Chapter 14

Tara

I'm in the carriage, wide awake, my eyes glued to the vastly different landscape outside the window. The witch lands with their caves, towering mountains, and rocky terrain woven amidst the trees are far behind our caravan. Here, there are rolling hills, huge trees, and a lush landscape.

This place is really beautiful.

If I wasn't deep in the Shifter Kingdom with a bunch of shifters who don't like me I'd be thrilled about being in such a beautiful place. Unfortunately, I can't forget about my marriage or the shifters, no matter how much I might want to.

Houses dot the landscape, scattered at first, but the further we travel, the denser they become. An adorable little boy waves at me. I smile and wave back enthusiastically. To my delight, he shifts into a wolf pup. I lean out the window and watch as he runs alongside my carriage.

Then Prince Drogo is beside the boy, racing him on his horse. They're both laughing, and I'm shocked by how handsome Prince Drogo is as he laughs, and the rich sound of his voice. It's like I'm getting to see another side of him. And I like it.

Does the big, mean shifter have a heart?

Prince Drogo races ahead, and my focus goes back to the pup. He looks so happy. So free.

Did I think wolves were scary? No way! They're absolutely darling!

"Hi there!" I yell out the window, laughter bubbling up. "You're a cutie pie!"

He howls in response and keeps up with the carriage, and I laugh more. I never would have imagined this. Maybe life here won't be so bad. The wolf pup starts to fall back. I turn to look forward and see all three of the princes atop their horses gaping at me. I wave at them and smile, hoping for some kind of interaction. Instead, they all turn around and focus on the road ahead.

Which is oh so typical.

They've kept their distance from me this whole time. I wish I knew why, and I wonder if this will be my life from now. Before this, I rarely imagined what being married would be like, but when I did, I always imagined being loved, or at the least being liked. Wrong again, I guess. I have three husbands right now, and not one of them seems to be able to do more than tolerate me.

I think back to the tent. I knew the instant he pointed to the unmade tent that this was their way of putting me in my place. Unfortunately for them, a little work isn't all that hard compared to what I'm used to. I honestly prefer their taunting and glares to the cold cruelty of the other witches. With them, it was constant. I always felt like I was drowning under a sea of jabs, dirty looks, and isolation. What these shifters are doing? It's nothing.

Still, it's a little sad that this is how things will be between my husbands and I. Just thinking of the moment Prince Rinan said that the tent took two people to set up makes my heart sad. I understand them not wanting to help their enemy, but giving me an impossible task feels cruel.

I hope my husbands don't have cruel hearts.

Maybe things will change when we reach the castle? The hopeful thought swirls in my mind. Traveling is tough on anyone. It's certainly not the best situation to learn about someone new, especially not a bride. Besides, I know they were stressed when they were in witch territory.

Wouldn't it be funny if these guys are all fun and games when we reach their home?I smile, even though it's silly. Their personalities are unlikely to do a one-eighty just because we're not traveling any longer.

It's fine. We'll get to know each other well once we get established in the home we're going to share, and I'll just keep hoping for the best.

Which is?

Probably… that we at least get to know each other, have conversations, bond in some way. Will we have sex? My heart races at the thought. Of course we'll have sex. I'm their wife. Right?

Out of the blue, Wisp appears in front of my face.

"Wisp!" I squeal, the relief I'm feeling reaching down to my toes at the sight of her. "You're here! I missed you so much. It's been so lonely these past few days without you."

"Lonely without you," Wisp replies softly.

Warmth spreads through me. She missed me too. That's why she's here.

Now, I just need to catch her up.

"Did you see my husbands? Right, you probably did, but you really didn't get to learn a lot about them." I think about what to tell her. "Prince Drogo is so angry you'd think he has burning boils in his asshole. Prince Arlys is the kind of guy who you can never tell what he's thinking, but it's probably something like how cute kittens are, and he's just hiding it behind a butthole expression. And Prince Rinan? He tolerates me, which is a good thing. Better than the others."

Wisp stares at me, and I swear she's judging me.

"You want me to focus on the positive side, huh? Well…you have to admit they're all pretty hot. I mean, I've never seen such muscly men before, save for the blacksmith. Ours are all so scrawny. And I never thought I was into muscly men, but maybe I have a type. Maybe it's them. I mean, a less scary version of them."

She keeps staring.

I sigh. She knows me too well. "I was just thinking about having sex with them." I am. And I'm terrified.

"Sex with them?" Wisp repeats, almost as if the notion is shocking.

"Well, not about having sex with them, but just about what it would be like. It's obviously going to happen, but I don't know how." Will I just be walking down a hall, have my dress flipped up, and have a tiny dick thrusting into me? Will those hairy sacks smack me from behind? And will I be expected to sleep with all three of them?

"Don't know how sex happens." Wisp is teasing me.

"Not really." I mean, I saw the lake thing. I've heard people talk about it. I generally know what meat pole goes into what hole, but that's not what I mean. "There's three of them. As far as I know, there's only one place their… thing is supposed to go, right?"

"Three on one," Wisp says knowingly.

"No no no! That's too many dicks and too few holes. But is that what they expect? Or will it be one at a time, but in succession? That sounds exhausting too, but not as bad as trying to squeeze three tiny dicks into one hole. Couldn't that end up taking a lot of time? Will I be up all night every night?"

"Sounds exhausting." She's right. It does.

