“Ah, the famous temper.” The pale one smiled. “I have given you a lot to think about. Come, I have prepared a room for all of you.” he spoke as he moved deeper into the temple. Islwyn followed without missing a beat, but Yorwrath, Aneurin, and I stood reluctantly at the back. I didn’t trust him. There was no other way to put it. He unnerved me. I also didn’t believe for one moment that something that had been dead for five hundred years was suddenly resurfacing with me. I would have literally just a drop of whatever gift my ancestor had.
“We should sleep in shifts,” Yorwrath suggested.
“Mhm,” Aneurin agreed as he snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me to him.
“I don’t trust the others… But one of us should stand guard on Valentina at all time.”
“So you’re suddenly concerned with my well-being, Yorwrath?”
“No. I just don’t trust the unicorn is all. He’s up to something. And you’re my brother’s property, Dy’ne. If someone tried to steal Ys, I’d stop them too.” His lips tugged into a smile, broad and smug.
“Yorwrath,” Aneurin chided his brother. The only response it garnered was laughter as Yorwrath started to follow the unnamed unicorn.
After a heavy sigh, Aneurin grinned at me and started after his brother. I trailed along, cautiously surveying the interior of the tower. Along the walls were painted tableaux of several myths I knew of, and a handful I didn’t. I stared at the one of Arwn’s Gift as I started up the stairs that spiraled up the tower. The story was old. It was simple as well. Arwn, the king of the Otherworld, fell in love with a beautiful elven girl. He crossed between realms to have a handful of years with her, shirking his duties as king. There was a child born of their union—a little girl. The elven woman Arwn loved was sacrificed at Yule to end the winter, and Arwn took the child and gifted it to a family of human shepherds in the Valerian Empire—the precursor to what became Vanotti. Supposedly every human who naturally used magic without herbs or incantations could trace their lineage back to her. It was a pretty lie that gave pedigree to mages who wanted to elevate themselves above the squalor that many of them came from. I had heard of a much darker twist to the fairy story of Arwn’s Gift.
My mother called the story Arwn’s Curse when she told it to me as a girl. She told me that when Arwn’s child, Eriu, became a woman, she chose a mate who was an exceptional wizard. And from her first child onward for generations, she carefully chose who her offspring mated with, and when they refused she sterilized them, or killed the offspring they did have. She wanted to start a race of blood from the Otherworld but in the end, it backfired. When she had finally looped the blood back around to a mix that was near her own, she didn’t find a kindred spirit. Iuliana Voretti was mortified when she discovered the origin of her powers, and she killed the matriarch of her line before willingly going to the stake.
“There are other lines, you know.” I jumped at that whisper-soft voice and turned around. Aneurin and the unicorn were standing side by side. “Yours is the oldest because it took centuries for Eriu to look beyond humans. There are three other lines, though both lack the careful selection of yours. There are two elven lines, and even the remnants of a unicorn line. Black hair is an unlucky trait amongst us. Come, sleep. You look exhausted.”
“I’m not tired,” I lied, eyeing him carefully. There was something about him that I didn’t like.
“Did you know that you have pixie blood? It’s why you have such fine bone structure.”
“Most Vanotta do. Aditi’Alala took her army and conquered and held the southernmost part of Vanotti for two hundred years. The only reason they retreated is because the emperor gave one of her blood control of the empire. One of her half-human daughters gave the emperor a son who was declared the heir. And to this day, the royal family can trace their blood to Aditi. It’s a point of pride even, like my mother’s pixie heritage is a point of pride for her.” I smirked as I remembered being a small girl and riding on my mother’s shoulders as she walked through the gardens of our manor in Vanotti. The first time I saw a naked sword is fixed in my mind. I remember gasping and getting excited by how the polished metal gleamed in the sunlight. My mother told me that if I wanted to, I could learn to use a sword. That I was the descendant of the great pixie warrior Devika’Amenti, who forced the great centurion Duilius Marius to his knees and took him as her war-husband, sharing him with her wife, the mage Madira’Ahti.
“There’s a feather bed and clean clothes for you,” Aneurin said as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. “Islwyn and Caoilfionn are going to help me…find my gift tomorrow night. You should get some rest.”
“Are you going to rest?”
“No, but I’m fairly awake.”
“I’ll sleep if you sleep with me,” I whispered against his cheek.
