Abaddon's Call

Chapter Seventeen

Maeno approached the teleporter's office, full of hope and wonder at the idea of spending his first weekend alone with Taya, his new wife.

Over the summer, Maeno had found the women of Sorrow's Keep willing. Very willing. They were happy to do whatever he wanted, sometimes together. Sometimes just for show.

Women at Sorrow's Keep were confident in their sexuality, and he had been the new stallion to break in that summer. Taya Kaulu—youngest child and daughter of Lord Drune Kaulu—had been among the number, visiting the summer before she was introduced the next year and betrothed, then married off to some mage her mother had in mind.

Maeno hadn't known that part.

He just knew women threw themselves at him, but halfway through the summer, they started showing up coated in magic. He had avoided those ones only to be informed at the end of the summer that he was married to Taya—who he had fancied quite a bit. Heartbroken, he had been heartbroken when she left without a word.

It turned out the Bo spell on his arm, while protective, may have been a little too protective. Contraceptive magic didn't work on him.

Pure magic could, spells couldn't.

The only frightening bit about that was when he was sealed from telling Naena that there was something the Seven called pure magic.

Or that the mages still capable of using pure magic were usually said to have been born of certain types. Like healer, war, necromancy...

Those folks could hurt or patch Maeno up depending on their pure magic, but spells didn't work.

He had gotten seven women pregnant in less than a year. Six of them were that summer. Lugh couldn't explain the number of pregnant women. Technically all the spell did was keep magic from being used on him, and no magic restricted the number of children a mage could have because it was expressly forbidden to alter that knowingly. One did not muck about with magic and fertility.

Taya had, apparently, returned home, and been commanded to abort because Seven don't have bastards. She told them where to go, how to get there, and referenced six laws and forty-seven cases of what she called 'bitch is getting her way, or everyone bleeds,' which was an actual phrase in Seven Law.

That women could quote.

And then get their way.

Taya taught Maeno much during their time together but neglected to mention she was Lord Kaulu's baby girl in every sense of the word. The Lord had already been through their home, eyeing everything with disgust and disdain. Nothing was good enough. Maeno barely got acceptance when Taya was out of the room, but there was a definite cold formality when she was in the room.

Lord Kaulu was trying.

Maeno had been warned that her brothers may not.

Taya and Maeno had met in private before, but they were also under the care of Lugh, which meant someone was present all the time.

Lugh had chosen to house the pair at the Craiglorn Clifftop Manor, which sounded a lot scarier than it actually was. Four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a library, two workrooms, a kitchen, and even a secret escape tunnel. The gardens were amazing, including a plot set aside just for each of them to do whatever with. The gardens were cared for, the snow removal wasn't a problem, and the teleporters would take him right to the door if he asked nicely.

It was one of three shield homes built by Lugh.

They resisted at first because if Maeno told anyone where he lived, they might put it together, and he'd be outed as a shield, but, as it turned out, none of the other homes had two workrooms.