“Yes, please,” Shari answered politely before completely ruining it by adding, “I do believe I could eat this table at the moment. It seems I’ve worked up quite an appetite lately. I wonder why that is?”
So saying, she turned to wink at Vincent and found him watching her with hungry eyes. Smiling happily in return, she waited as men and women began to bring in the food.
“I was wondering, Vincent. Why are these three chairs at the head of the table? Isn’t it a bit strange?”
Vincent shrugged as he looked over the food being set around them and answered absently.
“Not really. It’s custom.”
Shari waited for him to explain, but apparently he had explained all he was going to. Rolling her eyes, she prodded him.
“What custom?” she asked patiently.
Shari could see she had startled him as he turned to her with a look of surprise.
“Well, I guess you wouldn’t know the custom.” He began sheepishly.
“No, I wouldn’t. As you keep reminding me, I’m not on Earth any longer.” It might have only been a few days since she had entered into another universe, but Shari could easily get used to living like this.
Before she could think of the things she had left behind, like her home, her friends…
Pushing the thoughts away before they could overwhelm her, she prodded Vincent once more. He gave her a look mixed with indulgence and understanding.
“It will be all right, Shari.” Stroking a hand down her hair, he began to explain.
“I’ve lived with it for so long I don’t really think of it anymore. I should probably thank Winters for remembering…”
“You’re welcome, My Lord Prince,” Winters piped up from behind them.
Smiling wryly, Vincent went on.
“It is custom for the lady of the house to sit at the head of the table with her husbands. It is she who rules her home. It is her husbands’ job to ensure she has all she needs to perform this duty, therefore, it is the woman who sits at the head of the table.”
Shari gaped. It was one more thing she would have to get use to. Being the ruler of her home…
“What? Wait. What do you mean? Are you saying I have to be a good wife and stay home like a good girl seeing to the house chores?”
The magnitude of such a task in a house this size would surely take up a woman’s entire life
, Shari thought as she waited for Vincent to confirm her thoughts. There’s no way in hell Shari could. What if she wanted to work instead? What if she couldn’t handle something of this magnitude? What if she screwed it up? This was…
“Easy, my heart. It is not what you are thinking.”
Shari took a deep breath, almost grateful the brothers could read her mind. Almost.
Vincent chuckled.
“You can close us out. If you don’t want us listening, close the door.”
Surprise and uncertainty showed on Shari’s face.
“It’s true. But back to the woman ruling. I mean it literally. When Shan Lin and I took you to wife, all we have, all that is ours, became yours. What you see here before you, everything in this house and those others we own or hold through our titles, became yours. You could say we were merely stewards awaiting the return of the rightful owner. It is the law of the Queendom. It is the law of the land of Aranak. It is one reason we are at war with Horrd.”
Shari sat in astonishment, her thoughts racing and chasing each other. She owned this magnificent home. She reverently touched the plate in front of her, the tips of her fingers skimming the edge before pulling her hand back abruptly and setting it in her lap.
“No.” she said.
Vincent turned looking at her questioningly.
“No?”
“No.”
“No, what?” he asked, reaching out to pour clear red liquid into a gold rimmed goblet.
“No. Just…no,” Shari said stubbornly.
“All right. No. But it all still belongs to you whether you want it or not.”
Shari shook her head as Vincent downed the contents of the glass in one swallow.
“Yes. There is nothing you need do. Winters, runs all the houses. Shan Lin and I are… We travel a lot. You remember us telling you we were in the Queen’s Guard?” He waited as she nodded. “We mostly live out of barracks and there’s little we need beside our weapons, clothing, and mounts. It will change now that we’re married. We’ll be allotted sufficient quarters as befits the marriage-niece of the Queen…”
“The Queen…” Shari said only now taking in the memory of the twins telling her their aunt was the Queen of Aranak.
“Yes. The Queen. She is…” Vincent added carefully.
“Your aunt, the Queen of Aranak,” Shari repeated.
“Yes.” Vincent turned to Shari once more, carefully setting down the crystal pitcher he had just used to refill his glass. Picking the glass up he brought it to Shari’s lips, offering her a taste. Accepting the liquid absently as her mind reeled at all she was taking in, Shari quaffed the liquid he poured into her mouth.
Swallowing the drink automatically, Shari took in the taste.
The taste was somewhere between heaven and orgasmic. A sound of pleasure escaped her mouth and her thoughts centered on the surprisingly refreshing drink. She could not quite decide the exact flavor of it though. It tasted as if it was a mimosa, but there did not seem to be alcohol in the drink. The drink was also sweeter then a mimosa. Whatever it was, it quenched a thirst as no other drink she’d ever had. With the exception of water, which had no taste at all.
“Lord, that was wonderful. What is it?”
“It is the juice of the
primpate
fruit. We have them in the garden and Winters sees we’re supplied with an ample amount of the juice every morning. Do you like it?”
He was teasing her as he must know she had liked it. At the moment, she was busy draining the contents of his glass. Swallowing the last of her drink, she nodded her answer.
“You have the same look on your face now as you did last night after Shan Lin and I…”
Shari’s hand reached out covering Vincent’s mouth and cutting off any reference to just what the two men had done to her last night before Winters could hear. Looking back at Winters and then to Vincent, she tried to use her eyes to tell Vincent not to say anything while Winters was in the room.
Chuckling behind her hand, Vincent snaked out his tongue and began to lick her hand sensuously before Shari could snatch it back.
“Hey!” she gasped out loud, before snatching her hand back and rubbing it against her now pounding heart. Using his tongue had been only one of the things Vincent and Shan Lin had done to Shari last night.
