Sachihiro

Our group has divided with Wagner leading most of our people through Sandersoria still while a split away group of us go on a hunt for these sorcerers. The Sandies want us to do their dirty work for them but ma has also negotiated better concessions for our people to be confirmed in their House of Lords. Convoluted politics and archaic ways of doing things are preventing the mages loyal to the Crown from acting.

But to be honest I hold the Sandies in even lower regard than I ever have now that I know they don't act even when children are involved. That Cynthia Alvalon is a sly fox and she knew she had us the moment she mentioned some of our children brought back from slavery have been in the tender care of one of these sorcerers.

Children so broken in spirit and sexuality that they were taken away by the fae as soon as we recovered them. To have a child begging to be molested is a very disturbing and sick sight and there are several that have been brought to us in such a state. Now this woman points us at a target and then tells us one of her own grandchildren has been taken.

I hated her the moment she said that and I think she felt it somehow because her eyes immediately sought mine out. But I'm not surprised because I've figured out she is some sort of psion and the loathing I had for her was palpable even to mundane bystanders.

To have your granddaughter taken from you with the knowledge of what vile things will be done to her and still not acting because of politics?! I found myself spiting and leaving the room, the greatest sign of disrespect that my people have come up with after a thousand years of developing our culture.

I remember being followed by Mira who tried to comfort me but all I wanted was to be with my little girls. I will never raise any of my children in Sandoria, not if I have any choice in the matter.

And so here we are, 60 of us travelling in a completely different direction out for blood. Some of the very best warriors in our traveling group for we don't know much about the enemy we are to face except he is old and formidable. It is said that sorcerers are immortal regardless of whether or not they Awaken to the upper tiers, so these sorcerers could be ancient and bursting with accumulated power.

But to have seen those children is to want to have a target to chop into pieces. And so we rush through the Sandoria Kingdom with an escort of 13 House guards and 1 Royal guard on horses. Mira also having chosen to ride not straying far from me both for my comfort and hers I think. She acts tough but I know the reunion with one of her former owners has rattled her a bit.

We mostly jog through the villages between town between long stretches of no human habitation. Not everyone here is an Awakened so the pace is relatively tame for me, case in point being Ava.

Ava has been mad at me since the dungeon in Eldritch almost two years ago now. She is convinced that had I not convinced her not to go into that dungeon she would also be an Awakened now and she has been wanting to fight me ever since I came out of that time chamber. She really doesn't realise that there is a very large gulf between a mundane and an Awakened and I can't blame her for not understanding cause we've killed Awakened Mages before.

But really those mages were very very stupid, or scared, or just limited in their understanding I guess. Awakening to only one thing is the height of folly because it leaves so many other glaring weaknesses as well. So really the entire Awakening philosophy of Sandoria is really stupid, and the poor fools don't even realise it yet.

We take another break outside a small quiet farming village, I'm not surprised these people have the concept of farming. There are just too many mouths to feed and so few Awakenings that its necessary for most of the kingdom to eat on a daily basis.

"How are doing?" Mira asks jumping off her horse and patting the side of its head.

"I'm okay," I say pulling her into my chest. "How are you doing?" I ask her as she snuggles into me.

"I'm okay, just didn't expect to see anyone I knew when I came here nor did I know how I'd react if I did."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"How do you feel for the young man?" I ask breathing in her hair.

"Young man?" She says with amusement looking up at me. "You do realise that even Rigdris is older than you right?" She asks tickling my sides.

I groan, "he seems so young though."

She laughs at me, the first genuine laugh I've heard from her in days, I missed that sound.

"You just feel old but really you're a baby. How old are you now 32, 33?" She asks with a smile.

"I'm 32 still, and Rigdris is 33 isn't he?"

"Yes, do you realise that your first wife is double your age?" She asks.

I snort, "the culture of Awakening makes age almost meaningless when these things are concerned."

"I know, I'm just saying. Speaking of age what have you thought about what Gaia proposed about his sister?"

"What?! Wait, how do you know about that?" I ask startled.

She giggles at me pulling herself into my arms again. "Kuyoki tells me everything you know."

"Everything?" I ask with raised brows.

"Of course, who do you think her closest friend is? And yes I know all about your guys sex life, and I wanted to ask whilst I still have the nerve. Can she and Ingwe watch us when we have sex?" She says in a lower voice, I think she is embarrassed but I can feel my loins stirring at the thought.

"I think that's an interesting idea." I say, my own voice getting low and husky.

"Can Rigs watch too?" She asks and my heart flatters out of rhythm before beating coolly again.

I am not a very possessive person I have learnt through the years. Mira sleeping with Kei Watanabe didn't bother me much though, to be honest with myself I felt intimidated. How can any man compare after experiencing sex with a half-vampire half succubi immortal?

But after my experience with Henrietta and Om, then later time at the Compound and at the Brothel. I just realised I was secure in my own sexuality one day and I didn't even realise when that had happened. I love my women and if they want a partner other than me I want to understand why and how I could change so they don't feel the need to supplement our relationship.

But I also know that with Mira it is almost a need for her, not just for the physicality of sex but for the independence of being free to choose. Kuyoki was a virgin at such a late stage in her life and her personality doesn't accommodate a partner outside our marriage. Ingwe I'm not yet sure about, but she always seems eager for me to take more mates which is disconcerting a bit.

I also know within myself that all my mates will be Awakened and keep Awakening so we should all be alive and still partners for hundreds more years barring any complications. Which means monogamy is a pipe dream. There are people that aren't even born yet that my mates could take a fancy to and I understand that. I have an excitement within me at the prospect of seeing Shea again and I keep thinking about Isis, occasionally about Abigail and other people.

By the time Mira is 100 years old she will probably have a harem of young eager men servicing her every whim. I have also realised that I don't stay home for a very long time which makes it a bit unreasonable to expect capable powerful women to stay celibate in my times of absence, especially when I'm not.

I did not expect to get along with one of the peripheral people in my marriage bonds though. Rigdris reminds me a bit of myself when I was younger and I mean that without being patronising. The man is determined to close the gap in ability between himself and Mira and he doesn't really see me as a rival but someone to aspire to.

He may not actually admit that even to himself but its something I've noticed, something Mira has noticed. I think I could genuinely become friends with the man; and as Mira once mentioned he will make a great addition to the defence of my family when I'm away.

"Would he open to that? Watching the woman he loves being pleased by another man in ways he may never be able to replicate? Its one think to know you are sharing a woman with a man that has more claim on her than you do, it's quite another to see it."

She relaxes a bit in my arms, I had taken too long deliberating over the choice and she had been worried of how I'd think of her. Despite her seemly infallible persona, she is still a very fragile person when it comes to the people she loves.

"I'll ask him." Is all she says and we stay like that, comfortably in each other's arms till its time to go again.