Cathedra - Chapter 6: Mine

I'M HERE, I DIDN'T MISS IT I'M HERE

listen. don't get used to the fluff. 

CW: sexual content, language

⦽

With every step came greater clarification of the kingdom's current state, and with every step farther into the muddy, smelly streets and run-down homes that circled the castle, she realized what poor rulership her parents had provided to the people that had kept this corner of the world standing. The ones she did see were angry, and verbal about it. Although she came with Knights, the people who lived in these conditions still yelled at her, trying to get past her protection.

You’re letting us starve!

Your family was a curse on these lands and now you brought a pig into the castle!

You’re nothing but a whore who took the throne!

The abuse came, but Callie didn’t lash back. She listened quietly, apologizing, moving on and taking it all in.

It wasn’t her place to claim innocence to their rage.

“How did this happen? How did they slack so much?” Callie asked out loud, her eyes full of the grief she’d witnessed on this torturous walk. “How do I even begin to fix it!?”

“I don’t know, my Lady,” Morn sighed, her face covered and head wrapped so she didn’t receive too many glares.

Everywhere she turned there was another family or child with sunken eyes, some crawling after them with their palms upturned for any morsel she may have had to share. She wanted to scoop them into her arms and race them to the castle's kitchen, but just looking out at the bleak surroundings filled her with a dread she didn’t know if she could fix.

“My Queen-!” came a desperate voice, and just as Callie had turned, a thin man who’s clothes barely hung on his boney body flew at her, collapsing at her feet and gripping her dress. “Please, please, my family is starving!” he sobbed, yanking her down. “We need FOOD!”

“Please, please let go- I want to help-” Callie struggled, Morn trying to detach the man's grip, the Knights pulling at his arms, ordering him to let her go.

“YOU CAN’T LEAVE US LIKE THIS!” he screamed, spitting and hitting her legs.

“I won’t leave!” she yelled back, clinging to Morn and the shouting Knights, but the stranger's strength was unbridled. He sobbed and pulled at her in the mud, the fabric of her dress ripping as he was yanked by the ankles.

More had started to circle them, yelling in the same manner and growing closer, but the Knights only stood their ground with their crystal spears in hand, ready to push and impale.

The sharp, debilitating impact of a stone striking her forehead knocked Callie on her side, the muddy hand that caught herself coming to touch the gash at her forehead once the man was finally dragged away, screaming and trying to claw his way back to her.

She looked at the chaos around her, Morn trying to get her back on her feet and the Knights pushing the crowd back, yelling at their Queen to return to the castle.

“Wait- wait!” Callie shouted, the order she’d come with broken.

Callie looked down at the dried mud on her hands and caked under her nails.

The ruined yellow dress had been peeled away and the scratches on her legs and arms had been dressed, as well as the gash on her forehead that throbbed dully in her skull.

She sat alone in her bathroom at the edge of the wooden tub, the water steaming and waiting, but she couldn’t move from this place of deep concentration, and reflection as she quietly swiped away stray tears that slipped down her dirty cheeks. Their transition of power had been nothing short of bumpy, but now she could see where her own inexperience had fallen on the homes and shoulders of the people she led.

She looked at the water, dipping her fingers in. “How do I fix this?” she asked her reflection, the water rippling and distorting her image.

Callie sighed and reached for her scented rose petal box, sprinkling only a few of them across the glass surface to save her last for later since they were no longer in season.

She paused, looking down at the box in her lap, a light going off behind her big eyes.

With haste she bathed and scrubbed the mud off her body, uncaring of the wet ends that dripped and smacked against her back as she pulled on a clean dress; a pearl one that hugged her form loosely and was no cover against the gusts that had swept through the trees all morning, but with her crimson cloak locked at her shoulders, she flew out of her room, startling Morn who had been waiting on the other side.

“Y-your majesty!” she stuttered, skipping to match the Queen’s speedy walk. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m going to see Nik,” Callie answered, skipping down the spiral stairs.

“Did something happen!?” Morn asked more urgently, following her down.

“No, I just need to speak with him urgently,” Callie told her, twisting the ends of her hair that were soaking her back and ringing out the water onto the pavement at her feet.

“Well what’s happened? Why the sudden departure- could it not wait for morning when he’s due back?-”

“NO,” Callie snapped, glancing at her. “For us that is but one meal we would have to miss- a mere inconvenience. For the families in these walls, who know how many days they’ve gone without a single one,” she scolded, the strength of the screaming man’s grip around her ankle still felt. “I cannot wait for tomorrow, I need to do something now,”

“Well what do you plan on doing?” Morn questioned heatedly, about ready to step on the tail of her cloak if she didn’t answer her.

“I’m going to speak to my husband about it and fix it!” Callie implored, pushing the heavy doors of the stable entrance open and walking down the stalls filled with colorful horses.

Although her trusted stallion who spooked easily yet carried her valiantly on her journey to Queenship was a retired horse that would be used for easy strolls; he’d earned it after enduring his own battle scar from Patricia.

Callie shuddered; how long before she pops up again?

“Hello my love,” Callie beamed, walking up to the stall that housed the Vanner Nik had gifted her. She popped her head out, ears forward and big black eyes looking at her as she stroked her blaze. “Are you up for a ride today?”

“Let me gather the Knights, your Majesty-” Morn was already moving to call them over.

“No no, Nik has some men gathered here, I’ll go with them,” she stopped her, meeting Morn’s puzzled stare. “The Knights are awfully pushy,” she whispered in distaste, grabbing the Orcish bridal from the pillar and stepping back to the horse. “It makes better sense to just leave with his men instead,”

Morn blinked a few times, fixing her dress. “You’ll be alright?”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Callie smiled, fixing the Vanner’s forelock after she’d secured the loose bridle.

