Byron's voice was calm, but the threat in it was loud and clear. He knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to leave this island if Lucille refused to allow the dryads to take him across the lake. That's why he was playing the threat card. He wanted to instill caution into Lucille. To manipulate her decision.

Unbeknownst to him, Lucille was hell bent on keeping him on the island whatever the cost. She had decided this ever since she found out that he was male, and the sex from moments ago only served to solidify that decision.

She was never going to let him leave.

Byron was hers. She had saved his life, took care of him and sacrificed one of her maids in the process of healing him. She wasn't going to let him out of her sight, let alone let him go to meet those crazy women who had tried to kill him.

Hearing him threatening her, hearing him choose to go to those crazy Amazonians instead of staying with her...

She couldn't believe he would choose people who tried to kill him over those who did everything to save his life. Were they not as beautiful? Were those crazy women not with normal vaginas? What did they have that she didn't have?

She was fuming.

"Regret?" she asked, more as if to herself even though she was staring straight into Byron's eyes, her blue eyes cold. "You think keeping you safe is something I will regret?"

If Byron was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events, he took care not to show it. His face remained calm, his gaze never wavering. "It's not about keeping me safe now, is it? No. It's about how you plan to do it. Choose your method carefully."

Lucille let out a chuckle.

"And how many methods are there except keeping you in the safety of this island?"

It was Byron's turn to chuckle. "What are you keeping me safe from? The most dangerous threat is the flying beasts. Didn't you say they can't come out when the sun is high in the sky? I will leave during the day. One threat averted.

"Once we are past the lake, the monsters in the water won't be a problem either. I'm sure a team of 13 dryads and a nymph can protect one guy they claim to be concerned for from the Tasked Wolves. Plus, it's not like I'm a cripple or something. I will contribute to the effort. Then we are out of the forest and on our way to the closest city. Is there anything else to it?"

This time, Lucille didn't just let out a chuckle. She burst out laughing.

"You think those monsters are the danger I'm keeping you safe from? Darling, it's the Amazons. How many times do I have to tell you they were behind what happened to you."

"And how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not sure it was them?" Byron shot back. "What if they are? Who are you to make decisions for me? Who put you in charge of my life? Whether you like it or not, I'm leaving tomorrow. You might not want to help me, but I know I can persuade some of your girls here. Not all of them would want to live on this forsaken island for eternity when they know following me can open a door to happiness."

This only made Lucille's laughter rise up an octave. Byron ignored her. He just closed his eyes, ready to sleep.

He had successfully planted a dangerous idea into the minds of the dryads. Although he didn't know how they came to be Lucille's maids, he knew they were women with needs. And they knew he was the only one who could satisfy those needs.

Tonight, they were all going to dream about him and his tendrils and tentacles. The next day they would want more.

After having their desires roused, some would even rather die than stay on this island without him on it.

And Lucille...

She could laugh all she wanted. Come morning, when some of her maids decide to leave with Byron, she would change her mind. It's not like she was immune to lust. Being a slut was in her nature. It had been a sleeping beast, but Byron had awoken it by kisses and slaps and fingers and his dick and his lips.

Before the night was over, she would be craving the warm feeling of his lips around her nipples, the burning sensation of his slaps on her ass and her tits and her cheeks. She would be...

She interrupted his thoughts.

"You don't know me," she began, not laughing anymore. Her voice took a sad tone. "You don't know us. But we know you. We brought you across this lake. There was no hope that you would recover. Nevertheless, we took care of you for all these moons. We didn't sleep at nights, having nightmares about waking up to find you dead. You have been the only thing that mattered in our lives for all this time. You still are. One of us had to die so you could live. So don't you dare say that we..."

Byron had been planning not to engage her whatever she said, but this revelation was too shocking to ignore.

"What do you mean one of you died for me to live?"

