The Mountain Clans

I was freezing, huddled in on myself behind Leilani on her huge warhorse. We’d been in the mountains for days and I was starving, thirsty, tired and sore on top of so cold I was losing feeling in my toes.

Every couple of hours, Lani would assure me we were almost there and not to worry, but I was worried.

For years I had heard her tell stories of how she had left home after her father died because she feared for her life. She’d become a fighter, powerful and brutal until she became my bodyguard when I was born. My father had put her in charge of protecting me and she had.

Even when I had wanted to stay and try to save my parents when the Miovians came. They had come enmass, overwhelming the gates immediately and there had been no time at all, no one had known they were coming at all.

As soon as she got word, Lani hadn’t hesitated, she had taken me through the escape tunnels and ridden away with me. I knew why. I’d just had my birthday and the same day, nobles all around the country had put forth their names to be considered. Miovia had sent an emissary and my father had sent them away without even seeing them, saying he would only allow me a husband from Mareshomese. Lani said they had come to claim me and the throne for themselves and we had been riding hard for days.

She came from one of the high mountain clans, a noble herself. She’d run when her uncle took over their house and she knew he’d marry her off and be rid of her as soon as he could. As soon as he invited an older man with a foot in the grave, Lani knew she was being used and she refused it, opting to go to the lands below instead. Her fighting style was mountain clan style and new and different below. She made her way by taking jobs as a mercenary and learning to fight in new ways until she was taken into the king’s guard, then given as my guardian. She’d told stories of the mountain clans and how ruthless they were, how violent. How she would never go back. How she COULDN’T go back. Her cousin would be in power in her house now and her uncle had had designs on the throne for her cousin. He was likely on the throne and would not appreciate Lani showing up with a claim to the house herself.

I couldn’t help but feel as though we were running from one danger into another.

Lani slowed, suddenly, looking around warily, so I followed her gaze. There were people in the trees with bows, guarding the only path up the mountain. Lani kept going, but she was moving more slowly now.

“We should go back!” I whispered.

“Too late now, Button,” she whispered back.

I scowled at her back, still hating that nickname. “They are about to shoot us!”

“We are two women, what harm could we do? They are meant to stop invaders, not two women who are harmless.”

“You are NOT harmless,” I snorted.

“They do not know that! And you will say nothing of it, no? Remember, you may only call me Lani and you will not speak your name at all. You are Button, my child.”

“I won’t answer to that!”

She chuckled. “It is easy to remember and you answer to it as readily as you do your own name. We need to be practical.”

“I’m not a child anymore, Lani!”

“So you are not, Isola, and that is why we had to flee. You are no longer a child and many men want the power you would bring them. Here, you must let them see what they think they see. Keep your chest and hips covered and your head down, and they will think you are my child.”

“You can’t be serious?”

“It is not uncommon for a child to have their fathers coloring and not their mothers. They would think I was with one of the men from below and had myself a pale little one. Hush now, we are almost to the waypoint. Heed what I say, Isola. You are my Button, keep your head down and your eyes on your toes, yes?”

“Fine, I don’t even care so long as there is a fire and food! And then a bed!”

Lani chuckled again and patted my foot. “Remember, also, do not be bossy. Servants are not the way of things here and none would look kindly on demands. You must do for yourself, yes?”

“When have I ever been bossy?”

“Sometimes it is a thing you do not realize, Button, to ask another for a drink. You are polite, but it is still not done here. If you are asked, you may agree or decline, but do not ask. Once you are welcomed into a place, you may do as you please. Eat, drink, sleep. But only if you have been formally welcomed. Being invited inside is not a formal welcome. Being handed food and drink is not a formal welcome.”

“How will I know?”

“You will know.”

I sighed and peeked around her, looking ahead at the gate across the mountain trail. Soldiers were coming out of a hut-like doorway, like there was a room carved in the cliff face there.

Lani sighed, but kept going, reining in when one of the men held a hand up.

“State your business!”

“I am returning home,” Lani called, pulling her hood back. “My husband died and I am come back to live with my brother and his wife, my child and I.”

“Name?”

“Lani Bearclaw.”

Bows were drawn quickly and Lani went stiff as the man held a hand up to forestall the archers.

“How long since your last visit, downworlder?”

“I am not a downworlder! I was born among the peaks!”

“I said how long?”

“Twenty five years. Perhaps more, perhaps less.”

“Things have changed here, downworlder.”

“I am not…!”

“You have spent more time there than here!” the man interrupted. “And you do not know the way of things here now or you would not have come! Take them,” he commanded as soldiers surrounded them.

“Do not harm my child!” Lani called quickly as we were both pulled off of the saddle in opposite directions.

I felt panic well up as I was carried inside. The heat from the fires wasn’t even a comfort as I looked around, trying to see Lani. When I was dropped onto a bench, she was pushed down right next to me.

“It’s fine, Button,” Lani murmered quickly. “They don’t hurt children here, they take them and raise them as their own. It is the way of things here. Stay quiet and be good.”

“What’s happening?” I asked fearfully as the large man came in and shrugged off his heavy fur coat.

He looked over Lani as she sat up straight and squared her shoulders, showing no fear. “We see few travelers through here anymore,” the man smiled. He had the same burnished bronze coloring as Lani, but lacked her freckles covering her entire body. His hair crested in a silken black spike that flipped down over one side and the other side of his head was shaved. I stared at the elaborate tattoo there, not understanding what I was seeing. “But it wasn’t long ago that we did,” the man continued. “We’ve all been trained to take note of everything and spot lies,” he smiled grimly, pulling a knife out of his sheethe. “Hold her,” he demanded, stepping close as two men grabbed Lani and jerked her head to the side.

I stood, alarmed, and a woman soldier behind me took hold of my shoulders, firmly, but not painfully.

The man began cutting away Lani’s hair on one side and he kept cutting and shaving until an elaborate lotus was uncovered, tattooed into the side of her head, the same way his was.

“Well now,” the man chuckled. “Seems we have royalty among us! That means you can only be one person. Leilani Wolfsbane. Welcome home,” he laughed derisively, then shoved her to the ground and put a boot on her head. “The Winterrose’s are going to be so happy to see you! Before we pack you up and send you along to them, tell me why you are here now, after all this time.”

“I told you! My husband died and I wanted to come back, keep my child safe. We had everything taken from us after he died! What could we do against so many men?”

He laughed derisively again. “You think we are unaware of where you trained, Leilani? We all know you are a master at your craft, why do you think the archers have kept trained on you and your… whatever she is. Not your child, that is certain. Tell me the truth. Who is the girl that you brought here in her nightgown and robe and naught else but a blanket? You ran from something. Is she important, Leilani? Are you protecting her? Bringing her here to hide her from the downworlders?”

“She is no one. The child of a couple I worked for. They were murdered and they would have killed the girl too to take their land! They weren’t even nobles, just wealthy merchants with land! I couldn’t let them kill her for no reason.”

“That so, child?” the man asked me.

I nodded, my face burning with shame and fear as I looked down at Leilani.

The man stepped closer and took my hand, looking at it, then the other. He pushed my sleep up, running fingers over my skin. Lifting me, he turned me and grabbed my leg, lifting my foot to look at the bottom of it. He set me back down as I began panting fearfully as he grabbed my face and tilted it up to look at my teeth. His eyes went to mine as he held on to my face. “What sort of merchants?”

“Uhhh… ummm… they sold things?” I answered, trembling.

“What sorts of things?”

“Umm… books? Umm… paints? Brushes, canvases. Umm…”

“Tell another lie, I dare you,” he smiled malevolently.

I froze up, then broke down sobbing. Not only because I really was terrified and wanted to, but because it would make him think I was younger than I was.

“Button! Button, don’t be afraid! They don’t care about that here, just tell them! Her parents sold bodies to the medica school. They paid poor people for dead loved ones and sold them! She’s been tormented for it and she’s afraid to tell anyone!”

“That so, ‘Button’?” the man asked, turning my face back up to his.

I nodded, unable to speak as I kept crying.

The man snorted again and looked over my head at the woman holding me. “Feed her, get her some real clothes, then put a bunk in the pantry and tie her to it so she can’t try and run. Take the princess there and bind her hand and foot, make sure it’s tight. Hogtie her to that post and I want a guard on her until morning when I take them both up the mountain.”

He left and the woman led me to a bench near the fire and sat me down, making me a plate as the others tied Leilani. I turned, but she shook her head quickly. Don’t fight. Do what a kid would do. I ate, then the woman took me into the pantry and handed me a pile of warm clothes. Boys clothes, but I wasn’t complaining. When she stood and crossed her arms to watch, I looked up at her in alarm.

