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Thanks to the situation, we ended up with Mireia sleeping between us, which I suppose wasn’t right from the standpoint of which two out of the three of us were the newlyweds, but the dynamic had been Mireia and myself alternating with Mireia and Rod, so the intersection of two sets, Mireia, naturally wound up in the middle.
The prostitutes who feed me have teased me often enough for me to have a clear idea what two women would do together, and Mireia already knew somewhat, so we had not been entirely clueless. I still wound up feeling that we were three bumbling beginners. It was a relief, actually. Even if I had apparently abandoned my maidenhood with these two, I had not crossed the line by far. We all seemed to still be new at this.
The only time I truly couldn’t act was when Mireia encouraged me to try embracing Rod directly. Fortunately, he recognized that I didn’t want it and contented himself with a brief hug and a kiss to my forehead, after which he gently chided his girlfriend not to push matters. Such, I suppose, sufficed as our wedding night together.
Now that the others were asleep, I had no interest in remaining in bed. I don’t sleep a lot anyhow, perhaps every third or fourth night, and it seems I had spent the last five in bed. My body was rebelling against the idea. So I slipped out, tucked the other two under the covers properly, and watched them sleeping for a time while wondering at myself for having done such bold things.
Strangely, it didn’t hurt to see them snuggled together as lovers. Although I had been slow to recognize it, I did feel a bond between myself and Mireia. Weirdly, as long as she was the one he embraced, I felt no jealousy at all. Instead, it made me oddly happy to see them happy with each other.
I suppose that’s a good thing. As a royal, my husband could well have other concubines in time. Uncle Owen had been unusual in never taking a concubine. Any jealousy I did feel would be that of a sister over her big brother, after all, so I should be able to handle it. Millions of little sisters have relinquished their big brothers to wives down the centuries, after all. It’s an entirely different relationship.
Carefully standing up from the bed, so as not to disturb the slumbering couple, I found the bath robe the maids had used to conceal my ‘gift wrapping’ on the way from the dressing room to the bedroom. A certain thirsty girl had robbed me of all of that wrapping, after all, not that it would have warmed me any.
After donning the robe, I thought the balcony would be a relaxing spot. I wanted to breathe outside air. I’ve never enjoyed being cooped up indoors, after all. It’s probably my fairy blood. The six months spent with the Hero’s Party, camping out at least six nights in seven, had been very pleasant for me.
I slipped through the doors as quietly as possible and went to the balcony railing.
The two moons, nearly full and high in the sky, had a bright, clear quality that drew my eyes. Thinly scattered clouds in the sky occasionally passed across them in wisps, but not enough to obscure them. I watched them for some time, while wondering what the gods were thinking, putting me in this position.
Mireia claimed that the goddess she served was able to speak to her. For some reason, even though the claim was pretty incredible, I felt certain she wasn’t lying. After all, she’d claimed that her goddess, together with Gaia, had handled the magic required to make me pregnant, and Aunt Elianora had confirmed to me that I was, in fact, pregnant.
Was it true, what she had said, that I had been speaking to the goddesses myself? Whatever had I been doing for the last three months, for something as amazing as that to have come to pass?
“Do you really hear me, Eurybia?” I asked into the air. “You’re my patron goddess, after all.”
Of course, I didn’t hear an answer. Or maybe I did, because a brief breeze stirred my hair before the night air returned to its calm state. Eurybia’s elements are Wind and Water. I smiled briefly at the idea that she had answered.
Then, having recalled Water, I thought of bathing. It would be rude of me to make the maids draw a bath at such an hour, so I thought of flying somewhere in the wild to take an outdoor bath. But then I remembered Rod, during our evening meal, adamantly telling me not to leave the castle, because so much had happened recently.
The idea of being house-bound bothered me, but I could feel the genuine worry and anxiety behind his words. Apparently I had worried him a lot lately. I had promised him I would take ‘some of the fairies’ if I went flying anywhere. Which was because, apparently, there are fairy warriors currently guarding Narses, due to what had happened here previously.
I really did want to take off and fly. I couldn’t do it in this robe, of course.
Although I would not break my promise to my husband, I still wanted a very small taste of the nature my fairy vampire body was thirsting for. I undid the belt and let the robe fall, then stood there with my hands on the railing, feeling the air on my liberated skin.
It’s a glorious sensation, the complete connection to the living world around me with no dead things encasing my body to block it. The play of mana in the air across my skin could be intoxicating.
It made me remember the fairy walks that Mother used to take me on, when she had me strip off the mortal clothing and fly with her. She’d carried me for most of them, when I was too young to fly, but there had been a few, before I became too embarrassed to continue, in which I flew through the air by her side. I grew my wings now and extended them, just to feel as much air as I could.
A memory came drifting back to me from some unknown time, of flying low above the vineyard fields of Pendor Estate in the deep dark of night, passing over the millpond and the grapevines, settling down among them to lay in the grass. I couldn’t lay in the grass here, to my regret, but I could remember how the cool blades felt under my skin. I traced my fingers across my skin now like I did back then, because the sensations had been arousing, letting my fingertips skim across my body. In my memory, they had wandered to places I didn’t dare go now, and I remembered doing things I would never do out here in the open. Although even now, I found my nails lightly playing across the skin of my bosom before I stopped myself and my eyes sprang open.