“Listen to your queen. You will need all of your strength for tomorrow.” I glared up at the unicorn as he spoke. With a heavy sigh, I rolled my eyes and stepped past him, continuing up the spiraling stair.
It was easy to find where the others were. A door on a landing was open, and inside Yorwrath, Islwyn and Grwn sat around a fire drinking. They looked out of place in the pristine room with its white walls and pale accents. There were three feather beds covered in thin embroidered linen sheets. The three of them gathered around the fire stuffing their dirty faces with food like they hadn’t eaten in a week, when in reality, it had only been two days. Even my stomach rumbled when I caught a whiff of roast rabbit.
“Valentina, come join us,” Islwyn offered as he sliced a haunch off one of the rabbits and held it out in my direction.
“Was that waiting for you when you got here?” I asked, eyeing the plate skeptically.
“Yes, but it’s not poisoned.”
“Still, I’ll pass. Not poisonous to you, isn’t not poisonous to me.” My stomach grumbled in protest.
“There’s apple liquor too.”
“If the Dy’ne doesn’t want to eat, let her starve. That just means more for us.” Yorwrath laughed, snatching the plate from Islwyn.
“Enjoy,” I called over my shoulder as I neared the door on the far wall. I pushed it open a bit.
Beyond was a smaller chamber with white silk lining the walls from floor to ceiling and draped around the bed in the middle of the room like a canopy. There was a vanity of gleaming silver with a small mirror and in front of it a washtub that was white enamel with silver patterns on it. The water in the washtub steamed and my body ached from looking at it. On the vanity was a white linen pouch of herbs. I walked over, picked up the pouch, closed my eyelids and took a deep breath. Pale rose, chamomile, and lavender. I tossed the tiny pouch into the water. I wouldn’t eat the food, but I’d take a bath. After a week on the road I felt like my clothes were dirty enough to stand and walk on their own.
After closing the door, I hastily pulled off my riding gloves, untied my bodice, kicked off my boots, and struggled out of my trousers. Catching my reflection in the polished mirror, I blinked, startled. My body was covered in small bruises from that wooden sword, and my hair had leaves in it from the road. I looked wild, like some untamed creature. I made a face at my reflection and tilted the mirror away from me. I dipped my fingers into the bath. The water was perfect—so perfect that when I slipped into the bath, I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped my lips.
The door opened, and Aneurin walked in, followed by Yorwrath. My gaze trailed them as Yorwrath leaned against the door and Aneurin started stripping off his clothes.
“I don’t trust Caoilfionn,” Yorwrath declared as Aneurin slipped into the bath opposite me.
“And yet you ate the food,” I stated, my words half slurred with sleep.
“The food was fine.” He snorted, crossing his arms.
“Well if you three all drop dead in the morning at least Valentina and I will survive.” Aneurin snickered, glancing over his shoulder at his brother.
“Ha ha.” The sarcasm that dripped from Yorwrath’s lips was so thick I could have walked on it.
“You can use the bath after us,” Aneurin offered.
“If it’s still warm I might. Then again I could always join you two.”
“Sure, I’m too tired to do much of anything.”
“W-what?” That was the only word I could muster as Yorwrath pulled off his bandanna and started stripping out of his clothes.
“It’s just a bath, Dy’ne,” Yorwrath growled.
“He won’t touch you. He’ll just share the water with us.”
“Fine, I guess…” I was too tired to argue. Still my gaze followed Yorwrath’s nude body. Both brothers had that same defined physique, but Yorwrath was covered with twice as many scars. There was one in particular that made me tilt my head to the side. Between his lowest two ribs on the right side was the aftermath of a tear that was three fingers wide. The flesh wasn’t clean on the edges but ragged and torn. It was obvious to me that he had dug out the blade caught in his ribs and no one had sewn it closed.
Yorwrath stood beside the tub, glaring down at me impatiently. I rose to my knees, waded over to Aneurin, and sat in his lap. Aneurin crossed his arms over my breasts as Yorwrath sank silently into the water. He kicked his legs up, his feet resting on each side of the floral-scented water. Aneurin kissed my neck. The soft brush of lips startled me; clearly I was staring too hard at Yorwrath. I shivered and arched back against Aneurin, feeling his erection slipping between my cheeks.
“I thought you were too tired.” I breathed as he continued to kiss down my neck, those satin-soft lips grazing every spot that made my body twist.
