“She is mine,” Er’it roared, wrenching the fur away from Aida’s shoulder further. Baring the slope of her breasts and the roundness of her arm, he shoved Aida forward so that they all might see. “My teeth mark her, and none shall deny my claim!”
“No one shall, Your Majesty,” Tor’en said with a submissive bow of his head.
Some unseen signal passed between all the people gathered, sending them down to one knee in genuflection even as they put more space between themselves and Er’it.
“You are mine,kou’vera, and you will not forget it,” Er’it bellowed as he leaned over her, crushing Aida against him before he sunk his teeth deep into her shoulder with a sickening crunch.
Aida screamed, but it was in more than just pain as her very soul shattered into a thousand glittering pieces amid a brilliant golden light.
Chapter 16
Aida
Aida hissed as the cart jostled across the rutted track, her hand flying to her shoulder though she was afraid to touch the sticky bandage. It still leaked blood and clear fluid, and Er’it went into a rage when Maruk even suggested something to make it stop.
More aggressive than ever, he rode Kal by her side, never letting his eyes wander far from Aida where she sat alone in the cart that felt far too large now. Most of the crates were put into the other wagon, leaving Aida space aplenty for the blankets and pelts Er’it tucked her into. Surrounded by cushions, she didn’t even feel the rough wood any longer, not that she rode in the cart for long.
Unable to keep his hands from her for long, Er’it often brought Aida onto Kal’s back with him. The Phylix’s smooth strides were better for her shoulder to be sure, but Er’it’s possessive mauling helped nothing. His agitated nuzzling and deep growls caused her no little amount of frustration as they often led to him racing ahead to some hidden clearing or break in the thick trees. There, he would mount her, rough and as desperate as Aida, scraping her back raw against coarse bark or freezing her legs in the icy snow as he made her ride him.
Then, Aida would have to sit in the cart once more, his seed thick and hot as it stained her thighs for hours afterwards. Leaving her somehow more frustrated than she was to begin with, their furious and brief couplings never satiated her fully. Within an hour or two at most, it would begin all over again.
The directions the villagers gave Ath’asho, thus far, proved to be true, bringing them ever closer to their destination. Her birthplace. A home she’d never seen or, at least, didn’t remember. If Marilsa had the right of it, a days-old babe would remember nothing. She had no memories of a home other than her tower in Aeslomor, no mother or father but Immari and Otaso. Yet, the closer they came, the more the feeling of belonging pervaded her. She had a sense of the woods, the creatures within it, and even of the people she knew to be hidden in the shadowy recesses of the forest. Whole tribes of them were there, both larger and smaller than the village she’d decimated. She could feel their hearts beating, their blood pounding to a rhythm set to the pulse of the land.
She would have asked Tor’en her questions if she’d been allowed but knew Er’it would never permit it. Even though they’d been leagues away from each other, raising her voice to speak with Maruk had made Er’it furious. None were allowed to talk to her, and Er’it had little interest in indulging her curiosity. For that matter, she had little interest in it herself once he started touching her.
There was no denying the bonds between Er’it and herself would never be undone. They had woven together, fast and strong, in an impenetrable web that only death would sever. Death would come, but only for one of them. Though his soul wouldn’t fare well once she was gone.
“You need to eat.” It was a command as much as a statement, grunted out as Er’it maneuvered Kal closer and climbed from saddle to cart with practiced ease.
“I can feed myself,” Aida murmured, though her lips tipped up when Er’it straddled her legs.
“Mayhap,” he said, fishing a handful of berries from a small pouch. A precious find in the wintry landscape, Maruk happened upon them while scouting ahead with the soldiers. Now Er’it fed them to her one by one, most of the bounty reserved for her alone.
“I could make more of these.” Aida hummed as Er’it took the opportunity to slip several of the plump blue berries between her lips to silence her.
“No.” Gruff and final, he began feeding her the last of the fresh meat they’d cooked that morning.
That was a conversation Aida did not wish to have again. Eavesdropping as she pretended to drowse, she’d heard the soldiers worrying over their food stores. There hadn’t been enough time to smoke all that they’d hunted, and while the fresh fruit and nuts they’d gathered from Aida’s last show of power had been a welcome respite on the road, it had long since been depleted.
Wanting to help, she’d popped up out of her furs to hang over the side of the wagon, grabbing hold of Er’it’s pant leg to demand his attention. As soon as she began rattling on about her idea to try something like that again, he’d yelled at her. He’d even gone so far as to stop their journey so that he could drag her from the cart and stand over her as he shouted a long list of reasons why it was a ridiculous and stupid idea. Not the least of which was how she’d been unconscious for days afterwards and how if she would not care for her person, he would do it for her.
Left feeling like a petulant child for days afterwards, Aida couldn’t strangle her emotions into remaining angry with him. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right.
Now they were mere days away from their destination, and the point would be moot. Their welfare would no longer be Aida’s concern after they arrived. Her eyes burned with the sting of helpless anger, but it ceased to be about her own senseless death. Furious with Er’it for the little care he showed for his own ravaged soul, she was of half a mind to toss his words back into his face if she thought for a moment he would hear her.
“Has it gone off?” Er’it asked, pulling away the bite of stale bread from her lips to sniff at it, though they could both see the hard tack was well enough to eat.
“It is not the food.”
“Do not start again,kou’vera.”
“What does that mean?”
“That you are mine.”
“You keep saying that, yet you will do this still.” Aida sniffed hard, dashing the back of her hand against her cheeks, though there were no tears to clear away. “Besides, you saidkou’vameant that.”
“They mean the—”
