a day, Reule. It would be cruel and selfish for us to trap her here, unable to ever leave or find her way home. What does she actually know about Guardians, or the bond we would have to form with her?”
Reule and Audun look devastated at my words, and Caelan glares menacingly. They know I’m right, but Reule still rubs the back of his neck sheepishly and argues, “She knows it involves sex with the four of us, and she seemed to recognize the rune marks that occur with the bond when she saw a picture of them in the book.”
My eyes seem to have a mind of their own, because my gaze drops to the smooth, tanned skin of Isla’s thighs that’s on display for us all to see. I wonder if her skin feels as soft as it looks, and I wonder what sort of sounds she might make if I were to brush my fingers underneath the hem of her shirt or kiss the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. I’ve always wanted to share a woman with my brothers. The magic of our nature makes it so that we have to share a wife, but we’ve never seriously considered claiming somebody before. All of us have had lovers and brief romances with women over the many years we’ve been alive, but most women are offended and scandalized at the mere idea of being shared between the four of us. Maybe things would be different with Isla…
No! I shake my head, desperately trying to rid myself of the thoughts. “Please, Reule. We’ve discussed this so many times, and nothing has changed. Look at the other Guardians’ wives. They’re all completely miserable. I don’t want things to be like that for us, and Isla would resent us. Maybe she knows what a rune mark is, and maybe she’s willing to be intimate with us. But how are you going to explain to her that being with us means becoming immortal? She’ll never change or age, never grow old. We’ll never be able to give her children. There’s no way for us to know how she would feel about those things.”
Every year, we’re allowed to visit with the Guardians of the other Kingdoms in our realm. Nearly all of their wives are resentful and wretched. I’m sure they started out as nice girls, but time has turned them cruel and unhappy. In the Kingdom of Aequvir, the Guardians’ wife shows obvious preference for the leader of their family and never gives her other husbands any sort of time or attention. And even worse, the wife of the Guardians in Kova is terrified of her husbands. It’s common knowledge that she spends nearly every day locked in her own room, and she cries any time her husbands try to show her any affection.
The Guardians of Briya before us were unhappy too. From the stories we’ve heard, their wife was mostly content. But she never came to terms with the inability to have children.
Just thinking of winding up in a scenario like that, with a wife who hates and despises me and my brothers, honestly makes me feel sick. Audun, Caelan, and Reule are the most important part of my life, and they deserve all the love and happiness in the world. But our life is so strange and unconventional. How could we ask any woman to give up every aspect of her life just to be with us?
“We won’t be like those other Guardians,” Audun mumbles. “We can make Isla happy.”
I take in the closeness between Reule and Isla, and I shake my head again. “She’s already showing Reule favoritism.”
Caelan snorts. “You might have something to worry about, but women find me charming. Just give me a day or two, and I guarantee I’ll be her favorite.”
Before I can point out that trying to become her favorite would literally only help my argument, he winks at Isla lasciviously. She giggles at him, and he grins triumphantly as he turns back around to focus on making dinner.
Audun appears a bit deflated, and Reule reaches around Isla to pat his shoulder consolingly. “Ignore Cael. You know he’s an idiot. Isla’s going to love you too. In fact, I think she’s interested in art. She was really impressed by the mural on my ceiling, and the map she drew doesn’t look half bad.”
“Really? Can I see it?” Audun asks excitedly.
I rub my hands over my face and curse inwardly. All three of them