Chapter Ninety Three
Joe woke in the middle of the night once again, a bit frustrated by the fact he was waking in the middle of the night, but also feeling more content than he’d felt in a long, long time. The cool wall pressed against his back, and while he wasn’t sure when he’d lost the blanket, its coolness contrasted wonderfully with the warm heat of Kilniara pressed into him from the front, her little spoon to his big.
Joe sighed, breathing deeply in contentment before leaning forward to kiss Kilniara on her head, nuzzling into her soft hair before pulling his head away and looking up. Her hair, despite its softness, did tickle his nose quite a bit. Kilniara moaned, sidling into him and Joe smiled and found his own body melting, allowing his mind to drift in contentment. He shifted into the embrace a bit more, tightening his hold on her, almost all his attention was on the warmth that he cradled to his chest.
He allowed himself to be happy in the moment for a time before finally turning to his practice. He lost himself in that for awhile until exhaustion returned and he soon found himself drifting in exhaustion before he fell asleep again so quickly Joe might have found it surprising, if he’d noticed, a deep wave of peace and contentment washing through him and putting him back to sleep.
* * *
Joe woke quite early once again with the presence of Kilniara’s warmth still contrasted by the coolness of the wall behind him. Kilniara stirred for a bit and immediately Joe sighed and grinned with contentment. It was once again contentment that was almost perfect. He rested in his bed, but this time found his contentment too powerful and he surrendered to its siren call once again, rapidly falling asleep.
* * *
Gwenvair woke with a soft fading from sleep, peaceful and utterly satisfied. She Heard it. She Heard it so powerfully it vibrated throughout the room. She rested there, enjoying the moment and the presence of his arms wrapped around her and with it she knew she could never give up such wonder again. She lay for another few moments before finally sighing and rising. While she was a late riser, her control, driven into her by years of preparation to be Matriarch, was impeccable. She could not fail to rise at the appropriate time any more than she could fail to breathe. So, she stood and reached across Joe to rouse Kilniara, Hearing exactly when it was enough. Kilniara woke and Gwenvair brought a hand to Kilniara’s cheek, enough to silence her. Kilniara woke and then glanced up to see Gwenvair staring up at her. She took a few moments but then rose with a sigh, nodding and climbing over Joe quietly.
The two headed to the new water basin and took time to prepare themselves. Cleaning themselves and dressing, they then prepared to quietly leave. Before doing so, Kilniara took a moment to head into the boy’s room where she shook Zilnek awake.
“Zilnek. Zilnek!”
Zilnek groaned but said nothing, rolling over.
“Zilnek!”
Zilnek finally rose and turned to Kilniara, growling angrily, “What!”
“A little more polite, brother!”
“Not this early in the morning!”
Kilniara fumed but remained on task, “Fine! Tell Joe Gwenvair and I had to go again today. We will return again tonight.”
Gwenviare stuck her head in through the door and turned her head to the side, whisper shouting, “And remind Joe to arrive at the criminal’s sentencing! Today, two Great Bells past lunch!”
Zilnek sat up with some consternation when he heard Gwenvair but nodded with more respect, “Of course, First in Line for Matriarch!”
Gwenvair didn’t turn, but she smiled softly, “No more, Zilnek. No more.”
Kilniara huffed, “Why are you so polite to her?”
Zilnek snorted, “She’s nice to me!”
“You!?” Kilniara exploded back, but Zilnek simply grunted and turned over. Kilniara growled but sighed and turned, not wanting a loud fight to disturb Joe’s sleep. She turned and left the inn with Gwenvair.
* * *
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Joe woke once again and was surprised to see the sun already risen, his bed empty, and his heart quite disappointed. He grumbled, even as he realized that Kilniara was only respecting his wishes, if a bit loosely. He sighed and sat up, then blinked in surprise when he saw two empty beds. The room’s water basin had also been replaced and it was quite a bit nicer than the one he’d had before. Joe looked on with some confusion before standing up and heading to the basin to prepare for the morning.
Huh… guess I was wrong. The boys must have just used Kilniara’s room for privacy to let the two girls talk with me… although… shoot! Hope I didn’t piss off Gwenvair… missed the talk she wanted.
Joe turned to look at the two beds, considering a bit, still a bit confused. Did the guys get fed up with the bunk bed? He washed off, cleaning as best as he could while trying to brush his hair, including his now quite unruly beard into some semblance of order. He frowned, unhappy with it. He’d never been much of a beard kind of guy, although he’d tried a few times with a well-kept beard and mustache. That said, he was getting quite tired of it. Scissors? And a razor… going to need to get rid of this. It’s… annoying.
Joe sighed and added that to the list of things to do. And a house! That thought leapt into his brain with a cacophony of dissonance as he stuttered to a halt with that thought. Man… never thought I would be considering THAT so soon!
