I shot him a universally understood hand sign instead. I couldn’t stop thinking. I didn’t want anything to remind Vali about the trials she’d been through—her kidnapping by the insane King Milian of Verdan, her harrowing escape, and her torment at the hands of the wicked Selene, who had almost succeeded in killing Rigol and all his generals. All her mates.
Even though Milian’s harem had become Vali’s friends, and she was thrilled they were coming to Rimholt, the appearance of two dozen Selene look-a-likes could spoil things. But I was almost certain I had more time; the man who had been caring for them, a foreign assassin known only to Rigol’s Master Spy, Vilkurn, was waiting until we were certain the castle was secure, all the spy tunnels re-routed or repaired.
Rigol patted my shoulder. “They won’t arrive for weeks. And if you’re both still in here when they do, well… I’ll assume you got your giant sausage stuck in Vali and need help pulling it—”
I punched my king in the stomach, smiling when he couldn’t speak. Once he could breathe again, he used his hands to sign his apology. “Sorry, brother. I shouldn’t tease.”
“No, you shouldn’t.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This was the night I had made a personal, secret vow to deliver, after our sweet mate had given her innocence to me in a filthy dungeon to save us all. To save me, heal me.
Vali had deserved silk sheets and velvet pillows then. She deserved everything we could give her now, any treasure she wanted. It stunned me that she insisted the only treasure she required was her mates. We were, for the first time in our lives, complete with Vali, and she would never ask for more.
She was getting a perfect nest, no matter what. Even if Rigol mocked me for the effort. “Where’s Tarn, that sneaky asshole? He was supposed to help.”
Tarn had agreed to assist me in preparing the room, since his twin Lorn was away in Verdan City, installing a new regent and flushing out any remaining snakes from Milian’s regime. Lorn had been gone for two months, riding along the Starlakian border to the north. Locals there had reported warriors creeping across the borders in the nights, heading toward Turino.
Rigol answered, “He felt compelled to ride out with a squadron to secure the area where Vali was to spend the day. Don’t tell Vilkurn; he’ll be insulted Tarn thought he might miss something.”
Humph. I would forgive Tarn, then. Vali’s safety was paramount.
I was sure everyone wanted to take my mate. If anyone tried, they would die at the end of my axe, as slowly as I could manage. I put my hand to my back, feeling the leather-wrapped handle of the weapon I had carried since I was old enough to swing it.
I peered through the narrow window to the fields outside the castle grounds, where I knew she was right now, my eyes scanning the frost-rimed hills for any hint of enemy movement. Miles away, I could make out a group of riders, ribbons in the greens and blues of Rimholt streaming behind them, and armored helmets glinting in the late afternoon light.
Vilkurn had offered to keep Vali occupied until the nest was ready and had taken her riding in the countryside outside the city walls. Since he also had taken twenty-five guards, I had allowed her to go.
When she arrived, would she like what I’d done to the room? She hadn’t built a nest since the one in Rigol’s bedroom, four long months ago. Maybe it was something she only wanted to do occasionally. There was a possibility she would find all this overdone. But it wasn’t as if there were another Omega to ask.
I turned to Rigol, who was drinking a large goblet of wine. “I don’t want her to feel pressured. Do you think I should send some of the bedding back to Sorcha?”
Sorcha had been careful to send up the multi-colored sheets that Vali had inadvertently dyed when she was new to the castle and working in the laundry. Vali loved the bright colors, and her “accidents” had set a trend that was being copied in bedrooms across Rimholt. Especially in the brothels, not that any of her mates would know from first-hand experience. Omegas came with many gifts, and one of my favorites was an incredibly healthy sexual appetite. Enough for five mates, thank the Goddess.
Not that any of those other assholes would get to see this nest once she built it. This was my gift to her.
I picked up a sheet from the pile we had dumped on the mattress and began folding it neatly. Rigol sat on the edge of the bed and drank as I worked, a ridiculous grin on his face. “It will be perfect.”
“Why did you bring the sheets?” I asked, feeling oddly off-balance under his gaze. “Don’t you have taxes to levy? Some ribbon to cut?”
He ignored my sneer. “Tarn found us some more books on Omegas. I read them this week and learned that before the plagues, Omegas would only nest if the bedding smelled of their mates. I didn’t want your night to be ruined by letting a servant contaminate the materials.”
I ducked my head and signed an apology. Here he was being thoughtful for once, and I was acting the ass. “Thanks, brother.” He was her mate, too; his scent on the sheets wouldn’t bother her. Knowing how much she liked being watched by one of us while another took her, it would probably help.
Rigol held the door. “Buy me an ale. She’s hours away, this room couldn’t get any more perfect, and I’m going to get stinking drunk, so I don’t burst back in here and make you share those sheets.” The gleam in his eye warned that he wasn’t entirely joking.
“I don’t mind sharing,” I signed, though it wasn’t completely true. Rigol was the only one of us who had been with her during her heat. A part of me wished I had been able to experience that, to see what my Omega looked like when she was feral with need.
To be the one to meet that need.
“It’s a good thing, too! If you decided not to share, the rest of us wouldn’t have a chance.” He pointed to the axe strapped to my back. “Has it seen any use since the war ended?”
I hid a small smile behind my beard.“Maybe a few men who thought that our queen having both a king and consorts was something they should feel free to remark upon.”
Rigol let out an involuntary growl. Making sure our kingdom understood the respect they owed Vali was a favorite pastime. Everyone who had met her loved her, but until all Rimholt knew we valued her over anyone else in the kingdom, and that she was a woman who should be worshipped no matter how many mates she took, there would still be opportunities for Rigol to growl.
And for me to use my axe.
* * *
We dranktwo ales at the pub around the corner from The Rutting Sow before I left Rigol there with two guards posted inside, two at the back, and two more at the front door. As I exited, he was telling the patrons highly embellished stories of the Battle of Rimholt. I didn’t spoil his fun by sharing that he’d spent most of it attending to Vali, naked, and not on the battlefield.
