Trinket (Reverse Harem)

Bad News For Yanice & Deliah

Ormiss, by contrast, was rock-hard and his cock jutted lewdly against his skirts.

"Do you need a few minutes?" Asund asked dryly.

"Of course not." Ormiss flexed one hand into a clenched fist. Veins popped against his skin as he curled and uncurled his fingers. He indicated the door with his head. "My Lady."

I preceded them out the door. Asund insisted on carrying me down the stairs. Everything (ahem) seemed to be under control before we headed out the front door towards the street.

"Theia?" Asund asked as Ormiss, having summoned his staff, paused with hand on the door.

"I'm fine, just bracing myself." For the blazing hot summer weather, the blinding sunlight, and the staring crowds who may or may not be very hostile. And the ravens. The endless, lurking ravens.

Ormiss twisted his hand around mine and drew it up to kiss my fingers lightly. "You are the Lady-Consort of the Hippocamp, along with who knows how many other titles. People will always look."

For as long as I could remember, people paying attention to me had never ended well. I'd spent almost my entire life avoiding getting noticed. Being with Tynne had gotten me noticed, but I'd worked hard to not draw attention to that, because I hadn't wanted to end up "bumped" face-first into some frying oil.

Asund grumbled, "No one is going to touch you. I'll eat those damn ravens in the street. In one bite."

All I had to do was walk down the street to the other house. I'd done it before. I'd walked down lots of streets.

"She wants to stay behind," Asund told Ormiss.

"I do not!" I glared at Asund.

Ormiss pushed open the door and ushered me out.

Damn. It was bright. And hot. The humid summer air seemed to drown my lungs, and with it came all the scent of the wharf and busy street. People bustled around outside the courtyard, and for a second, no one noticed us, then it seemed like everyone noticed us. Or they noticed Ormiss. Because a weather-mage with his staff and lightening crackling over his chiseled body tended to attract attention. Asund, on the other hand, seemed to fade into the background.

How did he do that? I needed that trick.

The walk to the Hippocamp house was quick, and as a bonus, my leg felt better for it, although the ravens eyeing us from the buildings and banners across the street did not make me feel at all better.

It was like Soir was watching me through their dark eyes. I half expected to see Soir swoop out of the painfully blue sky.

The cool, shady interior of the Hippocamp house was a relief. Asund pulled the doors closed behind us with a crack.

Marcus was just rushing up the stairs as the doors closed, somehow giving the impression that he was running even though nothing about how he moved communicated he was running or rushing. Because Marcus never rushed. Marcus never needed to rush. Him rushing meant he had not anticipated something as basic as the Lord and Lady returning home. So he'd mastered the art of not-rush-rushing.

Another thing I wished I could learn.

"Lady Theia," he greeted me with a nod, "Lord-Consort, Captain."

"I see you are still here," Asund said, dour.

"Of course, Captain Wolf. I was ordered to tend to Lady Theia's household."

"And the Lord-Raven seems to have forgotten you are here?" Asund circled Marcus.

A tick in Marcus' temple betrayed that he did not like Asund eyeing him. "The Lord-Raven would surely not have forgotten. The Lord-Raven also ordered that I serve this household. If you are implying I have conflicted loyalties, Captain Wolf, I understand discretion. Just as I am training Lady Theia's maids in the more precise art of tending to a Hippocamp Lady until her own attendants arrive."