Chapter Nineteen
“N-No,” Shaar protested in a weak, hoarse voice. “No, you kill me now. This is what you wanted. This is what you’ve dreamed about--”
“Don’t try to tell me what I want,” I snarled as I grabbed a fistful of his thin, brittle dark hair and pulled his face up to mine. “I’m taking you back to Gladewood. And you’re going to tell me everything you know.”
Shaar trembled in my hands for a moment longer before his bloodshot eyes rolled into the back of his head. His body sagged in my grip, and I let his head drop to the ground with a dull thud.
When I turned, Ellyn’s hands were emitting a bright orange light, and the yuriel ore was beginning to glow the same color. Eventually, the purple ore began to drip onto the ground, and the crystalline liquid slowly inched closer toward Shaar’s unconscious body.
Ellyn kept heating it until the molten ore reached one of his wrists and wrapped around it like a purple bracelet. I moved his other wrist close by, and the heated metal wrapped itself around that one, too, before sealing them both together.
Now that he was fully restrained, I pressed a finger to his neck and felt the faintest thrum of a pulse.
“He’s alive,” I said. “And he’ll stay that way until I’ve got what I need from him.”
“I’ll carry him back to the wagon,” Kri’osh said as he hoisted Shaar’s body into his arms. “Do what you need to do in here. We’ll wait outside.”
“I appreciate your help, guys,” I said as I gave each of them a grateful nod. “We’ll be out soon.”
Kri’osh grunted in acknowledgement before he hauled Shaar through the cavern exit, with Rennick and Vilrun following close behind.
Aila was standing in the same spot I’d left her. Her gaze was fixated on the dead bandit I’d killed in order to protect her, and her breathing was still ragged, so I approached cautiously.
“Aila?” I called her name softly. “Are you okay?”
“You… saved me,” she whispered as she continued staring at the body. “Why?”
“Because it was the right thing to do,” I said without hesitation.
“But I know your secret,” the Hand insisted as she finally tore her gaze away from the corpse and looked at the shard hovering on the platform. “You could have let it die with me.”
“Aila, even if you go back to town and tell Nuro what you know, I still wouldn’t have wanted you to die,” I said as I took a step closer. “You didn’t deserve that.”
“I…” Aila’s words died on her tongue before she swallowed tightly. “I won’t tell Nuro.”
“What?” I blinked.
“Your secret is safe with me,” she reiterated as her violet eyes met mine. “I won’t tell a soul.”
“Aila, if Nuro finds out, you could be killed for treason,” I argued. “I can’t expect you to put your life at risk like that.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone, Noah,” she said as she stepped closer to me, until our chests almost touched. “You have my word.”
Silence like this was the last thing I’d expected from a Hand of the King, but the seriousness on Aila’s face made me believe her. Out of all of the soldiers, she had been the only one I thought might see reason, and now, she was proving that theory true.
“Why?” I whispered the question burning at the back of my throat.
“Because I’ve been watching you,” she admitted as a blush coated her cheeks. “I heard what Gladewood was like before you arrived, and I can see what you’ve done for your people. You’ve given them food and protection. Not only that, but you’ve saved my life, too.”
“Aila…” I trailed off, but the soldier raised her hand and pressed it against my chest.
“I owe you a life debt,” the dark-haired half-elf said. “And I owe you the truth.”
“What truth?” I frowned as I prepared myself for the worst.
“Our true purpose was to find the shard and bring it back to the king, but I’m sure you already figured that out long ago,” she explained.
“I don’t know why the king wants the shard, but I do know that trying to give it to him will not be easy.
Shaar has turned into a withered husk, and I do not want the same fate to befall other men should they try to do the same. ”
I swallowed the lump in my throat at her blunt honesty. It was refreshing after all the tiptoeing Nuro had been doing around me and the matter at hand.
But it was still a sobering truth. They had been after the shard the entire time, but now I had someone on the inside who could hopefully keep them off my trail.
“This is goodbye for now, Noah,” the pretty Hand said as she finally removed her hand from my chest. “Rest easy knowing your secret remains safe.”
I didn’t know what else to say, so I just watched her slip through the tunnel and out of sight, and all that was left were me and my girls in the empty cavern.
“Looks like someone’s got another crush,” Raeth teased, which made me whirl around to see all four of my girls huddled together and giggling.
“W-What?” I choked out. “I don’t have a crush. Especially not on a Hand of the King.”
“Your rosy cheeks say otherwise, Noah.” Tirii smirked as she leaned forward to press her finger against one of my cheeks.
