Chapter 93

Dear Holly,

Hey fellow concubine! Oops, I guess you consider yourself a wife to Will. I'm not sure how it works then. I love Willow, adore Willow and belong to Willow in every way possible, but I'd never call myself married to Willow. It's hard to explain, but a marriage doesn't seem to be enough for me. I need to be Willow's. Well, Willow and Erica's since they do share everything, including a brain sometimes.

Oh, this is Violet writing. Louisa pretends she's too hoity-toity to write to other concubines. It's not really that, its more she doesn't know how she might relate to you. She's a wonderful lover and truly devoted to my mistresses, but she's also so much older that at times we don't have a lot in common.

Bree would write, but I think she's still recovering from what happened to Erica. We knew about Erica being arrested when Horace and the rest of the tank crew returned alone. They could tell us that both Willow and Erica were alive, but that Erica was under arrest and Willow had been deliberately shipped out in the wrong direction. It started a very tense few weeks for all of us in the household. Willow and Erica complement each other so perfectly that they encourage all of us to do better. Bree was the worst since she is as devoted and in love with Erica as I love Willow.

Meiling, Katya and Larry do read all of the letters, but they are a bit timid. I think they might eventually try writing a letter, but for now they are content to read. Alexis, Jennifer and Frodo are still in shock that Willow and her brother write letter to each other. I'm sure they would have some interesting tales to tell to Will though. All of them had rather nasty experiences before they ended up in the household.

I do understand some of your tale of the pickup, even if my actual experience was rather tame. After all, Erica and Willow had made their selections weeks before and I was living with them as much as I could. Fortunately, my last tour had ended and I was supposed to be in the studio to record my next album. I was recording while my mistress was at school and then spending the afternoon with her.

However, I am not surprised to hear that Will's gentle nature and protective instincts stood out. Willow can come across as brash and bold, and having listened to the "greatest hits" of third company, Erica and Willow can really banter during combat. I still have to laugh over one incident. The group had been riding in landing craft while heading to the continent to engage in a rather aggressive raid. Jase, Lieutenant Blackthorn, said something about everyone remembering the goal and mission. Erica immediately replied in an affected pirate accent.

"Aarrgh, yes Mister Blacksail, we be setting out to disrupt the gold leaf trade. We shall engage the landships of the Sa'arm armada and sink them, sending their crews and treasure to the bottom."

There are a couple of snorts on the recording, probably from crewmen on other tanks. Willow immediately joined in the play though.