The week she’d spent amongst his people had been eye opening as much as it was exciting, day after day learning the ways that were such a mystery to her before, but were just as normal as any other activity she’d find herself doing during the day.

“Let's go, big girl,” Callie grunted, pulling herself up onto the back of the sturdy horse. It knickered and tossed its head a little, looking back to press its lip to her leg.

“I’m not afraid to kick you in the nose,” she warned, waiting for the nibbles to turn into bites, but with a loud snort, the Vanner looked forward. Callied nodded her head, settling atop the horse. “Vamos,” she tapped her sides with her heels.

“You’re sure you’ll be alright, your Highness?” Morn asked, moving aside as the horse exited her stall and stepped around impatiently, her plated hooves clopping loudly against the stone pathway.

“I’ll be back today, it’ll be a quick visit,” Callie grinned, drawing the cloak around her shoulders. “Have our steward tally all the food we have in the castle before my return.” She finished with, finally allowing the horse to trot down the pathway.

The mare snorted and threw her head once outside in the cool air, gracefully transitioning into a canter as Callie led her down the bare path through the trees Nik and his men had carved to allow easier access to the castle. It took only seconds for three Orcs to appear behind her, riding their own massive horses with spears and archery in hand and wearing the crimson sashes around their wastes that matched the color of their King.

She allowed the horse to come to a stroll on its own once she’d exhausted herself, still learning its quirks and signals. From the beginning she’s known she was a vivacious girl, and had already tried to throw Nik once when he wanted to see the horse’s capabilities, but no manner of hostility had been shown to Callie, aside from the occasional pinch of her teeth.

Callie observed the lush green around her before looking back over her shoulder at the Orcs who rode at a distance, the one in front nodding his head at her.

She returned the gesture, turning forward.

The ride was dull compared to the parade they had been first visiting his tribe, but the beat of hooves against the soft forest floor and the rhythmic sounds of the forest life around them was always a step into tranquility. She tipped her head back once under the canopy of the singing Ora birds, grinning up at the tunes they passed back and forth.

Following the ride through the winding trees, the men who’d followed her stopped Callie at the tree line, wordlessly telling her to wait there as they scanned the meadow she was to cross.

They galloped away, calling to the others stationed around the tribe and sweeping through the tall grass that could be hiding anyone, but no enemies laid in wait for them this day, and they called her across.

It wasn’t the same celebratory greeting as last time, but many still greeted her kindly once she rode up to them, smiling and speaking to her in words she didn’t understand once slipping down from her horse to greet them. Thankfully she’d remembered to eat the polka-dotted Jasper’s Thumb before coming here as many now reached for her stomach and patted.

She smiled and nodded, allowing the pats and touches nervously; maybe I should push my stomach out…

Nik roused from his nap when he heard commotion rise outside, but before his eyes could even open he was greeting the headache he’d hoped would’ve gone by the time he woke, but neither that or the fever that clung to him like a wet sheet had dissipated. It’s when he knew it would linger for days, as would the insatiable appetite to fuck that would soon come; it was only a matter of time.

“Moon fever,” he exhaled, pushing off his stomach with a groan.

The agitation ached in his bones with vigor as he sat back on his knees, rotating his head and stretching his neck, listening to the commotion outside.

They must’ve seen a bear or something.

Nik finally stood, his big body stiff from an awkward sleeping position and staggering over to the opening of his tent. He rubbed his eyes before straightening out the pants he wore low on his narrow, defined hips, moving the flap aside and curling the end over one of the support beams so he could observe from the warmth of his tent.

How was it that the very person whom he would choose to relieve this smothering tension with was making her way through the tribe, visibly struggling to understand what anyone had to say but still smiling and offering hugs to the young ones that giggled around her.

He chuffed and leaned against the support beam when she saw him waiting. It had been a few days since he’d seen her, but he wouldn’t readily admit out loud that those three days had been rather lonesome after having her company for that week.

When the mob still followed after she made it before his tent, he snapped loudly, harshly, the children giggling away and adults leaving the last of their smiles and praises with the Queen whose head was spinning from the interaction.

He looked her up and down. He hadn’t had a piece of those sweets in a few days.

A break had been sorely needed; they both ached and burned from the constant attempts, sometimes twice daily. The surplus of Jasper’s Thumb had given them the coverage they needed to allow a pause in their activities, but he knew too that she was expected to be showing soon.

As always, they were running out of time.

“This is a surprise,” he rumbled, looking down at her with heavy eyes, but then his brows furrowed. “What happened there?” He asked, stepping out of his tent and reaching to touch her forehead.

She’d forgotten the cut was there until he poked it, hissing at the stinging sensation. “It’s part of the reason I’m here,” she waved his hand away. “I have something important to talk to you about,” she exhaled, pulling her cloak around her arms to hide from the chill of the day.

He shook his head and motioned in the direction of the stream that sat behind the tribe. “Would you like to walk and talk?” He asked. It would be better to stay in fresh air as opposed to the closed space of the tent where her essence would swarm him. She’d eaten the flower again, which was expected, but now her scent was blooming around her colorfully, and it made his mouth water.

His senses were in a heightened state of arousal, his sense of smell and taste being the ones to take most of the assault, and knowing how sweet his dear Calista was only made the desire to touch her more grand.

“Sure,” she grinned, using a hand to pull her dress up around her feet and taking the elbow he offered. “Have you been busy?”

“I have. There’s always some sort of ridiculous matter at the borders between Cathedra and Otherrland,” he grumbled bitterly, strolling beside her.

“Otherrland?” She repeated. The world outside of Cathedra had always been a mystery to all except for the ones who met at the borders to negotiate treaties and the exchanging of goods, and it piqued her curiosity. “Are they humans?”

