Chapter 148: River Outing Part 2

The river stays chaotic for a long time. I remain in the shallows with Sarah, Lucy, Amber, and Lyra. None of them have any reason to waste what little energy they have swimming farther out. The water is already deep enough to take some of the weight off their bellies, and Sarah looks more comfortable than I have seen her in days.

She leans back against me and sighs.

"I might stay here."

"You still have to walk back," I remind her.

Sarah groans.

Lucy gives me an accusing look. "Why would you remind us?"

Amber laughs.

Lyra closes her silver eyes and lets herself float just enough for the water to support her belly. "I still think I could live here."

"No," Sarah says.

"I could."

"No."

Amber laughs again.

Around us, the children have turned the river into complete chaos. Girls splash one another, race through the shallows, and shriek whenever one of the beast-kin shakes water from her ears or tail. Senko remains close to Kora but repeatedly calls for "Mom" whenever Sarah drifts more than a few feet away. Every time she does, Sarah smiles. The guards continue their rotations, but nobody rushes them. The women coming off perimeter duty get enough time to actually relax in the water with their apprentices before dressing again and replacing the next group. The guards still on watch remain spread around the riverbank and tree line, weapons ready, while everyone else enjoys the afternoon.

My attention eventually settles on Riley. Mari and Zari stand beside her in waist-deep water. Even after everything that happened during the journey here, I still cannot tell the twins apart unless one of them identifies herself. For once, though, their faces aren’t what catch my attention. The two lion-kin women are built unlike almost any women I have ever seen. Their shoulders are broad, their arms thick with muscle, and the water makes every contour of their powerful bodies more apparent. Their wet skin glistens beneath the sunlight, the sunlight tracing the curves and definition of their shoulders, biceps, and upper backs whenever they move. Sunlight reflects off the water covering their bare breasts, making them glisten as well. Even standing waist-deep, I can see how powerful their bodies are. Their thick thighs disappear beneath the surface, while the muscles of their hips and backs shift subtly as they balance against the current. They are undeniably feminine. Just... very muscular. And apparently I like that more than I expected.

Riley catches me looking and raises one hand. "Erik!"

I walk toward them through the water. "What?"

Riley points between the twins. "I’ve spent every day since we left Emerald City with these two and I still can’t tell them apart."

"That makes two of us." I chuckled.

Riley stares at me. "You can’t?"

"Not even a little." I replied.

Mari and Zari smile at exactly the same time.

"You could ask us," one twin says.

"We would tell you," the other adds.

Riley narrows her eyes. "You’ve both said that before."

The twins exchange a look. Then, without warning, they switch places. I laugh.

Riley throws her hands into the air. "See?"

One of the twins grins. I look between the three of them. During the trip through the forest, Riley might have officially been assigned to Mari, but both twins trained her constantly. Separating them now would serve no purpose.

"Mari. Zari."

Both straighten. "Yes, sir."

"I’m changing your assignment."

Their expressions immediately become serious.

"You’re both household guards from now on. Your primary responsibility is protecting my family and household."

The twins glance at each other.

"Both of us?" one asks.

"As a pair."

They answer together. "We accept."

I point at Riley. "And Riley stays with you."

Riley blinks. "Me?"

"You’ve effectively had two mentors since Emerald City anyway. Now it’s official." I said.

She slowly looks from one twin to the other.

"So I’m the apprentice to both of them?" She asked.

"Yes." I answered.

Riley sighs dramatically. "Wonderful. Two mentors and I don’t know which one is which."

Both twins grin. By late afternoon, even the children begin slowing down.

Sarah looks toward the sun. "We should head back."

Lucy groans.

"We still have to walk," Sarah reminds her.

"That doesn’t mean I have to like it."

Getting everyone out of the river takes considerably longer than getting them into it.

Children dry themselves while Sarah and several of the other women retrieve towels and clean clothing from their storage rings. The guards maintain their rotations until every woman who wants time in the water has received it. I wait near the bank while the last off-duty group finishes. After drying myself, I turn away from the water and begin getting dressed.

Behind me, someone gasps.

"His thing is so big I can still see it hanging between his legs when he’s facing away from me," gasped a guard from the water.

