Chapter 6
Ozanna watched me with narrowed eyes as I stormed toward her, unable to conceal my fury and frustration, though she was not the source of either. Dulanzo was. Of course he’d known her odd behavior was my doing. I’d considered that risk before I talked to her on my own. The point was to keep him from doing more than roughing her up, but he didn’t react the way I’d anticipated. He’d never handed one of his little pets over to someone else before the novelty wore off. This was some kind of test—an attempt to uncover my motivations. Was I trying to protect the woman or was I simply aggravating him as a diversion? Or possibly even take the woman from him, which was foolish because all I’d have to do is wait until he was ready to share. Not that I’d partaken in the past.
Yes. It was a suitable counter to my earlier actions. If I followed his orders, he would know I wasn’t trying to protect her. If I didn’t, he’d assume it was a distraction. Or should I try for the red herring and make him think I wanted the woman for myself? Which did I want him to believe? Which would play out better in the long run?
While I disliked taking someone against their will, I could do it if I had to … in fact my body responded enthusiastically to the sight of the curves over her athletic frame. She didn’t even bother to bend a leg and hide her cunt or the sparse curls around it.
No, arousal wasn’t the same as willingness to do such a thing, and it would only serve to make enemies of her mates.
So, the herring it is.
Instead of grabbing her ankle and dragging her closer, I snapped up the blanket and tossed it over her before turning back to the door so, just maybe, she wouldn’t see the effect she had on my fucking trousers.
I stood by the door as if listening for eavesdroppers though I was actually desperately trying to will away my arousal. There were so many things my self-loathing could have latched onto, but it chose how I’d embarrassed Rhemvile the day before. The confused sadness on his face. How I’d been a wretched bastard to a simpleton that was just happy to see me and wanted to please me. A normal, healthy person wouldn’t react the way I had. A normal, healthy person would have smiled and teased the beautiful simpleton back before fucking him to our mutual satisfaction. But normal, healthy people didn’t live here.
Ozanna sighed heavily. I couldn’t be sure why. Probably relief that I’d gone for the blanket. Because while the view had been magnificent, she’d also looked cold. Her pale pink skin marbled with white from where it had been in contact with the chill air for too long. Surface dwellers just didn’t seem to fare as well in the subterranean cold.
When I’d thoroughly flattened my cock with how awful a person I was, I peeked out of the door to actually make sure there was nobody there. “They’ve all left,” I announced and crossed my arms over my chest. “What the fuck did you say to him?
Ozanna shook her head and told me about the conversation she’d had with Dulanzo.
“So, he only suspects I’m undermining his games with you.” Which made sense. He only seemed able to listen in on conversations he was aware were happening. He had no idea I was down here before until after I reported my visit with her. He was certainly listening now, but I had to carry on as if I didn’t know it without giving away too much.
“I take it he can’t get hard if he isn’t being resisted?” Ozanna asked, one corner of her mouth twisted in a half frown.
I scrunched my face in disgust. “Correct,” I answered. “He knows I dislike taking someone against their will, compliant or not. This,” I gestured between us, “is a warning.”
“So,” Ozanna said, raising her chin in challenge, “what are you going to do?”
I looked at the blood on the floor and pile of bloody linens. I wasn’t going to rape the woman, but I was truly at a loss at how to fake the task if he was listening. So, I put my hands on my hips and sighed. “Not put anything in your mouth, it seems.”
She snorted and barked a laugh. “But what are you really going to do?”
I let my eyes wander around the room, hoping something would trigger inspiration. It came to me when I spotted her discarded clothes. “I’m going to rub the inside of your trousers over my skin so your … intimate scent is on me.” That would reassure her while giving Dulanzo something believable. She’d already had the impression that I might want to keep her to myself and he’d readily believe selfish, shallow motivations.
“Ugh, fine,” Ozanna groaned in disgust. “It’s better than the alternative.”
I clucked my tongue in disapproval and untucked my blouse. Nobody could accuse me of being charming, but that didn’t stop me from trying. “Excuse me, I do know how to please a female,” I teased with a smirk. “There’s no need to be insulting.”
She rolled onto her side and stared at me in disbelief for a heartbeat. “You’re insulted?”
I undid the top two buttons of my trousers, snagged hers off the ground and started rolling its waistband aside. “You wouldn’t be a little insulted if the roles were reversed?”
She tipped her head and shrugged, conceding the point. “Dulanzo told me you’re the one that decided to kidnap me. You’ll just have to live with the knowledge that it makes you … unappealing.”
“Well, were you not so appealing I might have left you in Bergellon,” I admitted. Granted it was her appeal to Lobikno and Lhoris that compelled me to act, which she knew. “Though I must admit, after getting to know you a little, I wouldn’t mind winning you over.”
