Page 5 of Mastering their Maiden
She turned over her shoulder to glare, lips pressed together so hard it looked painful. I raised my eyebrows in challenge, and when she thrashed in her bindings, I had to bite back a grin. Good girl, I thought. Feeding right into my plan.
“I don’t respect you. None of us should respect any of you! You’re vile, deceitful brutes who rode into our lives offering safety and you have done nothing but cause chaos since!”
“We have kept the Skepna out of your village,” Umber countered. “We have worked with your Elders to—”
A wild laugh tore out of her, one that caused Umber, Zander, and me to exchange looks with each other, then with the other Kavari watching. “Worked with them? You’re more foolish than I thought if you think those greedy, lecherous bastards are working with—”
“That is enough!”
Hoval’s voice ripped through the air, causing several of the women watching to jump back. He stalked up toward the stage, a few of the other village leaders behind him. “You might stand for such vile talk, but we will no longer tolerate her insolence. If you cannot control her tongue—”
“The public spankings are your legacy, Elder Hoval. It’s what you and the other Kavari squadrons deemed appropriate after we first arrived.” I folded the belt again and hung it on my hip before turning to face him, meeting his beady rage-filled eyes with calm ones. “I’ve suspected for a while that this one needs a firmer hand, and that’s what she will get. My men and I will take her to our quarters, and we will discipline her in a way she will not soon forget.”
Hoval glared, his eyes flicking to Aria when she blanched. “It isn’t punishment she needs. The girl acts like she’s possessed by a demon. I think a cleansing and sanctification ritual with our men would drive the defiance out of her.”
“And put a child in her belly, forcing her to trade her body to make sure the babe stays fed,” Umber muttered in our native tongue, raising his eyebrows when Zander growled.
“We are the ones who will put a child inside that girl,” he hissed, meeting my scolding glare with a defiant one. “You want it just as bad, Kaiden. Don’t deny it. That girl will make warriors so strong—”
“Not now,” I snapped, watching Zander reluctantly back down at my bark. I swapped back to the common tongue understood by Aria and the Elders, as well as the rest of the village watching.
“The only demon possessing her right now is hunger. She’s coming with us.” I nodded toward Zander and Umber, who moved to untie Aria from the cross. “And I promise she’ll give you no more trouble going forward.”
Hoval glared, but he said nothing as my men took Aria down from her bindings and escorted her off the platform in the square. A few worried whispers were issued from women watching so I jerked my head at one of the soldiers, who gently encouraged them back into the ration line. The three of us moved into the small hut that served as barracks for masters when they came to the village. I kicked the flimsy door shut behind me, watching Umber bite back a laugh when Aria tore her arm out of his grasp then shoved at Zander’s chest. He didn’t budge, and that only made her angrier.
“Why didn’t you finish up there?” she snarled at me. “If you wanted to whip me as punishment for speaking the truth, then do it where everyone can see and they’ll know—”
“And give you the attention you so desperately crave? In front of a crowd?” I chuckled. “No, I think not, Princess. It’s better in here.”
Aria folded her arms over her chest, canting her hip to the side. “So, what is this then? Instead of spanking me you’re going to fuck me?”
“Is that what you want?” Umber asked, and his grin widened when she turned to face him, defiance in her eyes.
“There’s nothing you can do to frighten me. The maidenhead between my legs means nothing. It’s a burden I’m cursed with that assigns me some sort of value to the Elders or to you brutes or—”
“It matters very little to us how many cocks you have or haven’t had. Your cunt will still be soft and sweet when we sink into it.”
Aria turned, glaring at Zander when he started to advance toward her. She backed into Umber, who took her around the waist.
“Is that why we brought her here?” Zander asked. “Do I finally get to see what she tastes like? See if she’s as soft between her legs as she is in her heart?”
Zander’s head whipped to the side when Aria’s palm cracked across his cheek. When Umber grabbed her wrist she stomped on his foot, causing him to grunt and bend over. I reached out and caught her arm before she dropped an elbow into his head, closing her in a full-bodied grasp. She squirmed, trying to kick and drive her body upward out of my hold. I nudged her knees, knocking them out from under her as we sank to the floor.
“You won’t hurt either of them, only yourself. Just like you will if you keep sneaking out, do you hear me?” She struggled, but I grabbed the base of the thick braid she’d tied her hair into and tugged, jerking her head back so she was forced to look at me. “You get yourself killed by a Skepna and—”
“I’ve killed Skepna,” she spat. “I’m not afraid of them, and I’m not afraid of you.”
“No, you don’t fear us.” I pressed my lips against her ear, my other arm tightening around her waist. “It’s the children’s cries you fear. The hungry bellies. You know what that’s like, don’t you? You and your sister both, and after she left—”
“She didn’t leave. She was taken, you bastard.” Aria thrashed so hard I had to brace my whole body to hold on, strands of her hair pulling loose and sliding down over my fingers.
“What if we told you she’s happy?” Umber asked, tilting his head as he came to stand in front of us. Aria snarled an unintelligible curse and continued to thrash in my hold while Umber went on. “She is. We saw her when, Kaiden? Two moons ago? She was glowing. Healthy and happy, her stomach round with—”
Aria let out a roar that rivaled a Kavarian battle cry, forcing me to lock my arms tight when she pushed up, almost managing to get to her feet. “I’ll kill him!”
“Kill who?” I asked.
“Lavan.” She hissed his name like it was vile, and for a fleeting second, I actually worried for the man if he was ever alone in a room with her. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten him. I’d know his face in the depths of hell, and that’s exactly where I’ll send him if I ever see that bastard again.”
