Everything was not fine.
The fast-approaching, heavy footfalls grew louder as they neared. It didn't take long for Axel to catch up. He looked sinfully dishevelled. It was a shame he had taken the time to tuck himself away. I would have welcomed the distraction his humiliation would have brought.
Sadly, I had a feeling he wouldn't have minded the attention, perhaps even welcome it.
"Lady Riar?"
Lady June looked at me with concern. Her eyes flicked between me and Axel, her brows furrowed.
Axel's chest heaved lightly with laboured breaths. Although he appeared better than a few minutes ago, sweat beaded on his brow, darkening and plastering a few strands of his violet hair to his skin. His storming grey and sliver eyes darted towards me, a hint of alarm flared the molten metal.
For a moment time seemed to slow as my eyes met Lady June's blue-toned brown ones again. The distant sounds of rustling leaves and descant wildlife that could mutely be heard through the thick windows faded, the sound of blood rushing through my veins and the pounding of my heart drowned them out.
For a moment, just one, I pictured what would happen if I told her- if I opened my mouth and ended the play that the Lords of the manor had unknowingly cast them in.
Would she believe me? Would she trust the words I said? Would she come to my aid and help me?
I would never know.
Because telling Lady June everything was not fine wouldn't fix anything. It would only make it worse.
It would give Cassius all the incentive he needed to tell Lady June of my origins. He would sign my death certificate if what I had been told was true.
If not wanting to face death wasn't enough of an incentive to keep the charade going, not wanting to lose the only people I had in this strange and unknown world would be another.
My friends would hate me.
Despite how they treated me, the five Lords treated their workers very well. I knew Henry, Kai, and Timothy sympathized with my struggles and bad mouth their lords to give me a chance to rant, but I could see in the way they looked at them and followed their orders that they respected the men. They would hate me if I was the reason they had to return to the kind of life that they claimed the Lords saved boys and men from.
But worse than that, it would turn Ezra against me.
I knew he cared about me, or at least I was convinced he did, but I was not delusional enough to think he would pick me over his friends.
I wasn't delusional enough to think that getting him in trouble would keep me endeared to him.
So, I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and put on a wide, cheek aching grin that dripped in artificial sweetness as I let out a fake, belly-deep laugh.
Shaking my head, I waved off her concerns with a hand. "No," I said, trailing off my laughter as I wiped one last tear from the corner of my eye. "Everything's fine. The incubus was getting a bit cocky so I had to teach him a lesson. He doesn't know how to function once the tears go off," I looked towards Axel, the forced smile strained the muscles in my face. "It's fun watching him get flustered and panicked," I added, playing into the role they painted of the women of this world.
When my eyes returned to Lady June, I found her looking at me skeptically. It was for a moment before the crease between her brows smoothed and she grinned back at me. "Who knew the unattainable incubus couldn't handle tears," she laughed.
My shoulders sagged, relieved that she bought it.
"Why wouldn't I panic when my heart cries?" Axel interjected, his smooth words played along with my lie.
His hand landed on my waist and pulled me towards him. The action and touch surprised me. I flinch. He was quick to hide it from Lady June. A quick snap of his teeth towards my neck, a mock bite, hid the jerked movement born of fear.
But it drew attention to the fresh marks Ezra had left over my skin earlier. Nicole had covered the bruises that she had been told were sustained during an attempted robbery with make-up, but Ezra and Axel's attacked had wiped some of it away, making the love bits appear darker, more visible.
Lady June's eyes dropped to the marks. Her lips curled up. "Looks like you've been making the most of the time you've been hiding away with your men."
I returned her sly smirk, but mine didn't reach my eyes. "I wanted to break them in properly." The words came easily with the act. All I had to do was replicate. I had witnessed hundreds, if not, thousands of conversations like this before. I had seen the looks, the smiles, and heard the words, the whispers.
She threw her head back laughing. "I understand. If I added that one to my harem I wouldn't leave my bedroom for a week," she said, gesturing to Axel. "Maybe a few of the rumours about his skill set are true."
