As daylight crested the horizon, gilding everything in shades of pink and gold, they came through a hilly region with scattered forests—a good place to abandon the road and go cross country. Riann led them to a shallow brook, and they rode in it for a while to confuse the trackers and throw off any dogs from their scent. Eventually, they emerged on the other side into a forest, and Riann began looking around for a safe place where they could tie up the horses andcamp.
“Look,” Tariel said, pointing through the trees. “I think there’s a village on the otherside.”
“We can’t—” Riann began, but Tariel was already riding ahead. He could feel her curiosity very clearly—there was something about this place that intrigued her. Cursing, he followed, hoping she wasn’t about to expose them all. For Roisen’s sake, they weren’t evendisguised!
But as they emerged on the other side of the trees, on the outskirts of the village, Riann’s annoyance faded away. There was no smoke rising from the village, as there usually would be from inhabitants cooking meals over the fire. Riann’s skin prickled with nerves at the complete lack of sound—even at this hour there should have been villagers about, drawing water from the well or harvesting eggs from cluckingchickens.
“This place is completely abandoned,” Calrain whispered as they guided their horsesthrough.
The animals whinnied, and Riann stroked a soothing hand over the side of his horse’s neck, feeling the animal’s fear. “There is something not right about this place,” hesaid.
They dismounted, leaving the horses tied up in the village square, and investigated on foot. As Riann suspected, there was no one inside the houses—but these places did not look as though the inhabitants had packed up and fled. There was still furniture and toys in many of them, and they gagged more than once at the stench of rotting food from abandonedlarders.
“This must be one of the villages struck by the plague,” Calrain said. His eyes were wide with trepidation, and Riann could not blame him—this entire village was eerie, and he would not be surprised to learn that it washaunted.
“How terrible,” Tariel said, and Riann could feel her sadness through the bond. For the past ten years, random towns and villages across Fjordland had been struck by plagues. Very few survived the fevers and bloody coughing fits, and most succumbed within three days. Most villages were usually razed and rebuilt after an outbreak, but for some reason, this one had been leftintact.
But their inspection of the village found no bodies. This village had already been cleared out, and had stood empty for quite some timenow.
“Zolotais,” Tariel said, summoning the desert spirit from her abacus. She explained the situation, and the spirit listened quietly. “What do you think? Is it safe to stayhere?”
“Your mage blood protects you from most sickness,” Zolotais responded, “and by extension, yourharem.”
“Really?” Calrain asked, his eyes wide with surprise. Riann was taken aback as well—he had not expected this. “Will we live longer,too?”
“Yes,” Zolotais said, “so long as you make love on a regular basis. Tariel’s powers require frequent couplings to recharge, and when her powers wane, so do the benefits you bothreap.”
“Well, I suppose it’s not too great a sacrifice to make,” Riann said, grinning at Tariel. Calrain chuckled, and Tariel shook her head at both of them,laughing.
“I actually think staying here is a good idea,” Calrain said. “Jerrold and his men are likely to give any place struck by the plague a wide berth, and if we are in no danger of being infected, there is no reason we should not make use of the facilities.” He pointed to a large barn. “We can stable the horses there for the night, and sleepnearby.”
The three of them made for the spacious barn, which had an upstairs loft where they could sleep comfortably. Riann didn’t unsaddle the horses in case they needed a quick getaway, but he took off their bridles so they could enjoy the stale but edible oats unencumbered. Once the horses were all settled, they climbed to the loft and made themselves comfortable, then discussed what to do next while Zolotais kept watchoutside.
“I set aside enough money to last us a few weeks,” Riann said as he lay on his side, looking at Tariel. She lay on her back between them, her lovely dark hair fanned out beneath her on her bedroll. It took Riann quite an effort not to reach for her, to keep his mind on the conversation when he wanted to trace the line of her generously curved hip that was so close to his. “However, the capital is said to be three times more expensive than the average city, so we will have to take extra pains to be frugal, and not stay longer thannecessary.”
“Perhaps we could find work in the city, and save up a bit more for our journey to the Empire,” Calrain suggested. “I’m sure there is no better place for a sword for hire to look for work than in the capital, and I could find a job as a clerk somewhere, I am certain. Tariel is fairly skilled with stillroom work—you could find work in an apothecary somewhere,no?”
“I could,” Tariel said, “but we will have to be very careful. If we split up and work in three different places, I will not be able to use my magic to disguise you. For safety’s sake, it would be best to stick together ifpossible.”
“We are quite distinctive in appearance,” Riann admitted. “But surely we can disguise ourselves without magic. I am not so recognizable without my armor, and if Calrain and I dyed ourhair…”
Calrain’s gaze turned thoughtful. “We could manage that. It would be nice not to be a redhead, foronce.”
Tariel turned on her side and slid a hand through Calrain’s shaggy mop. “I love your hair just the way itis.”
Riann heard the smile in her voice. He hid a smirk as Calrain blushed—he was still so shy and innocent, even after the positively scandalous night the three of them had shared. It had taken Riann a bit of effort to get over sharing Tariel with another male at the same time, but she had given them equal attention, and he had not felt neglected even when she’d turned her gaze to Calrain. His blood surged as he remembered the two of them together, Tariel’s lush body arching, her face flushed with pleasure. She was truly a joy to watch, though of course it had been even better when she was underneathhim.
His cock hardened at the phantom sensation of her naked curves pressed against his bare flesh, and he reached for her without thinking. Tariel gasped as he pulled her flush against him, pressing his bulge against her deliciously round bottom. She wriggled against him a bit, then let out a moan when he brushed her hair aside and nibbled at her exposedneck.
“I thought we were discussing logistics?” Calrain asked, raising an eyebrow. But his silver eyes lit with hunger as he watched Riann push Tariel’s skirt up, exposing her long, silkylegs.
“That can wait,” Riann growled into Tariel’s neck as his hand delved deeper. She moaned again as he slid his fingers between her thighs, and his cock grew even harder when he encountered her damp folds. She was already wet forhim…
“Zolotais did say we needed to make love regularly to keep up my strength,” Tariel said breathlessly. She pressed Riann’s hand more firmly between her legs, showing him exactly where she wanted to be touched. Riann was more than happy to oblige, and he quickly found the sweet spot that had made her moan so beautifullyyesterday.
“Mmph,” she moaned, but the sound was muffled by Calrain’s lips on hers. Tariel had pulled him to her, and the two of them were locked in a passionate kiss. Somehow, Calrain managed to get her dress the rest of the way off, and he trailed kisses down Tariel’s front, toward her lushbreasts.
I want a taste of those,Riann thought. He briefly considered rolling Tariel away from Calrain, but he wasn’t about to be an arse. Instead, he ran kisses up her neck, then bit down on her earlobe as he pressed more firmly against her sweetspot.