Her finger was cool, and when I pressed my own hands to my cheeks, I realized how warm they were.
“Stop,” I groaned as I tried to shake away the blush like a wet dog. “I don’t have a crush.”
“Hey, we don’t blame you,” Tirii said as she pressed herself against my side. “She’s a very beautiful Tei’Lorran.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her closer to my chest. I used my other to pull Karrida against me, too, and then I stepped forward until Raeth and Ellyn were pressed against us.
“Today was close,” I sighed as I glanced at the shard still floating across the cave, now freed from its prison. “I could have lost everything. Including all of you.”
The teasing atmosphere immediately died down, and Tirii pressed a little closer to my chest.
“But you didn’t,” the huntress said. “The shard is okay, and we’re okay.”
They were right. But the feeling of not having control over my body had been terrifying. I never wanted to feel that helpless ever again. I needed some semblance of control, and I needed to remind myself that my girls were still okay.
“Noah, maybe we should head home and--”
Ellyn broke off with a squeak when I suddenly lurched forward and scooped her up into my arms, and her legs wrapped around my waist as I carried her over to the raised, mossy podium.
The shard floated higher to give us some space, and I made a mental note to have a proper reunion with it once the feral need to claim my girls passed.
Ellyn’s legs parted as I settled between them, and I looked down at my wife with a devoted hunger.
The other girls slinked over and climbed onto the podium around her. They knew the drill, and they knew exactly where this was going.
Raeth leaned over and unbuckled the straps on Ellyn’s armor, while Tirii and Karrida shucked off their own garbs.
Once Ellyn’s chest was freed from its tight leather wrapping, I pulled the collar of her dress down until her breasts were exposed to the cold cavern air. Her nipples immediately pebbled, and I leaned down to latch my mouth onto one of them.
The blonde moaned and arched into my touch as my tongue swirled against the sensitive peak, and when I slid my hand between her thighs and rubbed against her clothed pussy, she bucked into my hand.
“Someone’s eager,” Raeth teased as she removed the last piece of her armor.
“You’d think she hasn’t been the one getting Noah all to herself,” Tirii added with a dangerous smirk.
“Are you jealous?” I asked after I pulled my mouth away from Ellyn with a pop.
“Maybe a little,” the huntress admitted as her cheeks flushed a baby pink.
I glanced down at my wife, who was still flushed, but she gave me a subtle nod.
Then I moved out from between her legs and pulled Tirii down beside her instead.
The huntress gasped as her back hit the moss, and when I yanked her pants down in one fluid motion, she sat up on her elbows to glance down at me in surprise.
“What?” I asked as I settled between her thighs. “You’re jealous, right?”
“That’s not what I meant--”
Tirii’s protests were cut off by a deep moan as I slid my fingers between her folds. She was already dripping wet, and I pulled my fingers out just so I could suck them into my mouth.
I groaned at the taste of her sweetness coating my tongue, and I felt my cock strain against my pants. I practically tore Tirii’s underwear off before I tugged my jeans and briefs down just enough to free my aching length.
“Please,” Tirii whined as she spread her legs invitingly. “Give it to me, Noah.”
“This is all you’ve been thinking about, isn’t it?” I asked in a husky voice as I pumped my dick a few times. “Me being inside you again.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The brunette nodded frantically. “Please don’t make me wait any longer.”
“It would be cruel if I did, wouldn’t it?” I teased as I rubbed the tip of my dick against her entrance.
“Noah likes to play with his food,” Raeth purred as she lowered her head against Ellyn’s shoulder. “And it’s fun to watch.”
“You’ll get your turn, don’t worry,” I said as I wetted my dick in Tirii’s juices. “You’ll all get your turn.”
I glanced up to see the shard still hovering above us like a silent sentinel, and I finally felt the adrenaline start to give way to a bit of gratitude.
But when I drove my hips forward and buried myself inside Tirii’s tight pussy, that gratitude quickly burned back into feral hunger.
“Oh!” Tirii cried out and tugged me forward until my chest was pressed against hers. She clawed at my back, even though my armor was still protecting it, and I heard her nails drag down the material.
“Fuck, you feel so good,” I hissed through gritted teeth as I buried my face into her hair.
“S-So do you,” the huntress whined as she wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me in even deeper. “Don’t be gentle. It’s been too long for that.”
I growled at her words and gripped her thighs with both of my hands. I pulled her legs out to allow me better access, and then I set a brutal and punishing pace.