When did I ever do something like that?
But it really felt like an actual memory. Perhaps… an erotic dream I once had? No, it certainly felt as if I had truly experienced it.
Now more than a bit embarrassed at my behavior, I retracted my wings and picked up the fallen robe. That had been just a trifle too stimulating, and I again became mindful of the report that fairies were patrolling the skies.
I returned inside, and curled up on the overstuffed chair. The brief brush with exhibitionism had left me more than a bit bothered. I massaged my bosom to relieve the ache, but then began to remember Mireia playing there earlier and had to stop.
To get my mind off it, I spent the rest of the night reading a notebook filled with notes that Mother made, which I had apparently been studying before I lost my memory. In the process, I encountered evidence that I really had been awake for part of the time I was missing. More than once I found my own handwriting in the margins, noting to ‘ask Dilorè about this’ or ‘check with Mr. Makit on that’. I was left genuinely curious as to who these were, especially the woman with the Fairy name. At least the notes I wanted to confirm with ‘Lord Amalis’ had an identity, as I had encountered him in the notes as the local Lord Mayor.
And I discovered a note from Mother, addressed to ‘Inda’, regarding how to use this book. She had written the book for her, not me. But who was Inda?
Frustrations like this just continued to pile up as I read through the night.
In the morning, when the sunlight hit her face because I had left the curtains open when I went outside, Mireia roused and looked over at me with a sleepy smile.
“Good Morning, married lady,” she said, which caused me to snort.
“That’s quite the thing for the woman sleeping next to my husband to say to my face,” I retorted.
Her smile broadened. “That sounds more like you, My Lady!”
I twisted my lips and frowned, because the moment the line had come out of my mouth, even before she replied, I had thought, Why did I say something so rude?
“Does it?” I wondered.
She dimpled and nodded. “At least, around those you’re close to. You make little dry quips like that. Since yesterday, you’ve been speaking to us in the distant way that you speak to strangers. This is much better.”
I thought about the margin notes in my own handwriting, and all the things they had claimed I had done, and sighed.
“Can you tell me about some of the people around me? The ones I’ve forgotten?”
She pooched her lips in thought, then said, “I bet I don’t know as much as you want to know. I haven’t been around very many of your acquaintances. You should ask Lady Dilorè. You seem close to her.”
“That!” I exclaimed. “Who is Dilorè? I saw where I wrote her name down…”
I cut off when I saw her troubled look.
“From what I understand, she’s your cousin, My Lady.”
“Cousin?” I echoed, confused. “I have a cousin?”
Mireia propped her tipped head in her hand and looked sideways at me, her eyes having grown more bothered. “Do you remember your sister, Amana?”
“Amelia,” I corrected. “Of course I remember…”
“Amana,” Mireia repeated forcefully. “Your mother’s daughter, not the Royal Princess.”
I just blinked at her in confusion. My mother’s daughter was me, right?
She heaved another sigh as she pushed herself up on an elbow.
“She’s a fairy. She’s helping out the Pendorian military right now. We had better organize some sort of meet and greet for you, My Lady,” she said. “Maybe have you meet all the fairies, and let you get to know your Servants better.”
I shifted my eyes away, since Rod and I had not left Mireia any clothing, either.
She glanced down, then giggled at my reaction. “Why be embarrassed now, My Lady? You had so much fun with them last night!”
I cleared my throat. “It’s just not good to show that to a vampire.”
“Oh, that reminds me. I ended up falling asleep without feeding you, didn’t I?”
“Um… I’m… not in particular need of blood,” I stated.
“Lady Ceria told me you’ve sucked blood from hers,” she giggled. “That sounds like fun.”
“I’ve what?!”
Was she saying I sucked it from her… her…
“Wanna try?”
“Mireia! Aren’t you supposed to be a priestess?”
“Rhea is the goddess of fertility, though?”
I can’t really spell the sound I made in response, but it made her giggle harder.
Then she sobered up and noted, “Mm… well, you fed a bunch a couple weeks ago, and you did feed on Shindzha the other day. Of course, there’s a lot of girls around who want to feed you now, you know. They should be able to keep you plenty full.”
“Wha… what are you talking about?” I stammered.
“Now that they’re gotten over being scared of you, many maids want to offer you a drink. You really made an impression on everyone when you battled Shindzha. And of course, a lot of them took a mental hit during the attack in the dungeon, and they know you fended that off as well…”
“Mireia,” Rod suddenly said. “Let’s slow down on telling her everything. Can’t you see how confused you’re making her?”
Both of us turned to gape at him. Neither of us had realized he was awake.
“Say something if you’re awake! How long have you been listening?” Mireia demanded.
“Well, I heard all about how Lady Ceria feeds Ti,” he stated with a grin.
While I turned deep scarlet, Mireia collapsed into giggles.
Was I going to survive this marriage?
