The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe

Chapter 433: Just drop the ’Sama’ a bit

The peaceful montage didn’t last forever. Time has a way of moving like a runaway carriage in the West Way, and before I knew it, another three weeks had blurred past.

Late autumn had firmly locked its jaws around the kingdom, turning the leaves into a sea of crisp gold.

​And with the dropping temperatures came the absolute nightmare that was my changing appetite.

​"No," I groaned, pushing the plate away from me so hard it slid across the heavy wooden table in the dining hall. "Take it away. It smells like wet fur."

​Noah, who had spent the last hour meticulously preparing a perfectly roasted leg of forest boar with sweet berry glaze, looked like I had just stabbed him in the chest. His wolf ears dropped slightly.

"Arinya, it’s your favorite. You devoured an entire side of it last month." He said.

​"Well, last month I wasn’t carrying a tiny, demanding diva who apparently hates cooked meat," I complained, resting my chin on the table. My hand instinctively went to my belly. It was already showing quite a bit. There was a hard curve beneath my top, and my internal signals were screaming.

​"Then what do you want to eat?" Fenric asked, leaning over the back of my chair, his hand gently massaging my shoulders to ease the tension. "Name it. I’ll hunt it, or Harok will forge it if you suddenly want to eat iron."

What does he see me as?

​"I want..." I paused, my mouth watering as a highly specific, completely absurd craving hit my brain.

I turned my head slowly, my eyes locking onto Damar, who was quietly drinking a cup of warm tea in the corner. "I want raw, cold river fish. The silver ones from the deep streams. And... I want to eat it while sitting on a block of ice."

The moment those words left my mouth, I felt completely ridiculous. Block of ice? What is wrong with me?

It was late autumn. Where would we even find ice?

​The entire room went dead silent.

​Noah’s ears perked back up, a slow, knowing smirk spreading across his handsome face as he looked over at Damar. "Well. I guess that answers the question."

​Thalor let out a soft chuckle from the window. "Raw fish and a desire for freezing temperatures? It’s not a wolf, Noah. But it’s not a sea creature either, or she’d want saltwater kelp. That is the exact cold-blooded instinct of a river serpent."

​Damar’s cup paused halfway to his lips. He didn’t say a word, but the sudden, intense flare of pure, unadulterated triumph in his emerald eyes was blinding.

His tongue flicked out, a low, smug purr vibrating deep in his throat as he set the cup down. He stood up, his form moving with that terrifyingly smooth grace as he walked over to the table and leaned down, pressing his lips firmly against my temple.

​"The silver ones from the north stream, right?" Damar murmured, his voice thick with possessive satisfaction. "I will catch them myself, Ari. Your body knows exactly whose child it’s building."

​"Just hurry up," I muttered, my face flushing pink. "If I don’t get that cold fish in the next hour, I’m going to bite Fenric again."

​Fenric flinched. "It’s his kid, so why am I the one getting bitten?"

"Because he won’t be here by then, and you’re the strongest."

"That’s bullying," Noah laughed, and I laughed too.

I guess I know whose child I was carrying now. My body wanted it, and my body got it. It pushed aside every other gene and let only the snake’s gene crawl in. So mysterious.

By the time the evening of that very day arrived, the kitchen staff was thoroughly traumatized by my new diet, and the heavy oak doors of the palace courtyard finally creaked open.

​Garam and Robin had returned from the North.

​I didn’t even wait for them to reach the audience hall. Wrapped in a thick, woolly winter coat that the sheep tribe had just finished, I marched out to the inner courtyard, Noah and Thalor flanking me like royal bodyguards.

​But the two chiefs weren’t alone. Behind them, shuffling nervously and twitching at every shadow, was a small group of beastmen. They were short—barely reaching my stomach—with thick, bushy grey-and-brown tails, wide, glossy black eyes, and delicate ears that vibrated at the slightest sound.

​The moment the head squirrel beastman saw me standing there, his eyes went twice their normal size. He didn’t just bow; he dropped his entire face into the stone floor, his hands clasped tightly above his head.

​"Land-mother-Sama!" he squeaked, his voice incredibly fast, high-pitched, and filled with that same formal dialect I heard from the squirrels a year ago. You know, our neighbors in the cave.

They, for some reason, use Japanese honorifics.

But why in the world are they calling me Land-mother? Robin, what did you do?

"We greet the great Savior-Sama!" Garam! You too? "Please forgive our humble, dirty presence in your glorious realm-Sama!"

​I blinked, completely caught off guard by that last part. "Uh... welcome?"

So it wasn’t just names they were adding Sama to, and now they were adding it to their last words? Funny.

​Garam stepped forward, a massive, triumphant grin on his old rabbit face as he cracked his knuckles. "I told you, Savior. We handled the talking. These are the squirrels from the Acorn settlement. It was practically freezing to death up there. Once we showed them the blueprints for Oakhaven’s underground heating and the communal granaries, and assured them that no beastman would hunt them, they packed their nuts and followed us without a fight."

​"It is true-Sama!" another female squirrel beastman peeped from behind the leader, her hands holding a small, beautifully woven basket of giant, polished acorns. "Our burrows were shallow-Sama. The frost-beasts were coming. Robin-Sama and Garam-Sama spoke of a paradise where predators do not eat the small ones. We wish to offer our harvest to the Queen-Sama!"

​"Please, stand up," I said, my voice softening as I stepped down from the stone dais.

I reached into the basket, picking up one of the massive acorns. It was heavy, perfectly dried, and excellent for storage.

"In the West Way, you don’t need to grovel. If you work the land and follow the law, you are protected. Oakhaven has plenty of space for your storehouses."

​The leader looked up, his glossy black eyes shining with tears. "The Queen-Sama is too kind! We will work the farms until our tails fall off-Sama! We will make the granaries fuller than the sea-Sama!"

​"Just drop the ’Sama’ a bit, it’s making my ears ring," I cracked a joke, but I smiled warmly at them. "Noah, have the guards lead them to the northern sector of Oakhaven. Let the sheep tribe give them their winter coats and get them settled before the first snow hits tonight."

​"Right away, Little Tiger," Noah said, signaling to the guards with a proud nod.

​As the squirrel beastmen shuffled off, still bowing and muttering "Thank you, Queen-Sama!" at every step, I felt a heavy, familiar arm wrap around my waist.

​Damar stood beside me, his scent of cool river water and mint instantly settling my stomach. He looked out at the expanding city, the smoke rising from the forge, the dark stone walls standing proud against the grey autumn sky, and the new citizens finding their purpose.

​"The kingdom is full, Ari," he whispered, his green eyes dropping down to my belly, where yet another future was currently growing day by day.

​I leaned back against his chest, watching the first tiny, white snowflake drift down from the sky, melting the moment it touched the heated stone courtyard.

"Damar," I whispered. "I love you."

He was taken aback by the sudden confession, but he planted a kiss on my temple and responded.

"I love you too, Ari."

At this point, Thalor was standing just a few feet away. He heard my confession and his heart raced, but then the racing dulled as he realized that not once had I said those words to him.

I had given him two beautiful, healthy twins, but he knew that if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was having his turn with a rut, I would have chosen to carry someone else’s child.

That was the kind of thought he was having, and he wondered... Arinya is kind and has accepted me, but when will she love me?

The crest on my wrist glowed, and I looked at it, my heart growing slightly heavy as I felt Thalor’s emotions. I lifted my head from Damar’s shoulder and looked back, but he had already gone far.

I could only watch his back and his slumped shoulder.

"Thalor," the word slipped out of my lips before I realized it, and Damar looked back as well.

"The fish is fine," he claimed. "Come, let me take you for a walk."