“Can I change alone?”

“Not a chance, kid,” she smirked.

I turned away and pulled my gown off, trying to yank the undershirt on quickly. I’d just got it down to my hips when the woman grabbed my shoulder and turned me, looking down at my chest. She scowled, then looked up at my face.

Stepping back, she opened the door while still holding my shoulder. “Luka, get Konani back here, now!”

I tried to pull away, terrified all over again.

Leilani could see me, just barely and I looked to her fearfully and she started fighting, struggling, but it was too late. She was bound completely and couldn’t get free.

The woman stepped back into the pantry and moved to the back, then spun me and held me in front of her. She took hold of my wrists and held them wide as if displaying me.

The large man stepped in, scowling, “What the hell, Malia, I told… Well now. What’s this then?” he asked, coming in and looking me over, his eyes lingering. He had no qualms at all, dropping to a knee and lifting the shirt to look at my chest as I let out a cry and struggled. He chuckled and took hold of my underclothes, pulling them down just enough to expose the small patch of hair over my mound.

“Please don’t!” I cried.

“How old are you?” he demanded, yanking my underwear back up and lowering the shirt. “And don’t you dare lie to me.”

“Eighteen,” I whispered.

He gave a single nod and stood, looking at the woman. “Dress her and tie her as I told you. “I want a guard in here too, I need to go change the missive I was writing and get it sent out right away.”

“You know who she has to be?” the woman asked.

“Of course. Do as I say, Malia. Don’t harm her.”

He left and Malia let me go, motioning to the clothes as she scowled at me. I yanked them on gratefully, my heart hammering in my chest. I’d been sure something awful was about to happen, but the man had just looked and left.

He knew who I was.

Would he sell me back to Miovia?

Malia tied me to the bed, but not too tightly, then called in another woman to keep watch on me as I slept. I thought I was too afraid to sleep, but it quickly proved untrue as I passed out from exhaustion.

It was an older woman who woke me, untying me and handing me a bowl of porridge. There was a new guard, another woman and she watched me curiously. I ate quickly, hoping they would let me out of the tiny room to see Lani.

The guard did lead me out, but Lani wasn’t there, just the large man called Konani. “Get her a coat that fits her, and a wrap for her face. She’ll be riding with me, I don’t want her in the back with her guardian. Get her gloves as well and put wraps on her boots. She won’t be used to the cold temperatures from above.”

“Where’s Lani?” I asked quickly as soldiers moved to do as he ordered.

“She’s already tied in the back of the cart. Don’t worry over her, she is unharmed and packed in nice and warm. She can’t move, but she is comfortable and warm.”

“Can I see her?”

“No, Isola, you can’t.”

I went cold when he called me by my name and he smirked at me again.

“If I wasn’t sure before, I am now,” he told me as one of the soldiers helped me into a coat.

I tried to find Lani when I was pulled outside, but all I could see was a cart piled high with supplies being pulled by a donkey. Konani lifted me onto a large horse, then got on behind me before taking a blanket from another soldier and wrapping it around me. He held my waist, pulling me close before he started at a fast trot along the path. I had to admit he was a gentleman about it, not being free with his hands, being professional. After what he’d done the night before, I’d been afraid he would be a lech.

He kept the pace quick and as we rounded the mountain enough, I knew why. The sky far ahead was dark and overcast, a storm headed this way.

Konani turned. “I’m taking her ahead! Be quick but not foolish! If the storm hits, dig down until it lets up!”

“Yes Captain!” one of the men called. “You heard him, let’s pick up the pace a bit! Mano, pay close attention to the trail and be careful!”

I couldn’t hear more as Konani turned and started ahead at a slow run. I had to close my eyes as I clutched his arm, unable to watch the open cliff on the other side of us now.

“Ease up, Princess, I know what I’m doing. I’ve ridden this pass a thousand times.”

“It’s so far down!”

“It is, so how about you let go of my arm so I can move if I need to.”

I let go, but clutched hands full of his pants next to me as I trembled.

“Be easy, Princess, it’s a long ride. You’re stressing Masseri and he needs to stay calm.”

“I’m afraid!”

He sighed and reigned in close to the cliff, then spun me around to face him. “Wrap your arms and legs around me. Hold yourself close, it’s warmer and it will help you feel more stable. Lay your head here, I need freedom to move my arms. There now, better?”

“Yes,” I whispered, clutching him close as he wrapped the blanket back around me and tucked it in. When he took off again, I whimpered but didn’t move. “Where are you taking me?” I asked, trying to think of anything else.

“Winterrose clan, to the king of the heights.”

“Will he kill me?”

“Doubtful, you’re too valuable.”

“Will he kill Lani?”

“Leilani has a very different fate. I am sure she will be married off to Prince Wakea the day after she arrives so he has a claim to the throne of the valley.”

“What will they do with me? Trade me to the Miovian’s?”

“Doubtful, Princess. You will probably be given as a prize to a chief who has pleased the king best, or perhaps the son of the chief of the Screaming Eagles to bind them more closely.”

“A… prize?” I asked indignantly.

“A wife, princess. The prize will be your hand.”

“What use would anyone have for me up here? The only reason anyone wants me down there is for the throne! I am no prize at all! Just a girl born too early and never grew! I can do nothing, especially not up here and I’m not attractive in any way at all! I would be a burden to anyone who took me on! I’m sickly and frail and weak and that will never change! I’m too small!”

Konani chuckled darkly. “Have you never seen a mirror, Princess? I don’t know what downworlders are like, but up here any man would be pleased to have such a lovely little prize. Pretty, well endowed, docile.”

“I can never bear children!”

“Some men have no want of children, or already have grown children and don’t wish more.”

“You’re wrong about me. I’ve seen plenty of mirrors. I’m too pale, too small, my hair too red. I’ve seen pretty girls at court and I am not one of them. I’m an… aberration.”

“Who told you this, Princess?”

“Everyone. All of the other ladies always told me that it was alright that I wasn’t pleasing to look at, I was a princess and would be able to marry well anyway.”

“Then they were jealous and being cruel, it is not true at all. Quiet now, Princess, you are making me lose concentration.”

I lay my head against his chest again, thinking about what he had said. I was going to be married off to some clan leader or their son. Probably some old man. This isn’t what Leilani said would happen at all! Had so much changed? It had to have, when she spoke of the mountain clans, she had said there was only one king. There were at least two now and it was divided.

He slowed to a trot after a while, then sped up again, then slowed again. He was resting the horse, I realized, making him last until we got to where we were going.

The wind was beginning to cut through the blanket like it wasn’t there and I was shivering again and my fear had lessened enough that I pulled my arms in to huddle against him.

“We are close to the waystation, Princess,” he called over the wind. “It’s not much longer!”

I didn’t answer, clenching my teeth so they wouldn’t chatter.

It seemed like an eternity before he finally slowed and reigned in, vaulting off the horse with me holding on to him. I expected him to drop me, but he carried me into the building before easing me to the floor.

There were soldiers there and he gave them instructions to see to his horse and clear the main quarters for his use until the storm passed. Setting me at the table, we were both served a bowl of store and I looked around at all of the men staring at me.

“You steal you a little downworlder then?” one of the soldiers asked.

“She is a parcel I’m delivering.”

“Must be important to go out during storm season.”

“I have more men coming with another parcel, they may be here tonight, maybe tomorrow, but be ready for them.”

“Parcel like this one here?”

“Older, but yes.”

“Can we pass her around a bit?”

“No one touches her. You try she’ll likely gut you, just leave her bound and gagged as she is.”

“What about this little morsel?”

“You touch her and I’ll gut you.”

I’d gone red and moved closer to Konani, half hiding behind his arm.

“No one will hurt you, Isola,” he spoke gently. “Hurry and eat, I want to start as early as possible, as soon as the storm lets up.”

I ate quietly, still hiding from the other soldiers and their leering looks. None of THEM were mistaking me for a child. At least I hoped they weren’t.

Konani didn’t hesitate as he finished, pulling me up and dragging me down a short hall to a small room. “Do I need to tie you down, or will you sleep?” she asked, shrugging his coat off.

“I’ll sleep.”

“Take your coat off but leave your clothes on so we can leave quickly when the time comes. Get in and move over.”

“I… don’t get to sleep alone?”

“No. First, I don’t trust them, second, I don’t trust you, third, there aren’t enough beds in this place. Get in and scoot over, your honor is not going to be compromised, you have my word. Scoot over.”

