Thread: War and Greed (Javorcek x ClearSight)

Sasha, do you need someone to walk you home? It's gettin' dark out...I can protect you. Cole asked hopefully as he put Sasha's money in the till. No! I'll walk her home. Plus, I'm stronger, I can carry those things for her. Nils practically pushed his brother to the ground as he tried to wedge his way between the younger boy and a very confused looking Sasha. I don't want want to be a bother, I'll be fine on my own... Sasha took an unsure step backwards as the two brothers began to growl at eachother over who was going to get escort her back to her home. She had known Cole and Nils for a very long time and the two of them were acting very strangely neither of them had ever offered to walk her back to her home before...in fact both of them were very afraid of her father, the town blacksmith, so why go somewhere that he would surely be? And why on earth did they think she needed help getting home anyways? She may be a beta but she was still more than capable of carrying a basket full of lamb meat a stone's throw away. Oy! What in the flaming hell is this ruckus?! You boys shut yer yaps an' git back to yer jobs! Piers snarled as he came out of the back room of his small butcher's shop when he heard the commotion. For a moment he seemed to be about to wring both of his sons' necks, but once he got within five feet of Sasha the large man abruptly stopped in his tracks, his face suddenly softening as he stared at the young girl as though seeing her for the first time. Then, as if remembering himself, he knocked his sons' heads together. You two fools watch the shop and don't let nobody steal nothin'! I need to speak to Sasha's father. Come on, girl, let's go. Sasha was about to protest, she still had a few more errands to run, but upon looking at Nils and Cole again and noticing how the two boys were still looking at her with that dumb gaze, she decided that having Piers protect her wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. ---- But I don't want to be an Omega! Sasha practically burst into tears after her father had broken the news. Piers had walked her home, told her father everything, and then the next thing Sasha had known she had been banished to her room while her father closed his shop early so that he could secure the downstairs. Now he was up in her room, measuring the window so that he could install iron bars to keep lusty young wolves from climbing up here and ravishing Sasha. Shhhh...shhh, pup, it's alright... David moved to his little girl and awkwardly pat his daughter on the back, wishing yet again that his mate were still alive to help him. Jocelyn had passed away and had left him with two daughters! Two! He cherished both of his girls, but what did a blacksmith know about raising girls to be women? He had already messed up Sasha, the girl was far too interested in weapons and fighting than any young lady should be. While it was a relief that she wasn't trying to sneak off with boys like many of the girls her age, it did worry him that his eldest might not be marriage material. She could barely sew, she cooked about as poorly as he did...he had failed her. David had waited far too long to get a female slave to pick up the slack. But Sasha being an Omega might actually be a good thing! Now the girl had an excellent chance of attracting a wealthy mate who could take care of her...unfortunately such a prospect seemed to have dawned on Sasha and the girl began to cry. I d-don't want to be a porcelain d-doll! Sasha sniffled. I d-don't w-w-wuh-want to be nothing more th-than a p-p-prize for a male! I don't want to leave h-huh-home and b-be a m-mate! Shhhh shhh... Those things won't happen to you... David grimaced, he hated lying to his children but he didn't know what else to do. While he would not force Sasha to marry someone who she did not love, he couldn't deny that she was going to be treated differently from now on. Boys were going to fight amongst themselves for her approval or throw their services at her so that she never had to lift a finger ever again. Sasha...shhh...here, look at me... The old wolf smiled gently and peered down to his daughter. I'm not going to sell you off to a nobleman. I'm not going to make you leave home. Now please...stop crying... The old wolf paused for a moment...work always made him feel better, so he decided to suggest a chore for Sasha to do so that she could keep her mind off of her swiftly changing future. I need you to buck up and go make dinner, Ori and Lena will be home soon and I need to make some bars for your window to keep the rabble out. Everything will be alright, pup, you will see. ----- Over the next five years, Sasha had never had to go through an Omega heat and she hadn't needed those bars on her window after all. Ori, the family servant, had managed to magically bind all of the things that had made Sasha an Omega, with great success too. Her scent, her sexual appetite, her physical build, all of that remained normal Sasha looked and felt just like a regular beta. Piers and her family were the only ones who knew what she truly was and it stayed that way throughout Sasha's teenage years