A Mother's Night Gift - S.J. Sanders Page 0,1

husband when so many women ended up alone had been a blessing, even though Betani had tried not think of how many children her husband had fathered in the Citadel. Overall, it hadn’t been a bad marriage. It had often been comfortable, and they developed a strong friendship, despite his wandering. He wasn’t cruel like many of the guards and huntsmen were, nor was he thoughtless when it came to his amorous pursuits outside of their home, keeping all evidence of his activities away from her and their children. There were times when she could pretend that there had been no other women, but she refused to lie to herself. And, in any case, the children that he gave her filled her heart with joy. She had been content with her life.

A smirk pulled her at her lips as she skirted a puddle of slush. She had put so much faith in the strength of her marriage that she never expected to end up alone. She had been wholly unprepared when everything changed and was left completely alone and at the mercy of the Citadel.

She hadn’t been able to make enough as a seamstress to keep up with their expenses, especially not after her youngest had fallen ill and she’d sacrificed the rent on their humble dwelling for medicine. Her daughter had recovered, but the landlord had been a stern woman with little patience for those who came between her and her money. After the loss of their home, they passed each day begging for scraps, barely surviving on the streets, an easy target for the cruelties of the huntsmen and the lawless. She knew even then that her situation had not been unique. It had been hard to ignore the impoverished women all around them. They had been just another family among numerous women, many with children, without a home. That was their life, day after day, until the housing and basic welfare assistance reforms.

With the Citadel delivered from the huntsmen, Betani and her children had been provided with a small apartment in one of the poorer districts. It wasn’t much, but she’d been grateful for it and the weekly stipend to provide for her children. That didn’t mean that her life was without cares, though it was marginally improved and provided hope for a better future for her children. The problem was that the new order didn’t magically remove all the predators from the Citadel… human ones.

Now, instead of dodging the masses who might prey on her family, she needed to avoid one person: Ava.

Ava Meril, the woman who “protected” her neighborhood with an iron hand, wasn’t among the worst among the warders, although she wasn’t particularly pleasant either. A tall, muscular woman with a sharp, cunning mind, Ava tormented the residents of the humble neighborhood in which Betani now lived, demanding coin and goods in exchange for “protection.”

Betani wasn’t exactly sure what she was being protected from, other than being assaulted directly by Ava. The story spun to her and her neighbors? Ava was protecting them from harm at the hands of criminals still preying on the city, or even the elusive Ragoru.

She snorted derisively to herself. As if anyone needs protection from Ragoru.

Although the Citadel had been opened for trade with the Ragoru, there had been no danger from their quarter. Betani actually enjoyed seeing the few Ragoru triads from afar who came into the city to trade and, despite their strange appearance, she had caught herself more than once fantasizing about the rumors of how fiercely the males loved and defended their shared mate.

Imagine! One woman with three husbands to care for her every need… Including those in the bedroom. She couldn’t even imagine how that would work. Just trying to picture it, however, didn’t disgust her as she heard from other women in the neighborhood when they would gossip about it with unconcealed shudders. Instead, it sent an illicit heat through her that was a little surprising. More importantly, the large males would be all the protection a family would ever need.

She doubted she would even have to fear Ava if she had males like that.

Not that it mattered. Even if a Ragoru triad presented themselves for immediate mating, Betani doubted that she would have the courage to go through with it and take a chance again with placing her fate in the hands of another. Not when her children’s happiness also hung in the balance.

With one hand, Betani patted the bulge in her