I hugged the side of the bed, my eyes wide as he got into the bed next to me, then pulled me back against him.

“What are you doing?”

“This or tied?” he asked sleepily. “Sleep, Princess.”

I lay there, stressed and tense, but eventually relaxed when he began snoring softly. As soon as I did, I fell asleep.

A soldier woke both of us, opening the door and calling in. “Storms let up, Captain,” he called loudly. “We have a quick breakfast waiting.”

Konani pulled me up and grabbed our coats as he led me out to the table. This time I had no trouble eating, I was starving!

We were back on his horse in less than ten minutes and I was surprised that it was still dark out. Konani seemed to have no issues, settling me in as he had the day before so I could hold on to him as he took off at slow run. I was shivering, but I hardly noticed the cold. How could he see? We could be running off the cliff at any moment.

“Ease your hold, Princess,” he called. “Are you trying to break my ribs?”

“How can you see?!?”

“I see well in the dark, Isola, have no fears. Even if I didn’t, Masseri knows his way along this path better than I do. Be easy, I’d hate to have to tie you across the back just so I could get us where we are going!”

I forced myself to ease my arms around his chest, but reflexively I tightened my legs around his hips instead. He patted my back reassuringly, then left it on my shoulder, holding me against him. It was comforting and it helped me to relax. Soon, I began feeling the cold and that was all I could think about as I pulled my arms in between us. I knew when morning hit, I could see the light through cracks in the blanket, but I had no wish to peek out and let the cold in. How could he stand it? His face and hands were out in it! He had to be frozen!

I reached a hand up through the blanket and laid it over his cheek and it was cold enough to make me wince. I reached up with my other hand and put my palms on his face to try and warm him a bit.

He chuckled and patted my back again. “You are sweet, Princess, but don’t worry over me. I’m used to the cold and this is nothing at all compared to how the winters get here. Keep yourself warm.”

I pulled my hands back in and huddled against him, shivering harder now.

“We will arrive before nightfall if we keep going. There’s a waystation between here and there we should reach around one. We can pass it by and get there sooner, or we can go in and eat and warm up, but that would put us riding until after dark when it’s even colder.”

“Keep going,” I told him, hating myself for it. I wanted a warm room and a hot meal!

“That’s my tough girl,” he chuckled, patting my shoulder again.

I felt a little warm in my heart, hearing him say that. It made me think of my father and I wondered what had happened. We had outrun all the news, so I had no real way of knowing. Were my parents dead? Captured? Being held or tortured? What would the Miovians do in order to find me? Would they come here after me? Try and trade me for something? I couldn’t imagine I was really that important. They had control of the castle, the army, everything. They didn’t need me and they couldn’t really want me, I was useless and ugly and a burden.

I hadn’t realized I was crying until Konani started rubbing my back consolingly. He didn’t ask questions, just held me against him as his thumb stroked. He would have been such a nice man if he hadn’t done what he had that first night. Looking at my most private places as if he’d had some sort of right! It didn’t matter that he was looking to try and put an age to me, he could have just asked! But he had been nothing but nice since, even if he had been hard on Lani. I, more than anyone, knew that Lani was dangerous and he was only being practical.

I was frozen and miserable, my legs and arms sore, my shoulders aching from holding on so tightly. When he finally told me we were less than an hour out, I actually let out a small sob of relief. I was close to my limit!

I was numb and locked up when he finally slowed. I could hear sounds, people, and clamor. We were in a village or city, but I still didn’t try to look out and look around. I was too cold to be curious.

Even when he reigned in and dismounted, holding me against him, I wasn’t curious. I only wanted to get warm and get feeling back.

I knew when we were inside, but Konani didn’t put me down until we were in a second room and he could set me on a stool in front of the fire. He moved the blanket, scooting me closer and putting the blanket around my shoulders.

An older lady put a warm clay bowl in my hands full of something that was steaming and smelled wonderful. I drank it gratefully and the woman smiled, pleased, as she brought me another bowl.

“Who is this little fey creature, Nan?” the older woman asked Konani as he sat on another stool next to me with his own bowl.

“She is no one for now. Once my soldiers catch up, she will be known. For now we keep her warm and comfortable. Girl, I know you won’t like it, but you will get warmer without the layers on you. I’m going to take off your coat and gloves and even your boots, alright?”

It didn’t seem likely to me, but I trusted him. He lived here and I didn’t think he was lying to me. I nodded and he stood, pulling off my gloves and letting the old woman pull my coat off as he knelt and unwrapped the leather chords from around my boots.

He was right! I could actually feel the heat of the fire now as I sat in only the clothes I had been given. Konani sat next to me again in nothing but a pair of linen pants to stay close to the fire.

“Once you are warm again and your belly full, I want you to sleep. Ola will keep you warm, you’ll share a bed tonight. It is how things are done here, nothing is warmer than sharing body heat. Ola, I need to get word to the gate, I didn’t want to stop. Is Imuri near?”

“He will be back soon, he was dropping something off for me. She is pretty, this one? Have you found you a little…”

“No,” Konani cut her off quickly. “She is,” he agreed to the other statement. “Though she thinks it isn’t so. The downworlders are petty and cruel to each other as ever.”

“Ahh, girl! Do not listen to what others say in envy. You are a little fey treasure!”

“What is fey?” I asked, trying to stop shivering.

“She does not know of the fey?” Ola asked Konani in concern.

“The downworlders have long since stopped telling the old stories, Ola. They have no fear of what the mountains hold.”

“What’s a fey?” I asked again, even more curious now.

Konani gave me a grim smile. “They are… small creatures. Humanlike, but much smaller. Small as my hand. They have wings and fly. Pale white skin that glows in the moonlight and bright red hair that’s wild and free. They are said to be tricky, but will grant favors if you always leave bread, milk and honey out for them. If you get trapped within their realm, you may never leave.”

“Is that true?” I asked, unsure if I believed him.

“Some say it is so, but it has been long since a story has been told about seeing one. Still, those who hope for good luck, leave a small plate at their window with bread, milk and honey.”

I tried to judge if he was teasing me, but he looked serious. I looked down at my bowl and sipped it a moment before asking the next question without looking at him. “Do… you truly think I’m not ugly?”

He snorted a laugh and Ola laughed as well. “Girl, you are stunning,” he promised.

“He is right, you are a lovely girl, even so small as you are. You will make some man happy when you take a husband. As it happens, my grandson is not wed…”

“Ola!”

“What? You aren’t!”

“Ola, she is far out of my reach not to mention too young.”

“She has her womanhood on her! Anyone can tell she is only small, not young.”

“Too young for me. I’m old enough to be her father, almost, and anyway, that is not why she’s here.”

“Why IS a downworlder here? A pretty little downworlder with no husband or clothes of her own with winter coming on?”

“That is no concern of anyone’s at all. You will find out soon enough,” Konani scowled.

Ola turned to me with her smile. “What is your name, child?”

I opened my mouth, but Konani cut me off.

“She is just ‘girl’ for now! That is all you need to know!”

“So you say, Nan,” the old woman chuckled. “For now I will call you Iti. Come, Iti, I have a place where you can clean up before bed.”

I looked at Konani and he was grinning, his eyes shining. I stood, but stopped. “What does that mean? Iti?”

“Tiny,” he told me, still smirking.

I followed Oni to a back room and cleaned up, changing into an oversized gown before she tucked me into the large feather bed.

“Why’s it so big?” I asked, looking around it in confusion as I scooted over.

“Here, we all sleep in the same bed for warmth. It gets cold in the winter and body heat helps. Sleep there in the middle, I will be in soon.”

“There are no other beds?” I asked incredulously.

“There is another bed, but it is for… another use. No one sleeps in it, they only use it for… private moments. After, they come to bed.”

“What if you have a large family?!?”

“Then we are all the more warm,” she smiled. “It is not like the downworld here, there is not so much space on the mountain. Our homes stay small and stacked, those that are not carved into the mountain like the chieftains and kings are. We must leave room for what crops can be grown up here, and the animals. I am fortunate in that Nan is who he is and I get such a large home on the bottom so I don’t have to climb.”

“He lives here too?”

“This is his home, but he stays mostly down at the gate.”

“Do all families live in the same house, or is it only because you are alone?”

Oni chuckled. “It is not so. I am not alone, I have seven grandsons, all of them serving the king. They all come from time to time. I have one son living and two daughters. Daughters leave to live in their husbands home with his family. Sons stay and live in the home of his parents and the ones who came before. It is a good system. Sometimes a daughter does not marry and she stays, or sometimes her husband passes and she returns. A full house is a blessing to all.”

