Page 22 of What Fury Brings (Wrath and Fury #1)

Olerra slept fitfully that night. Yesterday had been a victory in some ways.

Putting Glen in her place was fantastic, but Andrastus’s escape attempt was disappointing.

She’d expected it, of course. She knew, logically, she couldn’t expect her man to want to please her from the start.

He wasn’t born or raised in Amarra. He needed their ways drilled into him until it was second nature.

Today wouldn’t bring them closer together, that was for sure. No, today was punishment for his antics yesterday.

“What the fuck is that?” she heard shouted from the next room.

She allowed herself a grin before hiding it as she entered Andrastus’s room.

“Problem?” she asked innocently.

“No problem, Princess,” Vernys said as the eunuch redid Andrastus’s manacles to settle behind his back instead of in front of him.

Only then did they manage to attach the nipple clamps.

They were made of pure silver, with small onyx stones interspersed along the chain connecting them. A solid silver collar went around Andrastus’s neck, and Olerra was handed the end of the attached leash.

“He’s ready, Princess, unless you would like him to wear the harness, too.”

Olerra raised a brow in Andrastus’s direction, and the prince wisely shut his mouth. “I don’t think that will be necessary today. Remove his sandals, though. I think he’ll be better off barefoot.”

He glared at her as two men stooped over to remove his shoes. Andrastus wore very little. A short black skirt that reached down to his mid-thigh. It made his ivory skin even paler. Other than the chains and ornamentation and armband, he was bare.

“Hmm,” she said. “I think he’s missing something. Ring for the palace piercer. He needs a jewel in his ear. Maybe two. I haven’t decided yet. We’ll see her tonight. We’ve a busy day today.”

The men all nodded before leaving them alone. The leather-wrapped handle in Olerra’s hand made a noise as she tightened her fist around it. She gave an experimental tug, and Andrastus was forced forward by the neck.

“If you think I’m leaving this room dressed like—”

She didn’t let him finish. “I’m really not in the mood for your temper today. You made me proud yesterday at the match against my cousin’s man, but you lost any favor gained when you tried to escape.”

“As if I fucking care about your favor.”

“You ought to. Because if I don’t care, no one else will.

Everyone thinks you soiled by me. No other woman would look twice at you.

The brothels might take you in, but you are essentially a broken man in a kingdom where no one gives a fuck who your father is.

Today is a disciplinary day. I have a full schedule planned for us.

It will be unpleasant but necessary. After that, we continue with our courtship as usual. ”

He scoffed.

Olerra yanked on the cord, drawing Andrastus forward until they were nose-to-nose.

“I chose you, Prince, to be mine. You haven’t let me woo you properly yet.

And your antics yesterday have set us back.

But we’ll get there. Today, I’m going to show you who I am and who my people are.

Tomorrow, I will begin to show you what you are to me.

Now, behave like a good little boy.” She finished her spiel by biting his neck.

Not hard enough to break skin. Just enough for him to know whom he belonged to.

Olerra propped the leash over her shoulder. If she felt too much tension in the cord, she was sure to slow her pace. While causing him discomfort was her foremost concern today, hurting him never was. She would not be abusive. She was not her cousin.

Heads turned as they entered the breakfast hall. The conversations around the room abruptly changed, as the women ogled her betrothed. She liked knowing that others found him pleasing. She liked others seeing that he was hers.

Yesterday she’d introduced Andrastus to her aunt. Today it was time for Cyssia and Usstra to properly meet him.

Ydra, ever on her side, was sitting across from the two women in question with an empty seat beside her, clearly meant for Olerra.

Ydra was a blessing from the goddess, through and through.

Olerra knew that once she became queen, Ydra would become the next general, raising her own station.

But that wasn’t why Ydra did what she did. It was the sisterhood they shared.

“Cyssia, Usstra,” Olerra said as she approached the table, “would you like to meet Andrastus?”

Cyssia looked him up and down. “After that fight yesterday? Absolutely. Sit with us.”

Cyssia’s man sat at her feet, massaging them. Usstra had no man to see to her, as she was amise. She preferred to surround herself with friends.

Olerra held up a finger for a servant. “A pillow, please,” she said once the serving girl appeared.

The requested item was placed on the floor beside Olerra’s chair. Olerra looked Andrastus in the eye.

