Chapter 2

When I awoke, I was sometime in the evening, the sounds of the insects out on their nighttime hunts filled the air. The gentle breeze from the open window carried their sounds into my room. Hopefully, I hadn’t slept past evening meal. As I moved to get up, I realized there was a soft arm draped across my chest and a leg resting on my thighs. I looked down to see dark locks of hair draped across my chest and felt the soft rise and fall of my companion’s chest. The scent that filled my senses told me that Violet was the one lying with me. I enjoyed the contact, knowing my beloved was with me. I knew I had to get out of the bed to relieve myself and go eat. I just could not pull myself away from the contact. It had been a while since we had been able to just lie together and I cherished the times like this. I closed my eyes to relax and enjoy the moment, when my door burst open.

“Why is he not up yet? I told you that he needed to be up by supper time, and I have been calling for the past fifteen minutes!” Oh gods, it was Violet!

The anger was there in full blast in her voice, but there was a merriment shining in her eyes that gave her away. That is when it hit me and I looked down to find a smiling, but groggy Trina. Once again, I was astounded by Violet’s lack of concern at the scantily clothed female in my bed. I decided that I would not press my luck by asking about it. I had the suspicion that it would not end well for me if I did. Trina sat up and stretched her lithe body in interesting ways and it took every ounce of willpower not to look. Instead, I just kept my eyes locked on Violet, despite the scene playing at the edge of my peripheral vision. I noticed that her smile never wavered, and her body shook slightly as I watched her.

“Sorry Violet, he is just so cuddly that I could not help it. You know full well that once you are wrapped in these arms you will not want to get out either.”

My jaw dropped at that statement, and whatever control Violet had was lost. The room filled with her laughter, which only further confused me about what was going on. No doubt the confusion showed on my face, as Violet laughed even harder and Trina decided to join in as well. I knew I should have been gravely upset at their laughing at me, but it was doing interesting things to their bodies that easily made me forget what I was supposed to be mad about. Trina got out of the bed and made her way to the other side of the room. After giving Violet a quick hug, she sauntered out of the room, and I sighed in relief when she was gone. That set off another round of giggles out of Violet as she made her way to my bed. She sat gently near my legs, placing her hand on my thigh.

“I guess I should explain things, so that your head does not explode from the confusion or fear of me getting mad. Yes Davik, your fears are written all over your face, and they are adorable.

“To answer it plainly, I have asked the girls to do me a service. I cannot be around all the time, I have too many commitments between my work with mother and other activities I do for the town. As such, I cannot be here to soothe you when you have a nightmare. You had a lot of them when you fell ill, and the only thing that helped was when I would lie with you. At one point, I was delayed coming over, and I found Liza in your bed. I lost control and screamed and threatened her, scaring everyone, including myself. I left the room and ran from the house to our tree.

“I sat under the tree, trying to calm down and understand where the anger had come from. I realized that I had become jealous and lashed out at her without hearing her side of things. Filled with shame, I made my way back to your house to pay my penance for how I had wronged her. I found everyone sitting at the table having the evening meal, however Liza and Trina were missing. I went up to your room to find you asleep alone. I then knocked on the girl’s door and asked to come in. Trina tore open the door and proceeded to say some very mean things to me in defense of her sister. Given how I had acted before I stood there and accepted them all.

“When she had finished berating me, I made my way in and apologized to her. I explained how seeing her with you like that made me feel, and how I could not think straight. Liza told me she understood and explained that you had fallen into another fit. She could not think of anything to help, and in a brash attempt to do something, climbed into bed with you. Her solution worked, causing you to calm and stay resting for nearly an hour before I arrived.

“The three of us then spent the next few hours talking. Trina went down and got food and drink for us. They told me their story and why they had pledged themselves to you. Hearing what had happened to them, and how you accepted their request, knowing full well what it meant, made me love you more. I knew that you would not take advantage of the situation, it was not something you were capable of. They explained how they felt towards you and even towards me, which gave me pause to think and consider how the future may play out.

“After many words and many shed tears, we came to this current arrangement. When I am not here, they will periodically lie with you to ensure your dreams do not become restless again. This will continue indefinitely for the foreseeable future, regardless of your now-conscious state. I will, of course, lie with you and measure your progress from time to time. Mother and I will use this to help you on your road to recovery. So do not fear if I am not the one you wake up with, my love. They would not be there, unless I gave them permission first.”

