Chapter Three
Brighid
Meals at the college were quiet. The girls would bow their heads for prayer and keep them bowed as they ate their porridge or pea soup or whatever other bland, tasteless thing they were offered. On rare feast days they were permitted a little meat but then had to stay in the prayer hall for the whole night to ensure that they didn't act on the blood fired by the consumption of flesh.
In contrast, a meal among the Viles might as well have been an orgy.
The scents rising from the dishes laid out on a huge table were tantalizing. No porridge, no soup. Meat dishes of every kind. Vegetables dripping in butter and colored by spices Brighid didn't even know existed. It was enough to make her mouth water but she only ate a little, and then only enough to stop the rumbling in her stomach.
It was enough to do as the priestesses at the college had warned her about firing blood, though. She couldn't stop herself from continually glancing over to where Eirrick sat beside her.
She had known Viles were big, but not this big. His arms were the size of her waist and every muscle in his body flexed and rippled when he moved. It should have been terrifying but she found it was exactly the opposite. As he ripped me to the leg of some beast, she couldn't help but wonder what a man his size would be like with a virgin like her. They said that the first time was painful and that the bigger than mam was the more painful it would be. But there were whispers at night saying that after the pain came pleasure, enough to make a girl forget about her torn and bleeding parts and beg for more.
If only it was cold in this room, the tightening of her nipples to sharp points that showed through her bodysuit would have an excuse. The flowing sheer… it wasn't a dress but it was a covering of some sort… showed off everything. The two little pebbles that her desire had created. It was blazing hot in the room, causing sweat to drip down her spine.
Eirrick turned to her and offered her a greasy bite of food. She wondered if she was supposed to take it from his fingers with his mouth and suck the juices off, the way Jyah used to demand she feed him while he laid in his bed with bandages around his chest. She couldn't bring herself to do such a thing, though, and delicately plucked it from his grasp.
“Are you not hungry?” he asked her, blue eyes intense on her face.
She ducked her head to avoid meeting his gaze. They said that Viles could cast spells on a woman with their eyes. “I am well, my lord. The food here is just… different. My tongue isn't used to these flavors.”
Eirrick nodded. “I see. Next meal I will have something prepared specially for you.”
Brighid slipped the meat onto her tongue and gazed at her hands for a long moment. “My lord?”
“Eirrick. We dragons do not have lords and ladies. Call me by my name.”
She nodded. “Eirrick… is this our wedding feast?”
He turned an amused smile on her. “Does it seem like a wedding feast?”
“I am unfamiliar with your customs.”
He shrugged. “Yes. This is the wedding feast. And we will host these feasts until you are with child or if I decide to put you aside.”
A shiver ran down her spine. If he was paying for this feast, then he would want her to get with child as quickly as possible. That meant… It had been foolish to think that she would receive any sort of time to adjust to life here. Her hands began to shake. Even if she desired him, she had hoped for time to get to know him before being taken to his bed.
Was it true that the Viles shared their women? She thought of Eirrick punching that other dragon. She would have to hope that proving her was his task alone.
Eirrik's gaze was still on her as he raised a goblet of wine to his lips. Blue eyes. The bluest she had ever seen. Jyah's eyes were grey. Like the weathered hair on the priestess’ heads or the cold walls of the sinner’s cells. His nose was small, while Erick's was large and dignified. Jyah had lips the size and shape of a woman’s. Eirrick had a similar fullness but less of a bowed shape. His was a face she could at least stand to look at.
He stood abruptly and everybody fell silent. With a wide smile, he spread his arm. “Feast! Get drunk! Find a partner or two and a private spot to couple with them. My little wife and I are retiring.”
So abruptly? Brighid found herself wishing that she had eaten more of the spicy food. It would have at least helped to make her blood come to a boil for the coming coupling. She would just have to ignore her uncertainties. Close her eyes and think of something else, as she had been instructed.
She took Erick's hand and let her gaze run down his body. There was a flicker of heat inside her, a tightening in her core she had rarely experienced before. As he pulled her into his side, she thought about his hands all over her body and the heat spread. She knew she couldn't show it but excitement started to course through her. The Viles must have some sort of strange magic indeed!
One of the women from the harem slapped her bottom as she passed, earning a strangled yelp. “Remember that you are his wife and he is your stallion. In your rooms, he exists to give you pleasure and if he doesn’t, whip him like a master whips a disobedient horse.”
Brighid’s mouth dropped. Raucous laughter followed after them. She was only too happy to follow Eirrick away from the crowing crowd. Her cheeks heated. When the sound cut out, she sighed in relief.
He had brought her to a room, presumably his chambers. A fur covered bed was in the middle and not much else. A sofa was along one wall, a chest at the foot of the bed, a hearth and more furs on the floor. Erick's hand lingered on her waist for a moment before he stepped to the hearth. He flicked a switch and a fire flickered to life. Beside the hearth was a wooden bucket and he withdrew a bottle from it.
“I have honeyed mead especially for our first night together.”
She glanced at the bottle. “If you don’t mind, I would rather… not drink. Alcohol doesn't agree with me.”
It was a lie. She had never drunk a drop before. Like meat and spice, it stirred up sinful thoughts and desires. She chewed on her lip as Eirrick focused on her. This time, though, she met his eye. She was his wife. It was her duty to do as he pleased.
“You are afraid,” he said softly. “I see it in your eyes.”
She sucked on her lip for a moment. “Not as afraid as I thought I would be.”
“Hmm. Are you really a virgin?”
Brighid nodded. “I’m an initiate at the College of Atlantica. We are all virgins. But I was about to be claimed by a priest as his bride… I didn't want him to claim me. I think I would be more frightened with him. But perhaps not. I don't know.” She pulled in a deep breath and shook her head. He didn't want to know about her past. “Do you wish me to undress for you to inspect your wares before you mount me?”
Erick's brows shot straight up.
“I only ask you go gently so I don't bleed too much.”
“Bleed.” The Viles turned away, muttering under his breath. He shook his head and opened the bottle of mead. He downed a few swallows before turning back to her and shaking his head again. “Bleed! I have never known coupling to cause bloodshed. Not during the act at least.”
Brighid blinked. What did he mean by that? A man like him, a Viles warrior, certainly he had his fair share of virgins. Didn't he? She watched him as she sat on the bed, uncertain if he was angry with her. Did drink hit so hard that he was drunk already?
Finally, he stopped his pacing. “You are mine, Brighid. But I am yours as well. Do you understand?”
No. Her brow furrowed. He was hers?
Eirrick sighed. “I will not touch you. I will not bed you. I will not kiss you. Not until you first touch, bed and kiss me. I don't know how your college prepared you to be in your priest’s bed, but here you are my wife. Not my slave.”
Brighid stared at him uncertainly as he went to the couch. Her mind flashed over the possibilities of what might happen if she went to sleep but why not just be upfront about it? She glanced around. There was an extensive display of weapons on the wall. She went to the bed and sat on the edge. Until now she hadn't thought about the possibility of escape. But once he went to sleep… could she take the chance?
She laid down but kept her eyes on Eirrick. The fear quickly vanished, though, leaving behind gratitude… and desire. Part of her wanted to ask him into the bed with her but she shied back from it. After all, it wasn't her place despite what he had said… right?