Untamed Lands- Chapter 3 (Patreon)

I caught it but was also reminded by Dutch of a mistake. I had erroneously though the gestation period for a hawkkin to lay her egg was 2 weeks- but it is actually 1 week.

This necessitated a change in chapter 1. Nothing Earth shaking but just filling you all in.

Changed line:

It probably helped that Mursha had gotten pregnant the night of her wedding and Daria just a few days ago.


Chapter 3

“I didn’t think it would take the four of you to handle the healing.” Then I pointed up at the roof. “The most wounded are up there but provide healing for any serious injuries. Cuts and bruises they can keep as a reminder of how to act in Yonderton.”

Josie said, “You’re incorrigible and of course we were going to come. I wasn’t going to let Lina come to a brawl without some protection.”

My effervescent bunnygirl giggled but said, “Hey, I’ve been learning how to fight.”

Josie didn’t reply but the roll of her eyes said everything she was obviously thinking. I couldn’t help but stare for a moment at my beautiful foxkin. They were all striking and it made it hard to be upset with them but then another thought hit me. “I’m glad you came to protect Lina. I expected nothing less from the Mistress of the Wall. But, you also let Mursha and Daria come here in their condition. You know how I feel about that.”

Mursha started to say something but Daria landed in a flutter of feather and gust of her wind magic interrupting her. “She didn’t let us do anything. We are equals. You promised.”

I shook my head. It was my own damn fault. Daria was still hyper sensitive about feeling like she was a full-fledged wife. Even the soul bond hadn’t completely erased that. I had pushed her off for too long and that insecurity carried through.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I want you to be in danger.”

Mursha got her bit in this time, “And we want you to be in danger?”

“It isn’t the same thing and you know that. This isn’t about holding you back. It is about protecting you while you’re pregnant. That is my baby in you after all.”

The crowd wasn’t dispersing. Without TV, watching the sheriff’s harem drama was probably the most juicy thing going on in town. When I noticed that, I switched to telepathy. Immediately they all began trying to speak in my head at the same time.

I endured it patiently. There were a boatload of amazing benefits to my new relationship status but this we definitely not one of them. I just thought to myself that this was a small price to pay.

When they had all said their bit about how they were my deputies and it was more important to keep me safe, I said, “Did Lina bring Robbie?”

My question made the telepathic channel go dead. If I didn’t know better, I would have felt like they hung up on me. After a few seconds Lina replied, “I would never bring our son to a battle.”

“Exactly.”

“But it isn’t the same,” Daria protested.

“Look, I’m not trying to control you.”

“You can control me,” Mursha whispered out loud.

I ignored her statement. At least she had spoken softly enough that the crowd couldn’t hear her. “Joking aside, you all worry about me. So, I’m going to worry about you. We have more deputies and things are pretty quiet. Even if you won’t take care of yourselves take care of my children that you are carrying.”

I could feel Daria want to protest that she was only carrying an egg but the stubborn hawkgirl kept it to herself. To soothe them I added, “Look it won’t be that long till you are back to your normal selves and you both have plenty to do without engaging in combat.”

They both gave my mental assents while Josie and Lina had already gone up to the roof. I leapt up there not because I didn’t trust Josie to protect her from a couple of drunken orcs but because I could. It looked like she had things well in hand and had already restored the orc with the cracked skull.

I learned something new then because the orc was entirely sober and very apologetic as soon as he saw me. I telepathically queried the two of them, “Wasn’t he drunk?”

Lina’s laughter sounded inside my head. I’d do a lot to hear that melodious sound. “Healing Mana treats drunkenness like poison and cleans it out of the body immediately.” Then she added, “So, you can feel to drink as much as you like,” before winking at me.

Josie had a smile on her face even though the tone of her telepathy was a bit condemning. “She just wants you to get drunk because you get hornier and will do anyone she asks you to.”

“Is it so bad that I want our husband to enjoy himself? Maybe if you were more willing to share you’d feel the same way.”

It wasn’t necessary but even with telepathic communication it was habit to turn towards who you were speaking to. Josie glared down at Lina, “The wedding was a one-time thing. Rob said I don’t have to share my time with him, even if I let you in there sometimes.”

I didn’t want to this drag out so I jumped in. “Jo-Jo doesn’t have to apologize for wanting time to herself. No one is forced to do anything they don’t want and not everyone is uh… shall we say as open minded as you are.”

Josie thought, “Nympho.”

Which was quickly followed by Lina’s, “Prude.”

Both of them glared at one another for a moment till it turned into smiles. I would have been worried but of all my wives I knew that Jo-Jo and Lina got along the best. Jo-Jo wasn’t completely averse to being with another woman as evidenced by the help she gave Lina before I arrived, but it just wasn’t her thing. I knew that Lina accepted that even if she liked to tease Jo-Jo like an older sister.

