The Enemy's Triumph Read online

  “You’re giving me leave to kill someone if they attack me. They’ll know it at a glance.” She had to process that and only came to one point. “Alchan, if any of them try to hurt me when they arrive, I was already planning on treating them like I did during my days in the pit. Quickly and without mercy.”

  “You think I don’t understand that?” he asked, giving her the most royal look she had ever seen on him as if she was foolish for not understanding the depth of his wisdom. She had a feeling it was just to make her seem ridiculous for even pointing it out. “Mave, my unwanted sister, I’m trying to keep them alive by telling them not to try to begin with.” He reached out and patted her shoulder. “I need them to die on the battlefield, not in camp.”

  Everyone in the Company laughed except her and Alchan. It was a morbid gesture, but one she could appreciate.

  “Thank you,” she said finally, looking around. Her males surrounded her back, all smiling. She saw Nevyn, Varon, and Kian grinning. Varon slapped Kian’s hand as he tried to swipe his finger through something for a taste. Rain and Zayden were together, looking like there had never been a problem between the father and son.

  “Thank you,” Alchan replied. “Now, everyone eat. Mave, I want you to wear those around the city for a little while. There are three sets of the armor so you can change out.”

  “Three?” Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

  “Alchan and I have five sets of our armor apiece,” Luykas said in a mischievous whisper. “I talked him down from the entire royal treatment.”

  Mave threw up her hands and began to laugh. Included, accepted, respected, and most importantly, loved—she was all of those things. She sat between Matesh and Brynec, letting her wings brush against theirs, and watched several of the males around her dive into the food.

  This was a good day, and even with the arrival of the Andinna from Elliar and Myrsten looming over her head, she felt light. She also remembered the silver lining of the breakout down south and the imminent arrival of the freed slaves. Two of the most underrated and unremembered people in her life should be on those ships. She promised herself to throw them a feast just like this one. It was only fitting for the human and the Elvasi who risked their lives and everything they had built only to see her to freedom.

  Satisfied with that idea, she allowed herself to relax and ate with the Company, smiling as they all started telling stories and joking around.

  3

  Rainev

  “That was a really nice thing for you to do,” Rainev commented as he sorted through Alchan’s scrolls.

  “It was needed,” the king replied gruffly. Rain knew when Alchan was all out of emotional energy to spare for the day. Understanding Alchan now better than he ever had before, he started recognizing the signs of the king and bedru who wanted to be alone because he was feeling guilty over something. Sometimes, it was just guilt over existing, and other times, it was guilt over what he had to ask of those around him. No matter the reasons, Rain taught himself how to recognize it.

  “It was,” Rain agreed, deciding not to point out Alchan had done all the legwork on his own. He’d told the Company he was planning it, and Luykas helped a little more than everyone else, but none of them, including the king’s brother, had known about the royal insignia he wanted to give her. Rain had even asked Luykas if it had been part of the plan because he had rolled with it so well. Luykas had only shaken his head in response, eyeing his brother much the same way Rain was eyeing Alchan now.

  Their king was changing, for better or for worse. He’d said it behind the waterfall, how he was growing close to everyone around him, caring more, involving himself. Rain had noticed, and now Luykas had noticed.

  Because they were in their private quarters, Rain reached out and grabbed Alchan’s wrist. They had an entire building to themselves, and the upstairs held several rooms they claimed separately. Not that they slept separately. Rain found himself next to the big male every night because he wanted to be there.

  And every night, I’ve slept like a fucking baby. Easy to do when someone is helping exhaust you.

  It took a moment, but Alchan turned to look at him, then down at the hand Rain had on him.

  “We’re not in my room,” he whispered. “Rain…”

  “We’re not in your house,” Rain pointed out, stepping closer. “Plus, no one comes here. They meet us on the roof.”

  Listen to me. I want you right here. It’ll ease you.

