Chapter 11

"You're what?" Nesho and Sosho exclaimed simultaneously. From then on a constant flow of questions, accusations, recriminations and demands came with such rapidity it was almost impossible to determine who was saying what at any one time. Throughout it all Dent merely grinned and nodded occasionally; Clarise simply sighed and nuzzled into his neck tighter. During the first lull he craned his neck to whisper in her ear.

"Clarise, darling," he said, "aren't you getting tired holding on like this?"

"No," she murmured blissfully.

"Well," he continued. "Would you mind getting down so I can hold the babies?"

"You are holding a baby," she said, lifting her head and nipping gently at his neck.

"Yes, my love. You are my very precious baby. But I meant Makro and Nilsen, the other babies."

"Well," she said with a sultry smile, "I have a baby in me, and you are holding me, so you are also holding a baby."

For a moment his mouth hung open and incoherent squeaks were all that seemed able to come out. He closed his mouth, swallowed hard and was finally able to say, "Really?"

"Really, da," she said as she untangled her legs and stood up on her own. Her arms were still around her neck when he grabbed her and gave her a hard long kiss.

"That's wonderful, love," he said when he was finally done.

"Yeah, yeah, you knocked her up," Sosho chimed in sarcastically. "What a surprise. Enough of that; what is going on here? Are you really this king thing? If so, how did you get it?"

"Good questions and I promise they will all be answered, but not right now." As he spoke he plucked Makro out of one carrier and Nilsen out of the other. Holding his two babies, one in each arm, he turned back to his three women. "I though you would want to get cleaned up first; besides I want to play with my children for a while. I don't know if the baths are ready yet, but they should be soon."

Looking up he saw Shasta and the rest of the household staff standing behind her.

"Oh, hello, Shasta," he said with a smile. When Shasta looked into his eyes she felt something snap in her head and a flash of light went across her vision; she rocked slightly as if dizzy. Immediately there was someone there, holding onto her arm, keeping her steady. She looked up at Dent and noticed Clarise and Sosho were holding onto him also. Looking to her side she saw it was Nesho.

"That was strange," he muttered. Shaking his head he look at the rest of the household staff and said, "Welcome home! I'm glad to see all of you made it and are well." As one they bent down at the waist and murmured, "Thank you master, we greet you."

"We have another surprise for you," Nesho said as she pulled Shasta over to stand right in front of Dent. Suddenly Shasta had no conscious control over what she did. Reaching up on tiptoes, she hugged both the babies and the man, pressing herself against him and attacking his lips with her own. At first he seemed somewhat reluctant but soon he was kissing her back as hard as she as kissing him. Her mouth opened in a moan and she felt the fleshy invasion of his tongue snake in to taste her. Instead of being repelled as she normally would she was suddenly quivering with desire. She wanted nothing more than to drop both of them to the floor and have him mount her right there!

Somebody must have had a little more sense as she felt herself being dragged back away from him. She whimpered as she felt their lips part. She tried reaching for him again and was gently, but firmly, pulled away.

"That's enough for now," Nesho said kindly. "The rest we save for later."

"Ah, ah," Dent gulped for air. "Ah, Shasta, that was, very, nice, but I don't think, my, ah..."

"Your wives wholeheartedly approve," Nesho said with a slight chuckle. Dent looked at her blankly. "We will tell you later, not that you don't already know."

"But I don't think..." he started.

"We've gone over this before," Sosho chimed in. "That's why we're here."

"But... I don't want..." he tried to continue.

"Can you honestly look at this woman and say you don't want her?" Clarise said sweetly from his other side.

"I course I want her, but..." he sputtered again.

"Then it's settled," Nesho said as she reached over and patted his arm. "You go play with your babies like a good little king or whatever, and we will get cleaned up. We are fifthly and that's a fact."

As the four turned to go Shasta heard him still muttering, "But, but..." Then she heard laughter and turning her head she saw the two Guild members laughing out loud, their hands still on the hilts of their swords and their eyes scanning every corner of the room.

"Oh, this is heavenly," Nesho sighed as she leaned back in the big tub. Two of the bathing tubs had survived the occupation and had been filled with hot soapy water. The tubs were big enough for two and Shasta was sitting across from Nesho trying to rinse the soap and tangles from her hair.