“I was. But it’s fun to torment my brother, because I know just how desperately he wants you,” Aneurin whispered between kisses. “Look at him, can’t you tell?” One of Aneurin’s hands slipped from my breast tracing down my stomach to rest in the water against my sex. I attempted to press my hips against that still hand, but he moved it away. “I don’t want to do this if you’re not okay with it.”
“What is this exactly?”
“He’s going to fuck you while I watch.” Yorwrath’s voice cut through the near silence. “I think he’s trying to demonstrate gratitude by giving you to me, without having to give you to me.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” I turned and looked at Aneurin.
“Almost. Does that anger you?” He furrowed his brows, and I turned my whole body around in the water to face him, slipping one thigh on either side of his legs, straddling his lap.
“Isn’t this cute.” Yorwrath cackled. I rolled my eyes at him.
“Should it? One question: Would a Swynwr normally gift his wife in gratitude?” I asked, as Aneurin slid his hands to my hips.
“No, a wife is never gifted, but rather shared.” Aneurin swallowed.
“Shared…like that whore I brought for Islwyn during the storm?”
“Only more intimately…” Aneurin laughed nervously. “This probably sounds horrific to you.”
“Not exactly, but…”
“You don’t want Yorwrath touching you,” Aneurin finished for me.
“Yes.”
“That works out perfectly because I’d rather lob it off than touch you with it, Dy’ne,” Yorwrath grumbled. I didn’t even glance over my shoulder at Yorwrath, I looked down at Aneurin, who had started stroking my hips.
“Do you want to see me with your brother?” I asked, tilting my head to the side. That bicolored gaze slid off to the side, and I smirked.
“I—” he began. I took the words from his mouth by quickly reaching between my legs to position his hard pulsing length against my sex. That bright gaze locked to mine as I lowered myself onto him. He didn’t have to answer. Knowing his kink delighted me, and were I not gasping wordlessly from his thick phallus spearing its hot way into me, stretching me beyond what I thought possible…I might have smiled. I arched back, feeling my long dark hair sink into the water, as inch after him of him slipped deeper into my greedy folds.
“There is no way that’s not acting.” Yorwrath’s voice made me remember we weren’t alone in the tub. I ignored him as I took Aneurin’s last inch with a whimper. Aneurin traced his thumb in an intricate flowing pattern from my hip to the achy flesh at the top of my sex. I shivered the moment he found that throbbing little nub. The world melted away as he started tracing that maddening pattern across that oh so sensitive flesh. That soft, yielding place between my thighs felt like it was burning as my inner walls fluttered around his turgid girth.
“Fuck.” I hissed as my hips snapped up, following Aneurin’s thumb as he removed the toying digit from my flesh. Oh, I was nowhere near ready to start moving, and I grabbed the tub white knuckled. Aneurin placed soft kisses down the center of my chest, stopping to tongue at my nipples. His deft oral ministrations brought them to attention, causing my pulse to rise as well. I moaned and bit my bottom lip. His eyes were all for me, which surprised me. I thought he’d be watching Yorwrath’s reaction, but no, it was like he didn’t care whether or not his brother was there.
Before I could think any further on the issue, he rolled his hips and wiped all thoughts from my head with a well-timed thrust. I arched back and heard Yorwrath rise, and the wet sound of his footsteps as he walked around to stand where he could better see me. I didn’t give him the pleasure of my looking at him. My eyes focused on Aneurin as I started to ride him. Every motion of my hips brought a moan from my lips and a grunt from his. I don’t think I could ever get used to how big he was. I clawed at him like a wildcat as he started to match my pace with his hips. I gasped with the ferocity of his thrusts, as he found my mouth with his. He ate away every last one of my half-screamed moans. He had never been this rough with me before. The angle and speed with which he took me were excruciating ecstasy. The worst part of it was he kept his thumb on me the entire time, building that warmth and pleasure within me until I thought I’d burst into flames. It almost felt like he was deliberately drawing out my climax.
“Mmm, f-fuck.” Aneurin panted into my mouth as I felt him twitch within me. He pressed his forehead against my shoulder as he started to thrust into me harder. I yelped every time he forced me to take every last inch of him, and I felt him hit something inside of me. Still my whole body throbbed and ached right on the knife’s edge of bliss. With the last spasm of his length between my nether lips, he clenched his fingers down on my hips, forcing him against that spot deep within me once again, and the floodgates of pleasure opened.