“No, I don’t know what to call them,” he mumbled, recalling the creatures that walked upright but weren’t shaped normally beneath their layers of clothes. “They’ve only ever dealt their trades and said nothing more,”

She looked forward, a little put off by that. “That unsettles me,”

He nodded. “I think we are okay for now. They don’t seem hostile, just… a little frightening,”

“Good,” she nodded, noticing that his usual upright and proper posture was loose, almost as if he was having a hard time standing straight. “Are you alright?”

His hairless brows furrowed at her. “Why?”

“You look ill,” her nose scrunched, leaning a little away to get a better look over him. “Have you been feeling sick?”

He shrugged, the tension in his frame making his gait stiff. “Somewhat. I’ve just felt a little under the weather lately,” he lied.

Callie looked up at him, the pair walking through the tall grass. “What’s wrong?”

Maybe this one Orcish thing was best kept to himself…  but what would he do when it came next time? And the time after that? Married life meant she would likely be the one this very matter would befall second to him- it would only make sense to warn her.

Nik took a breath, keeping his eyes forward and posture tight despite a fresh sense of embarrassment overcoming him.

“It’s moon fever,” he grumbled.

“Hm?” She asked, letting her dress down to trace her palms over the tops of the wisping grass. That sounded awfully familiar…

He didn’t know how to even explain it. “Every moon phase- males… we-“ he struggled.

She looked at him. Morn had mentioned this before-

“His moon fever used to be quite intense,” she said offhandedly, brushing through Calista’s hair.

Callie furrowed her brows, looking up from her nails she’d been picking at. “Moon fever?”

“Oh, it’s like um,” she snapped her fingers to find the words. “You, a human, have your monthly bleeding? Orcs have cycles where we go into a sort of heat, you can say. It’s our body's way of telling us it’s time to breed,” she explained, the comb tugging on a knot.

Callie listened intently, processing her words. “That happens to you all at the same time? Like on a full moon?”

“Oh no,” Morn laughed. “Whatever moon your day happens on becomes your fever moon. Mine is a young moon so it’ll be coming up.”

“It’s the heat cycle, right?” She asked outright, and he looked down at her in mild shock.

So she knows. “Yes, that,” he grunted. “I woke up this morning with it,” he exhaled.

Callie looked down at her hand splayed across his thick forearm, now noticing that his skin was alarmingly warm, as if a fever was gripping him. She rubbed the rough skin with the length of her fingers.

So moon fever is a literal term. “Is there any way to relieve it?” She asked without thinking.

He patted her hand holding his arm, his grin crooked. “My sweet wife,” he smiled, shaking his head.

She furrowed her brows at his actions and words, blinking, thinking… oh.

“So how do you get it to go away?” Callie asked ignorantly.

Morns laughter was melodic, her head tossing back. “You fuck until you can no longer,” she giggled. “The body wants what the body gets.”

“Breeding,” she said, the pair coming up to the embankment that led to the quiet stream.

Nik looked at her, and she could see the dilated pupils behind his heavy eyelids from the fever that was making his breaths heavy.

The only thing that would help.

She felt her cheeks heat; it had been some time, but not a day had gone by she didn’t think of his voice or imagine his hands on her. The break had been nice, much appreciated-

“Well,” she pulled away from his heated gaze. Her throat felt dry, a familiar excitement stirring in her gut. “I suppose with the absence of your baby in my belly, your fever found itself fit to make itself present,” she suggested, her eyes jumping nervously around.

He listened as he stepped over the edge of the embankment and offered his hand to her, helping her walk down the brief incline, but her words had stirred a strong flush of butterflies in his gut.

She gasped when her footing lost, his colossal hands flying to her sides.

Her eyes found him when her hands moved from his arms and to his thick chest, her fingers pressing into the firm muscle, his skin burning under her touch.

“You’re so hot,” she said softly, finding her footing and standing right before him.

He chuffed when her hands slid down his front, her fingers slipping into the dips and crevices of his chiseled stomach.

Callie looked down, finding the bulge growing in his pants. She glanced over to where they had left the tribe undetected, biting her lip. No one knew they were here, not even his men.

She looked back up when his big hands held her cheeks, angling her face up to meet his mouth and place a warm kiss on her lips. She moaned, standing on her toes, reaching to get her arms around his broad shoulders.

“Someone- someone could see us,” she breathed against his mouth, glancing at the tribe again.

Did she really care about that?

No, no she didn’t.

“No one will even hear us,” he growled, placing kisses on her cheek, leaning down to pull the back of her thighs.

Callie leapt into his arms, moving her weight into his hold when he wrapped a strong arm around her waist.

Her back hit the ground of the embankment when he lowered her, his hot kisses meeting hers as he landed between her spread thighs, his elbows supporting most of the weight she felt against her chest.

Her cloak kept her from pressing into the damp earth that was riddled with sticks and leaves, becoming the blanket they’d fuck upon when Nik unclasped the locks easily at her shoulders.

She reached for him again once the heavy fabric was freed, her feet pulling his hips down as she moaned, and kissed him hungrily.

He looked to his sides when she peppered kisses into his face, her small hands bringing it back to hers after he made sure there were no curious eyes that had found them.

“Kiss me,” she gasped, his ears twitching at the command.

He did, pressing his tongue into her mouth, grinding his cock against her cunt when she whimpered. His growl was loud, and startling, but he couldn’t control the force driving through his body at that moment.

She whined, her nails carving down his arms.

“Oh!” She remembered- this wasn’t why I came here.

“Nik,” she breathed his name, giving him another kiss before he pushed her jaw up, his teeth scraping her collarbones. “Listen to me-“ she couldn’t even listen to herself- his kisses were so sweet, his tusks creating the most brilliant of sensations when they poked her supple skin.

