Tested by the Night (25 page)

If the ogres refused to listen or trust a barbarian, then perhaps they would be willing to at least hear what she had to say if the words came from one of their own.

Mia knew only one ogre. Well, half ogre really, but that didn’t matter. A half ogre was better than no ogre at all. Wasn’t it?

She made a bee-line for the Shortz residence deep in the bowels of The Academy. It was time to have a little chat with Miss Ohfeelya Upz. Even though the girl probably didn’t realize she really and truly was as much ogre as she was gnome, perhaps those
big-boned
genes of hers could at least get them all through the front gates of Oreeghan alive.

Chapter Seventeen

Talon stood in the corner of Leeky Shortz’s living room and simply listened to the various, loud conversations going on around him. But then what else was there to do right this moment but listen? The time for him to speak up would come eventually. Was there really anything wrong with putting off the inevitable as long as possible? Especially when the inevitable was bound to be extremely unpleasant?

And after all, hadn’t he given Leeky Shortz his word he’d first give the little gnome a chance to change his niece’s mind? And if that didn’t work, he’d at least listen with an open mind to all Mia had to say on the subject before inserting his own opinion? So listen he would, because Talon was nothing if not a man of honor, and VoT would freeze over before he broke his word.

For a moment, he wondered if his silence made him appear cowardly. He shrugged. If not wanting to see the hurt on Mia’s face a grain of sand sooner than need be, then so be it. For that was precisely what was going to happen the moment he made his dictates known to her. Her stormy gray-blue eyes would glaze over with pain, and tears would form around their edges.

And though he knew deep down in his heart he really and truly was being a tad cowardly by not speaking up and getting this debacle of an argument over with, he also knew, in the end, he’d still do his duty. And his duty was first and foremost to keep Princess Mia Hammerstrike safe.

And anyway, wouldn’t it be better for all involved if he bided his time and first heard exactly what crazy scheme Mia was in the process of hatching? For without a doubt, she had one. He could see it in the gleam of her eye.

Yes, he definitely needed to keep his mouth shut for the moment and pay attention to what she had to say before he burst her bubble and forbade her going through with it? For that was exactly what he intended to do.

He knew Mia Hammerstrike better than he had any right to. Probably better than anyone else in all of Albrath. But he also knew what he’d promised Zander. There was no way in VoT he’d ever allow her to travel to Oreeghan. It was much too dangerous for a full grown man, let alone a slip of a girl.

He may not like the council, and he might actually despise Duke Algen Daggertoss, but he had to give the man credit where credit was due, and by all rights, he should thank the duke for ultimately making his job easier. For this time, the duke truly had devised an impossible quest. Anyone who was anybody knew the ogre nation would never give up Queen Adrina’s Spear. Not to anyone, and not for any reason or for any price.

And no matter how much Mia might yell or scream or throw a royal hissy fit, it was his job first and foremost to protect the Alarian princess and keep her safe and sound. Even from herself if necessary.

Still, he couldn’t help but be proud of her as Mia raised her chin a notch and stared down Leeky Shortz as if she were already queen.

“I didn’t come down here to cause trouble or to fight, Uncle Leeky,” she sniffed. “I came to simply ask Ohfeelya what she knows about ogres, if anything, and if she’d possibly like to accompany me on this upcoming quest.”

Leeky Shortz’s face was so red Talon feared the little gnome was about to have a seizure. “What—what—what the well-deserved fat lip on a rude dwarf dandy after he had the gall ta insult a dark-elf lady of the evening do ya mean ya want ta ask Ohfeelya about ogres? What the VoT would our sweet little gnome niece know about nasty, old ogres? And—and allow ya ta drag her ta Oreeghan with ya? I don’t think so.”

He gestured wildly toward the room at large. “I want ya ta know, we men already discussed this whole second quest nonsense on the way down here, little missy. Neither Talon, nor Pierced, nor myself, nor anybody else with half a brain is going anywhere near Oreeghan, and neither are ya. So ya might as well get this silly quest stuff out of ya head once and for all.”

Mia placed her hands on her hips. “I’m going, with or without any of you, and nobody is going to stop me.”

