Maidens & Killers

We're Rebels Now

      I wake the next morning wrapped in the warmth of Garrick’s massive body and I lay there in silence just taking it in for a few moments. It’s funny how it’s the little things that you miss the most when they are taken away from you. Garrick must sense I am awake though because he begins to pepper kisses on my neck and shoulders causing me to giggle. 
“Morning, Killer.” Garrick’s voice is a bit rougher in the morning, full of last nights debauchery and sleep.
“Morning.” I reply smiling and wiggling my behind back into him to bring myself closer. Garrick grinds his morning erection against my backside and suddenly I’m hot all over again for a completely different reason.
“Behave. I don’t have time to lounge in bed this morning. I need to check in with Xaden to see how his meetings went last night and then sort out some last minute things with Gayle.” Garrick tells me on a sigh. I can tell he would much rather stay in bed with me than do any of those other things.

       I turn onto my side so that I am facing Garrick, “I want to be useful. What can I do to help around here?”
“I’m sure that there’s a ton, depends on what you are interested in helping with.” Garrick says scratching his chin. “There’s some injured from yesterday, you could help out the healers, or check in the kitchen. If you have any baking or cooking skills, Xaden mentioned that they are overwhelmed there with the surplus of people.” 

        I grimace, “I definitely can’t bake, I may be some help to a healer though. I will get with Violet this morning and see where I will be the most useful.”
Garrick presses a kiss to my forehead, “Sounds good. I know you will find your place here.” His eyes soften as he looks down at me and I find my heart racing.
“Are you sure you have to run off this morning?” I ask with a pout.
Garrick takes a deep breath, before biting his lip. “Maybe a few minutes.” He says before I quickly find myself flipped onto my back with my husband's body pressed on top of me.

     Yesterday must have been more of a blur than I thought, I think as I finally make my way down to breakfast in the great hall of Riorson House and find it nearly packed with people. Granted, it’s a little bit later in the morning than I would have liked to be coming to breakfast, but the amount of people that I remember from last night seems to have doubled. Garrick left me at the stairs to find Xaden so I make my way into the dining hall alone, scanning the room for any familiar face that I can find. I see Rhiannon, Sawyer and Ridoc seated about midway down the table talking animatedly.

     I head towards my squad and plop down in the seat beside Rhiannon before grabbing a roll and a boiled egg from a tray in the center of the table. “There are way more people here than I expected,” I say to Rhi.
“Yeah, I heard Violet’s dead brother and them complaining about it this morning. Apparently they are concerned about their resources.” Ridoc adds.
I nod, stuffing as much of the roll into my mouth as I can. I am absolutely ravenous this morning and reach for an apple as well, “That makes sense. They weren’t prepared for this many of us to come from Bagaith I’m sure.”
Violet walks up and snags the seat on the other side of Ridoc, “Well, they can suck it up. I wasn’t leaving anyone behind. We can always get more resources,” she says matter of factly.
Rhiannon doesn’t look convinced, “They told me I can write to my family and they can come here, but where will they stay? We can’t fit another living thing in this house. How will we feed them?”
Sawyer pipes up for the first time, “I overheard some guys talking this morning, apparently they are building up the nearby village and have been for some time. They are working on getting some seeds in the ground today, so we can get as much produce growing as we can. Everyone who comes here will be expected to pull their own weight.”
“Sounds like a new normal to me. I wish I could convince my family to come here, but I’m sure that my dad is having a coronary as we speak. Thankfully Garrick’s sister will be here, that may give me a sense of comfort.” I say in between bites of my apple.
“Gayle is coming here!?” Sloane asks excitedly from a few seats down the table.
I smile down at her, “She is. She will be here this evening.”
Sloane claps her hands together, “That is going to be amazing. She can bunk with me, I have an extra single in my room. I haven’t seen her since we were little, it will be so nice to catch up. I hope she is okay.”
“According to Garrick, she’s doing great. She got put with a really good foster family who took good care of her.” I say as I scan the table for more food. Rhiannon notices me looking for more food and raises her eyebrows at me.
“Don’t judge, I worked up an appetite last night.” I say with a smirk as I grab a second roll.
“Do tell!” Ridoc exclaims and leans forward on the table across from me.
Everyone in our group breaks out in laughter and it feels incredible to laugh together for the first time in what feels like forever.

     I catch Violet as we make our way out of breakfast. “Hey can I pick your brain for a minute?”
Violet nods, “Sure, let’s head out to the courtyard. I want to check in on Tairn and Andarna.”
“Sounds good, I’ll pop in on Craobh as well.” I tell her, following her out into the courtyard.
“So what’s up?” Violet asks as we walk across the green grass in the cool early afternoon.
“Well, I was laying in bed this morning thinking, I am feeling a really strong need to be helpful here. I don’t want to be just another mouth to feed.”  I explain.
“Trust me you’re a dragon rider Maeve, you will be very useful soon. Do you think that Navarre is going to just take our escape lying down? Not to mention the fact that I still have to figure out how to activate the wards,” Violet responds.

“I guess I hadn’t really thought about Navarre retaliating.” I admit.
“Face it Maeve, we’re rebels now. We need to be prepared to be attacked, or have to attack at any moment. Xaden is going to set up some teams for training and small missions, I will make sure he gets you on one of Garrick’s soon.”  Violet says before taking off at a sprint towards her dragons that I see seated on a hill in front of us.
I nod at her, though I doubt she sees me, singularly focused on Tairn and Andarna as she is.
“You around Craobh?” I ask my dragon.
“Head over the hill Rider, we can catch up a bit here in the field.” Craobh responds.