“Huh?” He was struggling to keep from blacking out- these usual rushes of blood to his head were easier to manage, but the heat, the intensity- it was stifling. She was stifling him in the most delicious of ways.

“I need to talk to you about something,” her eyes fluttered, her knees rotating out when she felt his knuckles graze her lips after pushing the sheer layers of her dress up around her bare hips.

“Now?” He asked, looking down at her naked sex.

“It’s why I came here,”

He scoffed, the ties to his pants undone and pumping his heavy dick in his hand that she eyed hungrily, her lip pinched between her blunt teeth. “Well what is it,” he mumbled, the precum dripping off his piercing.

“We,” she gasped, her fingers digging into his wrist when he massaged his tip against her clit. “Oh fuck,” Callie whimpered, loudly, her face turning into his arm that came to rest beside her.

“Tell me,” he growled, kissing her face, switching to swaying his hips to drag his length between her lips, up and down so he could hold her jaw when he kissed her, but his own moans could not be held at bay. Although his skin was flushed, her center was hotter, and it made his patience waver.

He wanted to feel the way her walls parted when he dipped in, and fill her with all he had. He wanted relief from the pressure in his head, the stiff ache in his cock that made him curl his fingers into the cloak and ground beneath them.

Nik soaked in her cries, the sound of his flesh sliding against hers, how her pulse thundered under her skin.

“I can’t speak when you do that!” She breathed, tightening her thighs at his sides so he couldn’t rock forward again. “Listen to me!”

Nik chuffed loudly in her face, his brows flattened in anger and looking at her directly.

She took a breath, moving her hair from her face. “I want to hand out rations to the people surrounding Castle Flores,”

His brows twitched, as well as his ears. “Food rations?”

She nodded, her hands resting on his shoulders. “I walked through some of the markets today-“

“Alone!?” He asked.

“No, fool, I had the Knights with me,” she waved off his concern. “Anyways- Nik,” she looked at him in utter seriousness, grabbing his face. “Those people are starving to death, we have to do something,”

He thought about it a moment, shifting his weight to lean on his other knee, still between her thighs. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,”

Huh? She blinked- did he say that? “What?” She barked.

“Hungry people act hungry, they'll swarm or attack,”

“Because they're hungry, Nik,”

“I know, Callie, but the castle is understaffed and there aren’t enough Knights to fend off that many people if they decide they want more than what we can offer,” he explained, waiting for it to make sense in her head.

The look she gave him was of mild disgust- is that really how he thinks?

“No,” she pushed against his chest, “Move please,”

“Where are you going?” He asked, sitting up and watching her wiggle from under him.

“Something needs to be done and I’m going to do something about it,” she snapped, standing and reaching down to tug on her cloak he still kneeled on.

Nik’s eyes narrowed at her. “Callie,”

“Get off,”

“It’s a bad idea, someone could get hurt,” he said sternly, putting his shrinking cock back in his pants and tying the front.

“I know what you think now get- off!” She yanked, flying back into the embankment when he rolled back onto his feet and the cloak gave way.

She grunted, gasping when Nik’s big body was over her again, her hands pressing into the hot skin of his chest.

“Look at me,” he growled, and she did with a hot chill shooting down her inner thighs. “Wait until we can figure out a better way to get them food. Please just wait,” he asked softly. “I don’t want you to get hurt,”

Her eyes softened. “Then come with me,”

“Not even I can fight back so many humans if they decided to turn,” he told her, scoffing. “What am I saying- as soon as they see me, they would turn,”

“They have not turned the weeks you’ve ruled by my side, Nik. Come with me,” she begged.

He stared down at her, eyes pleading. How did she not fear for her own safety?

Nik shook his head. “It’s not wise,”

Callie exhaled, her look of disappointment making him feel small. “Fine,”

He pushed off the ground, standing to offer a hand and pull her from the ground. He helped dust the leaves off her dress and hair, and when the cloak was returned to her shoulders he asked, “Will you stay the day?”

“No,” she snapped. “I’m going back to hand out the rations,”

Nik stood a moment after her sudden departure, watching her start up the incline again. “You just said you wouldn’t do it,”

“No I didn’t,” she called back, almost falling again.

“You said-“ but he cut himself off, she really hadn’t said that. “Calista!”

She made it to the top, smoothing down her dress and carrying on along the same path through the grass they’d taken. She turned when Nik’s steps approached behind her, halting when he got in her way.

“Wait,” he held a palm up.

“No, you told me what you think, I know what you have to say,” she pushed past his big shoulder, but he turned and grabbed her wrist.

“Can we at least wait a few days to gather more Knights from the borders?” He asked, hanging on when she tugged against his hold.

Please Callie, just listen to me this one time, he wanted to beg.

His body was on edge and on fire, and all he wanted to really do was curl around his wife and relax but she was pushing him to a limit she didn’t know existed. The thought of a mob going after her made him frantic, like he had to throw her over his shoulder and run just to make sure no other could lay a finger on her.

“Those people don’t have time, they truly do not,” she shook her head, the faces of the people who screamed at her still fresh in her mind. “They weren’t even people, Nik- it was like, like skin stretched across bone,” she tried to convey, her face twisting.

“I’ve seen the hungry,” he assured her. “But this has to be done right,”

But. Always a ‘but’.

“No,” she snatched her wrist from his hold, her skin stinging. “Nothing we have done has been done the right way so I’m not going to start now,” she said through tight teeth, leaving him with a dead glare before walking away.

If she’d done her work on the less than conventional side this entire time, she’d continue to do so if it gave her the results she so desired.

“CALLIE,”

She stopped and turned at the intensity in which he called her name. He was already almost to her, his steps heavy against the soft ground and his frame looming over her.

He heaved with deep breaths, the light mist of sweat starting to shine across his skin.

She looked up into his eyes, but didn’t see the rage she expected. He looked exhausted, almost as if teetering on the edge of something.