“So how many people have slept in this bed all at once?”

“When my grandchildren were smaller, we had twenty seven in this bed.”

“How?!?” I asked, looking around.

“We slept on both ends, the children tucked in where they could fit. It is the way of things here.”

I looked around again, unable to imagine so many people in a single bed. What if you had to move? Did they keep each other up all night? It seemed impossible.

“Try to sleep, Iti,” she smiled, then got up and left.

I lay down and thought about what it would be like for twenty seven people to be in this small house, how crowded it must be! I imagined growing up here, living this way, being so used to the cold like Konani was.

Movement made me jerk awake, disoriented.

“Hush, Iti,” Oni murmured. “Go back to sleep.” She lay down next to me, but not too close. From the foot of the bed, Konani climbed in on the other side and lay down closer to the wall, far enough I couldn’t reach out and touch him with a hand.

I realized then that I didn’t feel very safe at all. If Konani was sleeping, who was keeping watch? What if the Miovians had come up the mountain ahead of us somehow and spoke to the king already? Knew I was coming? Knew Konani was bringing me and where to find him? Would they come in while we slept and kill us all? Kill him and take me back to Mareshomese or Miovia? What if they traded me to the Lucanan’s to broker a peace? It was said they were trying to gain Lucana as an ally in their war?

Slowly, I eased over more and more until I was close enough that I could feel Konani’s warmth. He rolled to face me. “No one is going to harm you, Isola,” he whispered softly. “You are safe, I have a man on watch. Try and sleep.”

“What if…?”

“No what if’s, Iti. Don’t think on it. Close your eyes and think of something else, sleep.”

I curled up and he set a comforting hand on my arm. Was he stronger than Lani? Would he be able to protect me like she always had? I felt like he was. He would protect me.

I fell back to sleep.

I woke when he got up and slipped out of bed and realized when he did that the nature of the feather bed made it so you could hardly tell when someone else moved. I only knew he moved because he’d pulled his arm away.

Sitting up, I looked around, but Oni was already out of bed and I could smell food cooking in the next room. Dressing quickly, I hurried out and stopped at the door, watching Konani speak to a soldier near the door. The soldier looked at me and Konani turned to look at me as well.

“Sit and eat, Iti,” he called. “Makeri is bringing proper clothes for you and Oni will fit them to you. Once she is done, we will go.”

I nodded, my heart trying to beat out of my chest as I sat down. What was going to happen to me? To Lani? Was she alright?

I was so lost in my thoughts that I jerked and flinched when Konani sat next to me to eat.

“Easy, Iti,” he told me soothingly. “Have no fears for what is to come.”

“You will protect me?” I asked, looking up at him.

He turned and looked down at me, his look a bit surprised and uncomfortable. “I will do all I can, Iti,” he nodded. “But there will come a point when it is no longer in my hands. You understand this? You will stay and I will return to my post.”

“I know… I know, but… until then? You won’t let them hurt me? Or Lani? Are they going to give me to some horrible old man?”

“Easy now,” he chided. “I have no say in who you will go to, but I will give advice to the king and strong suggestions. Clan Chief Helemiki has a son who has come of age, a gentle boy. He would suit you well. I will suggest you would make him a good match and bring the clan closer to the king, yes?”

“Can he protect me? This boy?”

“The Miovians cannot come here, Iti. They would not, not even for you.”

“Who is our Iti that she fears an entire downworld nation?” Oni chuckled, sitting across from us.

“This is Princess Isola, as you will find out soon enough. Princess of the downworld nation of Mareshomese.”

“Ahh, I see,” Oni answered sadly, looking me over as if she pitied me. “So much on such tiny shoulders. How did you come to this place from that?”

“Her people are at war. Leilani was her guardian and she brought her back here to keep her safe. She knew nothing of the divide.”

“Do you have her too?” Oni asked in surprise, sitting up.

“I do, but… she is a bit less trusted than Iti. She is bound and held under guard, being brought in a cart. Iti has zero guile and she is a docile, sweet little thing. She doesn’t have it in her to harm another. Leilani, on the other hand, would probably kill everyone before she would be made wed the prince.”

“I am told he is a handsome young man,” Oni frowned.

“They are still enemies.”

“How will he keep her from gutting him in his sleep?”

“They will have to use a binding ritual and… if anyone could be a match for Leilani with a blade, it is Wakea. Anyway, I doubt she has had much practice while she’s been gone, not if she’s been this one’s guardian.”

“Yes, I can see as she might have lost her edge,” Oni chuckled. “I imagine our Iti invited her to a great many tea parties and played dress up with her.”

I blushed, looking down. “I did none of that! She… I read a lot. Sometimes… sometimes I would read aloud during an exciting part and she would act it out for me. A swordfight or a treacherous trek through a jungle, fighting a mighty beast. She’s nice… but she was never soft.”

“I imagine not,” Konani smiled. “There now, here’s your dress,” he called, standing to answer the door.

The dress wasn’t like I was imagining. I was thinking something like what Oni was wearing, but it was a fine, silk dress. Different from what I had worn back home, but made of the same fabrics. The style was like nothing I had ever seen, though, the back completely open all the way down until it was almost indecent and the front was structured to hold its form and not move. Oni laced it tight on me, then took it in and hemmed the bottom. Another soldier came and surprisingly, he did my hair up in an elaborate coil.

“Had eleven daughters,” he grinned at me in the mirror. “Their mother lost four fingers on her right hand to the black frost, so things like this were on me. I actually miss it, believe it or not, it was always the best part of my day to sit and listen to them talk.”

I smiled up at him, warmed by the thought of a father loving his daughters so much.

“You bring the wrap?” Konani asked the soldier who had brought the dress.

“It’s in by the fire, staying warm. It’s all she’ll have to go out with, so I figured I’d keep it as warm as I could before you took her out in it.”

“The shay ready?”

“Right out front, ready and waiting. Quilts already in it. The men are waiting behind with the cart.”

“Then we are ready, get the fur cloak for her.”

I was pulled up to stand and the soldier wrapped a very warm fur cape around me before Konani led me out to a small, open carriage with only two wheels and a single horse. As soon as we sat, both soldiers piled the quilts on me as I huddled in.

“It’s a short ride!” Konani assured me.

“Wait!” I cried as he lifted the reins. I jumped out and ran to Oni, hugging her tight and letting her squeeze me back for a long moment before getting back in the cart.

Konani’s face looked grim and maybe a bit sick as he flipped the reins and we took off.

I had questions, but I was too busy looking around to think of them. There were stone houses butted up to the cliffs and more places carved into the cliffs between the houses. Buildings, businesses, more than I imagined there could be with the narrow, winding path going up. I saw small fields, places where there were gardens in better weather and more fields where animals stood in little lean-to’s and stayed close to each other. I’d never seen a place like this, or people like these with their odd clothes and coats made of animal skins and furs. I was used to Nani, of course, but seeing so many people who were so much like her seemed off to me. Even the men had the same long silken black hair and beautiful dark eyes. They also all seemed so happy, smiling and laughing and watching curiously as we passed. The higher we got, the more people recognized Konani and hailed him and his soldiers following close behind.

I turned and looked up at the elaborate carvings at the top of the path and the huge opening in the side of the cliff rising up so high that it got lost in the clouds. “Is that it?” I asked breathlessly, in awe of the size of it.

“It is,” he answered, still seemingly grumpy as he drove us right into the opening to a path inside the mountain. He didn’t stop until we reached what looked like stables, then helped me out. We stood waiting while the other soldiers lifted Leilani out of the other cart, her red and angry as she tried to struggle. She’d been changed into a dress too and her elbows were hooked behind a long pole, her hands tied in front of her. They could lift her with the pole and never get near her and they did, a man on each end. I noticed as they set the pole on their shoulders that Nani’s feet were bound as well and tied to the pole so she couldn’t kick. Her mouth was gagged and her hair wild like she’d been struggling mightily.

“Must she be tied that way?” I asked Konani pleadingly. “I’m sure she wouldn’t hurt anyone if you just asked her to…”

Konani laughed darkly. “Iti, she would gut the lot of us if given half a chance. Try to anyway. I think you don’t really understand who she is. Come now, let’s go inside.”

I stayed quiet as he led me in, looking around the stone hallway and the arches that led to rooms and more hallways. It opened into a larger room, but we kept walking straight through into another hallway. This one was larger and the arches more ornate, the rooms and halls beyond lit with torches and candles. There were even a few people in some of the rooms.