“Kneel,” she said.

The muscles in Andrastus’s neck went taut. There was a moment of challenge, where she thought he might be throwing his noble ideas of not striking women right out the window. Again. She leaned into his ear.

“You will kneel on your own or I will make you kneel,” she whispered, tightening her grip on the leash.

Slowly, Andrastus went to his knees on the cushion. Feeling somewhat guilty, Olerra lowered herself into the chair.

It’s only because he tried to escape. Today has to be punishment. Tomorrow you can woo him.

“Say hello, Andrastus,” Olerra said without looking at him.

It took a moment, as though he didn’t realize at first that she was talking to him. “Greetings,” he said stiffly.

“I see he still has much learning to do,” Usstra said as she sipped from her goblet.

“It’s been some time since anyone has taken a husband from our neighbors, has it not?” Ydra chimed in. “It’s easy to forget how hostile they are in the beginning.”

“It definitely speaks to your character that you performed such a feat,” Cyssia said. “And to choose one so large and Brutish!”

Olerra selected a slice of apple from the tray before her and bit it in half. She offered the other half to Andrastus, who looked at the proffered food as though it were poisonous. She raised a single eyebrow at him, waiting.

Andrastus looked around to all the women watching him, then back to Olerra. She could see the moment he realized that this was the only way he would get breakfast, with his hands still captured behind his back. Finally, murder in his eyes, he lowered his head to eat the fruit from her fingers.

“He may be large and somewhat uncivilized for now, but those lips make my heart race,” Olerra said.

Cyssia made a sound of agreement. “This is a good show of your power, Olerra. I am pleased to see you take this step to secure your line. It’s a wonder your cousin hasn’t settled down by selecting a man of her own.”

“She’s a bit wild,” Usstra agreed, “running around with all those men of common blood.”

Someone cleared their throat over Ydra’s shoulder, and the four women turned to see Glenaerys standing there. She wasn’t alone.

Athon was there, too. He was done up even more than Andrastus was.

His armband was made of rose gold, and it had three opals inlaid in the center.

His skirt was shorter. Chains had been wrapped around his waist and dangled in between his legs.

A harness went around his entire head so the man couldn’t eat, and he walked with a limp.

One that Andrastus definitely hadn’t given him during the fight.

She felt the prince stiffen beside her.

“It’s to be expected,” Olerra offered. “Glen’s no fighter. She hires people to do her dirty work for her. Kidnapping a husband is no easy feat. She’s just not cut out for it.”

“That’s a real shame,” Cyssia said. “I can’t see any differre woman as a ruler if she can’t capture a noble-born husband. The children will be common, otherwise. Unless you have plans to wed Daneryn, of course?”

Glen’s face was a mask, despite the insults thrown her way. “Rumors suggest that Olerra has already had him. What use is a dull sword?”

At this, Andrastus twitched slightly.

“The rumors are untrue,” Olerra said, for her prince’s sake, not Glen’s. She suspected Daneryn had started the rumors himself to try to guilt her into marrying him.

Glenaerys ignored her. “I will take a husband when I can, Cyssia. I do have my hands full with collecting intel and managing much of the finances of our country. Not all of us have the free time to spend a couple of weeks in another country.”

“That’s why delegating was invented,” Olerra said, now offering a cube of cheese to Andrastus. He bit into it, his teeth gently skimming her finger. She tossed the remainder into her own mouth, savoring both the richness of the food and the knowledge that his lips touched what she now consumed.

“Unlike the ability to wave a sword through the air, my job cannot be performed by just anyone,” Glenaerys said. “I’m sure Usstra understands the care with which I must handle our nation’s secrets.”

“I also understand an excuse when I see one,” Usstra responded.

Olerra took great care to keep her face straight. Ydra didn’t quite succeed.

Glenaerys met Olerra’s eye. Something dangerous lurked within. Something Olerra had learned to recognize even when they were young girls. Glenaerys didn’t get wild or out of control when she was angry. No, she grew calm and calculating. She didn’t do rage. She did revenge.

And Olerra knew that whatever she was planning, it wouldn’t be good.

“There don’t seem to be any more available chairs at the table,” Glen said. Then she turned to Athon. “On your hands and knees.”

The former soldier obeyed, wincing slightly with his bad leg. All the while, Glen made eye contact with Andrastus.