The moon fever. She took a step back that he claimed as his own, looking directly down at her.

“Don’t be stupid,” he snarled.

“Don’t be a coward,” she hissed back, her glare just as mean as his. If the time hadn't been narrow, she would’ve thrown her fist into his ribs for that one. “I expect to see you there.”

He chuffed when she again turned heel and walked away, not even a glance spared over her shoulder at him.

“Why did you even come if you weren’t going to listen to me!?” he called angrily, his rough voice carrying.

“Because I thought you would support me!” she screamed back.

It stopped both of their rampages, bringing Nik down from the high level of frustration he was at, but she didn’t wait to hear what else he may have had to say.

On his Queen he saw the hurt his actions left, her expressive brows furrowed rather than arched. The crimson cloak flowed behind her speedy steps towards the tribe, her hood pulling up over her head and her lips unflinching even for the smallest of smiles as Orcs approached her again.

She slipped by their hands reaching to touch her and the kind words she knew they had to offer, finding her horse tied at the front where she had been left.

The looks on their faces was of questioning after she hoisted herself up onto the mare's back, the bridles collected from her mane and jabbing her heels into her sides with a loud vamos!

The horse reared, its front hooves swinging and a steaming snort billowing out from its flared nostrils.

And then she was racing away, the Vanner stretching its legs as it galloped across the field Nik’s men had not had a chance to sweep before her departure.

The sting of hurt feelings sat uncomfortably in her chest.

Perhaps he doesn’t find me capable of doing this, she considered, the crisp wind freezing her cheeks. The endless thoughts and emotions rampaged her as she broke through the tree line, the shade of the trees even cooler against her shoulders covered by the cloak.

Callie pulled back on the reins, the Vanner eventually coming to a walk. It still tossed it’s head, her mane bouncing around her face and crest.

She patted its shoulder, easing her with soft shh’s.

The horse walked on, strolling easily along the path, but Callie’s thoughts took her elsewhere.

Don’t be stupid.

She exhaled. That word made her so mad it would bring tears to her eyes.

“I’m not stupid,” she ground out, using the back of her arm to wipe the hot tears.

Even if I were stupid it wouldn’t take brains to know that what’s happening is wrong.

Heavy hoof beats approaching rapidly from behind spun her on her spot atop the horse, her glossy eyes flying open and heart rising into her throat.

Bandits!?

Nik and Lyuda’s familiar form barreling towards them immediately vanquished that terror, but the residual was still tingling on her skin. She fought to calm her breaths, a hand on her chest and turning forward to compose herself as he rode up to her side.

He slowed Lyuda who chewed on her bit noisily and came to walk beside Callie’s mare.

She could feel his eyes on her, looking down at her even when sat on their horses. She looked down at her hands and the leaves upon the branches, everywhere but his face that had tilted and leaned forward to try and catch her sight.

With a huff she finally looked at him, and he found the shine of tears cast across her big, beautiful eyes.

The irritation that had driven him to ride up on her and chew her out was gone, and he was left staring at her as she looked away to wipe the back of her hand across her eyes.

“If you’re here to keep calling me stupid then please just leave. I can do this on my own,” she sniffled.

Fuck, keep it together- why are you even crying? In front of him?

“What!?” She yelled, her chin trembling.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, sincerely.

She glared at him, lips pressed tight together and breath held, waiting.

“Your idea and generosity isn’t stupid, or unwise. I just don’t understand why it has to be done right now,” he shrugged, struggling to see her vantage.

“Nik, time is their enemy,” she said. “Waiting for some can mean waiting for salvation, but to others it can be waiting only for the death you fear to come,”

He took her words in, recalling the time she beat her hands against his chest in fear that her own days were to come to an end from the hand of her family. Her time was once limited and it turned her into the same person who’d clawed at her feet in desperation and fear of death.

“They waited for my parents to help them and now they’re waiting on us,” she added. “This is our Kingdom but those were my people first,”

He nodded, his understanding of the situation growing. “I want to come with,”

A flicker of resolve flashed across her brows. “You do?”

“I’m your shield upon your back. I swore I’d stand by your side,” and he meant it.

Even if she drove him mad to the point he sometimes wanted to tear a tree apart, he always found her words unscrambling the mess in his mind, making sense of things that otherwise frightened him until he’d come finding her like this.

She wanted to do what was right, and he loved her so for it.

Nothing gets in your way, not even me, he realized silently, the pair riding through the quiet of the forest, that was before Nik brought his fingers to his mouth and blew a loud, carrying whistle.

She recognized that one. With a turn to look behind them, a small group of his men came from the tree line, trotting after them at a distance.

Callie looked back to Nik who was also turning forward, pulling the cloak around his arms.

A small smile tugged the corners of her mouth as she gazed at his handsome face, his stubbornness eventually giving way and returning the small grin. She tugged her reins ever so lightly to the side, the horses bumping shoulders and their legs touching.

Jakob chuffed lowly from his place at the back, matching pace with another male that had known the twins for years.

“What’s your problem?” The Orc, Kentu, asked, his brow knit together in confusion.

Jakob motioned towards the two. “She came and tossed a fit again and now he’s buckled,” Jakob explained, his tone of utter annoyance.

Kentu chuckled, his belly shaking. “You would give in during your fever moon, too,”

Jakob sucked his teeth, hissing. He glared at the back of Callie’s head, his eyes narrowing when watching her then reach and touch his brother's arm when they spoke.

His resentment towards Callie had been tapering off until her arrival that morning.

He’d seen her come only to leave his brother melancholy, yet somehow had turned the tables and made him feel bad about the outcome of their conversation.

Nik had told him the specifics of their argument didn’t matter, that he’d been the one in the wrong before he ordered him and some of their men to accompany them to the castle, but what else couldn’t be as obvious as what he’d seen?

