasn’t cool like I expected, but warm, the way water gets on a summer day. It seeped into my muscles, soothing the slight ache left behind by my two masters’ savage use the previous night.
“I take it you two enjoyed yourselves so far?” I asked Diamond and Emmy with a grin.
“Oh, Maker’s tits, yeah.” Diamond groaned, putting her head back. “Sooo good not to be on the road for a while.”
Emmy’s mouth dropped open at Diamond’s curse, and she jerked her head at the Violet sisters, who’s eyes widened. Tari and Gita smirked at each other. Diamond’s face went red as a beat, and she dunked under the water.
Gita chose that moment to run back up to the deck and do a cannonball into the water. She hit it with a resounding splash that sent water over all of us.
“Ugh!” Tari, now soaked, with her lavender hair plastered to her face and shoulders, shot daggers at her sister. “Nice, Git. Come here.” She splashed her hard in the face.
Everyone started splashing each other. The women squealed like little girls and laughed. Diamond dunked me under, and I did the same to her.
In moments, we were breathless and having the time of our lives. These weren’t at all the Violets I expected.
When we settled down for long enough, some of the women gathered around me.
“So, tell us what it’s like being with the Four. With a real MC,” a woman said. She shook out the many beaded lavender braids that fell to her shoulders, causing them to clink softly.
Gita nodded to her. “Yaela’s never seen a real biker before, so now you have to give all the gory details.”
Yaela stuck her tongue out at her.
“And then you can tell us about the Dregs, Tari added. “You know, the ones you saved the Lone Rebels from.”
“The ones I…what?” I looked at all of them.
Diamond and Emmy, who lounged against the side of the pool, had their arms spread out over the deck to either sides of them. For some reason, they wore almost identical looks of amusement.
“We heard the legend,” Gita piped up. “How you saved Emmy and your men from the Dregs, and how the Rebels’ women called you Liberator.”
What they were saying sank in. I turned my head slowly to Diamond and Emmy, silently asking, Did you tell them this? If not, then how had these women heard about the Dreg camp so fast?
But they both shook their heads. “Don’t look at us,” Emmy said.
I dropped my shoulders. More hero status.
“I’m afraid the story’s gotten a little exaggerated. It didn’t happen that way at all. I didn’t rescue the Four, they rescued us. I—”
“Modesty. We like it,” Yaela teased. “Tell us about Saketh. Was he scary? Ugly as the stories say?”
“Yes—”
“Is it true you offered yourself to him to save everyone?” Gita asked.
“What did the Four do to you afterward? They must have let you have it.” Tari’s smile was huge.
Oh Maker, take me and bury me now. “Who told you all this?”
“Everyone knows,” Yala said. “Word travels fast when a woman does what you did. Not that any woman has in hundreds of years.”
Except I had a sinking feeling I knew who had started the rumors. Liberator. Only one woman had called me that.
“Marna,” I muttered to Diamond and Emmy under my breath. “She must have started that.”
“It’s not such a bad thing,” Diamond said. “Our masters are already a big deal. Any notoriety you bring will only enhance their image and make it easier to do what they have to out here.”
“What do you mean—?”
“Ladies?” Serena’s voice rang out from the doors. “Doc is here.”
Doc waved at us and set down the medical kit he’d brought while some of the women gathered around him.
He gave me a nod and then bent down to Diamond and Emmy at the edge of the deck, giving both of them a long, probing kiss each. Then he straightened and looked around.
“I’ll look at each of you one at a time, but I want to see—”
When everyone snickered, including me, he cut off and tsked. “I mean examine. Naughty girls.” He rolled his eyes in mock offense. “I’ll examine all of you, but I want to see the lucky lady first. Where’s Adeline?”
“She’s resting in the garden,” Gita said, climbing out of the pool with Tari behind her. “We’ll take you to her. Come on.” They waved at me, Diamond, and Emmy. “Come see our little miracle.”
“Miracle?” I looked at my fellow Legion women.
