Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
“It is a long story, which I will tell you later. In the now, I am being most honest with you,” he whispered, reaching to her, taking her hand and giving it a hearty squeeze. “You have naught to fear from these men. They look fierce. But they are most gentle. Especially with women.”
“Yes, I am most gentle with women,” Saturn decreed earnestly.
Teddy looked to Saturn.
He then saw how Saturn was gazing upon Moira.
Teddy turned back to Moira, and of a sudden, it was as if he was seeing her for the first time.
She did not have the lush beauty of Nyx, but he saw she was rather lush, especially when it came to curves.
And she had quite a bit of rich brown hair that probably looked rather lovely when it hadn’t been days since she washed.
“Saturn,” Teddy called.
“Yes?” Saturn asked, not looking from Moira.
“Saturn!” Teddy clipped.
“Yes!” Saturn answered, tearing his eyes from Moira.
“We have been through hell,” he said softly.
It was then he sensed the others coming out of hiding.
He shifted and watched them scurrying toward Teddy and Moira. The women got close, very close to Teddy, shuffling Faunus and Saturn out of the way so they could form a tight huddle.
Indeed, Irma and Minnie, the most timid and those Teddy had assessed had suffered the greatest in their minds at what had been done to them, ducked and burrowed so close to Teddy, their frightened eyes surveying the tall, dark, formidable warriors surrounding them, he had to curve them in his arms and pull them closer.
As they did this, Teddy noticed the expressions on Faunus’s and Saturn’s faces change from jovial and relieved at having found their friend, to forbidding and furious as they sensed something very bad had happened to the women in Teddy’s huddle.
He wished they would not look like that, for it only made them appear even more frightening.
“We all have been through hell,” he said. “And we need a hearty meal, warm baths, a good night’s sleep.” He focused on Faunus. “And I need to speak with you. Urgently.”
“La creatura?” Faunus asked.
Yes. He had read Teddy’s message.
“Yes,” Teddy answered.
Faunus gave a tight nod then he looked over their heads and barked in Firenzii, “Ride back. Secure every room in that inn we passed. Have them start a meal. Much meat, thick bread, butter, many potatoes. And have them heat water for baths. Make haste.”
One of the warriors strode off to his horse and Faunus’s eyes came back to Teddy’s huddle.
They skimmed over the women, before they leveled on Teddy.
“We cannot go back,” Teddy told him as calmly as he could when he regained Faunus’s attention. “I need to take care of my girls. And then we must get to Notting Thicket without further delay.”
Faunus said nothing to him, simply looked again over his head and ordered in Firenzii, “Procure eight horses. Good quality. They must be able to withstand a long day’s swift ride.”
When he replied, Teddy continued to speak in the language of the Vale, for he did not want the women to worry about what he said or think he was hiding anything from them.
“They need to go home, which is the other way, not to the Thicket.”
“We stay with you,” Moira declared.
Teddy gave her gentle eyes and murmured, “Poppet, we are saved.”
All the women pulled in tighter.
“We stay with you,” Moira repeated.
He held her gaze before he tore his away and looked up to Faunus.
“All right, they stay with me.”
Both Faunus and Saturn were again taking in Teddy and his women.
They had tight jaws and fiery eyes.
Finally, Faunus decreed, “Let us ride.”
Fresh from his bath (he had taken the last) and checking on all the women (save one, where he was headed right then), Teddy nodded to the warrior who stood at the end of the hall in the upper floor of the inn and received a nod back.
Then he stopped at a door and knocked.
“Yes?” Moira called.
“It’s Teddy,” he called back.
He heard the lock turn and the door opened.
Then, his new, clean tunic was fisted at his chest in her hand and he was pulled into the room.
She shut the door and locked it behind him.
“Moira,” he murmured, peering beyond her to see she had a single room with a slender pallet atop a nondescript base, a small table and chair, a chest, a tiny fireplace with iron, and naught else.
Though the pallet looked fluffy, there was a clean pillowcase over the pillow and many woolen rugs to keep out the chill. And the fireplace might be tiny, but a robust fire burned there, warming the room.
“The others?” she asked.
“I have checked on them. Three and three, next door and across the hall from you,” he told her.
“They are well?”
“You ate with them, Moira. And demanded to take the penultimate bath.”