“Bah,” Jakob chuffed, diverting his eyes. What a brat.

⦽

Callie approached the stone banister of the grand balcony at the front of the castle, an additional pair of thrones set under the overhang for the King and Queen to sit upon as they addressed their kingdom, but she didn’t give them a second glance once coming out into the nighttime air.

She leaned over the stone banister, watching below as the wooden carts pulled by their strongest horses rolled out across the heavy draw bridge of the castle, the food that had been collected for weeks stacked high and covered in tarps.

Knights on their own horses rode beside them, announcers yelling at the top of their lungs from atop the carts that rations were being handed out.

She watched quietly in anticipation, her arrival going unannounced by her order.

The first of heads started to poke from run down houses or shacks, people who kept their veggie or fruits stands up all night in hopes of a buyer lifting from their crouches after passing out from exhaustion.

“One bag of rations per person! Each head gets beans, wheat and meat! Line up at the carts- children and mothers at the front!” They shouted from the horse drawn carts, stirring people from their homes and sleep.

They filtered out slowly, confused and disbelieving such an event was taking place, but still gathered around as the other carts raced away, down into the valley where the outlying homes sat. Some took quick notice of Callie at the top, pointing and directing gazes of other angry citizens, but as soon as one stepped forward with palms raised and the bag was handed over, they all started to stumble and reach up.

A step at her side turned her head, and from the doorway she could see Nik lingering in the shadow of it, watching her with eyes that reflected in the dark.

God, I love that. She motioned her head towards the crowd. “Come see,”

A look of displeasure flickered across his face. “I’d rather not,”

“Are you scared?”

When he couldn’t just say yes, he shrugged, leaning against the stone of the doorway. Not even the days following their snatching of the thrones had he seen so many humans collected in one place. Nik went out of his way to avoid this entire area of the castle where he knew the humans lived just on the other side of the walls, but even just being there at the balcony was enough sounds and smells to make him want to haul ass home.

When she walked to him with her eyes locked on his, he tensed, his skin tingling as she drew closer.

He let her grab his hands and pull, still resisting a little as she led him to the banister.

“I’m right here with you,” she told him, her thin arm sliding around his and her cheek resting against the burning skin of his bicep. “I’m your shield upon your back,”

Although he was silent in his response, his heart felt full, warm. Her words enveloped him, making it possible to look down and meet the curious eyes of the creatures that had hated and attacked him for simply existing.

His first instinct was to run when someone pointed up at him and Callie, but she held steadfast to him.

“They need to see our faces,” she told him, looking up at his troubled expression. “They need to respect the face of their King,”

With a deep exhale he planted his feet and remained at her side, watching the shouting and clawing grow more urgent down below, but although many of the starving, angry people screamed up at their young leaders that stumbled along the way, they took their food quickly and ventured back to their homes. Still, Nik couldn’t help but feel a little disturbed staring down at them.

It was like skin stretched across bone!

She was right- how had her parents let it get this bad?

Callie didn't want thanks, or even smiles- she wanted to know that the ones in those homes who had likely been suffering through sleep that night with empty stomachs could now share a few smiles with each other.

In a matter of only a half hour the carts had been cleared and the last of single men or teenagers that had fled from their homes were taking their rations, leaving the night to quietly settle once again.

The Knights looked up at their leaders and signaled the completion, the heavy drawbridge lowering slowly and it’s chains rumbling through the castle.

“I saw no swarms,” she commented to him lowly, meeting an aggravated stare.

“You were right this time,” he replied, the tension easing from his stiff frame. Thank the heavens- how would he even have handled a human mob?

She narrowed her eyes, weighing her hands. “I’ve been right on a few other occasions,”

“Few and far between,” he grinned, grunting when she elbowed him.

“Nik,”

They turned at Jakob’s voice, finding him standing in the same spot Nik first showed up in.

“A nobleman needs to speak to you,” he told him, gesturing his head to the inside.

He nodded, looking at Callie. “I’ll be right back,” he told her, his hand lingering at her side before stepping away.

She grinned at him and watched him walk away, but her eyes shifted to Jakob who had stayed in the doorway, looking bitterly at her.

“Good evening, Jakob,” she greeted with a warm smile, but his face was unmoving. “Have you seen this side of the castle yet?” she asked.

There was a pause, but he still shook his head.

“Why don’t you come look? You should know the lays of the land up here on the mountain as well,” she offered, turning back to rest her hands on the stone banister.

She didn’t look again, for she didn’t want to put any pressure on him to join her, but he did eventually wander out after a few minutes of chuffing and huffing, even standing beside her to look down at the last of the people walking around.

Vermin, he said to himself, his lips scowling against his single tusk.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, trying to gauge the attitude of the silent brother of Nik’s, but when he was around her he was only an unflinching prick. Her hands slapped the stone gently, turning to face him.

“Can I ask you something?” She asked.

He looked uncomfortable when she faced him, shifting a little away, but still didn’t speak.

“Do you hate me because I’m human or because I made a King out of your brother?” She asked outright, looking up at him with eyes full of determination.

He was taken aback- he hadn’t expected that question.

His tongue slid across his teeth under his lips, the malice growing on his face. “Both,”

Her brows bounced up. “You’ve never even spoken to me,”

“I don’t need to, I know exactly how you humans can be,” he finally hissed, his voice smooth compared to Nik’s.

“You think I’d do that to him?” She hissed back.

He paused, looking her up and down. “I think you’re capable of it,”

“Why would I take him along with me to the thrones if I wanted to harm him?” She rolled her eyes, her hands on her hips.

Jakob chuffed, glaring down at her. “Why did you even choose an Orc? Why him?” He growled, taking a half step forward and challenging the scowl she wore on her own face.