“Do not fear Shari. Winters is a very discreet man. He’ll never listen to our conversations. Will you, Winters?” Vincent asked, laughter visible in his eyes.
“Hmmm?” Winters started comically. “Did you say something, Sir? I can’t quite hear you, My Lord Prince. My hearing has suddenly gone. Would you mind speaking up, Sir?”
Shari glared at Vincent, her heart finally slowing its pounding at the memory of what had gone on between her and her new husbands the night before.
The night before had been… Wonderful, magnificent, fabulous, stupendous… She could barely think of an adjective good enough to describe her feelings of the love and caring the two men had shown her last night, and given time, she could get very used to this kind of treatment.
“I’m very glad you enjoyed yourself,
Kasha
. It was my pleasure.”
And mine also, heart of my soul.
Shari froze as Shan Lin’s voice sounded inside her head. The business of speaking in her mind would take some getting used to.
“It’s all right. We’ve lived with it all our lives. It’s only natural you’d have a time of adjustment, at first.”
Vincent leaned over, casually stroking his hand down her back reassuringly then straightened in his seat and reached for the food in front of him.
* * * * *
“I’m afraid we’re going to have to leave you for a day, maybe two. We’ve been given orders to report to Hurok by tomorrow.”
Vincent spoke casually from beside Shari as they sat down to breakfast the next day.
“Is there trouble?” Shari asked wondering why she would think so.
“Nothing, which hasn’t been going on for sometime now. It’s mostly routine. The Queen thinks if she sends heavy reinforcements in now there won’t be a need for mass forces later.”
Do not worry. Shari. It’s routine at this point.
Tell her the rest.
Shari turned to Vincent with a question on her face.
“The rest of what?”
Vincent, in the process of scooping his breakfast on a plate, paused momentarily then continued to fill his dish. Shari waited as he prepared his breakfast, set the plate in front of himself, then began to eat.
Tell her.
Why don’t
you
tell her? You’re in such a hurry for her to know, get your ass in here and tell her.
“Hey. I can hear you guys just fine now. Why don’t you just tell me Vincent?”
Vincent squirmed in his chair, clearly uneasy.
“Well…that is to say… Look…” Shari nearly smiled into the glass she had just lifted to her mouth but fought the urge. The notion of this large and in charge man in acute discomfort somehow reassured her as nothing else the two men had done, could.
Setting her drink on the table, she did her best to help him along.
“Maybe if you said it really fast and got it out, it wouldn’t be so hard for you.”
That’s good. Why don’t you give it a try.
Vincent snorted.
“Why don’t you come in here and stop hiding. You tell her.”
Shan Lin strode in, looking refreshed after having lingered in the bath, leaving Shari and Vincent to find breakfast together.
“Good morning, Shari,” he said as he bent down to give her a lingering kiss before taking a seat on the other side of her.
Looking between the two men, Shari wondered why Vincent would be having such trouble telling her whatever it was he had to say.
“That’s easy. What he doesn’t want to tell you is our aunt has requested…”
“Demanded, you mean,” Vincent interrupted.
“Fine. Our aunt, has demanded an audience with you. She wants to meet her marriageniece.”
Shari’s eyebrows drew together in concern.
“And this would be bad, why?” she asked the brothers as she felt tension seep into the room.
“It isn’t a bad…” Shan Lin began only to be interrupted once again by Vincent.
“Not if you want to feed our wife to the
averons
so soon after we’ve finally found her.”
Shan Lin frowned at Vincent.
Vincent. We don’t want to frighten…
“Frighten? Why would you be worrying about frightening me? Is your aunt an ogre? Is she a…” Shari could not think of anything bad enough she was willing to say about another member of her husbands’ family. Well, actually, her family now.
“An ogre? That would be putting it mildly.” Shan Lin said reaching for what Shari thought might be some kind of meat.
Shari stared at him wondering why they would even think she would go to meet the woman if she was so bad. Queen or not.
“So I just don’t go to see her. End of story. It’s not as if she could force me to. After all, I’m an American…” She stopped her speech right there. Was she still an American?
“Can she force me? Just how does this kingdom work anyway?”
Vincent was nodding his head.
“Yes, she can. This is a Queendom. She is the Queen. She can do whatever she wants.” As he spoke, Shari heard a thread of bitterness in his voice. Thinking it might just be a problem of a ruler ruling a bit too long, Shari sought to reassure him.
“I can be diplomatic when it’s necessary. I have to be…had to be…in order to survive in the corporate world as long as I have.” Another reminder of what she had left behind.
“Shari,” Shan Lin started, reaching out to grasp her hand. “It is not as simple as that. I’m afraid things have gotten more complicated with our aunt then any of us would like. There are things…”
He stopped mid-sentence as if searching for the right words. Vincent beat him to it.
“There is a power struggle going on at the moment. You see our cousins, Mitch and Kristain, the Queen’s sons, have taken a bride.”
Shan Lin picked up the conversation and the brothers took turns telling her the tale.
“In the succession of the throne of Aranak, the throne is passed to the female of the line. In the case of only male children, usually twins, being birthed by the ruling Queen, the throne is then passed on to the wife of the male twins the day of the marriage.”
“In the case of Mitch and Kristain, the woman they chose as their bride, Queen Stephanie… Here’s where it gets complicated.”
“Queen Stephanie is from the Realm of Earth, just as you are…”
“But that’s…”
Shari had been about to say it was a wonderful thing. Someone she could actually sympathize with, commiserate with, but Shan Lin held up his hand to forestall her.