Finally, the hall came to a grand arch and I could hear many people talking in the huge cavern beyond. Konani didn’t hesitate, walking us straight in and turning to approach the giant throne up on a dais.

I looked at the man on it in fear, but he just looked like an old man. Not frightening or evil or even mean. He had a shine to his eyes and wrinkles around his eyes that said he loved to laugh.

“Captain!” the king called, a bit coldly.

“Your highness,” Konani bowed.

“What is all of this?”

Konani motioned the soldier up with Lani and she screamed angrily in her bonds. “You remember Leilani, I assume?” Konani asked.

The king stood, his tall, heavy form imposing as he stepped down and looked Leilani over, looking over her tattoo. “So it is,” he chuckled. “Kukumei! Fetch Wakea!”

A man standing near the door took off at a run as the king smiled, pacing in front of Leilani.

“Where has she been? How did you find her?”

“She came to me, tried to get through on a lie but I saw through it. Knew who she was immediately. ”

“Why did she return?” he asked, leaning close to Lani to look at her face. “She’s older than I imagined, for some reason. Wakea! That was fast!”

“I was close, training,” a young man called, walking in with only pants on. He was tall and slender, his muscles seemed carved into his lithe form as he strode closer. He was also covered in tattoos, half of his head shaved to show another on the side of his head. “What is all of this?” he asked, stopping next to his father and looking down at Leilani.

“Our answer!” the king laughed. “Leilani, sole heir to the throne on the meadowland! I want it arranged immediately! Bring the priests to perform the ceremony!”

Wakea turned to look at his father incredulously. “I am NOT marrying that old woman!” he snapped angrily.

“She isn’t so old and…”

“She IS old, look at her! She couldn’t even bear me children! No, I won’t do it! I don’t care who she is!”

“Enough!” the king growled grumpily. “Sit down,” he demanded, moving to go back to his throne.

Wakea threw himself onto the smaller throne petulantly, glaring at Leilani.

“Bring her forward, Captain!” the king called.

Konani nodded to the men holding the pole, then walked closer, his hand on my shoulder.

“Who is that you have there?” the king demanded, seeing me for the first time.

Konani pulled the cape off of me and led me forward a few steps. “The reason Leilani was coming here. This is Princess Isola of Mareshomese. The Miovian’s invaded and Leilani fled with her to keep her out of their hands. Came here to see her protected. She didn’t know of the divide, she was too long in the downworld acting as this girl’s guardian. She thought to hide her among us until it was safe.”

The king stood and stepped down to look me over. “Are all downworlders so small?”

“No. She is… unusually small. She is of age, though. Eighteen. That was how this all started, offers were being taken on her hand and the Miovian’s were slighted. They didn’t like it.”

The prince stood as well and moved next to his father to look down at me, then circled around behind me. “I will take this one,” the prince announced. “Not the hag.”

“This one gains you nothing!” the king growled. “Leilani gains you your own crown!”

“I am in line for a crown,” Wakea shrugged. “I don’t need two. If you want the other crown so much, YOU marry Leilani and join the crowns again. I want this one.”

I looked down, a bit terrified of Wakea. He didn’t have the same pleasantness to him that everyone else here seemed to have.

The king moved back to the throne to sit down as if thinking it over.

Wakea looked at Konani, his hand still on my shoulder. “Unhand her, dog. Go see to the hag, this one doesn’t need tending.”

Konani quickly let me go and stepped away, his face red and angry. I looked at him pleadingly as the prince circled me again, his fingers trailing over my shoulders as he did. Leilani screamed angrily again and began fighting harder as tears welled up in my eyes.

The prince stopped in front of me, lookin at Leilani curiously. After a moment, he turned back to me and looked me over again, his look dangerous. No, I didn’t like this man at all, he looked cruel.

He shifted on his feet and I took a half step back. As I did, his hand darted out and his huge hand and long fingers closed around my neck as I let out a yelp of fear and surprise.

I didn’t know what happened beside me, but Wakea quickly looked to the side, cocking his head again. “Did you just move to protect this girl, dog?” he demanded.

“I shifted because I knew Leilani would try and break free again. It was a preemptive movement,” Konani grated.

Wakea looked back down at me, his fingers still wrapped around my neck. He wasn’t hurting me, or choking me, just holding me in place. “I want this one!” he called loudly over his shoulder to his father, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Your highness, if I may?” Konani asked, stepping forward.

“Yes, Captain?”

“They will accept Leilani back, but not with you by her side. You rule here, they won’t let you rule there too. Wakea, however, does not rule here yet but he IS royalty and they would accept a royal prince as their king if he were married to Leilani. He will still be in line here, so when the time comes, the mountain will be unified again.”

“I’m not marrying the hag!” Wakea snarled, yanking me close to him and spinning me, holding me to his chest as I gripped his wrist fearfully.

Leilani started fighting again and Konani took a step towards me before he made himself stop.

“Regardless of what else happens,” Wakea spat, “I will cut the hags heart out while she is still bound if you try and force her on me. And I will have this girl.”

“She is meant to be an offering of peace for another clansman,” Konani told the king. “Chief Helemiki for example. He has a son her age and it would bind him closer to you for…”

“Makuru has a husband in mind already,” Wakea snarled. “He would not like this girl, or any girl. Why do you try to protect this one? Who is she to you?”

Konani turned to the king. “Your highness, Leilani brought her here to protect her. She was trying to get her to safety. If things were different, if the meadow soldiers overran the heights and you had a single chance to get Kileleni out and to safety to the downworld, wouldn’t you hope they would protect her and take care of her? Not given as a toy for a man to use and toss away?”

“You think I would use her and toss her away?” Wakea laughed. “I said I would marry her.”

“Perhaps we should ask your first two wives how that went for them,” Konani snapped, his face red.

“They bored me. This one is at least interesting and nice to look at. I’m guessing her cunt will be nice and tight too if her size is any measure.”

“Wakea!” the king hissed in humiliation at his son’s behavior. “Release the girl! You will marry Leilani and you will treat her well or I will name Kileleni my heir!”

Wakea snorted derisively. “And what will you do with this one? Pass her off to Chief Masawaki? Old and feeble? As some prize to one of your generals?”

“I would ask for that reward,” Konani snapped, turning to the king. “I brought you Leilani, the key to the other throne. Let me keep the downworlder as a boon.”

“I want the girl!” Wakea growled, yanking me closer to him, his fingers tightening around my neck until I let out a terrified sob.

“Wakea! Let her go! We will be done with this and you will marry Leilani!”

“I want one week,” Wakea snapped. “One week with this girl before I marry the hag, then I will do as you bid me.”

“No,” Konani turned to the king imploringly. “She would not survive a week! She is a frail thing with a sweet disposition, do not let him destroy her!”

“One week,” Wakea smirked, looking at Konani challengingly.

“An hour,” the king countered. “And you cannot kill her or mutilate or disfigure her. No hurting her at all.”

“That takes everything off the table!” Wakea scoffed. “I couldn’t even fuck her under those stipulations! Three days and I will not hurt her… too much. Nothing she couldn’t heal from.”

“One day,” the king sighed tiredly.

“Your highness,” Konani began.

Wakea laughed and started pulling me away. “Done!” he yelled, not even looking back as he lifted me off my feet and carried me under his arm.

I was in shock as terror gripped me. What was happening? What was happening?!?

“Sir,” I called to him, patting his arm. “Please? I wish to go back with Leilani now.”

He laughed as if I’d said something funny.

“Sir? I can walk, please?”

“Not after I’m done with you,” he countered, turning down a hallway.

I shook my head, trying not to cry again.

Konani, he would save me! Leilani couldn’t, she was bound and unable to even move. Konani would help. He even tried to ask for me from the king so he could keep me safe! He would come, wouldn’t he? Talk to the king? Not allow this… man to hurt me?

He pushed into a door and carried me in, slamming the door behind him before tossing me onto a large bed. He stood at the edge looking down at me as I looked up at him pleadingly. “You don’t need to do this, sir, please! I’m no prize at all! Not worth all this fuss or your attention.”

He cocked his head, arching an eyebrow as he looked me over. “You think a few words are going to change how you look to me?” he asked, confused. “You think I’m blind? A simpleton?”

“No! Of course not! I’m just… not worth it! I’m small and pale and I don’t have beautiful sleek shiny hair. No long, willowy limbs or…”

“I don’t know what you downworlders think a woman should look like… but you’re wrong,” he told me, cocking his head the other way, looking confused. “You are a prize and I want you,” he told me, laying back on the bed next to me, propping up on his elbow as he looked me over. “I will make a deal with you… what’s your name?”