  Alchan growled softly, leaning down. They stared at each other for only a second before Rain naturally dropped his eyes, submitting to the more dominant Andinna. A large hand found his hip and slowly moved around his side to his ass.

  “Those rules are to keep you comfortable,” Alchan reminded him softly. “This is also my house, so they still apply.”

  Rain noticed how Alchan was now holding him, their chests brushing together. They only got home moments before, and the first thing Alchan had done was strip out of the official armor and put on more supple, simple armor without a chest piece, matching more with what Rain and the other males wore.

  “You seem tired,” Rain murmured. “I thought we could call it early tonight, and…”

  “I want to go camping, and we can’t right now. Going to sleep early won’t help me,” Alchan said with a sigh, leaning down further until his forehead was resting on Rain’s shoulder. It seemed like an uncomfortable position, but Alchan made no outward sign he disliked it. “Why did the celebration have to last all day?”

  “Because we had enough food to feed an army and a group of males willing to eat for the rest of the day.” It was just after sundown. Normally, he and Alchan would be up until the middle of the night working. In the last two weeks, they settled down to rest at the same time as well, even if they didn’t have sex every night. “You know, we technically share a sister now,” Rain smirked.

  Alchan’s answering growl was impressive but tired.

  “Let’s not talk about that,” he said, kissing Rain’s neck, his chest still rumbling. Rain moaned and let his head fall back.

  “Why not? It’s funny.”

  “It’s not funny that everyone in the Company has adopted you informally in some way or another,” Alchan retorted.

  “Why?”

  “Because it only makes me feel bad about this.” Alchan’s hand on his ass squeezed. He stepped into Rain, forcing the smaller male to step back, hitting the table, and sending papers everywhere.

  “You shouldn’t feel bad about us,” Rain whispered as Alchan dragged his Andinna canines over a sensitive spot.

  “Andinna culture says this is perfectly acceptable,” Alchan whispered, his hands exploring now. Rain’s focus began to narrow to just those two points on his body where Alchan’s body heat could be felt, skin on skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “And it is. We’re not related. You claim Mave as a sister, and I do as well, but that speaks to relationships we hold privately with her. You claim my brother as your uncle, and he looks at you as a nephew, but that has nothing to do with me.”

  “Then why are you bothered?”

  “Because they’ll hate me for ruining you,” Alchan growled, one of his hands moving up to grab Rain’s hair. Rain hissed in both pain and pleasure at the grasp and greedily accepted the strong kiss Alchan gave him. He started undoing Alchan’s breeches, hoping for more. The king pulled back, however, leaving Rain bereft.

  “And I like ruining you,” Alchan informed him huskily. “My room.”

  Rain smiled.

  Rain woke up, stretching out between a hard body and luscious black fur—wolf. Rain knew the pelt well since he was cozied up on it nearly every morning. Alchan was breathing slowly, unmoving. Rain took the chance to wiggle away and try to stand, only for the king to very quickly pull him back down and growl as their mouths clashed. Alchan rolled him to his back, and Rain submitted, not giving any fight. Before Rain knew better, Alchan was settled over him, the bedru’s wings blocking Rain’s view of the
room.

  “It’s too early for you to be up and trying to work.” Alchan kept his face close enough for their lips to brush as they spoke.

  “I need to do my business and start breakfast, and today could be busy.” Rain really did have things he needed to get started for the day—not that it ever stopped Alchan from trying to convince him to stay in the soft fur just a little longer.

  Alchan growled, but there was no heat in it. Rain knew the difference between an angry growl and a defeated one. This one, like it was nearly every morning, was defeated. Alchan had a variety of ways he expressed his emotions through the one sound. He growled at everything for a million reasons, most of them going unnoticed by everyone except Rain. It was masculine and stupid, and Rain thought it was sexy, but he never told anyone that last part.

