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“Warqueen, Warlord, we are overjoyed to see you safely home. What do you require? Food, drink? The severed heads of these disobedient warriors?”
A lump rose in my throat. When I’d met Dustin, he’d been a boy with a sword and no sense. Now, he was an honorable warrior. A warlord who wielded power to protect the vulnerable. I was so damned proud, I could cry.
Lachlan sidled up to me and whispered, “It’s precious. Your little warrior, all grown up and murderous just like his boss.”
I wanted to elbow him in the gut, but I peered at his face instead. “Your heat?”
“Quenched,” he replied, but with a faint blush that made me wonder how exactly that had come about. I let it go for the moment.
Goran gestured for Dustin to rise, but had to catch him when he did. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing,” he said, growing pale.
“I believe the young sea witch snagged his… axillary artery, yes,” Lusca said, placing a hand on the young Alpha’s arm. “Ah, and caught his thigh as well. You have a few more minutes, human. If you have any last words, this is the time.”
“An apology for your atrocious poetry would be a good idea,” Kellin muttered.
“Damnit, Adiah, why were you trying to kill Dustin?” I slapped a hand on his arm over the wound and used some of Lusca’s power to keep the blood in the right places. What was left of his blood, anyway. “Lusca, stop messing around and help.” My kraken had shared his power, but healing was tricky. It was so much easier to spill blood than contain it.
“You’re doing fine, my Empress,” he praised. “Look, the bleeding has stopped already.”
Dustin collapsed into Goran’s arms when I let go. “If I die, let it be by her hand; quick and sure, her blade never will miss. If my Warqueen demands, I will wait… by the gate… of eternity just for one kiss.” His eyes fluttered shut after the final rhyme.
Goran made an approving sound. “Better. Very dramatic. We can put that last part on his grave marker.”
“Oh fuck,” Adiah shouted, running over. “No dying yet, you stupid Alpha. Honestly, one little stab?”
“Sometimes that’s all it takes,” I told her.
“For what?”
“To let the male that wants you in his bed know that you want him, too,” I teased. The horrified face she made stretched wider as Goran and Lusca handed a blood-covered Dustin off to her, still mumbling a bunch of words that rhymed with beauty.
The rest of the warriors were still on their knees, waiting for orders from Goran. I nudged him. “Well, are you going to dismiss them?” A few of them shot me confused looks.
“You outrank me, love. They’re waiting for your command.”
“Don’t make me stab you. What are you talking about?”
Goran dropped to his knees beside me. Then, all of my mates did the same. “I serve you, my Warqueen. We all do. We’re just making sure these idiot warriors know it.”
I rolled my eyes so hard, one twinged. “Everyone get up. I want to see the Omegas and children from Pict, and then I want breakfast.”
“Yes, Warqueen,” they all shouted.
Skadi and Lusca stayed on the beach with Frol to help him calm down and to guard Lex, but Goran, Serak, Lachlan, and Kellin accompanied me to Starvale. The town had changed drastically since I’d last seen it. There were warriors posted all down the streets and along the docks, as if an invasion was imminent, and in the center of town around the single small pub, there was an entire company guarding the doors.
The main guard stopped us at the doors, wincing as Goran lifted an eyebrow. “Sorry, Warlord, but no males enter or exit without the queen’s say-so.”
“The queen?”
“Ah, Queen Mirrim.”
So I entered alone, grinning. The Omegas and children were inside having their breakfast, but when I called out, “Any left for a hungry Omega?” they swarmed me.
“Rada! Rada!” the little ones shouted, some of them crying with what I hoped was joy.
Tally stood at the back door to the pub, and he let out a sharp whistle that silenced the room. “Queen Mirrim would speak!” he announced. Someone had gotten him a set of warrior’s clothing, with a leather vest and a real sword, and his hair had a few beads in the braids.