"It is nice," Sosho groused, "but this hot water is making my tits leak."

"You want me to help?" Clarise grinned as she pretended to reach for Sosho's breasts.

"Right," Sosho said slapping playfully at Clarise hands, "and just who would be feeding that bottomless pit for milk in the shape of our son? You perhaps? I don't think so, not for a long time. Besides he'd take care of you in one or two gulps. For that monster you need something a little more substantial." She hefted up her own rather impressive mameries out of the water to demonstrate.

"You mean like cow tits?" Clarise teased.

"Exactly," Sosho agreed, "big cow tits."

"Ladies," Nesho interrupted, "enough of the tit talk. We have something to talk to Shasta about."

"Oh, yeah!" Sosho moaned. "That was so hot! I though you were going to fuck him right there on the floor!"

"Sosho! You crude slut!" Clarise giggled. "She wasn't going to fuck him; she was going to make intense, passionate love to him right there on the floor."

"Ladies, this is serious," Nesho said glancing at them. "We have things we need to talk about, like tonight for instance." The other two quieted down and turned to look at Shasta. "Shasta," Nesho continued, "do you think you can wait for one night to be with him?"

"I don't think he will accept me," she whispered, avoiding the question.

"Nonsense," Nesho said and waved off the answer. "It is a forgone conclusion. The deal is done, and you are signed sealed and delivered. The only question is when is he going to open his present?"

Shasta blushed bright red.

"So," Nesho continued, "considering your past I think it would be best if he, and you, would be able to take some time. No reason to be in a rush and to be honest, tonight neither he nor you are going to have that luxury. The three of us are horny as hell and I know I won't be able to wait and I'm sure these other two won't either."

"It doesn't matter," Shasta said softly, biting her lip. "If he is to take me, he can do it whenever he wills it."

"That's just it, darling," Nesho said rubbing her foot along Shasta's leg. "He's not taking you, he's claiming you by making love to you. I know you don't understand the difference. I wouldn't expect you to, but afterwards you will. You're just going to have to trust us on this. Can you trust us?"

"With my life," Shasta sighed.

"Good," Nesho smiled. "Then it would be best if we three stayed with him tonight and brought you to him tomorrow night."

"That doesn't sound fair," Sosho said with a frown.

"Its not," Nesho agreed. "But it's the best we can do. Can you honestly say Shasta will get the time and attention she needs and deserves, tonight?" Sosho paused for a moment and shook her head. "Neither do I. Besides it will give us time to have our little talk with him while he's too tired to really think about it, let alone try to say no."

"You're right of course," Clarise sighed. "The way I feel right now I'm not sure but that tonight might start right after noon meal, if not before!"

"We all feel that way," Nesho said nodding. "It is the best of a delicate situation."

"I can wait," Shasta said, trying not to look at the other three women.

"Can you?" Clarise asked. "What are you feeling right now? I know, the three of us usually can sense what the other is feeling, but even so it sometimes helps to say it out loud. Also our bond with you is still new; I think I know the answer, but I want to be sure." Nesho and Sosho nodded when Shasta looked at them.

"All right," Shasta said taking a big gulp of air. "I'm anxious and needy. I've never wanted to do something so badly in my life, and I've never, ever, been this scared before. There were times when I knew I was going to die, and I wasn't as scared as I am now."

"No reason to ask why," Nesho said. "That's why it has to be this way. Now," she said standing up in the tub, "we had better go find our man and rescue him from his, by now I'm sure, screaming daughter. Sosho, you need to find Nilsen before he finds himself another tit to latch onto."

Laughing they all dried and dressed in the finery they found waiting for them.

They found them out on the lawn where a number of large blankets had been spread out. Makro was happily cooing curled up next to the rather ignobly sprawled king as Nilsen gurgled and gnawed on the hilt of Dent's dirk.

"You shouldn't let him play with that!" Sosho scolded, giving him a quick kiss before sitting down and picking up the baby. Without any hesitation she opened her blouse and offered one of her full tits for his use. Latching on like a leech, Nilsen began sucking hard, grinning around her nipple until a little milk leaked out, then he settled down for some serious feeding.