For half a second, everything goes quiet. Then Sarah starts laughing. Lucy joins her immediately. Amber covers her mouth while her shoulders shake. Lyra doesn’t bother hiding her amusement at all.

The guard turns red. "What?"

Lucy grins at her. "You’re surprised."

"Of course I’m surprised!"

"That is why it’s funny," Amber says.

Several of my other women laugh with them. I shake my head and finish dressing. Eventually everyone is ready to leave. The guards make one final check of the immediate area before reforming around us. Sarah takes my right arm.

Lucy claims my left. Amber and Lyra each take a guard’s arm, while Lilly does the same. Nyx and Mary manage on their own except when the ground becomes rough. The return trip is slow.

Sarah’s pace sets everyone else’s. After several hours in the river with the water supporting her belly, walking seems even less appealing than before.

"I miss the river," she mutters.

"You were the one who said we should leave." I said.

"I can regret responsible decisions."

Lucy laughs. Behind us, the children talk over one another about races, splashing contests, and who cheated at whatever games they invented. Senko keeps running ahead before remembering Sarah cannot keep up, then turning around and coming back. Farther behind us, Mari and Zari walk with Riley between them. I glance back once. Their dresses cover most of what had caught my attention in the river, but they cannot hide the twins’ broad shoulders or muscular arms.

I look forward again. Interesting. When the settlement finally appears between the trees, the sound of axes, saws, and hammers reaches us before we arrive. The wall is still the priority.

The planned village enclosure is five hundred feet by five hundred feet, giving us a two-thousand-foot perimeter. Crews are working along it before anyone begins permanent construction inside. Huge piles of prepared lumber sit near the work areas. A lot of it came with us. Between the building supplies purchased in Emerald City and the additional materials bought in Sapphire City, twenty-three storage rings arrived filled completely with construction materials. The enormous amount of lumber we purchased means the workers don’t have to begin by cutting and processing every log they need from the forest. They are still felling local trees, but those trees supplement what we already brought.

Sections of the palisade are rising rapidly. Teams dig post holes while others move prepared timbers into place. Nails, tools, ropes, axes, saws, and other supplies are spread between organized work areas. Inside the unfinished perimeter, piles of masonry stone remain largely untouched. That stone is for my family’s house. Eventually, but the wall comes first. Only after everyone can sleep behind a completed defensive barrier will we start using the lumber for villagers’ homes, workshops, shops, and the other buildings that will turn this camp into an actual village. For now, tents still cover the interior. After eating that evening, everyone begins settling down. My tent remains at the center of the family area, with the other two tents used by my women positioned immediately beside it. Sarah, Lucy, Amber, Lyra, Hazel, Ginger, and Roux sleep with me, along with the women whose turn currently places them in my tent. The rest of my women divide between the tents on either side. Nearby, the children settle into their own tents. Mari and Zari begin their first night as household guards immediately. Riley accompanies them. The three patrol between our cluster of tents and those occupied by my adopted children, keeping the entire family sleeping area under watch. When I see Riley following between the twins, I smile. She already looks like she belongs there. The night passes quietly.

By morning, work on the wall begins again almost as soon as breakfast is finished. I spend part of the morning walking the perimeter, watching another line of timbers rise. At this pace, the purchased lumber is saving us an enormous amount of time. I return toward the family tents. Sarah is sitting outside with Lucy, Amber, and Lyra when a shout comes from the northern side of the settlement. Everyone nearby turns. Two figures burst through the trees. A guard and her apprentice. Both are running as hard as they can. The guard’s weapon is still in her hand, and her apprentice is struggling to keep pace several steps behind.

That is enough to make me start moving before either of them reaches us. People stop working.

Nearby guards turn toward the commotion. Mari and Zari immediately move closer to the family tents, Riley following them. The patrol guard reaches the edge of the settlement, breathing hard.

"What happened?" I ask.

She points back toward the north. "Orcs."

The entire settlement seems to go silent.

"How many?"

She takes one breath.

Then another.

"Hundreds."

Sarah rises behind me.

The guard looks directly into my eyes. "A horde." She swallows. "And they’re coming this way."