Leeky Shortz looked straight at Talon. “Go on. Ya tell her what we decided. Apparently, she listens ta ya better than she does me. Stubborn as the day is long, that one is. Always has been. Even from the time she was no bigger than a healthy shit, she was doing as she pleased. Had both her parents wrapped around her little finger before she could even walk. Pathetic, I tell ya. Just pathetic. And—and anyway, our Ohfeelya don’t know a thing about ogres.”

Talon opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Ohfeelya beat him to it. “But I do know quite a bit about ogres, Uncle. And anyway, who else is there to ask? It’s not as if there are an abundance of us running around The Academy.”

Leeky stomped his foot. “How many times do I half ta tell ya, niece? Ya ain’t no ogre. Ya are just big-boned for a gnome, is all.”

Ohfeelya sighed. “I know you hate to admit it, Uncle, but anyone with even one good eye in their head can plainly see I’m at least half ogre. A heritage I happen to be proud of, just as I’m proud of my gnome side. Please give Mia a chance to ask what she wishes. I’d really like to hear what she has to say.”

The little rogue stomped his foot again. “I said no, and I mean no.”

Talon couldn’t help but grin as Laycee and Lavender moved across the room until they flanked Mia on both sides. And now with the Shortz ladies throwing themselves into the mix, he was infinitely glad he hadn’t entered the fray…yet.

Along with, Ohfeelya, the other two females crossed their arms, and glared at the men, all of the men, especially Leeky. “Ya can stomp around all ya want, ya daft gnome,” Laycee yelled. “But it won’t do ya any good. We’ll still be hearing our little Mia out, and that’s all there will be ta it. So hush.”

“But…” Leeky sputtered.

Laycee wagged a finger at him. “Don’t ya dare be ‘butting’ me, little mister. If’n ya don’t wanna find yaself sleeping with Pierced’s Bruno the barbarian doll instead of ya wife this night, ya’ll zip it and listen.”

Talon chuckled as the rogue instructor who put fear into men twice his size and was well known for never showing fear himself and never backing down from a fight, clamped his mouth shut.

Laycee smiled up at Mia. “All right, dear. What was it ya wanted ta ask Ohfeelya?”

Mia began asking a series of questions, but Talon couldn’t help himself. When Ohfeelya started talking her flat voice droned on and on, and his mind wandered while she addressed what Mia had asked.

There was something said about blood lines and deportment, eating habits, and even silly stuff like how tall was the stupid volcano, and was lava truly freezable or was that a myth.

He should’ve been paying closer attention, but couldn’t seem to help himself. Mia’s pretty pink lips moving as she asked one question after another brought back very vivid images of that soft mouth latched tightly around his cock. He hardened immediately, and the conversations going on all around him faded away.

All Talon heard with any certainty was the beating of his own heart as blood coursed through his veins further engorging his stiff, aching cock. He wanted nothing more in all of Albrath than to toss the princess over his shoulder, carry her up to her rooms, and fuck her so long and hard she’d forget there was even a quest to go on.

God Draka, how he needed her, would always need her, even long after his last breath had been taken. But would she ever let him touch her again after he snatched away her dream? After be forbade her to go to Oreeghan?

Guilt overcame him, and Talon took a deep breath as his cock shriveled miserably in his breeks. He shouldn’t let this line of questioning go on. He shouldn’t let her get her hopes up and then shatter them. Being a coward was one thing, but it wasn’t fair to Mia for him to remain silent while she stood before the entire room so hopeful, so proud. It was time to speak up, time to put a stop to this nonsense.

He took one more deep breath for courage and was on the verge of finally breaking his silence when the sound of Mia’s laughter stopped him cold.

“Uncle Leeky, I do so love you.” She bent down and kissed him right on the top of his almost bald head. “You might very well be a cantankerous old curmudgeon, but I do know you mean well. And I do thank you for understanding that I must go on this quest. Even if I have to go all by myself, I don’t mind. After all, I’d never ask anyone to put themselves in danger for me.”

Talon gulped. What the VoT? What had he missed when he’d been fantasying of having Mia right where he wanted her, naked, willing, and wanton?

Leeky shuffled his feet. “Now hang on there just a hiney hair, lass. There’s no need ta be talking about going off by yaself ta face a passel of ogres.”

