is normally gentle with me, and yet lately, he’s been darker.”
We all stared at her, and no one said anything. “Well, I mean, darker isn’t always bad, right?” I offered to end the awkward silence.
“Ristan won’t even have sex with me. Since he doesn’t feed from sex, he says it isn’t good for our daughter. We don’t even know if we’re having a daughter. I can’t help but feel he will be let down if it is a boy. I mean, yeah, sex hurts sometimes, but I miss it! I miss him being the kinky bastard he used to be.” Olivia huffed and looked at us matter-of-factly.
“Ryder just shouted at me in front of the entire council. He told me to act and dress like the Queen of the Horde.” I sighed and leaned back in my chair, crossing one leg over the other. “I’ve been busting my ass until I’m exhausted. However, I still search for the Stag to understand how to control this endless pain ripping me apart from the inside out, which he doesn’t even notice. I get it, I do. I know he’s under a lot of strain, and that war is coming. I know that to run the horde, you have to lead by fear and strength. I don’t need to know everything, but being kept in the dark isn’t helping me help him.
“He replaced the entire war council without even mentioning it to me, and we’re supposed to be a team? How can I help if he keeps me in the dark? I’ve been standing around with my thumb up my ass for weeks while he flitters about, fairy fucking around while I wait.” I looked at Olivia and met her eyes because I knew she would understand. “He doesn’t touch me the way he used to, and it feels like we’re being ripped apart.”
Oliva nodded silently, and I continued. “The most I have gotten lately is a quickie on the balcony or bent over whatever was closest to us to be fucked. I can’t reach through to the man I love, and I’m losing him to this war.” I put my elbow on the arm of the chair, resting my forehead in the palm of my hand as I rubbed my temples. “I miss our children, and soon they’ll be leaving my father’s kingdom to go to the City of Gods.” I looked up, taking in all the women. “When they return, my kids could be old people! And what does it even mean to dress less human? Humans raised me, and he hasn’t cared about how I dress since forever.”
Everyone was silent, staring at me with expressions of horror or disbelief, totally at a loss for words. We were all lost in thought on how the men were behaving for several moments, and I smiled. I plotted, taking in the faces of the women who looked beaten, brow-ridden, and outright defeated with how they had been treated. Standing, I frowned before considering our options as I started pacing.
“We can take it and wait for them to realize the error of their ways, or we can remind them we’re women and we don’t fucking heel like dogs just because they demand it. I don’t know about you, but I’m dead fucking tired of being beaten down by the men.”
“Personally, I want to know how you plan to do the second option,” Ciara asked, pointing at her belly while Fury held onto her fingers.
“Like this,” I said, snapping my fingers and changing the entire room of women into slinky dresses. Ciara’s dress was red, representing dragons, and the bottom was a dark orange, resembling a flame. Icelyn’s dress was ice-blue with a darker blue bodice, drawing the eye to her milk-filled breasts, which had grown two cup sizes. I decked Darynda out in silver, while Olivia wore white, with a flowing skirt and sapphire blue streaks winding up to her waist to hide the fact that she was overly pregnant. Lilith wore nothing but shadows that slithered around her in the form of a dress, exposing just the right places to the eye when she moved.
My dress was black, with a deep V-neck that stopped at my pelvic bone, leaving