“Maybe you should ask yourself why that bothers you so much instead of asking me. I’m not the one who has a problem with your brother, you are,” she snapped.

He blinked, her words making him hot. “What?”

“You’re jealous that Nik took the throne before you had a chance,” she read him, only a brief interaction needed to understand where all of his rage was actually spewing from and now she knew exactly why he could barely stand to speak to his brother let alone her.

“Shut up,” he snarled.

“He told me about how you two would’ve had to fight for a spot after your father stepped down, and I’m sorry you lost your chance,” she implored, staring up at his pained eyes. “However Nik is a good king, he did this for you as much as he did for me,”

“Shut up!” He yelled, making her flinch. “You don’t know what you’re talking about-“

“You shut up!” She hollered back, reclaiming her step and pointing her finger up at him. “Now I hear that you’re mad and you have every right to be but taking it out on Nik and stomping around like you’re going to blow the castle down isn’t how you sort that mess out!”

“Now you listen-“ he nearly roared, snatching her wrist tightly in his hand and squeezing to the point she cringed and whimpered. “You don’t know what you’re talking about you stupid little-“

His insane grip was ripped away from her wrist painfully, her arm yanked harshly and her eyes lifting to find Nik’s back stood before her.

Jakob stumbled back against the vicious shove Nik pushed into his chest after he’d torn his hand away from Callie, his eyes glowing with rage and lips pulled back over his teeth.

“You keep your hands off of her-“ the words ripped through him like the roar of a lion, pushing Jakob back towards the entrance. “If I see you lay another finger on her I’ll rid these lands of you, Jakob- get inside!”

Callie watched with her ringing wrist pressed to her chest as Nik shouted at him in a tongue she didn’t recognize, Jakob glaring back at her a few times as he was shoved away.

Nik looked back at her in shame, his rage coming down from the miraculous level it had been at. “I’m sorry,” he told her.

“Nik!“ she called, but after shoving Jakob who protested loudly through the doorway, she could hear their bellowing argument carry down the hall, likely startling anyone else who would bear witness to two giants like that fighting.

She stood on the balcony alone, feeling as though she should have followed, that this was her fault.

She’d let her annoyance get to her and speak for her.

Callie sighed, holding her face. I messed up.

⦽

The crackling fire warmed her folded legs, leaned on her hand and looking down at her wrapped wrist resting in her lap.

Although the sprain ached, it didn’t bother her. What did was waiting for Nik to return, assuming he ever made his way back after he departed with his brother.

She felt irritation towards Jakob for being such a fucking hot head, but she’d contributed to this fight too, and she worried he was telling Nik lies about what she’d said. If he twisted the story, who was she to say Nik would take her side over blood?

I’m not even a real wife, she realized, anxiety stirring in her belly.

The iron handle of the door moved, her head spinning back to look. Her heart fluttered when Nik stepped in, quickly standing to rush over to him.

“Is Jakob okay?” she asked, meeting his puzzled expression as she walked backwards in front of him.

“You mean are you okay?” he corrected, grabbing her arm to look at her wrist with heavy scrutiny.

“It’s just a sprain-” she winced when he rotated it, apologizing softly as he let her go. “Is he okay?”

Nik exhaled. “He’s fine,” he grumbled, moving to the spot before the fire she was once at and sitting down on the plush rug with a groan. “He had quite a lot to say, though,”

“Nik I’m so sorry,” she sat beside him, leaning closer to catch his eyes. “I really wasn’t trying to start anything- I meant to just talk and then I got mad,” she confessed, slipping off her knees and onto her bottom.

“It’s alright,” he looked at her calmly, his body obviously rigid from exhaustion as he rested an arm over a propped up knee. “I think whatever you told him stuck with him because I couldn’t even get a word in with him after we left,”

Her brows furrowed, scooting closer to listen.

“You told him he was jealous of me?” he asked, and she shrunk a little.

“Not so blatantly,” she mumbled, but he only scoffed.

“He kept going on about how he wasn’t jealous, he was fine, he didn’t need a skinny little human to tell him what he felt,” he listed with a small smile.

“I should’ve been calm when I made my point,” she stressed, holding her hands over her face.

“No, no,” he pulled her hands down. “You said what needed to be said weeks ago,” he admitted. “I’ve been trying to find a way to tell him nicely that he just needed to suck it up and get on with life but I couldn’t find the courage,”

“He was mad for the right reasons, too,” she understood, plucking at the wrap around her wrist.

“Regardless,” he shook his head. “He shouldn’t have laid his hands on his Queen,”

She scoffed, swiping at his thigh. “He’s never seen me as that,”

She saw his hand reach to catch hers, his thick digits carefully, softly rolling her lithe fingers.

“He should not lay his hands on my Queen,” he clarified, holding her small hand in his, his rough palm moving beneath hers as he caressed her skin.

Their gazes were locked, the air trembling around them.

When his hand that had held hers ventured forwards to touch her knee, she held her breath, her thighs starting to slide apart.

The fever had lingered in his skin all day as they prepared the rationing, and he’d kept his irritation at bay, willingly helping her put together her spur of the moment plan, and he’d not once made any complaint about it or the work that was put into it.

“You helped me today,” she whispered, her legs stretching before her, and knees raising as she leaned back on her hands.

His touch grazed down her legs, holding her ankle gently and his thumb stroking the silky skin. He chuffed softly, watching her every move intensely.

“Perhaps I could return the favor,” her voice cracked, and she saw him swallow, his eyes glancing down at the junction of her thighs when they slowly started to spread.

“Perhaps… we should take advantage of your fever,” she whispered, her voice unsteady.

The ferver he’d woken with that morning was shooting back into his limbs and head, pulling deep breaths over his tongue.

