“Yes,” Brynn whispered.
Victorious, Cenric scooped her up into his arms.
She giggled, arms wrapping around his neck as he carried her to the pallet they would share.He enjoyed seeing her like this—giddy and flushed with delight.
Cenric laid her down on the pallet and knelt between her legs, lifting her skirts.He started at her ankles, leaving kisses above her knees and a trail up her inner thighs.“My sweet wife,” he murmured, inhaling her musky scent.
He nuzzled the hair between her legs, his tongue teasing her open as she spread for him.He found the bud at her apex and stroked her with his tongue, making her sigh as she laid back.
“Oh, that’s good,” Brynn whispered, still trying to keep quiet.“You make me feel so good.”
That was exactly what Cenric wanted to hear.They would see how long she was able to keep her voice down.
Snapper whined, blood soaking his fur.Cenric?He whimpered.Cenric?Snapper struggled to reach him, growing weaker by the moment.His back legs dragged on the ground, mangled and useless.Hurt.Snapper hurt.
It’s alright,Cenric sent back, lying.
Armored bodies lay all around them on the riverbank of Ombra.Smoke filled the sky as the village burned.Screams rent the air, men shouted, and weapons clashed as the last of the survivors fought a losing battle.
Cenric couldn’t move, the sharp pain in his ribs and chest kept him pinned to the ground.An arrow pierced through his neck, just above his collarbone.A dark bird fluttered overhead—a crow come to feast on the dead.
Cenric.Snapper collapsed at his side, letting off soft cries.
Good dog,Cenric told him.You were so brave.
Good dog.Snapper tried to press closer to Cenric’s side.His breathing grew shallow, barely audible.He sank into the ground, leaning heavily against Cenric’s armored side.
Snapper?
No response.Snapper lay motionless.
Fighting tears, Cenric struggled to turn his head.Everything was a blur of burning houses and rushing bodies.Valdari voices shouted, mixed with Hyldish screams.
A thud beside Cenric drew his attention.A banner had been staked on the riverbank just a few steps away.It fluttered and rippled, the familiar outline of a black serpent writhing over the expanse of dead men.
King Ovrek had taken Ombra.
Cenric jolted awake with weight nudging him to the side.A paw stuck into his ribs.Snapper was trying to shove Cenric out of the way so he could get between him and Brynn.
Cenric grabbed Snapper by the scruff of his neck, wrestling the dyrehund to his other side.
Brynn.Snapper huffed indignantly.Cenric.Snapper wanted to sleep next to Cenric and Brynn at the same time and getting in the middle was the only way to achieve that.
No,Cenric sniped back.Brynn is for me.All the same, Cenric scratched the rough fur around Snapper’s neck, relieved to find the dog alive, well, and unharmed.He reached for his own neck, letting out a breath when there was no hard arrow shaft jutting out of his flesh.
He patted Snapper’s ribs as the dog groused, settling down on Cenric’s far side.
Snapper?
The dyrehund lifted his head, ears forward.
You’re a good dog.
Snapper’s tail thumped.Good dog!
The soft murmur of the waves along the beach was a stark contrast to the screams from his foretelling.He lay in the quiet as his heart slowed and he let his breathing match Brynn’s steady rhythm.
As he drifted back off to sleep, it occurred to him that Brynn had been right about Ovrek once again.