“Isola.”

“Isola. I will make a deal with you. I want you. Even without the hag in the balance, I would want you. You aren’t like the other women who’ve been pushed on me and don’t listen to the dog. Jocali died in childbed and Kanini was vicious, talking back too much and always coming at me. Her death was an accident. Yes, I caused it, but not with intent. I gave back what she was giving and she fell back and broke her neck. I do like to fuck, and I like it hard and rough, but I won’t hurt you like he was insinuating. The deal is, I get you, you talk my father and the dog into it, and I will never harm you. I’ll treat you as well as you treat me.”

“I can’t have children,” I told him softly. “And I’m weak and sickly. I’m not like the women from here.”

“That’s why I want you, you AREN’T like the girls here. I can see it in you. You are soft and sweet and loving, your heart is huge. And I don’t care about kids, my sister intends to have plenty and I’m not the fatherly type. But don’t tell my father that, do you understand? You tell them you want me, tell Leilani you want me and convince her to marry my father with no fight if you are allowed to marry me. She’ll do it if you ask her and you know it.”

“Why do you call him ‘dog’?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Because he is. When my mother died, he tried to protect her and the man she’d been sleeping with. It came out that it wasn’t the man, but he’d still gone against my father and hid both my mother and the man. My father was angry, but the man was innocent, so instead of discharging him and putting him in prison, he sent him to the gate to serve. He was told to stay away and never return and he has. He could have just sent you both to us, but he came himself, as if it would earn him grace, like a dog coming back with his tail between his legs and begging for a bone. Wanting to come back.”

“But he was right?”

“He still didn’t have the right to go against his king, and he shouldn’t have protected my whore of a mother. It’s death to disrespect the king in such a way, especially to be so public with it as if she were thumbing her nose at him. Asking to be punished.”

“I don’t understand how you can be so upset with her? You are her son?”

“She should never have done what she did, she knew what she was doing and she knew what was on the line. She was always angry that she was forced to marry my father, her so much younger and so beautiful.”

“So you look like her?”

He looked at me again, cocking his head like he did as if trying to gauge my seriousness. “You think I am handsome?”

I blushed and looked away. “You know you are. You know how you look, how appealing you are.”

“Do I? Look around at the other men here, Isola. Do I look like them? Comparatively?”

“Yes? You have the same look about you, she same raven black hair and black eyes, dark skin.”

“How large are the other men that you’ve seen?”

“Large, I guess?”

“How large am I?”

“Not at all really, you are lithe and chiseled.”

“I work hard to try and gain the same muscle mass the others have, but no matter what I do, I cannot. I will never have the broad shoulders or large arms and huge chest. I am looked at like I am weak and will have weak children. My mother was tall and slender and I took after her. None here consider me handsome.”

“But you are? Your face is beautiful and your body attractive to look upon.”

“Perhaps it is that way in the downworld? And a man should not be beautiful. We are getting off track, Isola. Say yes, you will make this deal with me.”

“Can we talk more? Get to know each other before I say yes?”

“Perhaps I could convince you another way,” he smirked, rolling off of his shoulder and standing up.

I gasped when he pulled a knife from the sash at his waist and came at me. Throwing my arms up, he caught one and flipped me to my back, then sliced my dress away like it was paper.

“Wakea, please!” I cried, being as still as I could, terrified of being cut.

“I swore not to hurt you, did I not?” he asked, moving close enough that his mouth was next to my ear. His chest was hot against my bare back. “I intend to convince you in another way, Isola,” he rumbled, nuzzling into my neck through the stray curls that had fallen.

I swallowed hard as goosebumps swept through me and I shivered hard.

“Be very still for me,” he whispered, moving back and slicing the dress off of my arms. When he cut away my underwear, I couldn’t help but break down sobbing and it was made worse by thinking that I wasn’t being still enough to not be cut. “There’s no need for tears,” he promised me, rolling me to my back and pulling away the remnants of my clothes. “Look at me, Isola. I’m not going to hurt you, not at all. Do as I ask and you’ll be happy you did, I promise you that.”

“I’m afraid,” I whispered. “I know what you are about and it must not be! Not until my wedding night!”

“Isola, be good for me and you need not worry over that at all. Listen to me, that’s not what I’m about to do. Give yourself over to me, little Princess, it is not what you imagine.”

I shook my head, still full of shame as I closed my eyes.

Wakea pulled back from me, going up on his knees on the bed and moving. I cried out in horror as he took hold of my legs and pulled them apart, even though he was gentle about it. He went still and I imagined his eyes on me, which terrified me even more as I clenched my eyes shut and tried to will him away from me.

“You are a vision, Isola. A perfect little treasure,” he murmured, his hands sliding up my thighs as he moved closer to me. Leaning close, his lips pressed to my lower belly in a kiss and I jerked in surprise. He kissed lower, then lower and lower until he was nuzzling that small thatch of hair near my nether lips.

“Please! You must not do this!” I begged, my entire body shaking.

He didn’t listen, lifting my legs higher to angle my hips up.

His tongue sliding up my slit, hot and wet made me whimper and cringe, but when he swirled that tongue around my bud, my eyes spang open as my entire body twitched. He leaned in closer, wrapping his lips around my bud and sucking gently, his tongue rubbing as he sucked. I felt devine! I tried to clear my head, remember to be upset and unwilling, but I didn’t want him to stop anymore! I wanted him to keep going, keep doing that until the feeling stopped building.

He groaned slightly as I slid my fingers into his long, soft hair and relaxed my body completely, giving myself over to him like he’d told me to. Was this real? No, it couldn’t be, it was too wonderful to be real! Someone would have told me about this! I was dreaming and somehow I had conjured up this bliss and this beautiful man who claimed I was beautiful and a treasure and he wanted to marry me. Of course it couldn’t be real!

Still… I wanted it. I wanted to bask in it and let myself have it for the moment.

It climbed, the feeling of ecstasy, it climbed higher and higher and my body wanted to climb with it as I pushed my hips up against his lips.

I didn’t know what was expecting to happen, I knew that rising bliss had to go somewhere, but when it happened I was both terrified and exultant as my body was ripped out of my control and the pulses of euphoria rang through me. My body jerked with every wave and I couldn’t speak, only clench my teeth and whine as I tried to ride it out, his mouth still on me.

When I collapsed, Wakea kissed one thigh, then the other before moving higher and kissing my belly. His kisses trailed higher and higher as I lay there in languid satisfaction. He smirked as he rolled off of me to my side and looked down at me.

“Did I not tell you, little one?” he asked lightly, his eyes shining.

“I… did not know such a thing was possible! I’ve not heard of such a thing… and how it felt! How beautiful it was! Is that some trick you learn in the mountains?”

He chuckled. “No, little one, it is…”

He cut off as the door slammed open, then immediately rolled over me to shield my nakedness from the men walking in the door.

Konani was leading them. “Your father is requesting your presence, yours and the princess’s. He has reconsidered his deal.”

“Very well,” Wakea smirked, his hand going to my face before he turned and kissed my lips. “Promise me, little one,” he whispered. “I will make you happy you did.”

Pulling a sheet up to cover us, he moved off of me and left the sheet covering me as he stood to pull his pants back on.

“She’ll need new clothes,” he told Konani with his smirk. “Or I can take her out in the sheet?”

“What happened to her clothes?” Konani demanded.

“I cut them off of her. Skinned her like a rabbit. She’s such a meek little thing, she didn’t put up a fuss at all. Isola? Do you want to wait for clothes to be brought or will my robe suffice?”

“May I see your robe?” I asked softly, my cheeks burning as Konani looked at me with pain in his features. He was afraid he had failed me.

Wakea pulled a robe out and held it up for me and I nodded. Helping me into it, he was free with his hands as he slid them around my waist to tie it, leaning in to kiss my neck and my jaw.

“Stop tormenting her! Your father is waiting. Iti, come, I will carry you to keep your bare feet from the cold stone.”

Wakea chuckled darkly and picked me up, his forearm under my bottom as I grabbed his shoulder.

I was so confused as we all walked back, not knowing what I wanted or what to do. Was Wakea lying? Would he hurt me after I saved him from Leilani and he no longer had a use for me? What were my other choices?

Walking back into the large throne room with all of the people watching again made me fill with shame as I hid my face. In nothing but the robe, I felt vulnerable, though it covered more than the dress had.