Nik whined low, rocking forward onto his hands so he could crawl over her, following the alluring sparkle of her eyes as she reclined onto her elbows, then falling on her back as her knees grazed his sides once his big body was over her.

He breathed in again- god, she smelled like she wanted to be fucked. It made his heart rampage in his chest, his dick throb painfully in his pants.

Callie could hear the deep breaths, and she saw the flutter in his eyes when she stared at his face and dragged her nails down his chest, pushing into the robes he was wearing.

Her brows furrowed after touching his skin. “You’re so hot,”

“It’s the fever,” he groaned, at last kissing her when she pulled his face down.

Having his body over her was like having hot water splashed across her; she couldn’t believe how much heat was coming off of him, or how he shook over her, holding her head as he adored her with wet kisses.

Her small hands clung to him, her ankles locking at his lower back. She wanted him to stay in this spot forever, where she could always wrap herself around him. She wanted his hands to keep roaming the spots he’d already caressed before, always bringing forth the butterflies that left her breathless and wordless.

Callie gasped and looked at him in confusion when he sat up, but was left to hungrily watch the way he pulled the layered shirt away from his chest and off his arms.

She reached to trace her fingertips down his stomach that clenched under her touch, her fingers hooking into the top tie of his pants and pulling the tie loose, then the crosses below it, one by one.

The rosy flush across her cheeks was intense, watching the fabric part and the bold vein that led to his dick straining in the pants travel farther down the patterned skin of his lower stomach.

Nik’s head dropped and he landed back on his hands over her when the pad of her fingers dragged down his shaft, his heavy dick twitching.

Her touch was pulled away when he pushed her onto her back once again, scooting closer between her thighs.

She pulled at the dress under her, bunching it around her waist when he stopped her hands.

“Can I see you naked?” he growled, both of their eyes hazy when they met.

“If I can see you the same way,” she breathed, nodding loosely as he did when he reached down for a brief kiss.

Callie gasped when he pulled the ties at her waist loose with one finger, her body lifting as he tugged until the knots were gone.

The dress was pulled away; split at her chest, off her arms, across her thighs.

It was the first time never having any material to cover her scantily, and was the first time he  could press his huge, naked body to hers after he’d kicked off his pants.

“Oh-” she sighed, her head falling back against the ground when his tongue flicked one of her standing nipples before sucking it into his mouth. His monstrous hands that could cover her chest instead pushed her freed breasts together, placing kisses and licks across them, his teeth clamping down around the supple skin.

She flinched, smacking his arm. “That hurts!” she hissed, whining against his mouth that had come to claim hers.

“You are so pretty,” he said against her lips, holding her jaw still.

Her core clenched, her thighs tightening at his sides with a loud whimper.

Where did that come from?

Callie’s world spun when he grabbed her shoulder and flipped her, now sprawled on her stomach and his fingers pulling her hair back from her cheek.

He tilted her jaw up, his fingers splayed across her throat as he kissed her, a soft moan pressing against her mouth.

She broke from his lips to moan when his warm cock pressed between her cheeks, the hot skin of his thighs against the back of hers sending goosebumps across her ass.

They both groaned when she reered into him, her fingers gripping the discarded clothing beneath them.

She knew to lift her ass higher when feeling his dick prod her entrance, the blunt tip already slippery from his own juices as he slid up and down.

The pressure in his head was insane, the heat in his face almost stifling.

“Put it in,” she whined, her body writhing against his pokes.

“You,” he chuffed, moving her hair aside so he could see her face.

She looked over her shoulder with half lidded eyes as he kissed her forehead and temple, sliding her knees forward and elbows beneath her.

She was clumsy, and grew frustrated easily. Everytime she’d get his tip at her hole, he’d skip off and land between her cheeks or pointing down, flustered grunts and whines starting to rattle in her throat.

“I can’t do this,” she exclaimed breathlessly, smacking her hand against the rug.

“Sh sh sh,” Nik hushed, and his hand slid between his stomach and her cheeks to align his rigid cock.

Callie gasped, bouncing her ass until his tip poked in, making her stomach clench.

She whined long, and loud as he pushed in, her walls slicked and pushing back on her hands until her cheeks touched his lower belly.

He breathed as harshly as she did, fighting to keep air in his lungs when he looked down between them. Nik let out his own pathetic whimper, circling his hips against her ass, feeling how he wiggled and slipped around inside her.

“Mi rey,” she cried, her chest to the floor and back arched deliciously for him to touch, her body filled to the brim and trembling for more. “Nik, please-”

“Lay back down,” he muttered, pushing her flat to the rug.

She whimpered when he slid back in, her ankles crossing and toes curling. His forehead rested against her head when he withdrew, her nectar sparkling across his dick.

This is what his body had screamed for all day.

His mind was unraveling more with every slow drag in and out of her sweet pussy, his head hung and fingers digging painfully into the ground beneath them.

“Ah- ah- ah!” she shouted with every impact, the jolts of his dick invading her body enough to make her see blurry, but the pleasure that stemmed from his thrusts- it was unbelievable.

His rhythm was always graceful, his pelvis smacking her ass and rolling back into another thrust, over and over again, never missing a beat, until he decided to quicken his pace.

“Oh fuck- oh my god-” she sobbed, gasping and clawing at the ground.

He snarled loudly with his eyes pinched shut, his knees sliding out. Callie’s head tossed up when he fucked her like an Orc would, his hand catching under her jaw to keep her head stretched back, placing kisses at the corner of her mouth and lips that parted in the wake of loud sobs.

She was perfect, and so beautiful, and-

“Mine,” he growled low, his lips pulling back over his teeth and biting her jaw carefully.

Callie shouted, her body shaking and stretched beneath him as the pleasure built brilliantly.

“No one can touch you-” he huffed, “because you are mine.”

And he was so utterly in love with her.

⦽