“A bit lower, Athon. I’m not so tall.”

Athon awkwardly lowered himself further, and then Glen sat, using his back as a bench.

Andrastus’s breathing picked up, and Olerra weighed her options. She could leave, allowing Glen more time alone with the two women who now held the most sway over their futures.

Or she could remain to try to garner more favor, yet risk Andrastus saying something stupid. Thankfully, no one was speaking to him directly, and Olerra was sure he wouldn’t just voice—

“Something to say?” Glenaerys asked of the prince.

Olerra held in a groan.

Sanos hated this woman, perhaps even more than he hated Olerra.

He took longer to answer than was probably acceptable, but the time was necessary to think of an adequate response. He remembered that he and Olerra were supposed to act like they were fucking, and he knew that anything to do with Olerra angered Glenaerys.

He said, “I was just thinking that when I’m underneath Olerra, she ensures the experience is pleasurable for the two of us. I’m lucky to have been chosen by her and not you.”

It appeared to be exactly the thing to say.

Cyssia laughed and clapped. “He has a wicked tongue.”

Olerra picked up her goblet. “In more ways than one.”

Usstra, however, remained unreadable. She eyed Sanos. “You dislike Glenaerys’s firm hand?”

“I dislike bullies.”

Usstra nodded. “Me too.”

Sanos couldn’t help but smile as he turned back to Glen. She had her arms crossed, her mind working. Sanos instead turned to Olerra, who looked so proud she might be ready to kiss him. He really hoped she wouldn’t. He wanted to hurt her cousin. Never mind that it helped Olerra simultaneously.

“Bully?” Glen questioned. “Athon was a nobody before I graced him with my favor. Are you displeased with my attentions, Athon?”

Then, remembering the harness, Glenaerys undid the straps at the back of his head. A glob of saliva slid from his mouth as the contraption was removed.

He swallowed and breathed deeply before answering. “No, mistress.”

“Do you miss your soldier life?”

“No, mistress.”

“Are you happier now?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“A man who cannot answer truthfully without fear of reprisal is going to say what you wish to hear,” Sanos said.

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

Olerra looked worried. She put her hand on Sanos’s hip, but he ignored it. “You can beat him all day long without fear of consequence. If he makes you bleed, his life is forfeit.”

Glen snorted. “I heard in your country that women who are unfaithful to their husbands are executed. Even a rumor of infidelity will ruin their entire lives. But there is no such punishment for men who fuck women who aren’t their wives. Is this true?”

Sanos was so sick of women turning Brutish ways against him. “It is.”

“This is why I would never stoop so low as to wed a Brute,” Glen said emphatically. “Their habits are foul. Olerra dishonors herself by bedding one.”

Cyssia looked at Sanos with a considering gaze.

How had Glen turned the conversation so quickly? She was a master with her words. Sanos should avoid going head-to-head with her.

Glen lowered a hand to Athon’s throat. She stroked it. Squeezed it. Dug in her fingers. Athon would wheeze for air, and then she’d let him be. Soothing the attack with slow circles of the pads of her fingers.

Sanos pulled at the manacles behind his back.

He shouldn’t care. These men were Amarran. Athon chose this.

But the whole thing reminded him too much of his father, who would harm his sons whenever fancy struck him. Sanos couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t attack. He could tell that’s exactly what Glen wanted him to do. This was all a display meant for him.

He hated it. But he was no young lad easily egged into violence. He could behave no matter how much he wished otherwise. He endured the rest of breakfast and didn’t look across the table at Olerra’s cousin again.

When Olerra rose to leave the breakfast table, Ydra asked, “Do you need help with anything today?”

“If you could continue to fill in for me while I show Andrastus around, I would appreciate it,” Olerra said.

“Of course. Where are you off to today?”

“The market and then the pit.”

Ydra turned her gaze to Andrastus before looking at Olerra once more. “You sure he’s up for that?”

“Of course he is,” Cyssia responded for her. “It’s healthy for a man to remember that actions have consequences. They’re so terribly behaved outside of our borders. The pit builds character.”

“Let’s go,” Olerra said to him.

When Andrastus didn’t rise right away, she hooked a finger in the chain connecting the nipple clamps and gently pulled upward. The breath rushed out of Andrastus as he rose, his eyes darkening.

“See you all later.”