I breathed a sigh of relief that got another set of giggles from Violet. She looked at me with compassion in her eyes as she leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. With a quick smile she got up and made her way out of the room. I slowly got out of bed, not sure of what would be hurting today, and noticed I was naked. There is no way Violet was not aware of this, meaning she must have given permission. That opened a new door to thoughts and worries in my mind, and I shook the thoughts out for now. I would have more time for contemplation later. Now, I needed to get dressed and eat some food. My stomach growled in protest and I hurried to dress within the limits my current condition allowed me. Once I was presentable enough, I slowly made my way down stairs. I was once again welcomed to the dinner table and everyone gathered there, told me how their day had progressed. It was nice to spend time with them. I had been sleeping so much I felt disconnected from everyone. I knew that it was needed for me to heal, but it did not make me feel any better about it.

Once I had my fill of food and friends, I bade them all goodnight and headed back to my room. I climbed back into bed making sure to leave my clothes on. A few minutes later Violet entered the room with a cup. She sat at the side of the bed and handed the cup to me.

“Here my love Davik, drink this. It should help you to sleep better, as well as help your healing. Your shoulder should be healing properly, now. The bruises you suffered in your fight that night had gotten worse somehow. I saw as you sat up in bed they are starting to finally heal. Hopefully, this helps fight off whatever made you collapse and get worse.”

I took a gulp of the liquid, it tasted more horrible than anything I had tasted in my life. I nearly threw up right then but fought the urge. The best medicines always tasted horrible - my elder mother had taught me that. Once the urge passed, I steeled my resolve and gulped down the remaining contents of the cup. I thanked her and received a kiss on the forehead for my efforts.

Violet continued, “I would give you a much better kiss than that, however the medicine I made tastes absolutely disgusting. So, no offence my lovely man, but a kiss on the forehead will have to do.”

I laughed and nodded, enjoying it all the same. She joined me on the bed, and, after a few moments, I surrendered to the abyss of sleep.

I had once been a joyful person, before the death of my parents. Before my return to the town, it had been useful to imagine killing the monster that had ended my happy childhood. After my return, I had been filled with dreams of Violet. Some dreams had been quite tender and peaceful, enjoying her company. Some were wild and erotic, with some being reliving that day in the forest. Others being of us in this house, or in the village, taking a moment to enjoy each other’s bodies. Now, my dreams were only filled with nightmares. Ruben and his family torn apart by the beast. My friends killed in front of me, and nothing I could do to stop it. Violet, Liza and Trina being torn apart and eaten alive as I watched. The beast’s eyes never leaving mine as it did its dark work. Finally, it would eat my arms and legs, leaving me a useless stump of a man. Alive, but ultimately alone, with everyone I love taken from me.

This became the routine for the next two weeks. I would awaken at some point of the day with one of the girls in bed with me. Often, it alternated between Liza and Trina, but the evenings found Violet sometimes my bed-mate when I awoke. I was healing, and each day I hurt a little less. As the end of the week neared, dread began to fill me. It was only a few days from the next blood moon, and I was not healed. I knew Brant and his lackeys were dead, but that did not mean there was not a threat. The beast itself could very well come back and attack the village. I started to push myself hard, hoping to get myself more able in time. This caused a lot of anger with the ladies, as they would repeatedly tell me. Violet of course, explaining what pushing too hard would do to my progress. They just did not understand, I had to be ready for anything. I could not protect anyone when I could barely lift a cup, let alone a bow.

The day of the blood moon my behavior had become too much for everyone. They would not allow me to hurt myself and put my progress farther back given all the progress I had been making.

For myself, I felt abandoned - the girls would not speak to me, my apprentices gave curt nods of respect, as did our friends who watched over the house and grounds. The night before, Violet had admonished me for trying to use my bow and told me she could not see me doing this to myself. None of her family would visit me until the night had passed. They felt it would be without incident, but I could not agree with them.

I kept pushing myself, ignoring the searing pain that filled my body each time I did. My frustrations continued to build as some of the tasks I had once found so easy, had become almost impossible now. After once again being rendered unable to pull the string of my bow even the slightest, I roared in anger and threw it as hard as I could. It flew a few measly feet before landing in the grass of my back garden. I made my way back to my room as fast as my tired body could take me, tears streaming down my face. No matter how hard I tried, I was not getting any better.

The blood moon was two hours away and I was in no condition to do anything. My friends and loved ones would be unprotected because I had been too cocky when I had fought Brent. I had let my ego get the better of me, and the result was my current state.