  “Please. I really do need to piss—”

  Alchan kissed him once more, then rolled off him, moving further away. Rain’s face heated as he stood up and knew with no uncertainty, Alchan was watching his every move with undiluted sexual heat. He moved fast to pull his pants up before Alchan’s control broke, and he found himself on his back again. It had happened before and would happen again in the future, but this morning, Rain really needed to get moving.

  He opened the door and checked the halls for any visitors wandering around. So far, no one had done it, but he couldn’t be too careful. Alchan was the same way. They didn’t want anyone to know about them, not yet. Maybe not ever since they didn’t really understand what was going on. Alchan once promised him the world, but Rain knew better. Alchan needed to find a female one day and have children. That made it complicated.

  So, they kept the secret and enjoyed the moments they stole together, but that was all for now.

  Rain closed Alchan into his room to get ready and went down the hall to the fancy bathing room the building had. While the Andinna didn’t normally put the fancy indoor plumbing in buildings, the Elvasi and humans did, which meant Kerit, a major trading city, had it. Rain loved it, enjoying not having to go out into the cold to do his business. He knew the logistical problems with installing it into their cliffside homes, but he always wondered why community buildings in normal villages never installed the interesting engineering feat. It was unfair to know it existed and not regularly be able to use it.

  Maybe I’m just whining because I don’t tolerate the cold as well as most Andinna. It gets a whole lot colder in the Dragon Spine and in Anden than it ever did in Olost.

  Which was impressive. He grew up thinking Olost winters were tolerable. Anden was bitterly cold in comparison.

  Once he was done, he went to his quarters and found clean breeches for the day and headed out to get the early morning errands done. He went around the city and took requests and complaints from the other Andinna to pass along to Alchan since there was no mativa with them to do the job. They were all warriors, respecting Rain’s position as Alchan’s nemari enough to know he could help them if anything could be done at all.

  “Rainev!” someone called out as he left out the front door. He turned to see a warrior walking fast down the cobblestone streets. Rain knew the male’s face. He was standing in as one of the butchers for their Kerit operation, helping to keep everyone stocked and fed for their stay.

  “What’s wrong?” Rain asked, not bothering to start with a good morning or any other pleasantries.

  “A wyvern came in with a brood and took out half of the herd last night,” the male explained, groaning. “We need to move them closer to the city.”

  “A brood? How many young?” Rain frowned. If a wyvern had a brood big enough to fly and hunt, then the young were ready to leave the nest in the spring and summer.

  “We lost twenty head. With how a young wyvern can eat, probably five or six.”

  “Easy prey for a big family,” Rain said softly, nodding. “Let me report it now, so a plan can start being formed to push them to a wilder area.”

  “Can’t you just fly out and…scare them a little?” The male shrugged.

  Rain laughed. “I’ve never flown with a wild wyvern, and I definitely haven’t fought one. I don’t want to risk the latter and possibly injure a breeding female when their numbers are so low after Elvasi hunting. Bring the cattle in closer to the city and ask for some of the males who aren’t doing much to start a guard on the livestock. Have you talked to any of the other farms out there about this?”

  “Not yet, but wild animals take some here and there all the time. Wolves and gryphons aren’t nearly so…destructive.”

  “Of course they aren’t, but maybe all the livestock can be brought to fields closer to the city, just in case. We’re going to run out of food if we keep losing livestock, and it’s winter when hunting is scarce for everyone.”

  “I’ll go out and ask around and see what we can do.”

  “Thank you.”

  The warrior nodded and jumped for the air. Rain sighed, turning back to go inside. He needed Alchan to know about this sooner rather than later. Rain found Alchan leaving his room, still tying off the laces of his breeches.

  “We had a wyvern and her brood decide to cut a healthy herd in half last night,” Rain informed him without preamble.

  “Cattle?” Alchan asked. When Rain nodded, the king cursed. Cattle were rarer than sheep and goats and much more expensive. “I’ll need to get Nevyn in on this. He knows the region better than I do.”

  “Why?”

