“You really don’t want to do this.” I spoke in a low voice.

  Duheart cocked an eyebrow, a small smirk on his lips. “Do what? I’m escorting you back to the queen as ordered. If I cannot prevent your death, such a thing is unfortunate. As for the others, they’re just dead weight.”

  “Heh… there is a time you will eat those words, and when the time comes, my face will be the st thing you see.”

  My words didn’t go over well through the queen’s men, or perhaps it was better to call them Duheart’s men. As for those who were following Lucil, there were only a handful of survivors, just like he had wanted. The men shifted their weapons, although no one dared attack without being given the word. Duheart’s smug expression diminished only slightly over my threat.

  “You’re insolent. We’ll see if you can survive.” He stepped aside and made a gesture with his sword. “Now, go.”

  I seriously did consider it. If going back down that path was certain death, then drawing the wyvern here wouldn’t be of any worth. If I was pnning to walk a path into death anyway, why fret about what way it would happen. I could just pull the trigger, and live with the consequences. For a moment, I did think I would attack. That’s when I heard Saria clear her throat.

  I snapped out of it, but it still felt like ripping off a band-aid. I made a gesture with my hand for everyone to stand down. Although the girls didn’t exactly have weapons drawn, my motion still gave out my decision to surrender. I slowly walked forward. As I did so, Baba stood up and gave me a worried gnce. I walked past her. I couldn’t deal with that right now. I could only deal with one thing at a time, and at the moment that thing was Duheart. All of my thought was locked on Duheart and everything I had heard about him. I don’t think a man had gone from being nothing to needing to be killed so quickly in my mind.

  I couldn’t wipe the dark expression off my face as I passed him by. My hands twitched slightly, but I didn’t go for my bde. If I believed for a second, I could have succeeded in taking his head, I would have. Once he was dead, none of his followers would have done a thing. It would have been so easy. My mother had wandered off into those tunnels who knew how long ago, and rather than saving her, I had to march where this fool pointed me, all to satisfy his lust for a woman who only resembled her. It was something worth ughing at.

  Saria gave me a worried look, while Ba stroked her bde as if asking if we should fight. In truth, even outnumbered as we were, there was a good chance that if we fought, many of these men would run. Not all of them were willing to forfeit their lives, as the sound of a confrontation would assuredly bring drakes and wyvern on this pce. Once they arrived, it was unlikely anyone would survive. I made a small gesture telling them to stand down. The only one who let out a relieved breath was Captain Moar.

  Baba looked guilty, and the rest looked worried. Mother had been traveling with us since the beginning, and even if she had her oddities, no one could deny her bravery, her determination, or her loyalty to me. I walked one step at a time, but every step felt like fire, ripping me away from the direction I wanted to go. Duheart grinned, a look of victory on his face as he managed to get everything he wanted.

  The girls went with me in the same formation we had taken the day before. The only difference was that Saria was by my side. I had kept Mother by my side the previous day, but that had been to keep her safe. Had I not taken my guard down in the illusive safety of that cave, she still would be safe.

  We exited the cave and began our track down the path, moving as a long line once again. This time, the men were haggard and the retive safety afforded by the horses was gone. Recalling from the previous day, it was the front that had been attacked first. Perhaps that was why our group had been pced in the middle, although that would be assuming that Duheart had even wanted us alive.

  “What is the pn?” Saria whispered my way.

  “Survive.”

  She blinked. “You don’t have a pn? You always have a pn?”

  “Never having a pn looks a lot like always having a pn,” I responded. “Just keep your eyes open and your head down.”

  “Hmph… even after I let you do all of those things to me. You’re still not going to talk?”

  I nearly tripped at her sudden words, breaking into a cough. “I’m sorry, let me?”

  “Naturally, I gave you my body so that you would take me into your confidence. You rarely tell the girls what you’re pnning, and they were worried. Once you had your fun, I expected you to be more open with me.”

  “If that were true, then Aeryn would know my life story by now.”

  Aeryn walking on the other side of me stiffened slightly but kept moving.

  “Does she not? She’s a maid. What she’s drawn from you is only reted to her duties as a made. She’d know your tastes, your favorite tea, where you like to be scrubbed in a bath. As a wife, my knowledge base differs drastically, both in what I know and what I need to know. That’s the only reason I slept with you.”

  I couldn’t believe what she was saying. I gnced over at Aeryn, whose desperate attempt to keep her face from having an expression seemed to say more than any look she could give. It seemed like she did know everything about me when it came to her maidly duties, such as how I liked it when she arched her back a certain way. I looked away to spare her any further disappointment.

  “I seem to remember having some choice in that.”

  “It’s cute you think that. However, whether it’s the maid or my sister, they all had reasons for sleeping with you, and they weren’t because of your raw sexual power.”

  “Should you be saying such a thing out loud? Aren’t you worried now that I know? Isn’t that the kind of thing you keep hidden?”