He pointed toward Talon. “If ya heart is really set on going ta Oreeghan, the big guy will be right there by ya side. And he won’t let those nasty old ogres hurt ya. No, he won’t. And neither will Pierced. Cause if they do, the lot of them will answer ta me.”

Talon was going to kill him.

It had been all Leeky’s idea for him to bide his tongue in the first place until Mia had her say. And now it was too late. There was no way he could open his mouth now and forbid her to go. Not after her uncle had given his blessing.

Talon wanted to take Leeky’s head between his two big hands and squeeze it like an over-ripe melon as the traitorous little gnome grinned up at Mia as if he’d never even raised his voice in objection moments before.

“And while ya are at it, lass, feel free ta take Ohfeelya along with ya. It sounds as if she really does know a considerable amount about ogres, after all.”

He didn’t kill the gnome, though. He couldn’t. Not right now anyway, and certainly not in front of so many witnesses. So instead, he spoke up as he knew he should have to begin with. “Mia’s not going anywhere, and especially not Oreeghan. I won’t allow it, and neither would her father or her brother if they were here.”

The little chit had the audacity to turn her back on him and flick her wrist, as if to say, “Barbarian, your opinion doesn’t matter.”

But then she did speak. “You won’t allow it? What the VoT do you mean,
you
won’t allow it? My brother is paying you to be my bodyguard, Talon, not my keeper. It isn’t up to you to tell me what I will or won’t do. And if you ask me, you’re being paid more than you’re worth if you’re afraid of a few ogres.” She turned and faced him. “With or without you I’m going.”

“No you aren’t.” Though his voice was calm and controlled, his insides certainly weren’t. She thought him afraid? She thought him overpaid? As if he’d actually take a single platt more than his regular pay to do the job he’d agreed to do? But then, didn’t her words go to prove what he’d known all along? She might think she had tender feelings for him, but when this quest, this forced time together was done, she’d see him for what he was, what everyone else saw when they looked at him, the unworthy grandson of a traitor.

“Just watch me,” she hissed. “And if you try to stop me, I’ll bury the ice dagger my mother gave me deep in you traitorous heart instead of gifting it to the ogres.”

Instead of saying anything else, though, Talon threw up his hands, turned, and stalked off. At least now he knew where he stood.

But he still made a promise to himself. If he and the little pretty-pretty princess somehow managed to live through this—this fiasco they were about to embark upon, he was going to come back to The Academy and rip himself a gnome from limb-to-limb. And if they didn’t survive, he’d at least come back and haunt Mr. Leeky Shortz for the rest of his very unnatural life.

****

Mia glanced in the direction of the small dark pool surrounded by leafy, green palms, and then at the stiff, silent form of Talon Starkweather lying beside her and sighed. What wouldn’t she give for a nice long midnight dip and lovemaking session in the cool water? Especially since this might very well be her last chance to do so for a very long time, perhaps forever?

The scent of sweet, male musk mixed with the nearby lusciousness of the desert oasis’s foliage, and her pussy hummed with anticipation. God Draka, what she wouldn’t do to be straddling Talon’s lap in the middle of that pool right this second. To have his cock buried deep within her. To have her head thrown back and her eyes closed as he pumped into her so wildly they formed a little title wave of their very own.

The hot air of her quickly indrawn breath seared her lungs, but at the same time, the expectation of what she hoped would happen in the next turn of the hourglass had shivers skittering along her arms and legs.

But how was she to convince Talon to go along with her plan? There must be something she could say or do.

The sun had long ago set, but the night air was still unbearably sweltering, and though she was as naked as the day she’d been born, a tiny rivulet of sweat trickled down the back of her neck.

And not only was she uncomfortably warm and sweaty and hornier than she’d been in a very long while, but also the parched ground beneath their fur was hard and unforgiving to rest upon. She wiggled, shifted, glanced once more at the inviting stillness of the pool, and sighed.

She’d wanted to make their bed upon the soft green undergrowth surrounding the pond, but Talon wouldn’t hear of it. Something about bugs big enough to devour a grown man or some such nonsense. It was as if he were trying his best to make this entire second quest as unpleasant as possible and succeeding.

And by the time they’d finally stopped arguing over location and lay down for the night, the barbarian had shown no inclination whatsoever he’d welcome advances of any kind from her this evening, nor any time in the immediate future.