“Release her, Wakea,” the king called. “I’ve changed my mind as important information was given to me.”

“She has no shoes,” Wakea shrugged. “I’m not hurting her.”

“You’re scaring her!” Konani called.

“Are you afraid of me, Isola?” Wakea asked, turning to me.

“No,” I answered softly.

“She is too afraid to answer honestly,” Konani spoke up.

“Let the girl down, she can stand a few moments on the stone,” the king demanded.

Wakea sighed, but set me down gently. I moved back, away from everyone. “Where’s Leilani?” I asked the king.

“She is being prepared,” he told me gently. “She is not being harmed.”

“So tell me, father, what did the dog tell you to make you change your mind after making the deal with me?” Wakea demanded.

“He made a point that I agree with. If the downworlders find out we harmed their princess, find out she came to us for help and we harmed her instead, they may try coming at us. Cutting off our supplies and the traders. It is a risk I am not willing to take so you can have a moment of fun.”

“Isola? Was I harming you?” Wakea asked, turning to look at me.

“No,” I answered quickly, my cheeks burning in humiliation.

“Was our short time together… nice?”

“Yes,” I answered, looking at the wall as tears welled up.

“There. You see? No downworlder can claim any wrongdoing if there is none.”

“You sliced her clothes off of her!” Konani grated.

“So I did. Yet she admits she was never harmed and she enjoyed our time. I want the rest of my day, and further, I want you to reconsider allowing me to marry her. She can speak to Leilani and Leilani can marry you, or any of your stewards. I have no wish to move to the meadowlands or to rule there. Allow a stewart, or go yourself. They will accept you if they have no choice. If Isola tells Leilani she will be safe and happy here and she wants her to be your wife, Leilani will listen to her.”

“Your highness, you know your son better than anyone! You know how he is! Isola would not survive a week! Not with his temper.”

“Enough!” the king scowled. “Isola, is it true you would speak to Leilani, command her to marry and be a wife to whomever I choose?”

“Would I have a choice in who I had to marry?” I asked softly.

“Within reason. I’ll not bring a downworlder up for you.”

“May I have time to think on it?”

“Take the time you need, but remember that your guardian is being held in the cells until we decide what to do with her.”

“May I ask to be able to decide alone, with no interference? A room apart from everyone else?”

“I can manage that. How long do you need?”

“A night? Perhaps two? I need to think.”

“As you wish. Doniki, see her to one of the suites and put a guard on her doors. Send her a servant and find her some clothes and see that she has all she needs.”

“Thank you,” I told him, nodding my head at him. The servant led me away and I didn’t look back at anyone as a dread began filling me.

The room was small and simple, but it had a fireplace and it was warm. They brought me food before they brought me clothes, but I didn’t mind as I sat curled up in the large bed and heavy blankets. My thoughts warred with each other until I made myself sick and miserable, wondering what I should do. All I really wanted was to go back home, to see my parents. I’d known my whole life that I would someday have to marry whoever my father chose for me and I had never balked, not once. Was this really so different? This place was foreign to me and I didn’t understand it, but it was still no harder than what I was going to have to do before. So why was the choice so hard? To decide among a random chiefs son or Wakea? Was Konani right about Wakea? Did he have a temper that would end me? He hadn’t hurt me, though he had intimated to me and them that he would and had. I thought perhaps he liked for people to think so because he was considered weak. He tried to look more intimidating by acting ruthless. Would the clan chiefs or their sons be any better? He said I could choose, that meant I would get to meet them and pick one out among them. At least I would have some sort of choice in it?

My mind kept running in circles and I knew it was late as I lay there in turmoil, the room dark.

When the door opened, I assumed it was a servant fueling the fire, but the door closed quickly. Had they just been checking on me? Peeking in?

A hand on my leg made me jerk and squeak as someone climbed into my bed next to me.

“Don’t be frightened,” Wakea murmured, moving closer so his mouth was close to my temple as his hand slid up my body over the blankets.

“You aren’t supposed to be here?” I asked, confused and a little scared.

“I am being allowed in for a visit,” he smiled, sliding into the blankets next to me, his bare chest hot against my arm. “I wanted to see you again, little one. Feel you again,” he whispered, sliding his hand up to my face, turning me to face him.

When his lips brushed mine, I jerked back in surprise, but he held me and followed, pressing his lips to mine, kissing me. He kissed me gently, again and again, then began kissing me more deeply as I lay frozen next to him.

“Mmmm, little one,” he rumbled, kissing my chin and then my neck. “I need to taste you again!”

I was too shocked and too scared to stop him as he pulled my gown up and moved lower, trailing kisses.

“I… I don’t think…” I began, trying not to panic even as excitement surged up. He was going to do what he’d done earlier! It had been so incredibly pleasant, did I want him to stop?

No.

I moved for him readily when he pushed my legs apart and lifted them, my hands immediately going to his hair as he kissed my bud gently. I had no reservations this time, none at all as I opened myself to him and allowed the bliss to come. He purred happily kissing and sucking and teasing and bringing me close quickly. Trying to be quiet, I gritted my teeth, though I wanted to beg him to slow down, it was all happening so quickly! The pleasure was sharp and immediate and not a slow build, like he was trying to rush it. It did happen too quickly, spiking up and spilling out as I let out a cry of shock filled bliss. He didn’t stop his frenetic movements, not until my final twitch and I deflated completely into the bed.

“Mmmm, little one, I adore making you do that for me,” he whispered, moving higher on the bed. “Now I wish for you to please me as well.”

I blinked, not understanding as he moved up to straddle me, then pulled me up to sit up. It was too dark to see, but I could feel him in front of me and I took hold of his thighs, trying to imagine what he was doing, what he wanted.

For a moment, I thought he was somehow kissing me again, though he was so much taller and his lips so far above me. I realized it wasn’t his mouth he was pressing to my lips, or even his finger, it was something larger, hot and thick.

“Open your lips for me, little one,” he called down to me.

I parted my lips slightly and kissed the flesh in front of me, feeling it twitch as he groaned. It was his manhood, I realized and immediately jerked back in horror.

“Mmm, my love,” he called. “It’s alright! It’s the same pleasure I gave to you, that’s all, don’t be afraid.”

He pressed it to my lips again, his hand going to my hair and gripping me, pulling me close. “I… I don’t know…” I panted, terrified.

“Shhhh, Isola, nothing is going to hurt you. Open your mouth for me now.”

I parted my lips slightly as tears ran down my cheeks, feeling as though I couldn’t deny him. I wanted to, I wanted to ask him to leave, but he had just done this for me. Wasn’t it only fair that he want the same? I wasn’t sure, I hadn’t asked him to do that for me, he’d done it because he said he wanted to. I didn’t want to do this!

He pressed it to my mouth again, then pushed in, forcing my mouth open as I let out a shocked cry as it plunged all the way to my throat. “Mmmm, my perfect little treasure,” he whispered. “Press your tongue against the bottom and wrap your lips around tight! Keep your teeth back, wrap your lips under them. Mmm, my little love, that’s perfect,” he panted, easing back before pushing in again. His cock was long and slender as it pressed to my throat and it terrified me when he hit it and I couldn’t breathe. He didn’t linger though, pulling back immediately and not forcing it further, though I knew I wasn’t taking all of him into my mouth. He took hold of my head with his other hand and held me still as he thrust his hips frantically.

The door opened. “He’ll be back soon!” a man whispered.

Wakea may as well have not heard, he didn’t slow or acknowledge the man as the door closed. His breathing was becoming labored as I held his wrists, tears still streaming down my face as I tried to do as he had told me.

“I am there!” he groaned, shoving deep and pressing to the back of my throat as his entire cock pulsed in my mouth.

I let out a horrified scream around his member as I felt him expel his hot, thick seed into the back of my throat. Tugging at his wrists, I tried to pull back, but he held me in place until the final surge left him, then he eased back and let me go, panting heavily.

“That was perfect, my treasure,” he breathed heavily, moving to lean close. He took my head in his hands again and kissed my forehead. “Remember, little one. Remember our deal. I will always please you.”

Letting me go, he slipped away and I heard the door open and close again. I curled up in my bed and broke down sobbing, wishing I’d been able to stop that from happening. I didn’t like it at all and he hadn’t asked! He’d made me and I couldn’t say no. I didn’t feel safe here alone, the guards would let him come and go as he pleased.

Slipping out of bed, I found the robe I’d been wearing and pulled it on over my gown, then quietly padded to the door and opened it.

