B+Bs: To Stand In A Beast's World

121. Bard's Success

It was two years after he left his mate in Grace's care that he finished his challenging mission. Two years of him only seeing his mate through his visions alone. It was a long time. Too long for his weary heart and mind.

"Then we have reached an agreement."

The male who spoke was no other than King, Qin's strongest merfolk mate.

"Yes." Bard stood up from the corpse he was inspecting, feeling only a little relief. He found it such a waste.

Hopefully, Grace would not find out that the male she trained met such a foolish end. Then again, even if she did, Bard did not think she'd be torn up by the loss of Jed.

"Then, you will bring me to Qin," said King.

Bard closed his eyes and used his power to see if King kept his end of the deal. "I will bring you alone to Qin and she will decide whether or not you can stay with her."

King did not express impatience. His expression was fairly dead, his eyes soulless. His mate had abandoned him long ago. His only reason for continuing on despite that was to preserve his tribe. But he could not reach his mate without disbanding it. Starting a new tribe would've been possible with Qin, but the ape king made that seem like an impossible goal.

'Qin, why?' A whisper of an old question tickled his mind, but he did not dwell on it or the desolate feelings that once accompanied it.

Bard checked the carnage of the merfolk tribe's remains. The ones unwilling to disband peacefully fought King and the last surviving elder until the waters turned red.

How far a tribe could fall with such a nudge... His efforts of plucking off the other elders one by one over the years had not been for naught. Would Qin be happy with this result? Would she take him into her arms again?

"All is settled. Lead me to her." King's voice was cold and sharp, but behind that was an exhaustion that spanned years.

Bard hesitated for only a moment before leading the way. If King turned out to be a threat to Qin, then he was doing a dangerous thing bringing him to her. But he was also quite sure that he could stop King long enough for someone else to dispose of him, if it came to that. If it came to that...he'd also have to accept that this was the wrong choice and likely pay with his life.

...

At the center of the village, I received a bundle of thin, wooden slabs from an eagle male. Onlookers gathered around eagerly along with the majority of the females that lived in the village.

I organized the slabs by the order I thought they belonged in and deciphered the pictograms to the best of my ability. It wasn't that long ago that I found a willing eagle to act as a courier pigeon, but he had already taken to the task nicely. He was motivated by crystals, thankfully, and performed his task well.

The first thing I did with the flyer was have him establish communications with the closest villages. It hadn't taken long, just two months. Thanks to him, we were on our way to organizing a trade route between the three closest villages.

But that wasn't the thing that I was happiest about.

Once the male finished that job, I sent him on the mission to find Holly and Memi's villages. It was an added bonus that he had come from the former wolf queen's village, so the real legwork came from finding the leopard queen's village.

"What does it say?" asked a curious female.

I studied the pictures and smiled wide. "The leopard queen is pregnant."