The Heartstone Saga, Archibald Bradford [the snowy day read aloud TXT] 📗

“Do not give thanks for a curse.” She chided; “Now shoo, precious darling. Before I gobble you up.”

Unlike Nina, this giant saw no cause for alarm in the Witch’s strangely accented words, merely smiling wider before chasing after the others, the ground shaking slightly as she went.

Once the Ogre was out of sight, Olena looked up at the sky: the Undines’ rain was spent and so now she had no excuse for the moisture trailing down her cheeks.

“Sideways or not, I need to get laid.” She complained thickly.

__________

While Nameless was carried off and most of the others left to tend to their duties, Kriss’s scales shimmered to their natural cinnamon colour to reveal that she had been there the whole time, her tongue slipping out to taste the air.

Wet dirt, churned earth, sweat… blood.

She’d heard the news about Evadne’s passing, and now she was torn about whether or not she wanted to see the body for herself.

For so long she’d sought only vengeance for her mother’s death, now a great hollowness filled her breast where that drive had been.

Without it, she was free to think of other things, one of which inevitably had to be her brother, or rather her relationship with her brother.

If she wanted one.

It was confusing to her: though she had searched for him on and off for years, she never desired an emotional connection, but when she thought that he was gone…

Her scales flashed white at the thought, and a moment later she made her decision, stalking towards the tent where he had been taken.

She knew what he had done, with so many gossipy Undines present for it, word spread quickly.

Girls who only an hour before would have torn a child to shreds in their madness were now free because of him, so the Trog was forced to accept that he was a good man.

And with that acceptance came the realization that she could do a lot worse for a family.

But as she thought back on the four terrified teenagers she had killed when she had gotten separated from Tora, she had to ask herself if he could do better than her.

Plagued with uncertain emotions, she disappeared from view again, assuming a silent vigil outside her brother’s tent.

__________

Standing amidst the ring of Myrmidons, the leaders of the Longinus family were taking stock.

Or, at least, the queens were.

“This has been an adventure! We ought to leave the colony more often.” Barnabas Rosenbaum Longinus pronounced happily.

The wiggling Antennae of one of his daughters paused as her attention shifted from her soldiers having injuries treated by the Dryads and medical teams.

“I love you as my mother’s bond-mate and as my father.” She replied with some exasperation; “But you truly are a big fat stupid idiot.”

She at least had a sense for the gravity of the situation.

“Do not disrespect your father.” Queen Julia chided with a smirk.

Without taking his daughter’s complaint to heart, the silly man plopped his silly helmet back on his head.

“I’ll admit, I had my doubts. But you were right Jules. He is good enough for Avita.”

“What else could anyone possibly do to beat him out?” One of his other daughters asked rhetorically.

It seemed absurd for the royal family to be having the conversation in the middle of the battlefield, but in truth the Antlion Queens were contributing more than most, their colonies hard at work assisting the Aegis even while they seemed engaged in idle chatter.

Julia stretched out her arms and cricked her neck to one side, having stood still too long during the fighting.

“Yes, I was right. But don’t get your hopes up too much, my husband. The Gigas has already stated that they aren’t looking for any more monster girls to join their family. And given what we just witnessed her do to that wretched Chimera, I’m not going to press the matter.”

Barnabas sucked air between his teeth in annoyance as he conceded that his bond-mate had a point.

“Still, she needs a bond-mate to help her through this, and if it isn’t going to be him, than we will have to find someone else to suit her.” He announced firmly; “Avita deserves the same happiness that we share. And if it takes my dying breath to make it happen, she will get it.”

Something that Nameless and pretty much everyone else had missed about the man was the look of cunning behind his eyes.

Sometimes a fat idiot only wants you to think he is a fat idiot.

A secret of their family, the little fat man helped his bond-mate rule their family far more than people realized, because although the queen led their colony, Barnabas was not the trophy he pretended to be.

That isn’t to say that he couldn’t be a horny fat idiot from time to time.

“Come then my darling.” Julia proclaimed while directing bedroom eyes at him; “Let us retire from the field and see if you can earn another medal for your uniform.”

His face brightened and he wobbled after her, their daughters rolling their eyes at the loving couple, but smiling nonetheless.

__________

Not all of the people on the battlefield could afford to be so jovial though.

Nameless was unconscious again, and showed no sign of waking up.

But they had all found the bond within themselves again. As Volka soon explained to them, what was missing was his Empathic connection; the way that he subconsciously held his anchors, always reaching out to them and dwelling in their minds.

It was an absence they all lamented, just as Milly had, but mostly they were just thankful he was still alive.

With their bond-mate safe, Ophelia turned her attention to Nina, using a wet rag to wipe her body clean of blood and mud before bandaging her injuries, particularly her ribs and the nasty