The orc broke my chain of thought, “I’m so sorry, Sheriff. I didn’t realize who you were, which now in retrospect is sorta stupid considering how you look. I just saw someone attacking my team mates and so me and Talaman came up here to do what we do best.”

“We’ve all been affected by beer goggles. This time it was just in reverse. I respect the desire to protect your team but won’t have chaos in my city.”

He looked dumbfounded for a second then laughed loudly. “Beer goggles. That’s a good one, but seriously, my captain and the rest of the squad are good people. We’ve just been down on our luck lately.”

If life were a video game then I would have felt like this orc was an NPC with an arrow flashing over his head that he had a quest to give me. So, I bit on it. “First off, what’s your name? Second, what do you mean down on your luck?”

He grinned and extended his arm like I was used to from Denne and Mactosh. I took it and shook firmly. Orcs respected strength but they were masochists… um well maybe except for Mursha, I wasn’t sure, she had turned out to be far more submissive and kinky than I had expected. Anyway, I had to focus again and make sure I didn’t try to shake his arm off.

“I’m Yambul. As for the history of our squad. We had some good contracts and for three years or so things were going well. We’re all second sons and non-mages other than the captain, so it was good to find a home with the Iron Shields.”

Given that Mactosh had three sons, I was a bit confused by what he was talking about. “Second sons?”

“Oh, sorry, I’d heard you had married an orc, so I just assumed you knew.”

“Well my best friends here are orcs, Mactosh and his son Denny and yes I married Mactosh’s daughter, Mursha. She’s my fifth wife, but I’m not sure that the concept of second sons has ever come up.”

“Ah, yes, the blacksmith. Heard good things about his blades. Anyway, most orc families aren’t as well to do as Mactosh. The inheritance generally goes to the first son and second sons are sent out to serve as mercenaries. Although typically, second sons means any son after the first.”

I nodded my understanding so he continued. “Anyway, second sons have more trouble getting a proper orcish wife. Most of the wives go to first sons. Sure we could get beastkin wives, but not all orcs find that appealing.”

I felt a rush of heat as a flame burst to life in Josie’s hands. She spoke slowly and deliberately, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Yambul’s eyes got wide. “Uh, no disrespect was meant, just stating a matter of preference.”

“Don’t scare the man. Remember they are guests in our town.”

The flames disappeared and Josie immediately stepped up next to me and wiggled her arms around mine. Her hands were still quite hot when they touched my skin, but nothing that I couldn’t handle even if it was unpleasant. Then again, I figured that was the point she was trying to make as she adopted a syrupy sweat voice, “As you command, husband.”

She almost never called me that outside the bedroom, so even if the heat hadn’t been a clue, I figured she was mad at me. I leaned in and kissed her forehead before saying, “Your preferences are fine, just leaves more for me.”

I wasn’t sure if that would appease Josie, but I felt the tension in her shoulders relax some while my comment made Lina giggle behind me. Now she stepped up and said, “I’ll be sure to remember that.”

“Anyway, finish your story, Yambul.”

“Yes, Sheriff. As it happens we were on the losing side of a couple of skirmishes between mercenary bands in the south and then tried our hand at a merchant protection job traveling from Harborton to Weston. We ended up losing half the company so that we are down to just ten of us.”

“Are the bandits really that bad?”

“These weren’t bandits. These were gang regulars from One Direction. Apparently a bunch of them had fled from here after something went wrong and met up with others from their gang. They attacked the caravan trying to recoup some of their financial loss. It was a real shitshow.”

I looked at Josie who gave me the slightest shake of her head. “We had some trouble with them here, but they are gone now. If your team can be peaceful here for a few days, I might have some work for you. No promises, although, I’m sure that the brothel will be happy for your patronage.”

He was quiet for a moment before saying, “I’ll pass that on to the captain.”

I just nodded and watched as the two archers picked up their ruined crossbows and climbed down the stairs to the bar. Below, I could feel the rest of the orcs had started working to clean things up. They were still intoxicated so things were going slowly.

“Lina can you remove the intoxication from their captain from here?”

“Sure which one is he?”

Josie shook her head. “He was the one with the lightning in his hands.”

Lina went to palm her forehead with her habitual, ‘stupid bunnygirl’ but noticed me watching her and caught herself. Even still it was a work in progress rewriting the narrative she had believed about herself, but she was worth it. And speaking of worth it, there was a certain elven alchemist who I hadn’t seen for a couple of days. It would definitely be worth a visit to her shop.