Variegated offerings were carried into the First Princess’ quarters in an oddly formal formation of attendants each carrying a wedding gift upon upturned palms. Each would need to be recorded, the appropriate thanks passed back to the noble gifters.

Yui swam amongst the procession, unable to settle herself. She had experienced quite possibly the most romantic and sensual few hours of her life… and then after their morning meal her mate had already left to return to duty. She was drilling soldiers and strategising… and Yui was pacing about their parlour room overseeing a parade of presents that she wasn’t sure she had the right to open without Bellona present.

It might make a fine excuse to visit her… although it had only been half a day since they had last been together. It felt ever so long. She stepped out onto the balcony and let the mighty mountain winds clear her mind. No, she had no place to be disturbing Bellona in her work. The First Princess had probably forgotten all about her now that her cock was no longer sheathed by Yui’s body.

This was not a romance. She was an omega picked from a crowd to warm her bed. If she forgot that she’d only be hurt. Speaking of warming… it was actually Bellona who had diffused the chill from her bones with her hulking and heat-seeping frame. If only she could remain entangled with her all day and all night, Yui would never feel the cold of the castle’s craggy location ever again.

Goose pimples had erupted from her elbows to her shoulders. Yui let out a breath through her teeth and scurried back inside. She would organise the gifts and get the main room looking presentable for her mate’s return. That’s all she needed – a task! Something to fill the time between.

Long after the moon had replaced the sun, Bellona returned. She was sweaty and grimy and her scent could knock a fellow alpha back a step. To Yui it was a call hither. Before she had made it to her mate’s embrace, Bellona had barked that all the servants were to flee. Yui fell into her mate’s arms as the doors shut behind the last, leaving them blissfully alone.

“Welcome home,” Yui whispered into Bellona’s armoured chest.

For a moment, Bellona was rigid. Yui peeked up at her, full of concern. Perhaps the affection was an overstep, perhaps even behind closed doors she was expected to uphold royal standa-

Her lips were caught in a punishing kiss, dragged up to meet Bellona’s by enormous hands clutching her cheeks. Yui’s toes tottered the ground, barely supporting her.

“Have you washed, my mate?”

Yui flushed. Did she smell unwashed? “Yes.” She stumbled over her own tongue before she managed to add the endearment to the end. “My mate.”

“I have not. Wait for me in bed while I do.”

“Your bed?”

“Our bed.” Bellona pointed to the door that hid her private quarters. “Your bed.” She did the same towards Yui’s. “You will wait in our bed.”

“Yes, my mate.” Less of an endearment and more of a respectful title under the feeling of having been chastised. Bellona did not look perturbed, but her blunt tone had knocked a bunny back a step in familiarity.

Away she hurried, closing herself away inside of the bedroom. Inside, she realised she had brought no nightdress with her. She could not go back out now, it would look like she had still misunderstood Bellona’s words. Surely the First Princess wished to… Yui’s flush deepened. She peeled her simple snow-white dress from her frame and folded it into a square. The day dresses she had been provided all followed a similar cut: floor-length skirts, flimsy sleeves, and embroidered bodices. A pale rainbow of options laid in a trunk at the foot of her bed, nothing too taxing on the eyes. Beneath it she wore two pieces of undergarments, both decorated with pleated lace. Her heavy breasts were cupped, and her rounded hips held. Yui perched on the edge of the bed, facing the door, and awaited her mate’s arrival.

Bellona was barely dried when she burst through the frame, and conveniently uncovered. Yui caught herself hiding her eyes and dropped her hands. This was her mate, hers was not a body to be shocked by. Behind her she pressed her palms into the bedding, presenting herself to her mate with a slight arch to her spine, lifting her chin and her breasts. An offering tied up in lace.

Yui was only overdressed for the time it took for Bellona to cross the space between them and tear the tiny pieces off. The covering was quickly taken over by Bellona’s rough touch, palming her nipples and squashing handfuls of flesh in her hands. Yui had not the muscle and rigidity of a young warrior such as the First Princess. Her body was cottony and cushioned and… it had grown life, for goodness’ sake! Bellona cared not for such things, not even the light stripes of her stretched belly deterred the woman’s investigatory mouth and possessive grabs. She had not been as prettily prepared as she had for their consummation, and yet Bellona’s fervour was just as feral. She kissed a path to the crux of Yui’s thighs, her thick-furred ears perking upright when she took a taste, licking through Yui’s slit and stealing all that had gathered there in desperate drips. Desperate for her mate to take her again, fill her to the brim. And generously, Bellona did. On this night and the next and the next.

Every morning was the same. Bellona broke her fast with Yui and departed for her duties.

Every afternoon was the same. Yui ran out of monotonous tasks to busy herself with and became lethargic.

Every evening was the same. Bellona returned to the wing with near insatiable desire for her.

Her outer family had long left and now all that remained of royalty in the castle were Bellona and her parents. And Yui, if she counted. In her mind, she did not. She had completed her training, so the steward had no interest in her. The servants did their best to be invisible in her presence.

“Do you grow smaller still?” Bellona growled against her ear. She had returned after the moon again.

Yui whimpered an apology. “I will eat plenty tomorrow, my mate,” she promised. Plenty of awful, mushy vegetables devoid of any herbs and spices. Awful meals that she ate all alone.

Bellona kissed her crown. “Good,” she rumbled against it. “You should be swelling, not shrinking.” Her hand fell to Yui’s stomach and stroked soft circles into it.

“Yes, my mate.” It was far too soon to be expecting her to have fallen pregnant – or for it to be noticeable if she had. She was well aware of the expectation, however. A mother again. It was a wonderful thing to be hoping for. Her first had been a shock, and brought with it so much turmoil, but she had never regretted her daughter.

Yuki slipped through the cracks of Yui’s concentration constantly. Thoughts of what she was eating, how she was sleeping, the uncertainty of her future without her mother at her side, it was enough to worry Yui into regular bouts of mourning. The Chief would keep her under his roof, she was certain. And feed her and keep her in good health… Once she was a child no longer, however, what then? She was far too young to know how she would earn coin and support herself – perhaps she would tend crops like her mother, making just enough to purchase what she could not grow. Maybe the woodworker would take her on as an apprentice and she could delight the next generation with her carvings. In Yui’s wildest, most ridiculous, dreams… her daughter spent the remainder of her childhood wrapped in her arms, enveloped in the von Sköll castle. It was ironic, or maybe simply unfair, that Yui should be residing in a castle, treated like a noble, mated to an alpha of far higher title than Yui’s father, and yet her daughter, with her half noble blood, remained in the fields. The world of the titled folk really was cruel.