*** Alzi ***

  Somehow, we got sideways and had to fall ft onto the bed. My head was still buried into Elora's shoulder as I cried for my stupidity.

  Why would I go against the Goddesses? They can always make things worse. I'm just a small nobody that they toy with. An ant they direct into their little rape traps.

  The world rights itself randomly. Elora covers my body and whispers lies into my ear when a loud crack of wood comes. The ship rocks violently on the sea.

  "Alzi, we need to put on shoes," Elora says. "Fluvis won't board personally, but her people are here. We need to be ready for them."

  "Why do you keep acting like someone wants to save me?" I cry out. "Nobody ever comes to help me!"

  "Fluvis is here to help you, my dear," Elora says. "Fluvis cares deeply about the father and mother of her children. Please help her."

  She breaks free of my arms, moves off the bed, and forces me to look around.

  "I only have slippers that will fit you. Sorry Alzi," Elora says. "I'll have everyone put shoes that fit you in their rings from now on."

  She tosses the shoes at me. Still just robes for us. Robes and slippers as the Goddesses look to smite me.

  Metal cnging starts filtering through the door. Women's screams fill the air now that the booms of divine punishment are gone. Angels looking to finish the job, I guess.

  Elora forces the shoes onto my feet, then drags me to the side of the bed, holding me once again.

  "Hi, slut and whore," the icy bitch says. Blood running down from her head. Her body is pale and clearly about to colpse.

  Elora puts the bitch on her ass immediately. A look of shock spreads over her face for a second. Anger takes over quickly before Elora ties her up.

  "Think I'm pying nice now?" Elora says. "You are a loser. Always and forever. I'll have fun with you on the trip back, bitch. I remember well what you did."

  The bitch doesn't say anything back, so I'm guessing Elora knocked her out.

  The bitch's guards come through the door next. Five of them bursting through while Elora is standing over bitch.

  Her sword swipes out and lops the head off the first. The rest jump back to defend.

  It doesn't work out well for them. Elora bowls into the group, crushing one under her white slippers, the st three getting pinned against the wall. Her sword pierces one gut.

  The st two try to at strike her, but their swords bounce off her shabby robe.

  Elora's sword disappears, and the st two get a more personal blow. Elora's hands grip their throats, crushing their necks and finishing the fight.

  "Take this knife," Elora says, the knife nding beside me on the bed. "I don't pn on letting you have a reason to use it, but I didn't pn on being here at all."

  Elora's sword returns, along with a towering shield covering the door. The five bodies are left to pour their blood out onto the wood.

  With the door plugged up, nothing else enters the room. There is just the sound of metal cshing with metal as someone cngs against the massive shield. Elora puts her weight into keeping it still.

  I can't tell if the robe is soaked in her blood or just the enemy's blood, so I reach out with my mana. There is no need to let Elora die easily. It seems someone really may be here to save her, and I doubt she is willing to part with her purchase so soon.

  She did get her kid from me, so maybe I'm not needed anymore.

  "Thank you," Elora says. She only had some small cuts on her feet and bruises where the swords bounced off her. "They've stopped hitting my shield. I think Fluvis's women are coming down the hall. Follow my lead. If I attack, I need you to back up against the wall; otherwise, just put the knife down."

  "Ok," I mumble. Did someone really come?

  "Elora?"

  "Lottie?" the Princess calls back.

  "Yes, little dreamer," Lottie says.

  The Princess tenses up before deciding to put the shield away. A human woman soaked in blood stands in the doorway. Behind her, a group of four women, all in armor, looking down the hallway.

  "Ready to head home?" Lottie asks.

  "Yes, I have Esiyae tied up here. One of her wives was running around along with the mercenary," Elora says, pulling me off the bed. She takes my knife away and pulls me into her. "Can some of you take her?"

  "I don't have much mana left," Lottie says. "Happy to help. Another group may have her other wife. The mercenary is gone, it seems."

  "Things to worry about ter," Elora says. "Ready to leave, Alzi?"

  "Yes," I say. Someone really showed up. It was for Elora, I guess, but I got saved for once.