"Her name was Lalisha. Your heart was pierced by a branch, your bones were shattered, mostly those which protect the vital organs. You had lost a lot of blood. Your brain had... I don't think words can make you understand the damage you had sustained from that fall. I needed to replace or mend them. Lalisha volunteered to donate hers."

Byron didn't even know what to say.

After a long silence, of course, except for the shrieks from the battle beyond the barrier, he managed to stutter a question.

"W-why would she sacrifice herself for a person she doesn't know?"

Byron had not seen any scars on his body, so it was a mystery to him how those organs were replaced without surgery. However, this was a world where magic existed. Perhaps all it had taken was a ritual. That, he could understand. But having someone die for him, a complete stranger, he couldn't understand.

"She didn't do it for you!"

"..."

This made Byron even more confused. Lucille seemed to know exactly how he felt. Taking revenge on him for having suggested to take her maids away from her, she paused long enough to let curiosity torture him.

When she finally revealed why, Byron nodded his head in understanding.

"She did it for me and the dryads. She wanted us to always remember her as the sacrifice through which we gained you, our happiness. Through which we could increase our numbers. She wanted her life to mean something bigger than her. And now, still fragile, not fully healed, you want to go looking for the same people who caused that? You want to throw it away?"

Byron wanted to say something, but Lucille didn't leave any opportunity. She kept talking, getting more emotional with every sentence.

"You asked me who put me in charge of your life. She did. Lalisha gave you her life. If you don't respect yours, it has already ended anyway. Now you will have to respect hers. I won't... We won't allow you to go throw it away. You need to stay here until you are fully healed. In the meantime, I will send Ayota to go and bring one of the Amazons for questioning. We will decide anything else after we know the whole truth."

Byron hated to admit defeat, but this was the time to throw that hate away. Lucille's argument was sound.

To him, they were just people he had seen hours ago. They were people he had just fucked. But to them, he was someone they have known and worried for for nine moons, as they liked to put it. Combined with the fact that one of theirs sacrificed herself for him, he was something sacred to them. And in another sense, he was their salvation. A means for them to reproduce and grow their society.

He murmured that he was sorry about Lalisha.

"It's okay," Lucille assured him, happy that she had managed to convince him. Deep down, she knew that if she had failed, her girls would have followed him. Even she wasn't sure if she could have chose to stay.

"You didn't know," she continued. "I'm sorry I burdened you with that information."

"No, Lucille. I had to know."

She nuzzled onto him and he stroked her hair. "I had to know."

With the monsters shrieking beyond the barrier, you would think it would prove difficult for him to fall asleep. Quite the opposite, actually.

When he woke up, his nostrils twitched, hit by a sweet aroma. He jerked upright, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"He's awake!"

He heard a sweet voice announcing to the others. He looked into the direction it had come from.

What he saw made him leap to his feet. They were all looking at him as he approached where they were busy roasting all kinds of birds.

He could see a duck and...

"These are the pheasants," said Ayota, beaming.

Everyone sat beside a fire, what she was roasting hanging on a framework erected over it.

Byron drooled as he watched the juicy meat roasting, the fire shrieking whenever droplets fell into it.

'I thought they were vegans!' he thought, unable to believe that they had been able to kill all those birds.

The way they had looked at him when he told them to eat some eggs yesterday...

Lucille didn't give him the chance to entertain these thoughts.

Joyous and sweaty, she showed no trace of the anger that had been in her face last night. "Oh dear! So unlucky of you to wake up when we've only just put them on the fire. Ayota, take him to the hot springs and give him some eggs. We will come to fetch you when these are ready."

As if Ayota had been waiting for this all night, she jumped to her feet, beaming, and tugged on Byron's sleeve, pressing her naked body against him.

Byron could feel the warmth from the swell of her breast through the fabric of his clothes.

When they were out of sight, Ayota revealed to Byron the reason on which account she was beaming.

"This is our time alone. Lucille said we can do whatever we want. She said it's a reward in advance for the upcoming mission to go and bring an Amazonian for questioning."

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