Emmy shrugged, and Diamond shook her head.
“Miracle, sir?” I leaned into Doc as we made our way after Serena and the sisters once we’d dried off and dressed.
“You’ll see.” Doc’s eyes danced.
“Sir.” I kept my voice low so only he heard while the other women talked animatedly. “These women think I’m some kind of hero of legend.”
“I know. It’s interesting, isn’t it?”
“I don’t want this,” I hissed. “They think I saved you all from the Dregs.”
He shrugged. “Eh. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
I frowned. That wasn’t the response I expected from a member of the Dark Legion, where the appearance of male superiority was tantamount.
We made our way down white marbled hall. An army of servants passed us, rushing this way and that, with linens, dusters, food, and drink.
Serena led us into the huge, elaborate garden behind the bathing area, Gita and Tari a customary step behind. Velvety red roses and baby-pink peonies grew in clusters, and lilac blossoms gave off a fragrant perfume. In the middle of the garden, a gazebo of marble and white stone stood, white ironwork like the icing on an Old World wedding cake.
We went up to the gazebo steps and found a woman lying on a chaise lounge, knitting in the gazebo’s shade.
When the woman saw us, she pushed herself up slowly and put down her knitting. It took effort not to let my jaw drop.
She wore a long, white robe pulled over her front, but it didn’t hide her large, protruding belly. She was round with child. Or perhaps two of them, by the look of her.
“Mistress Serena. So nice of you to bring visitors.” She smiled weakly at us. “Don’t mind me in this silly robe with my hair looking like a porcupine.” She smoothed out her pale violet tresses as she waddled over to us, focusing on Doc. “You must be the Dark Legion’s doctor. I’ve heard good things about you from my Lord. I’m Adeline.”
I only half-registered what the woman said. Catching myself staring at her belly, a slow smile spread over my face, wonder making my heart grow.
Since the Virus had nearly decimated the population, that same strain had caused a massive drop in fertility from which we’d never recovered. Births of any kind occurred rarely. That was one of the reasons Violets were so highly prized, for a higher fertility rate, one which only increased for True Violets.
Adeline’s lavender hair, left long and thick down her back, said she was a True Violet. I wondered if she had a stari.
Doc was already in front of her, kneeling so that he could examine her belly.
“Wow.”
Only when Adeline gave me a smile did I realize I’d said that out loud.
“I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen a pregnant woman before. I’ve only heard about them.”
She waved me in welcomingly. “Come closer, Setora. It’s okay.”
I smiled hesitantly and stood next to Doc, not surprised that she knew my name.
Doc put a stethoscope to Adeline’s belly and listened. “They sound great. I think it’s almost time for them to say hello to the world.”
“They?” Excitement made my heart jump.
“Yes. She’s having triplets.” Doc gave me the stethoscope. “Setora, listen to this.”
Thrilled at the chance to get this close to a baby, I waited until Adeline nodded, but just as I was about to put the stethoscope to her stomach, her whole belly jumped.
I covered my mouth with my hand. “Wow, they really do move in there. I’ve heard babies do that, but I’ve never seen it.”
Everyone around me chuckled.
I looked up at Adeline. “This is so incredible. You must be so excited!” I put the stethoscope to her belly. As soon as I did, I heard what Doc was talking about, distinct heartbeats that drummed from within.
Adeline invited the other women over, and they swarmed her.
“I guess hearing stories about babies is no substitute for the real thing, huh, Setora?” Emmy asked while Doc helped a groaning Adeline sit back in her chair.
“Maker, yes, it is. If you listen, you can hear the heartbeats. But I only heard two.”
Doc glanced at me. “That’s not surprising. Without a trained ear, you wouldn’t pick up all three. I’m surprised you heard two.”
“You and the Legion might be here for the births, since she’s almost due,” Gita said, holding Adeline’s hand. “She’s way over seven months.”
“Seven months?” Diamond’s eyes were big.
Doc nodded while he examined Adeline. “Sorry to put you through any pain, but I have to examine you.”