and into her adult life. She got to grow up normal! ...But of course her aging brought other sorts of problems to her. Sasha was 19 now, still unmated and still with little interest in any wolf of either gender, the girl's lack of a libido was probably a side effect of her Omega binding. Her only saving grace was that she was a journeyman blacksmith and astonishingly beautiful and strong for...for a beta female, anyways. But the fact that she was unmated made her choice to answer the call for soldiers from the city easier. Her sister was too young to enlist and her father was too important to the family to give up. I wish you would reconsider your decisions... David frowned as he watched his daughter don the light chainmail that he had made nearly two decades ago. It was an expensive piece that he kept for sentimentality sake. Made from elven Mithril, it was the masterwork that had earned him the title of Master in the blacksmith's guild. There is nothing to reconsider. Sasha sounded matter of fact. There was in fact no other choice. She could not possibly run the shop on her own and her father was too old to be marching with the young men. It just...makes sense. Besides, father, there are no wolves in town that I have any attraction towards. Maybe traveling will help me find someone. War and adventure are not the same thing! David growled, knowing that his daughter was just trying to get a rise out of him because of his constant concern about her single status. You are like your mother, pup, too much elven in you...it makes you crave the unknown. The old wolf grumbled. I am glad to be like her. Sasha grinned as her father growled. There was very little that Sasha remembered about her elven mother, but the stories that her father and the people in town used to tell about her led the wolf to believe that she was a wonderful person, if a bit odd because the ways of elves did seem so to be strange to wolves. ------------------------------------------------------------- Mommy, I don't want you to gooooooo! Lucy cried as she clutched tightly onto her mother's leg. She wasn't the only child crying for their parent as the soldiers began to form ranks for their march out of the city, but she was by far the loudest. Oh my dear pup, I will be back soon, you will see. Danika's heart clenched as she watched her three year old whimper and sniffle. At least her son was doing a much better job at keeping a stiff upper lip though, five years old and he was already more of a man than their father was. Caleb, come, take your sister. Danika very gently pried her daughter off of her armor and then leaned down to give her a hug before Caleb took his little sister's hand and led her back a few steps towards their aunt and uncle. I don't understand why you have to go. Why can't they just send father? Caleb grumbled. For a moment, she didn't know whether to be touched or worried that Caleb would rather see his incompetent father go off to war rather than his military trained mother. Richard could barely wield a sword, much less inspire confidence in a legion of men. Your father is a brilliant strategist, he needs to stay here with grandpa and Uncle Liam and be part of his council. It was a lie, Richard was a mediocre strategist, but hopefully it would make her pups believe that their father was doing something important. While it was true that her mate was a cowardly snake in the grass, that didn't mean that she wanted her children to think ill of their father. Danika was not perfect either, even though her pups thought that she was the shining example of what every wolf should aspire to be. And I am going with the troops because grandpa wants our people to know that we are willing to make sacrifices too. Just because we are royal doesn't mean that we can hide in our castle while we ask other wolves to go fight for us. Dani...thank you, for all of this. Liam spoke up after a moment. He felt like a coward, sitting here at home while his elder sister went off to war in his stead. Dani insisted that he stay behind because his mate was pregnant and because she had more military experience than he did...but that excuse didn't make him feel any less a yellow-belly. Thank you for watching Caleb and Lucy. Dani smiled at her little brother, as though this all were nothing, and then gave her pups one final hug and kiss goodbye. Be very good for Uncle Liam and Aunt Olivia. I will be back before you know it. Then she moved over towards her horse, easily swinging herself up into the saddle although she was laden with her armor and weapon. Mommy! Wait! Take Tiberius too! With tears in her eyes and a sniffley nose, Lucy ran over to her mother's horse so that she could offer up the ragged looking stuffed dog that the three year old brought everywhere. He'll protect you! Caleb had to pick up Lucy so that Danika could reach down from her saddle with ease and accept the toy. Are you sure? Danika frowned with worry that Lucy would miss her toy too much while she was gone. But the little girl shook her head adamantly, and at that Dani smiled and put Tiberius in her pouch with his head sticking out. There, now he can see all the places we go.