I rubbed the inner seam of her trousers across my belly, under the waistband of my underpants, giving it a thorough wash of her scent.
She scoffed at my words and frowned while she watched me. “Then you have a long road ahead of you,” she said, the words heavy and droll.
Which was fair. Perhaps if someone had spirited me away from this place and given me to another people to raise, a road like that wouldn’t be so long. Winning Rhemvile over hadn’t been difficult, all I had to do was show him I would handle him gently. But he’d been raised in another warband, and this woman would have different standards I wasn’t familiar with. The best I could do was be honest.
“One might argue that I’m the better choice, between Dulanzo and me,” I sighed and tossed the pants within her reach. “His road has a very different destination.”
She raised a brow and offered me a bitter little smile. “Of that, I have no doubt.”
“Do you think you can continue to fake your compliance?” I asked. Her mates would arrive in a day or two at the most. She could walk away, more or less unscathed, if she was able to control her temper. “Can you hold Dulanzo off?”
“I don’t know,” She admitted with a shudder. “It’s easier said than done. If you hadn’t arrived when you did, I probably would have started fighting.” She pulled the blanket snug around her. “Being so passive in the face of a threat isn’t in my nature.”
I’d seen it in her eyes upon arriving. No doubt Dulanzo had too. “I assumed.” I nodded and gestured to the garment on the bed. “Get dressed.”
She pointed to draw my attention to the footboard and the wet shirt draped over it. “Avry bled all over it. I had to rinse it before got sticky.”
“Do I want to know what he put in your mouth?” I asked warily.
“Well, I’d say ask him, but he would have to write it down if he hadn’t drowned in his own blood,” She answered with a sigh. “I’m not fond of surprise tongue.”
I’d chosen Avry thinking he wouldn’t bother harassing her. To my knowledge, he hadn’t assaulted any of Dulanzo’s past pets. I shook my head in disappointment. Such a fucking waste. But I couldn’t fault her.
“I didn’t think he’d do something like that.” I buttoned my trousers, but left the blouse untucked. It would help hide the stirring of my cock if it had a mind to do it again. “I’ll send some more clothes for you later.”
She tugged on the pants under the blanket, and I slowly climbed into bed with her. The look she gave me, one part threat, one part challenge, one part disbelief.
“I’ve had more opportunity than most to sully you, girl.” She still watched me warily, so I softened my tone and continued. “I still have to attend to the child. It’s a pleasant process and it really is nice to relax through it,” I explained, almost apologetically.
“That’s when Avry made his move,” she snapped. “I’d rather not relax.”
“Well, that’s fine then.” I shrugged and settled beside her. “You lay there and be unhappy, I’ll relax.”
I reached for her hips, maintaining the distance, and she didn’t pull away or try to murder me. Once situated, I closed my eyes and did exactly what I said I would, relaxing into the pillow.
Gods knew I needed it. I didn’t even get to trance the night before, nor had I time to eat more than a bite or two of food—not that I was hungry—and I was weary from scheming. There had been many clandestine meetings with the officers and scouts I could count on when the time came to act. They believed my plan was solid enough to work without giving them away if the first step fell through. I’d be the only one with their head on the chopping block if I failed. In my long life here, I’d come to see the value of preserving the lives of allies. If I couldn’t pull this off, the elves here still needed someone to oust our stagnant commander.
The scouts hadn’t seen the younger Virras yet and Dulanzo made his move on Ozanna sooner than I’d hoped. I might actually need to have someone watch the entrance to the prison wing from now on. If I was going from simply undermining his hobby to stealing the center of it, he would likely double down on his activities. I’d need to intervene if he tried to attack her again, which would fall in line with the narrative. He need not know I simply wanted to send her home with her mates whole.
This new approach would leave Rhemvile at risk though. I was trying to steal Dulanzo’s toy, so he might try to hurt mine. I just didn’t know how to protect my idiot. I couldn’t put him under guard. I didn’t have any place away from Dulanzo’s influence where I could hide him away. The only defense I could offer was my indifference. Should I give him to someone else? Someone I could trust? Something about that didn’t sit well, though.
Ozanna’s quiet voice interrupted my churning thoughts before I could consider it further. “Do unborn half-elves need someone to do this for them?”
I inhaled and sighed, not bothering to open my eyes. I couldn’t be mesmerized by her mouth if I didn’t look at her. “No, the human part of them carries on just fine without this. Their potential for power, however, is diminished.”
“My elven father wasn’t around,” she mumbled. “I guess he never knew about me.”
“Perhaps,” I answered. “Your mother could have sent him away. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for him to leave had he known.”