  “Has any woman ever hidden the fact she uses her body to get things from a man?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow. “I’m telling you now for the reason I slept with you then.”

  “So, that I open up?”

  “A woman opens her legs so that a man opens his heart. It’s only good sense.”

  “I suppose so...” I coughed awkwardly. “Although, I thought bedding you might make you a bit more docile.”

  “Then it appears neither of us has gotten what we wanted.”

  “That sounds a bit like you’re taking sex off the table.”

  “That’s another chip that only women have. Did you think that you slept with Aeryn two nights ago by accident? It had already been decided by us ahead of time, as was your ck of a woman st night.”

  “I see…”

  I did start to understand. Since we had slept together earlier this week, Saria had seemingly fallen in line, but this morning she woke up on the offensive. I didn’t doubt what she was saying was true, and even some of her words did a bit of psychological damage in one way or another, but I wasn’t sure why she was doing it. In her way, she was trying to comfort me. She was telling me that Mother’s capture wasn’t my fault. Since I hadn’t chosen to sleep outside a tent, how could I bme myself?

  It was also in part to vindicate Baba. I hadn’t directly bmed her for what happened, but I had also not told her. She might be a wizard of untold years, but even she could make mistakes. I should have addressed it before Baba started to lose confidence in herself. I was their leader, but in my rage and anger over Mother’s disappearance, I had momentarily shut down and cut the rest of the group from my thoughts.

  Although, it also didn’t get past me that she was threatening to cut me off from sex, and even subtly implying that at her word, I’d be deprived of all of the avaible sources. That was something I couldn’t tolerate.

  “Very well,” I said, then bit my tongue. “Since you insist, carefully check to my left.”

  “Good, I see you’ve come to your mmmph!” I kissed her roughly as she turned in the direction I pointed, up toward me.

  My tongue immediately attacked her mouth. For a second, she submitted dutifully, but then she immediately turned her head. As soon as she pulled away from my grip, she spat.

  “What did you… blood?”

  “We’ll see who is choosing to do what tonight,” I responded casually.

  Her eyes widened for a second and then narrowed to a gre. “Cheap tricks!”

  “I’d call that using the talents God gave me.”

  “That’s rich coming from a devil.” She snapped. “Did you forget where we were? We’re in the middle of wyvern territory! Do you dare to py games here? What if one of those creatures comes?”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  “Wh-what did you say?”

  “While we were talking, you gave me an idea.”

  “A-an idea?”

  “I remembered how… fragrant my wife could be when she was excited.”

  “Th-that… I don’t… you shouldn’t be smelling!” Her face turned red.

  “I also reason that such a smell would be very alluring to the drakes… who allegedly fancy woman so much.”

  Her eyes began to open in shock. “Y-you…”

  “I pnned to use Aeryn as bait. She’s used to the agony of my blood and could st te into the night. However, since my cute little wife volunteered herself, how could I refuse? As far as making it through the night, that will be your cross to bear.”

  “You’re attracting them here?” Realizing she spoke slightly too loudly, she lowered her voice and leaned toward me. “You said you didn’t have a pn!”

  Thankfully, the arrogant Duheart had picked the middle of the group where he’d be safest even while forcing me to the front. Thus, he wouldn’t have an opportunity to hear us whispering. As for the men directly behind us with the spears metaphorically poking our backs, they were much too worried about their survival to care about a couple of people arguing in hushed whispers.

  “I said never having a pn looks like always having a pn,” I responded, quirking an eyebrow. “Besides, a pn is just a choice I haven’t made yet.”

  “Oh, that’s rich… coming from the man who pns to watch me be split open by a drake! If I knew my husband had such proclivities, I’d have invited Captain Moar to watch!”

  “Please… I decided some time ago my life was going to have no NTR.” I scoffed. “Besides, I’d hardly say he has the mass to split my wife open.”

  “With you as a husband, what man wouldn’t feel that way?” She snapped back.

  “Ooh… I see how it is. This is about Mother, isn’t it?” I raised my voice.

  “What does your mother have to do with this?”

  “Aren’t you just afraid you can never amount up to her?” I asked, getting louder.

  “Shut it!” One of the men behind us hissed.

  Saria’s eyes narrowed, and then she hollered. “Never amount to her? Aren’t you just a giant momma's boy?”

  “You misunderstand… I’m saying you just don’t stack up.” Both of us looked down at her chest.

  She looked back up, her face twisting in rage. “You bastard! You weren’t arguing about my breast size when you were fondling with them!”

  “What are you two doing?” This time, it was my sister who had approached, standing right between us.

  We had stopped and been now facing each other. Our shouting was echoing through the canyon as we spoke. The brief moment of silence her interruption had broken was not followed by anyone else speaking, but of the distant cry of a wyvern. That wyvern’s cries were answered by another wyvern, and then another. It seemed like the entire cavern was coming alive with dozens, no hundreds of cries. The entire air was filled with the vibrations of their calls to the point where two people couldn’t speak next to each other.