  “Wyverns that live this close to the sea are a little different from ones that live in the mountains. They sometimes have seaside cliff homes that could be impossible to find without risking your life.” Alchan started walking down the stairs, forcing Rain to keep up with him. “Don’t think about going out there and trying to find it on your own. If it’s a female with a brood, she’ll either try to kill you or mate with you, and both of those possibilities disturb me.”

  “Me too,” Rain agreed, not liking those ideas. “By my strongest estimates, she has five or six young adults about to fly out of the nest if they’re hunting with her now.”

  “That’s a good and a bad thing. She’ll be more willing to give up her nest and settle somewhere else, but the young could help keep us out of the nest or help her eat us. Shit.”

  “So, what do we do about it?” Rain frowned, unsure what Alchan meant by that.

  “We send in a team. They find her nest, everything she’s collected to roost with her young. If the young are old enough to move on, we set the nest alight, and they give up on it quickly. It’s how wyverns chase each other out of territories to claim better space—a clear and easy message. Since her brood is probably ready to go it alone, she’ll find an easier place to live. If they couldn’t fly yet or survive on their own, those staying in Kerit would just have to wait her out and wait for them to be ready to move.” Alchan sighed as they walked into the kitchen. After a second, his eyes narrowed on the space. “You said you were going to make breakfast.”

  “Well, I was going to do my rounds first. I wasn’t expecting you to be up when I walked up there.”

  “I don’t sleep after you leave,” the king informed him blandly. “I wait for you to come back. I’ll make breakfast. I’m better at it, anyway. You get Nevyn and Varon and send them here for a meeting about this, then finish your rounds. Who knows what sort of trouble a wyvern might have caused others last night?”

  “Yes, sir.” And like that, their relationship was in the background. He had duties, and his king had a problem that needed fixing.

  Leaving Alchan once again, he went back outside and ran to Nevyn and Varon’s current home. He didn’t bother knocking since it was King’s business, and found them eating breakfast as well.

  “Alchan needs you. Wyvern problem,” he said quickly.

  “Ah. Coastal thing?” Nevyn groaned.

  “Yeah. He has the details. I need to get to my rounds. You’ll find him in his residence.”

  “We’ll get there as soon as possible,” Nevyn said, jumping up. Rain
shook his head at the male’s nudity, then left. It was finally time for him to get to his damn rounds.

  He dealt with those in the city first, finding different bands of warriors, male and female alike, as they went about their duties. Most were trying to make the city livable for Andinna again and secure for any who wanted to stay for the city’s defense. The one thing the rebellion couldn’t allow was Kerit being taken back by the Empire. Many just wanted to know if they were going to go back to the village. Some had made their decision and wanted to know if it would be honored.

  Rain made a mental note of all of them and told them all the exact same thing. Come closer to riding out, there would be a time when each unit could report to the Andinna in charge of them with their requests. Decisions would be made quickly after that. Alchan would try to honor every request.

  Once he was satisfied with those inside the city, he jumped into the air and flew out to the homesteads surrounding it. He went to the furthest first and knew by the scorch marks around the field that this was where the wyverns had decided to get an easy meal. He saw several Andinna talking, pointing at things as they spoke, and landed ten feet from them but didn’t announce himself. He waved when one of them saw him.

  “Any word from His Majesty about the wyvern problem?” a female asked, snappy and upset.

  “He’s going to talk to someone who grew up in the region to formulate a plan to burn the wyvern and her brood out of her nest. That will hopefully push her to a new region.” Rain didn’t go any closer. “Bring the herds in closer—”

  “We’re trying to figure out how. Let us know when Alchan has the problem dealt with,” she growled.

  This time, he growled back, and her eyes went wide. Several of the males stepped back from her, obviously getting out of her range. Every Andinna in Kerit was a warrior with the exception of a very small group of healers, and even they were good with a blade. That included the females, and generally, female Andinna warriors were dominant and needed another female to put them into their position and handle it. Rain wasn’t going to go running to Mave, though. He was growling at her disrespect for Alchan.