  The hallway is full of blood and body parts, just like the hallway back home.

  We quickly shuffle through it and onto the top of the ship. Another ship has wedged itself into its side. It looks like the fighting stopped on the top deck, just women in ropes all around, slowly being shuffled onto the other ship.

  They get shoved to the side so the Princess can pass by, pulling me along with her. A small cheer goes out when she steps foot on the other ship.

  I feel a strong pull down a set of stairs, and the Princess lets me go. Instead, she turns to talk to Lottie.

  Wanting to hide from everything and find out what the pull is, I shuffle down the stairs. A few doors down, I open the door.

  A pregnant woman rests on the bed, sitting cross-legged, hands resting on a bugling belly.

  "Hello, Alzi," the woman says. "Sorry for taking so long, but one of my wives had to stay back to watch over our first batch of kids. I'm sorry for how that all went down. Twelve kids at once and my first group while being pregnant made me act wrong. I am Fluvis. Duchess Fluvis. Come over. I know you must be drawn to the kids if you walked here yourself."

  "Yes," I mumble, still unsure if I should join the woman.

  "Come, the kids will love to have you nearby," Fluvis says. "We will only be able to stay here like this for a short time. I have injured women I would love for you to help heal if you are up to it. If not, we all understand. I have potions and healers who can handle it as well. But I will need to captain the ship away from this and back home."

  "How many?" I ask.

  "Kids? Four, Lady Alzi," Fluvis says. "If you meant injured, I don't have the count. Most were injured when we went to pull you and Princess Elora from the ship, so I don't have the number. My wife Lottie could tell you."

  I don't really want to go back up the stairs yet. I'm sure my new css, csses, gave me some healing skills and a breeding skill to try out.

  I can keep putting that off until the women are in front of me. For now, I can hold the Duchess, who used me as breeding stock, both as a stud and a mare.

  "Thank you, Alzi," Fluvis says as I join her on the bed. "I hope you spend a bit of time in my house. I would love for you to spend some time with your children. They're really cute, and you deserve to spend time with them. Sorry for getting desperate."

  "Hmph," is all I give the elemental. Her hair shines with a wave moving down her back. The little light starts from her scalp every few seconds.

  "Did they not clothe you properly?" Fluvis asks, a shiver running through her body as I hug her from behind. "You're so cold."

  "No," I say. "I'm pregnant with that bitch's child. A noble forcing me to bear her a child once again. Tortured and raped, and I want to go home and see my Mommy." Tears start to come. I begin to cry just a little.

  "I'm sorry, Alzi. I should have moved faster. I should have found a way to bring both my wives," Fluvis says. "I'm sorry for all the pain we caused you. I'll make sure the Princess stays in my house for a few weeks so you can spend some time with your kids, and then we will make a pn so you can watch them grow. How does that sound? Getting to spend some time with your kids?"

  "And my Mommy? What about her twins?" I ask. "Or Mai's kid. The bastard I'm now having. The kids I was pnning on having with Yuki and maybe Kelly? What about all that?"

  "Now isn't the time for all that, Alzi," Fluvis says. "One thing at a time. Right now, worry about yourself, and then when we get back to nd, you can worry about all that."

  "But I miss them," I cry. My eyes fail to hold back my tears.

  "I know. I know you do," Fluvis says. "Ok, I know it is unfair to you. But you have to take things one step at a time. You need to settle the simple things first. Like getting rid of that colr. The power to help keep them safe."

  "I just want her now," I mumble. "I can't do anything myself. I'm a sve and constantly getting taken against my will."

  "You will lose the colr. I'll join in fighting to have it removed, Alzi. I wish to see you free." She just rexes into me, holding my arms over her belly. The kids give me a light kick to say they recognize their father.

  Soon, I'll feel those kicks again. Just a single one this time, and I get to see if the promise to keep any child I birth holds. I don't think that bitch will make it with the number I gave her, and I'm sure my child is what they will ask for to pay for a breeding sve killing their dear little bitch.

  The Goddesses don't need lightning to ruin me. No, just keep doing what you're doing, and I'll tie the noose myself.

  No, I have people waiting for me.