Joe sighed and returned to his hair before finally cleaning himself and turned to look at the empty room. He considered for a bit before shrugging and heading out. It was already quite late and the others were likely at breakfast. When he made the main hall, he found it empty of any of his companions and he frowned. Back courtyard? They all practicing alone?
He went out to find it empty and ended up frozen in consternation, uncertain what to do. He finally decided to simply work out himself. Maybe the boys wanted a day just like the girls? Or… is it a holiday? Wish they’d told me.
Joe bent to his exercises with a passion and soon found himself lost in them, enjoying the stretching of his body. His various simple exercises complete, he turned to a more vigorous practice of the various forms of martial arts he’d practiced. With the extra space and no one to teach, Joe was able to revel in the experience and push himself further than he normally did with others around. About half way through his sets, Joe suddenly stopped, shocked to see the two boys standing to the side, staring at him with looks of awe. Huh… right… probably haven’t seen me really go all out…
“Hey, guys. Came to exercise?”
Garnedell quickly came forward and bowed his head, “I’m sorry we are late, Joe.”
Joe frowned then quickly hid his frown realizing that they would take it the wrong way. He quickly sighed and waved away their concern.
“I am not angry you are late. I did not frown because you are late. I frowned because I am upset that no one woke you, right?”
"I was woken by my sister and Gwenvair before they left. They have a message for you, but it was early morning before we rose.”
“Ah, so, yeah… sorry I didn’t wake you up. What were the messages?”
Zilnek nodded his head, bowing, “They will be gone today, once again and Gwenvair asks you to come to the breeder’s sentencing.”
Joe eyebrows jumped, “Oh, right. That whole mess.”
Joe sighed and stepped back, continuing, “Well… guess that’s today. Did she say when?”
“We are to meet two hours after lunch.”
“Right… Where?”
“I… uh… likely in the great city center. Other criminals have been displayed there.”
“Oh. OK. Then… after the dungeon? Or, should we not go to the dungeon today?”
Garnedell said nothing but Zilnek frowned a bit. Joe noticed and turned to him.
“Did you want to go?”
Garnedell and Zilnek glanced at each other and Joe raised an eyebrow while smiling.
“It’s OK. I just don’t know … can we go?”
Garnedell stepped forward, “Yes. We could go, as long as we make it back to the center plaza.”
Joe considered, “So, do you want to go then?”
Garnedell smiled and Zilnek grew eager, “Can we?”
Joe laughed, “Sure. Let’s finish exercising.”
Zilnek grimaced and Garnedell actually groaned, but smiled. Joe laughed again.
“That’s the spirit. Let’s do this.”
Joe turned from his own practice and began driving the boys through their training. The morning practice went well, despite their groaning. With only two, Joe was able to spend more time with each, and offer corrections more immediately when they made mistakes. After exhausting them several times, the boys were not able to stand back up and Joe gave them mercy.
“Right. Seems like we’re done. Let’s end this and head in for breakfast?”
Zilnek groaned in relief while Garnedell smiled, rolling onto his back before speaking, “About time!”
Joe chuckled, “Well, then. I’ll go in and order food for us. If you take too long, it’ll grow cold.”
Their happiness quickly evaporated, both groaning but neither moved from the ground. Joe didn’t look back and headed in to sit down at the table, ordering three servings of food before sitting down at the table to rest. Their food came pretty quickly and Joe began eating. About half way through his meal, the other two joined him and ravenously devoured their food, finishing it even before Joe. Joe still took his time to enjoy the meal but was still surprised.
With the meal done, Joe prepared for the day and considered heading to the dungeon immediately before finally taking a deep sigh and turning back to the inner city instead. Not… gonna be fun… but… He lead them all back to the villa he’d stayed at while fighting in the monster tide. A few times on the trip there, he’d tried to fire off monster sense again and frowned at that instinctual nature of it. By this time, it was more an annoyance and he simply rolled his eyes or ignored it when he did so. He was happy to make it to the villa, however, since it seemed like he tended to do it instinctually more outside or when not in conversation.
At the villa, he called for the women who’d all been captured in the breeder operation. He struggled to keep his face passive but was only increasingly growing more nervous. When they did all come out, Joe interacted with them for a time but remained distant, especially from the women who seemed to be quite aggressive in attempting to connect with him. He didn’t understand their aggression and found it pretty uncomfortable. He was truly most concerned with the ones who seemed pretty much shell shocked and unable to really interact. They also tended to withdraw from him and while Joe understood the reasoning, it left him feeling both conflicted and a bit helpless he wasn’t sure how to offer meaningful help but to stay away. I’ll need other… ooh!