  The three men who had been directly behind our party gnced at each other, and then bolted. They shoved Baba and Moar aside rudely, while Ba managed to jump out of their way. Racing past us, they started fleeing down the canyon. As they ran, a wyvern hit the canyon. It leaped off the edge, smming down on top of them. At this point, they were only about a hundred meters from my party. The men let out screams as they wyvern tried to drag one of them away.

  “Now!” I shouted over their cries, grabbing Saria and my sister and pulling them down the floor, and rolling.

  In this part of the canyon, there was an area with a low-rise burrow that had just enough space to crawl under. From above, someone was completely invisible. Even walking down the path, you wouldn’t be able to see someone hiding in that crevice. A wyvern probably could get a cw in there and eviscerate anything hiding, but first, they’d have to know it was there. Seeing where we were fleeing, the others didn’t need to think hard before also fleeing to the same location.

  As for how I pulled into the rock, I ended up lying on my side sandwiched between Saria and my sister. My sister was behind me, pressed against the edge of the crevice where it became too narrow to continue. Saria ended up in front of me, facing the canyon.

  “I thought you said you were going to attract them with my scent.” Saria hissed quietly back at me.

  “You did well to understand my intention. As for your question, it’s the drakes attracted by the scent. The wyvern seemed keener on noise. I saw an opportunity in these rocks and I took it. As far as your scent, that’s a pn for ter. At the moment, Baba is controlling the wind around us, so your scent shouldn’t leak out.”

  “This was your pn?” Lucil murmured behind me. “It would have been nice if you had informed the rest of us.”

  “Only lovers get to hear my pns. Isn’t that right, wife?” I squeezed Saria teasingly.

  “Hmph!”

  “We can’t stay here…” Lucil snapped.

  “We have to.”

  “No… this won’t work we need to… I need to…”

  “What?”

  “N-nevermind. Just keep away from me!” She pulled her body away as much as possible like I had the pgue or something.

  The three of us waited there like that. At first, there was a bunch of screaming, both from the wyvern and then from the guards. I saw the feet of many guards racing past. I heard Duheart at some point as well.

  “Did they run ahead? Go faster! Find them!”

  Thankfully, under the attacks of the wyvern, none of them were observant enough to notice my little cubby hole. I wasn’t sure how long it had been, but things inevitably calmed down. In the silence, all I could hear was the breathing of the two girls around me. Their breaths sounded somewhat bored. I reached out and touched Saria, and she immediately jerked, her body stiffening.

  “Are you already…”

  “This was your fault!” She hissed. “You made me like this.”

  It seemed like my aphrodisiac was working effectively. I hadn’t given her very much, but I guess I had gotten too used to Aeryn. Even when she was losing her wits, she’d try to hide it from me. I hadn’t realized just how easy Saria, who had only ever tasted my blood once, would be. It probably didn’t help she also had to remain in this spot, pressed up against my body.

  I wanted to tease her more, but I did need to worry about other things. We couldn’t immediately leave. Wyvern was still all but a death sentence. We weren’t too far from the cave, but it was still a good twenty-minute walk by my estimate. That was plenty of time to encounter a wyvern and death. I didn’t just need to wait for all of the wyverns to finish eating the men and chase after the ones who were still running ahead, but I also needed to account for the zy ones who came hoping for scraps far after the first group.

  Thus, we could only wait in the silence, with Saria slowly getting more and more worked up in my grasp. Such an arrangement was fine. Even though my wife was excited and writhing in my grip, I could control myself. That’s what I thought until I felt a hand on me. It wasn’t Saria’s hand, it was Lucil’s! She had her hand on my leg. I hadn’t noticed at first, but her hand had started moving up and down my leg, stroking it. Her fingers moved extremely slowly, using just the tips of her fingertips to tease me.

  She was also breathing hard, every exhation blowing hot air down the back of my neck. Her chest began to press up against mine like she was leaning into me slightly. Slowly, one of her legs wrapped around mine. I didn’t understand what she was doing. Once again. Lucil seemed to be doing things without a clear reason. Unfortunately, this was the worst time. With one girl writhing in the front, and the other seemingly acting in such a strange way, I naturally couldn’t keep myself from reacting.

  My pants seemed to form a tent in slow motion, pushing into Saria’s butt. As she felt it, she gave another jolt. However, this time, she started to rub her butt against it. As she pushed her butt back, she grew increasingly aggressive. She shoved her butt back roughly. This pushed me back, and my butt ended up pressing against Lucil.

  “Ahhn!” The soft cry that let out wasn’t Saria, it was Lucil.

  My eyes widened as she pushed back with her pelvis. She was… humping me? Saria was backing up from the front, while Lucil was pushing in the back. What was going on here?

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