Axel's arm stiffened around me.
I laughed, hiding the forced quality. My cheek twitched from the strain of the forced smile. "We should probably head down for lunch," I suggested, my eyes habitually searched for a clock on the walls. It should have been near lunchtime by now. Although initially I was dreading having to eat in that room with so many strangers, right now it seemed like a haven. It would give me the chance to distance myself from Axel and from Lady June's suspicions.
Plus, Ezra would be there. Ezra was safe.
"Ah, yes! Let's head there together! I was actually looking for you earlier because I wanted to discuss some business matters with you. We can do that on the way there," she said as she grabbed the railing by the stairs, preparing to descend.
I gave her what I hoped looked like a sincere smile as I followed her down. Axel kept his arm tightly around me the whole time. With each step, I couldn't help but bump into him.
"What did you want to discuss?"
"I wanted to explore the idea of expanding your brothel and opening a location in Greenbay."
"My brothel?" I asked.
She looked at me from the corner of her eyes.
Axel chuckled beside me. Although he stood tall, I could feel his body faintly quake periodically.
"My wife has had...other matters occupying her thoughts since the wedding. She hasn't had a chance to see what else each of her husbands has to bring to the table aside from the parts she's made herself well acquainted with."
I flushed at the teasing innuendos in his words.
"Zev owns a brothel," Axel informed me. "It became yours once he accepted the marriage contract."
"What? Why?" Why would I get his brothel? I didn't know how to run a business.
Before Axel could answer, Lady June did.
"Men can't own property," she said like it was obvious. "The only reason Zev and the rest of your husbands were made an allowance was because of their status. Now that you are their wife, everything now belongs to you." She eyed me for a moment contemplatively. "How do you not know this?"
His words seized me with panic. I cleared my throat while running through my memory of the details Cassius had me memories.
"I was an orphan raised in a rural village. There, everyone was poor. Men were valued more for their looks than their possessions, so it wasn't important knowledge."
Understanding replaced her suspicion. It was accompanied by something else.
Learning about my supposed origins gave her a sense of superiority over me.
I was the poor orphan who got lucky.
As we walked to the dining room Lady June recited her plans for Zev's brothel to me. She wanted to invest gold to grow the business and expand it. I listened to her words closely, but I quickly realized I knew nothing about business beyond the basics.
It didn't take me long to convince Lady June that she should save her breath and have this conversation with Zev.
When we reached the dining room, it was already bustling with activity.
The large table that usually went unused, save for the end the five of them used, was now nearly filled. There were at least a dozen women and easily twice as many men seated around the table.
Leading me towards the head of the table where there sat an empty seat, I was finally able to escape from Axel when he was forced to leave my side to sit beside Jaxon since the seats on either side of mine were occupied by Cassius and Zev. Jaxon sat beside Zev while Ezra smiled at me from his seat beside Cassius. Lady June joined her husbands near us.
Once we were settled, a voice broke through the casual conversations taking place around the generous spread of food.
"It's a tab bit rude to keep your guests waiting, is it not, Lady Riar?" A woman with blue-tinted skin and dark green hair asked.
Her words drew the room's attention. All conversation stopped. All eyes landed on me. I could feel their weight weighing down on me.
I had been preparing myself for situations like this for the past few days. I thought I was ready. now that I was in the situation, all I could do was freeze.
"That would be my fault."
I sighed. I could breathe again once I felt the eyes shift to Axel.
"I had to finish what I had begun," he said with a suggestive smirk. The pasty complex his skin was taking hardly did anything to diminish his looks.
It was a shame he was a terrible man. The worst always came in the prettiest packaging.
A few faces around the table lit with amusement, while others speared me with narrowed gazes. I guess Lady June's warning about green women was very much warranted.
It became apparent when I found myself being bombarded with questions. It became clear very fast why the file Cassius had given me was so thorough. I also developed a hypothesis as to why he had given me the back story of a poor orphan from a village in the middle of nowhere. The hostility from the most volatile women diminished a bit when they learned that I was a nobody.
