my nemari,” she said, swallowing. “You’ll begin shadowing me everywhere. Every training, every meeting. You’ll spar with me and who I tell you to. We’ll work on fighting techniques with a variety of weapons. You’ll have the option to fight with whatever you choose for missions and campaigns. This will not be easy. In fact, this is going to be very hard on you. It’s not overconfidence that makes me say you will be trained by the very best, and I expect the best out of you.”
I’ll use everything I have to make him strong enough to keep living in the light.
“Thank you so much for this opportunity, Champion.”
“Just call me Mave. No reason to get formal now.” She smiled, holding out a hand. He grabbed it at the elbow, a proper Andinna shake. “I’ll tell Alchan of the news, so he can plan around it.”
“Thank you so much, really.” Something about how happy and youthful his expression was made her heart ache.
“Go get ready for the day,” she ordered. “We start now.”
He nodded quickly and started running back for his home.
Please let this be the right decision. I can’t ruin him.
9
Lilliana
Lilliana woke on her fifth day in the village much the same as the first four days—a little scared, dreading having to leave the room she had been gifted and put back into the awful situation Leria decided she needed to be in.
Leria had never said it, but her intentions had been clear. She wanted Lilliana to destroy the relationship between the king and his consort and put herself in the king’s bed. Lilliana hadn’t liked going along with it when Leria packed up her things. She hadn’t liked the journey south to the village the king had picked as his residence. She hadn’t liked it when she met the two males.
And she continued to hate it as she woke in this new place, unsure of how to repair her damaged reputation due to the strong mativa’s meddling.
No one blamed Lilliana, but she saw in their eyes, they were upset by her presence. When warriors came into the home to see the king, they looked at her with thinly veiled rage. For the few females that came in, that was probably amplified by their reaction to what she was.
No, that’s just a convenient excuse.
They were insulted for their king by her presence in his home, and they had the right to be.
Lilliana wished with all her strength she could have said no when Leria had come to her. Only a few days before, she had been hearing the wonderful news of the happy king, madly in love, even while a new war was beginning to rage. Now she was there, and it was all her fault. She was just an ahren, so easy to be bent to the will of others.
She dressed, taking a deep breath as she tried to banish the fear. It felt impossible, but she had to leave this room every day, or she never would. She tried to do it quietly, glad the door didn’t creak. The stone floor of the traditional cliffside home was a blessing because she could walk softly and not make a sound. She crept into the dining area, hoping to make it to the kitchen to grab something small to eat.
She stopped when she saw them inside, and her heart began to race.
The king had a hand over his consort’s mouth and another down the male’s pants. The consort bucked, obviously tormented by the pleasure, clutching the king as he was driven to finish. The look on the king’s face was something of pure satisfaction, even in profile. He was enjoying what he was doing, even though he wasn’t the one who would experience the finale. He was just enjoying watching his consort fall apart under his hand.
An unfamiliar feeling rushed through her, nearly taking her breath away.
Slowly, Lilliana put a hand over her mouth to keep from making a noise and backed away. She turned on her heel once they were out of sight and went to the front door, grabbing her tiny boots from the others. She couldn’t move too quickly and risk drawing their attention.
I don’t want to be a burden to them. This is their life. I’m here to ruin it, and I won’t.
Leria should have explicitly told Lilliana what to do, but then, Lilliana knew why the mativa hadn’t made a specific order. That would have had the king riding north.