One guard looked at me and behind him another was coming up the hall, also looking at me. “I need to see Captain… umm… I need to see Konani. Speak to him,” I told the man, blushing. He’d let Wakea in, he knew what had just happened.

“I’ll take her,” the other guard spoke as he reached us. “This way, Princess.”

I followed him, not looking back as he led me to another hall, then stopped at a door and knocked sharply.

Konani answered the door in linen pants, looking like he’d been sleeping. He blinked down at me, then held the door open so I could come in. I stepped in and he closed it, then hurried across the room to the fireplace. “A moment, I will light a lamp,” he called softly.

“You don’t need to,” I told him softly, going over to his bed and shrugging the robe off before climbing in.

He watched me from the fireplace, then gave a single nod and came back to bed. He asked no questions as I curled up and sobbed into his blankets, but when I calmed down, he turned me to my back. Reaching across me, he took hold of my other arm and left his arm laying over my shoulders as he held my other hand.

It was comforting and I felt protected.

No one would come for me here.

I finally fell asleep feeling secure.

Morning came too early and I was still tired when he got up to answer the door. Instead of getting up as well, I burrowed under the blankets to hide from the lights.

“Iti!” Konani called cheerfully. “Come and eat.”

“Not hungry,” I mumbled, curling up more tightly in the bed.

“You need to eat. Nap later.”

“Mmm, sleep now, eat later,” I countered, smiling. He was like a second father to me.

“Come on,” he laughed, pulling the blankets off of me. “Come eat.”

“Just a few more minutes?” I pleaded, wincing from the light as he pulled me out of bed.

“You’ve hardly eaten at all these past couple days, Iti,” he admonished, setting a bowl in front of me. “Eat for me now, then I will show you some of the places in the heights if you wish it.”

“You will?” I asked excitedly, then sat down to eat quickly.

He sent a servant off after a dress for me and it arrived by the time I was done eating. I flew into it, excited to go see the city on the top of the mountain. He was grinning when he stepped back in, looking me over.

“You ready, Iti?”

“I am!” I told him happily, going across the room. “Can we go see Oni too?”

“Of course,” he chuckled. “She would love that.”

He opened the door for me, but we were both stopped short by two guards. “The king requests your presence immediately,” one of them growled, clearly not a fan of Konani.

Konani sighed. “Lead on then.”

I was dejected and frustrated as we followed the guards through the halls. What now? Had he changed his mind?

The king and his son were both sitting up on the dais and Leilani was there, strapped hand and foot to a square frame, a limb secured to each corner. She had a different gag in her mouth too.

“Nani!” I cried, horrified as I ran to her. I tried to pry the horse bit gag out of her mouth, but it was locked in the back with some sort of pin that I couldn’t pull out.

Konani came and took my shoulders, gently leading me away as I looked at Leilani forlornly.

“I’ve done some thinking,” the king announced loudly. “I will wed Leilani myself. I know my son and she wouldn’t survive the night. He’s right in that she’s too old for him by far, but she may have a few child rearing years left and I am not so old that I can’t give her children. The meadowlands will have no choice but to accept me, not with their rightful ruler at my side. I call on you to keep your word,” the king commanded me.

“You said I would have time to consider who to…”

“Yes yes, you will! I will call the chiefs in, along with their sons and you may have your choice.”

“I want the girl!” Wakea growled.

“I promised her a choice,” the king grated.

“And we all know what the chiefs will say! Look at her! They will be afraid she couldn’t survive the harsh life on the mountain, afraid she might be unable to produce an heir! One look and they will turn and leave and we both know it! I demand the girl by rights! I WILL have her!”

“Enough!” the king yelled, standing. “Isola, speak to Leilani. Command her to be my wife and not fight it!”

“You won’t harm her? You will make her happy?” I asked fearfully.

“As happy as she will allow,” the king nodded. “I’m a good man.”

Trembling, I went back to Leilani. “Take this off of her!” I demanded, trying to remove the gag again.

A soldier stepped up and removed it and I hugged Leilani close as I broke down.

“I’m sorry, Princess,” she panted miserably.

“Water!” I yelled, heartbroken. I held the cup to her lips and let her drink.

As soon as I pulled the cup away, she started again. “I’m so sorry, Button! I didn’t know things were so different here! I didn’t know the kingdom split! I never would have…”

“I know! I know Lani, please! It’s alright. I know you would never have put me in danger willingly. No one has harmed me or even been cruel to me, they have been nice enough. Lani? You heard what he wants?”

“I did,” Lani sighed, resigned.

“Would you be willing to marry the king?”

“Likeke was a good man back when I was younger, but ever reaching higher. I don’t know what happened that put him here like this, but… there are worse fates for one such as me.”

“And you promise not to fight or harm anyone?”

“If you command me, Button, I cannot disobey.”

“I do not wish to command you, Lani! I would hate myself if I thought you would resent me for all of this!”

“I know you have no more choice than I do, Button,” she smiled gently. “You have my word, I will not fight or harm anyone. I will meekly become a wife to Likeke and do as he asks.”

I turned to the guard that was hovering. “You heard her! Now take her out of this thing right now! You’ve all hurt her enough!” I demanded, something I wasn’t used to. I always asked, I was always polite, but I was so upset! It was horrible of them to treat her this way! Even if she would have killed them had she been free.

The guard looked to the dais, then turned and began unchaining Leilani slowly, more guards stepping up with crossbows trained on her.

Konani took my shoulders and pulled me back again, but as soon as she was free I ran to hug her again.

“Oh, my little Button!” she sobbed on her knees as she hugged me back.

No one stopped us and the room was quiet for a long moment until the king finally spoke.

“Leilani?” he called, a command.

Leilani stood, her limbs stiff, but I helped her walk closer to the king.

“I will give you time to get your bearings, have a bath and change, then we will be wed this evening. Are you going to try and balk?”

“No, Likeke,” she answered, her voice a monotone. “I swore to my Princess… possibly my queen now, that I would not. I am a sworn royal guardsman and her sworn protector. I would never lie to her.”

“Good. Very good.”

“I want a double ceremony,” Wakea demanded, standing up and stepping closer to me to look down at me.

I stared down at my hands, too afraid to look at him. Too ashamed to look at him after what he’d forced me to do the night before.

“I don’t think she agrees,” the king noted. “I told her she had a choice.”

“Isola, look at me!” Wakea demanded.

I stared harder at my hands, my posture rigid as more tears spilled on the stone floor.

Konani stepped up, a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Leave her alone, Wakea. She has made herself clear,” the king demanded. “Go find something else to do.”

“Isola?” Wakea hissed, moving even closer. “Do you not remember your promise? Our deal? What lies have you been fed? Look at me Isola!”

“Wakea!” the king bellowed. “Leave the throne room! Now!”

Wakea made an angry noise, then stormed away. Tension drained out of me as he left.

“Your highness,” Konani called. “You know he won’t let it go, he has his sights fixed on her. Let me take her.”

“Isola? Do you wish to go with Konani?”

“Yes!” I told him quickly, relieved. I had no want to marry a chief or their son or Wakea! The thought of living with Oni and Konani protecting me and being a fatherly figure to me was nice. I needed that just now, my own father and my guardian both lost to me.

“Then it will be as you ask. You have my blessing, take her and be happy.”

Konani bowed, then began leading me from the room.

Pulling away, I ran to Leilani and hugged her again, kissing her cheek. After, I went to Likeke and hugged him as well. “Thank you! Please take care of her! I love her like a sister!”

The king smiled, pleased, and I hurried back to Konani who had a small smile on his lips.

It was cold outside of the palace cave as we rode out in the same little two wheeled carriage. Konani moved close, pulling me tight against him to keep me warm.

“It gladdened my heart that you said yes so quickly, without reservation,” he told me softly. “I had hoped you would.”

“I love the idea of living with you and Oni. She can teach me to cook and other things and you will always protect me! I like the thought of meeting all of her kids and grandkids! I love how congenial everyone here is and how close. It’s refreshing!”

Konani chuckled and squeezed me tighter in a half hug as we rode. “I will show you the city later! I am anxious to get you home,” he smiled.

“That’s fine! I’m excited too! I want to see Oni’s face! Do you think she’ll mind? Me staying?”

“She will love it!”

I grinned excitedly and practically bounced in my seat.

When he reined in, I jumped out before he could help me and he laughed as I hurried inside.

Oni turned from the oven and smiled at me, coming to give me a hug. Konani followed close behind me, coming in and grinning at Oni.

“You will pardon us?” Konani smirked, taking hold of my hand and pulling me back to a closed off room, tiny with a small bed in it.