"It would be so tiring." Yet, I wonder if I should even be worried about that. Maybe when we reach their home, they'll continue to not want anything to do with me… and maybe that's what I should be hoping for. "Do you think they'll even want to have sex with me? Or will they just do it out of a royal obligation?"

"Sex obligation." She sounds a little sad. Like she wanted better for me.

That makes two of us.

"You probably aren't wrong," I tell Wisp

Wisp disappears, and disappointment flows through me. I finally had a friend to talk to. For just a minute, I wasn't lonely.

Trying to fight my sadness, I glance out the window, and my stomach drops. Prince Arlys is riding right outside the window.

How long has he been out there? I feel the heat rising in my face as I rundown the conversation Wisp and I just had. Oh man. What did he hear? How much did he hear?

His gaze catches mine, and I can't read his expression. "We'll arrive at Castle MoonFall in a few minutes."

I want to sink into this seat and disappear into the cushions. He had to have heard me. He must be thinking I'm some kind of sex-crazed pervert. Is he going to think I'll be banging his brains out tonight?

He's still staring, waiting for me to say something, so I scramble to talk about anything other than what I was just saying to Wisp. "Whose territory is this?"

My heart hopes he answers me instead of riding faster and ignoring me like they've been doing this whole trip. Not that the question is particularly significant – I just like the idea of him actually talking to me. Connecting with me in some way. Plus, a conversation with him might help me determine how much of what I said to Wisp he heard.

His green eyes hold mine for a long moment, and, to my surprise, he answers. "These are my lands. Pack Talon territory. You'll live here most of the year." His gaze moves ahead of us. Figures. He hasn't looked at me much since I doused him with water and tried to help dry him off. A moment ago must have been a one-off.

But I don't care, I'm just glad he's talking to me, and I'm going to take advantage of this moment for as long as he lets me. "How many people live here? Is it a tight-knit community? That's how it is with my coven. Everybody knows everybody, and it's kind of awful, really, so I'm hoping it's different here."

He clears his throat, and I think he's considering not answering, but he does. "About five thousand people live there."

Five thousand?

"Really? I've never been in a town so big. That's a lot of new people to meet!" I exclaim. With five thousand people, I might not be lonely. I might find some friends if they can get past me being a witch. I might not be the town fool here either. Part of me hopes they already have one. I'd love to blend into the background and go about my life.

"Is everyone here a shifter?" That adorable little boy was, and his wolf was even cuter than his human form. Is the school full of cubs or kids? Oh, I bet it's a blast to be around them all.

"Different kinds of magical beings live here. But, yes, the vast majority are shifters." His tone says he's done answering questions.

That's okay. It was progress! Progress is all we really need.

Besides, I've learned a lot from such a short conversation. A town of five thousand with all kinds of magical beings? This place is the opposite of where I'm from in the best of ways. My mom has always said that outside of shifters, monsters, and monster hunters, other supernaturals are useful. Still not allowed in the Witch Kingdom, but useful. I'm excited to meet them. And since I doubt there will be any witches here, there's no one to compare me to. It's a strange but exciting notion. Maybe I'll even make a friend that doesn't pop in and out of my world at their whim.

The horses slow. I lean out the window once more and see that the castle is right in front of us. And to my surprise, there are no wall around the castle. I don't understand. How do they keep the lesser witches out? Aren't these lands full of monsters? How do they protect themselves?

There's only a short distance between the castle itself and the large town beyond it. The people could just… walk beneath the portcullis and strut right into the courtyard. My mother would never allow a castle to be built like this. Yes, it has watchtowers on the four corners, but you lose a massive line of defense not having a wall.

Could it be that these shifters feel safer than we witches do? The notion is strange and uncomfortable to me for reasons I don't understand.

The castle doesn't look as… archaic as I expected it to either. I wasn't honestly even sure if they'd have running water or toilets here, based on the little I know about shifter daily life. My mom always said that if knowledge of the shifters doesn't help us kill them, it's not useful. But this castle? It looks well-maintained and not that dissimilar from our castles.

Interesting.

I turn my thoughts away from the building itself, and my mind starts turning over what happens from here. Will we all share a room? Or will I get my own room?

Glancing around, all I see are male shifters on horses and male shifters guarding the castle. It's weird to see so many men. I'd almost forgotten that women don't run everything here. But are there even any other women around anywhere?

Is this place like an ancient civilization, run by men where women do all the heavy lifting when it comes to the household? Do I have to cook and clean? Or do shifters have servants to do those things in the castle? I know there were servants on the trip, but I haven't quite figured out my place in this society yet.

There's motion near my carriage door. I glance out and see that Prince Arlys is near my window again and that Prince Drogo has dropped back to ride beside him. Every muscle in my body tenses, and I lean closer, hoping to catch whatever I can from their conversation.

And, unfortunately, Prince Drogo doesn't make me wait long. "I hope our Princess is ready for her cell."

"A cell?" And I realize I've spoken the words aloud.

Glancing outside, I realize that they're both looking at me, and I can't tell what they're thinking, other than that it's not great. So, while I was worried about servants and making friends with other women, I should have been worried about being imprisoned.

Damn it.

I slide down in my seat, so no one can see me through the window. My stomach aches and I have the overwhelming urge to start crying. Every stage of this journey there's been more to learn and more to fear.

Who would've thought the unknown was worse than my little life back with the witches?

I mean, I hope he's joking. Keeping me as a prisoner isn't exactly enforcing the treaty in good faith. I know that much logically, but I also know that now that they have me, they can do whatever they want with me.

Which is oh so comforting.