It seemed to spark again when they realized that the five men had chosen a nobody over them.
I sighed. Even with all the answers memorized, it was tasking being grilled by the women. Cassius's heavy, threatening gaze didn't help either. It was scarier than the ones I occasionally felt from Zev or Jaxon. The weight of their stares got worse when Ezra had to excuse himself to tend to a time-sensitive experiment. He had left me with a guilty peck on the lips and promises of finding me later.
"You don't look too well. Are you alright?"
The question was directed towards Axel from Daniel as lunch started wrapping up. A few of the guests had already excused themselves earlier, saying that their travels had taken a toll on them and they needed to rest. Those who were still present latched onto the conversation, like vultures.
It seemed that high society had a gossiping problem no matter where you went.
Axel laughed and smiled at Daniel. Although he tried his best, it looked strained. "It's what I get for upsetting the wife. She's isn't a big fan of being teased, and what can I say, I love teasing," he grinned.
A few chuckles could be heard around the table, but one stood out. It was higher, louder. It wanted to be noticed.
The dark-skinned, white-haired woman that sat beside Axel leaned into him and placed her hand on his upper arm, squeezing it.
"I can help you if your wife won't."
The words were mock whispered. Everyone heard.
I knew it was all an act, that I wasn't really their wife, but I couldn't help the blush of humiliation that heated my face. I had seen the women at the table eyeing the men that were supposedly my husbands, but I didn't expect one of them to make a move. Especially not when it seemed like the two men seated beside her were her husbands. But they didn't look as if they cared. They simply continued to sip their juice.
I jumped when Cassius's hand landed on the surface of the table with more force than necessary.
"Lady Crane," he calmly started. "Please remove your hand from my wife's husband. I wouldn't want her to think that someone would come into her home and dare to disrespect her," he said as he dabbed a napkin against his lips.
Silence followed Cassius's words. He continued.
"Lord Axel committed his actions willingly and is facing the punishment he was warned he would face. He will endure it as our wife sees fit with a smile on his face. Plus, you should be more considerate of your husbands."
The woman snorted. "Considerate?"
"I'm sure they're not too please with having to sit quietly while their wife flirts with other men in front of them," Zev answered in his cold, bored voice.
Lady June's face flushed darker. She sneered at him. "How dare you?" She snapped her heated gaze towards me. "You're going to allow your husband to speak to me like this?" she challenged.
I didn't know what to say. My mouth wordlessly opened at the surprise of finding myself as the center of focus in this conversation once again.
I left a large hand land on my thigh. I glanced towards the owner of it, Cassius, but he kept his eyes on the angered woman.
It was easy to fool myself into thinking the firm grip his hand had on my thigh was that of support rather than the silent warning it was. So I pretended. I was playing a character, and he was my character's caring husband who was showing his support.
"My household operates differently," I said with as much confidence as I could manage.
"So you allow your men to run their mouths?" Lady Crane asked in disgust.
"Yes," Zev calmly answered. His lack of emotions was a comical contrast to Lady Crane's anger and outrage.
"Our wife doesn't want us as obedient, collared, pets," Cassius added. "The six of us are a family built on trust and loyalty. Not fear and control."
Ah, yes. Cassius's plan to keep other potential suitors away. Apparently, the status they elevated me to is one coveted by almost any family with an eligible son. Lying that I wasn't looking to add to my harem would help bring down the number, but it wouldn't stop everyone.
Lady Crane was appalled at the idea. Her dislike of even the simple notion of the idea could be seen on her face.
Lady June broke the tension and cut in before Lady Crane could escalate the situation. She cheerfully switched the topic to one revolving around the latest celebrity news.
Lady Crane didn't stick around to participate. She rose to her feet with her nose held high and left with her husbands following behind her. She couldn't see the smiles they were trying to suppress.
It had only been one meal and I was already more than prepared for all this to be over.
Their Wife Book One is complete and avaliable on Patreon for on two different tiers! Their Wife Book Two is currently being updated on Patreon and Their Thief has been made available!
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