"He's not old enough to even pick it up!" Dent protested, getting a kiss from Nesho and Clarise. Nesho looked over at Shasta until she too bent down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Wrong," Nesho said sternly. "Give him a real kiss." Blushing furiously she bent down and presented her lips to him. She felt a flutter in her stomach when she saw he too was blushing and looking extremely shy as he rose up and kissed her chastely on the lips. As their lips touched Shasta again felt a jolt run through her body and heat, starting somewhere south of her belly, flowed out to fill her entirely. Breathlessly she pulled back as they broke the kiss and she panted slightly as she wobbled her way over to sit next to Nesho only a few feet away.

"That's better," Nesho said patting her arm. She already had her own blouse open and Makro hungrily sucking at her breast. "Now dear, husband," she said to Dent, "what has been going on and what is this kingship you seemed to have acquired?"

"Ah," he said seemingly a little out of focus. "Did I mention how much I've missed all of you? And how lovely you all are? Shasta, I see your tattoos are almost completely gone. As pretty as you were, you are much lovelier now. I never did like the idea of marking women; it detracts from their natural beauty."

"And have I mentioned how you change the subject when you don't want to answer a question?" Nesho said sweetly.

"Fine," Dent sighed. "I can give you the short version now, but the rest is going to have to wait for some of the other involved parties to get here. A large part of the story is really theirs and they should be allowed to tell it.

"Anyway," he continued, "it was all a trap, of course. Set up by deClover and that Malshall's bastard ambassador. Luckily for me deClover sprang the trap a little too early and some friends of ours were in the right place at the right time. It might not have mattered to tell the truth; we were expecting something, the whole setup stank like a day-old fish on the beach.

"But that's neither here nor there since he didn't capture us. After that first attempt we were on the run for a few days, hiding out here and there, gathering our forces as it were. I was able to make contact with the Guild and our men on the ships. Festou, by the way, was absolutely invaluable when it came to sneaking around."

"Festou was with you?" Sosho asked. "What was that little scamp doing with you there? He was spying for you? Shame on you! He's awfully young to be doing something that dangerous, don't you think?"

"Actually it turns out he's not that much younger than you are, darling," Dent chuckled. "Given his naturally small size and how they fed him on board the ship he just appeared much younger than he really was. We figure he's about fifteen seasons, give or take a half."

"Fifteen?" Sosho gasped. "But he saw us dressing... and everything... on board the Grip!"

"Yes, and he and I have had a talk about that," Dent smirked. "I'm not sure if he really wants you to know this but he is eternally grateful to both you and Nesho."

"Why that little..." Sosho fumed. "I'm going to wring his scrawny neck when I get a hold of him!"

"I don't think you have to worry about that," now Dent started really laughing. "He got his comeuppance all right. Wait until tomorrow when he and Vel are due in. You can meet his two wives, and let me tell you, they keep a pretty short leash on him, that's for sure!"

"Festou married?" Nesho looked like she was stunned.

"True enough," Dent chortled, "but wait until you see who it is!"

"We know them?" Sosho also looked stunned.

"Well, you know one of them," he said slyly.

"All right. Give it up before I have to come over there and get rough," Sosho said trying to sound aggravated but having it come out more as intense curiosity.

"Peace, woman," Dent chuckled as he raised his hand in mock surrender. "All right, I'll tell you. It's Kelei, Marie's daughter. You remember her, don't you?"

"Kelei?" Sosho whispered as she stared at him amazed.

"Kelei? Really?" Nesho was almost as surprised as her daughter.

"Who is Kelei? Shasta asked. "For that matter who is Festou?"

"Festou was the ship's boy they met on the Death Grip," Clarise answered. "That was the privateer that first took them. I met him a couple of times. Cute little lad. But he was just a boy," she protested. "Scrawny, all arms and legs, just a little thing."

"Oh, he's still on the small side," Dent admitted. "Probably will be even when he's got his full man size. But his heart's as big as anyone's I've ever met and he fights like a cornered rat when he has to. He, Kelei, and Belinda are one of the reasons I'm able to be here today. But that's his story and I'll let him tell you after he gets here."

"But he's too young to have a wife!" Nesho protested. "And just who is this Belinda that she is with our Festou?"

"Wives, dear heart, wives," Dent softly corrected her. "He is young I will admit, but not mush younger than someone else we know who is not only a wife, but a mother."

"That's different!" Sosho protested. Nesho added a harrumph in agreement.

"It always is," Dent said calmly. "But before you rush to judgment you should met them and see them together."

