Dino Tribes 3: A LitRPG Prehistoric Survival (Year of the Dinosaur!) by Marcus Sloss & Jace Cannon

Author:Marcus Sloss & Jace Cannon [Sloss, Marcus & Cannon, Jace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Royal Guard Publishing LLC
Published: 2024-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Christmas Gift

I was still blushing like a schoolgirl by the time I made it back home. I sat Orion down and sternly told her not to leave her nest for any reason, and then I left her to return to my own nest.

When I reached the longhouse, however, I found it occupied by the most anti-aphrodisiac thing of all time: my mother-in-law. The former Queen Yazmin was stringing up a garland of braided willow branches inside my house, while the ten-year-old Yusra played with little Anthony in one corner. Nadiyya sat at her desk, concocting plans, as always. She had her obelisk out—probably talking to Rin. All of my wives’ beds were empty.

“Oh, Alan! There you are,” Yazmin said warmly, turning to me. “Help me string this? I’m not quite as tall as you.”

At this, Nadiyya raised her head, her tired face instantly perking up.

“My pleasure,” I said, striding over to my mother-in-law and helping to hammer a nail up above our other door frame. After hooking the garland in place, I said, “This isn’t necessary, Yazmin. You should be doing this for your own house—or for the children.”

She waved a hand. “Oh, I already did that. Besides, our great leader deserves decorations, too!” She handed me another loop of garland. “Now string those up while I get you your Christmas present. Oh, where did I put it....”

I frowned at her, but I didn’t stop hammering in the nails and festooning my house with holiday decor. “A present? For me? That’s not... I mean, I didn’t think to get anything for you. Plus, it’s not Christmas for a few days yet.”

Yazmin barely seemed to hear me as she busied herself about the room. She had likely just cleaned the whole place, which was her way of showing love, but she always left random things here and there. She wasn’t nearly as bright as her daughters were, but I had to hand it to the woman, she could make anyplace feel like home. None of my wives really seemed to have the gene for home management—or maybe they were all just too busy. There was something to be said for coziness, though, so I appreciated Yazmin. She brought a special warmth to my people, one they didn’t know they’d been missing. It was like she’d brought a little of Old Earth here with her.

Nadiyya said something into her obelisk, then stood. She still didn’t appear to be pregnant, but her cycle had stopped. True to Sayuri’s plans, I now had a fifth child on the way, and several more due about when the Dasku came, one month from now.

Cold raced along my arms, and I forced myself to stop thinking about that.

It’s almost Christmas Eve, I told myself. Everything will be different, come Christmas morning... provided Nadiyya’s spies have all done their jobs.

“Ah, here we are!” Yazmin trilled, coming up with a package wrapped in birch bark and twine. She handed it to me gaily, half-bowing as she did so, like a princess in a story book.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.