“Why is this baby precious to you?” she asked, suspicion in her voice. “You value them little enough once they’re here.”
I pursed my lips in irritation. She was observant enough to detect a lie, so I had to settle for a half-truth. “We need soldiers. And since this one is Lobikno’s there’s a chance it could be born with noble silver in its blood. The child could be valuable enough, even with a little human in them, to sell to a lesser house for breeding noble silver into their bloodline and raise their status.
“That’s awful,” she hissed. “What is noble silver?”
I finally opened my eyes and stared hard into hers. “If I answer this question, will you be silent and let me rest?”
She gave me a flat look. “Fine.”
“It’s a once powerful bloodline. An ancient blessing from Irnon to the house of her most ardent follower. The bloodline is diluted now, and the potency of that magic has faded, but having a child born with bright silver hair, instead of tarnished strands like mine, is a status symbol.
Her eyes wandered to my hairline, and she scrunched up her nose. “Your hair looks the same as Lobikno’s.”
“You don’t have our gift for seeing in total dark,” I explained in near exasperation and slammed my eyes shut before they could catch on her lips again. “Only another dark elf is capable of seeing it.”
“Oh.”
“Now hush,” I hissed.
“I still don’t understand,” she continued. “How would these half-dark elf children be acceptable for breeding? Not only are they part human, they’re also part wood elf.”
I groaned in frustration. If I didn’t need her to trust me, I’d have stuffed a sock in her mouth. “We and the woodland people are the same species. If one of us had a child with a woodland elf, the babe would be born a complete dark elf, or a complete wood elf. There’s nothing in between.”
She was silent for a heartbeat before asking, “Why? That’s not how it is when different varieties of humans have children.”
“We aren’t humans,” I growled. “Ozanna, please, for the love of night, would you shut the fuck up?”
“I’m just trying to understand,” she grumbled.
“I’m just trying to rest,” I groaned. “Do I have to threaten to hurt you to make that happen?”
“Sorry, I just don’t know who they’re sending next,” she said. “I may never see you after this and you’re … the closest thing I have to a friend here.”
While it was good to know she did think at least that well of me, I couldn’t have her say such things. I opened my eyes and let them bore into hers. “Listen well, child, because this is the greatest piece of wisdom I can impart to you,” I said. “Nobody has friends here. Nobody has allies.” I jutted my chin out at her. “We are all villains here. There are only people who are a greater threat, a lesser threat, or to whom you are a threat. Today I am a lesser threat because you’re more valuable alive. I might not force myself on you, but I would slit your throat in a heartbeat if it furthered my goals. Do you understand me?”
“Why help me at all then?” she bared her teeth at me in a sneer. “And don’t give me that it makes more work for me bullshit.”
“One doesn’t speak their ambition out loud here.” My fingers tightened on her hips, and I gave her a hard look, trying to emphasize the importance of the words.
She cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. I gave her a nod and was pleased to see realization dawn behind her eyes.
“Beware,” I said, my voice less severe, “the only thing that matters to my people is power, of which there are many kinds. We lust for it. We kill for it. We die for it. Be grateful that it works in your favor right now.”
“Fine,” she said but mouthed the words thank you.
I closed my eyes and after a few quiet minutes, I finally relaxed into a trance. While doing this for Ozanna didn’t have the same impact as if it were my own offspring, feeding a pregnancy really was a damned pleasant experience if you could tolerate the other person. But I must have been able to tolerate her better than she could me because a pitiful hiccup followed by a sniffle and the scent of tears stirred me from my trance.
“Tears won’t get you anywhere either,” I muttered.
“I don’t want to cry,” she grumbled. I cracked one eye open and found her wiping her scowling face. “I can’t help it, though. There’s just no knowing what I’ll wake up to next.”
My brow pinched, and I felt my lip twitch into a brief sneer. She was pathetic. “It’s the effect of carrying a child,” I explained with a resigned sigh. “While I’m doing this, it isn’t … inappropriate if you need to rest your head on me,” I hedged before adding, “As long as you remain quiet.”
Acts of kindness were subversive in this place, as was affection. Believe me, the irony of my only ever expressing those things in the prison wing was not lost on me. Maybe I was a sucker for pretty, pathetic halfies, or maybe I also occasionally wanted to rest my head on someone when I felt weak. Either way, I didn’t allow myself to consider it beyond that.
Ozanna clutched the blanket against her chest and scooted her upper half closer, tucking her head under my chin and resting her cheek against the collar of my shirt. I adjusted my head for comfort and her silent sobs gradually trailed off. “There, now be silent and let me rest, child.”
She nodded her head and finally drifted off.