"Who is Kelei?" Shasta demanded again.

"Oh," Nesho mused, obviously thinking about something else. "You remember the girl Sosho threatened? The one she got spanked over? That was Kelei. She worked in the inn where we stayed when we first landed in Harv'el. How could you let this happen? Besides, she is a slave; he can't marry her!"

"Of course not. No slave may marry in Jeevel, can they, wife?" Dent said slyly. Nesho's face clouded up for a second and then she let out a little laugh and nodded, acknowledging his slight jab. Taking pity on her he continued, "Besides, one of my first royal decrees was to suspend that particular law and have it allowed on a case-by-case basis. For his service he asked me a favor, Kelei was that favor. Before you jump to any conclusions, Kelei asked, no, demanded, that she be sold to him. Vel and Maria agreed."

"Royal decree? What do you mean by 'royal'? For that matter what is all this 'king' silliness we've been hearing about?" Nesho demanded. "So you're in charge of Jeevel -- can't say as I'm all that surprised -- but why not as Putram? That's what everyone is used to."

"A lot of reasons," Dent said with a shrug, "most of which you can discuss with Vel when he gets here. He is now the de facto Minister of Protocol. He tells us all what we're supposed to do and say."

"He would certainly enjoy telling everybody what to do," She admitted. "But why change everything? Why not keep it familiar? Why 'king' instead of Putram?"

"Well," he said rubbing his chin, "when everything was over and done with none of us were feeling to kindly about any putrams let alone our ex-putram."

"DeClover is no longer Putram?" Clarise exclaimed.

"Too short," Dent snorted, "nobody would take him seriously."

"Too short?" Clarise said wrinkling her nose in what Dent thought was a rather delightful way. "The way I remember him was as rather ordinary, maybe not tall, but not all that short."

"Well, now he's too short," Dent said without expression, "about a head too short actually."

"Oh," Clarise said, turning slightly green. Sosho laughed and even Nesho smiled.

"So, not wanting much to do with the old ways we thought it best to completely break from them," Dent continued. "I suppose we could have made up new names for everything, but Vel said he had everything we needed all ready. So the term is king, which by the way makes you my queens."

"What does the Jeevel Citizen's Counsel have to say about all this?" Nesho asked.

"Probably a lot," Dent admitted, "if there was one. Unfortunately a lot of them picked sides early: the wrong side. The ones who followed us and survived the slave revolt are mostly trying not to lose everything they have and aren't as interested in politics as they were before."

"Slave revolt? Now this I have to hear about!" Sosho said eagerly.

"All part of the story, darling," Dent said with a smile. "When everybody gets here... How about now we go find something to eat?"

It wasn't that late but Shasta knew it was bedtime. Apparently so did everyone else. The babies were fed, nestled into their cribs and now the tension between Dent and the four women was becoming intense. Nesho, Sosho and Clarise could hardly keep their hands off him and Shasta just barely control her own urges to do the same.

"I know, it's time," Shasta said biting her lip. "I'm going to sleep in the nursery with the babies tonight."

"I understand," Nesho said sympathetically. "I know this is hard for you, Shasta, but I still think it's the best way. Your night will be tomorrow, I promise."

"I know you believe it," Shasta said with a brave smile. "But I don't want you to be disappointed when he turns me away. I can live with that now."

"Maybe you can," Nesho said after leaning over to give her a kiss, "but we can't. Tomorrow, you will see."

Shasta didn't argue any further; there wasn't much of a point anyway. After checking on the babies one last time she snuggled down in the nanny's bed.

Sleep was impossible. It might not have been so bad if she had only to imagine what was going on in the room down the hall, but she didn't have to imagine it. She could feel every caress, every kiss, the parting thighs, his cock first resting on the lips of someone's vulva, the feeling as he gently pushed his way inside her. Three times she felt that, three times she felt him inside her like she had never felt a man before. She was wet, she was needy and she cried herself to sleep when it finally seemed the four of them were done. Waking up a short time later she felt someone slipping into bed with her.

"Who? What?" she muttered, trying to see whom it was using the dim light coming through the window.

"Shhh," someone hissed and then a short, naked body with large breasts pressed up against her. Shasta knew right away who it was.

"Sosho, what are you doing here," she whispered. "You should be with him!"