"Hmm... where to begin..."
Resting on the couch and giving me that languid, confident grin, my wife made me roll my eyes as I gestured at the larger Felinekin that sat beside her, saying "Probably with the appearance of this massive woman. What happened, who is she, and why is she here?"
"Hmm... Well, Sarnai here is a former mercenary and potentially a cultist that tried really~ hard to kill me~!"
I took a long, deep breath and began to rub at my temples as I listened to Rhefia's flippant 'explanation', my headache only getting somewhat worse when this Sarnai interjected to say "I was not a cultist! Just a mercenary. I didn't really care for all that Goddess mumbo jumbo; I worship Tigreseta, Goddess of Feline Ferocity!", which made me roll my eyes again.
"Whomever you worship is of no concern. Why, pray tell, is a mercenary that attempted to kill you sitting on our couch like she did no wrong?"
"Oh, probably because I gave Rhefia the ride of her-!"
Sari let out a warning hiss that made Sarnai blink a few times in confusion, only for her ears to twitch and her tail to swish around in that adorable manner - which was made even more adorable thanks to her being so Goddess damned massive for a woman - as she glanced at all of the little ones, who were staring at her with curiosity.
"Ahem, what she means to say is we fought, I won, and she comes from a tribe with some... fun little rules. Since she was a sort of leader of this mercenary company I wanted to ask her some questions, so I kept her alive and uh... she told me about said rules, where I... y'know..."
Using her hands to loosely demonstrate that she had fucked the woman beside her, my wife gave me a wide, proud grin as she added "And then I sorta went a little overboard and decided to keep her! Think, she's all kinds~ of muscle, so she can help with labor or being a guard for the family!"
"But you got her pregnant."
The immediate fading of her grin as she hesitantly said "Yeah, I got her pregnant." made me narrow my eyes, though after a few moments I let out a long sigh and just said "As long as she understands her place now... or shall I make her understand?", which made Rhefia shrug.
"Either or works. She seems honest enough, she's here now, and I don't doubt the uh... 'strength' of my soldiers, so... y'know..."
Sarnai seemed confused, though when Rhefia gently put her hands over the little one's eyes - as well as Sari, who was holding Aka - I gave her the reason, flashing a cold smile as I began to play around with a little blood, causing the large woman to shiver.
Fear seeped into her eyes that seemed so misplaced considering the size difference between us, and honestly the lack of me ever having to use force against people meant I never really got to understand just how 'scary' Blood Magic was, but... well, now I got another look at it, I guess.
"Mm... Well, since you went ahead and made this decision alone, I shall make this one alone. Sarnai..."
Standing up and approaching her, I idly spun the blood around my hand as I stared into her eyes, enjoying the fear a little before pressing my hand to her brow as I sweetly said "Welcome to the family~!" and made her just like Yiksa.
~~~
Aethisia PoV
Remaining out on the porch while everyone else went back inside, I swirled around the remaining wine before draining the glass completely to help my nerves, which were going haywire with how neutral both Camara and Gertrude were looking.
Beside me was Sadie, wearing a calm, pleasant smile as she just curiously studied the two, and her presence was both a boon and a bane; on one hand she was calming me with how unbothered she seemed, yet on the other hand she was the reason for this...
Well, I was the reason for this, and trying to find the words to explain it to my sister and mate who was holding my child was just... I felt like... It was making me feel so fucking pathetic as I stood here, not knowing what to say.
I was a horrible partner who couldn't keep my dick in my pants and made decisions on a whim that suited me and me alone, never thinking about the future and just living in the moment; I felt like shit, yet after a moment Sadie just patted my arm before pushing me forwards.
Now standing in the middle of the three, I took a deep breath and just... began to speak, explaining what happened over at the town, how Sadie and I met, what I felt about everything and just...
When I got to the parts about the darker emotions that I felt regarding the killings, I quieted myself since Melia was asleep, and just staring at her made me think about how any of the people I had killed could have had children of their own...
Something I was taking for granted that they might have been fighting for, or something that they just now were never going to get to experience because of my actions.
That was what seemed to finally cause Camara to 'crack' as that neutrality melted, while Gertrude just stepped forwards and stared me in the eyes as she listened, only to eventually grab ahold of my chin and force me to keep looking at her.
That caused me to falter, and when I fell silent the Bearkin just continued to stare before she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on my lips, though a moment after she pulled back she moved her hand from my chin to my cheek, specifically after she had placed a crisp slap on it...
I was a bit shocked by that, but when she just said "Your emotions cannot excuse everything, but they explain enough." I felt a little bit of relief coursing through me, and I immediately nodded and tried to speak again, only for Sadie to do so instead, the older woman smiling at the other two with warmth.