Chapter 4: Call

Two days later... 

The war drums had quieted for the night. The fires burned low. Soldiers sharpened blades or curled up beside their lovers, steel still within reach. But in the largest tent, past silk curtains embroidered with wolves and flames, Gazei Wolfe was trying to think.

Key word: trying.

A low knock at the entrance.

"Enter," he called, already dreading it.

One of his handmaidens stepped inside. Clothed, thank the gods—though barely. Her silks were thin enough to be disrespectful to fabric. In her gloved hands, she held a crystal the size of an apple, pulsing with violet light.

"A message, Your Majesty," she said with a bow that showed too much back. "From Queen Rin. Private channel." 

Gazei was pretty sure this was the Iron Age, but maybe magic or whatever allowed some things to break the norm. 

Gazei raised an eyebrow. "She used the royal sigil?"

"Yes, my King," the handmaiden said, then smiled—too knowingly. "She insisted it was urgent."

Of course she did.

He took the crystal and waved his hand over the embedded rune. It flared to life—and Rin Wolfe appeared in full, projected midair like a glowing goddess made of moonlight and violet flame.

Of course, she was naked.

"...Why are you naked?" Gazei asked instinctively, staring straight at her face like a man fighting for his soul. 

Rin tilted her head, violet eyes calm, utterly unbothered. "Because I was bathing, and this was faster than dressing. Would you prefer I delay strategic updates for modesty?" She was seated in a hot spring, steam rising around her bare shoulders, water glistening over her flawless skin like it had chosen her.

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Sighed. "I mean… no. But like… maybe a fuckin' towel bitch?"

From somewhere beyond the projection came a familiar laugh—light, melodic, definitely Lianna.

Then another voice, French-accented and sharp: Élodie, muttering something about "spoiling him too much." Then a faint slap and Rin sighing like she was surrounded by children.

Oh fuck was he a father in this world?!

"They're all here," she said, adjusting her seated posture, which did not help. "We finished consolidating the Northern Ridge passes. No resistance left. Tonya sent her summons early—summoned a frost wyrm to eat an entire rebel camp. It made the papers in four provinces."

Are there newspapers? There is no printing press. Also, when can Tonya summon a frost wyrm? 

"Of course it did." Gazei ran a hand down his face. "And let me guess—Lexi took credit?"

Rin nodded. "And then challenged the editor to a knife fight for spelling her name wrong."

That tracked.

The crystal shimmered, momentarily showing flashes of the queens in the background—Élodie and Nellie drinking wine, Zhao oiling a sword longer than her own leg, and Katarina sitting on a cannon smoking. Gazei caught a brief glimpse of breasts, leather, and thigh straps before Rin refocused the projection.

"All of us remember now," Rin said, voice softening. "It started as dreams. Then faces. Then pain—real pain. We realized we'd lived another life… on another Earth." 

"I thought it might take longer," he murmured. "The merge, I mean."

"It's accelerating," Rin said. "The closer we are to you, the faster the resonance builds. That's why all of us started remembering… around the time you took Wolfgate Castle."

"That's when I—" he paused. "Yeah. That's when I started feeling it, too. Like I wasn't just in this body. I was it. Like this world didn't just accept me… it claimed me."

Rin's expression softened. "You haven't changed as much as you think, Gazei. The core of you is the same. Still reckless. Still hungry. Still stubborn as sin."

He snorted. "You forgot sexy."

A faint smile curved her lips. "That, too."

Behind her, more movement—Lexi passed by the projection field wearing a loose tank top that did nothing to hide her cleavage and carrying a bottle of something that definitely wasn't water.

"She's drinking already?" Gazei asked.

Rin nodded, sighing. "She made a bet that you'd bang Sonja before midnight tonight."

"She what?!"

"You're losing the bet so far."

He groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "You women are going to drive me insane."

"No," Rin said, eyes glittering. "We are milk your dry husband~" 

The silence after that was heavy, pulsing with layered meaning.

"You said you remembered everything," he finally said. "What does that mean for us now?"

"It means we're all in. Not just as queens. As co-rulers. As the family we never got to be."

"And you're okay with all this?" Gazei asked. "Reborn into fantasy bodies with magic, war, sex cults, and me basically not able to control my urges?" They have got to have some questions about this situation. 

Rin shook her head, slowly.

"Gazei," she said gently, "most of us were dead. Lost. Wandering. This world gave us a second chance. And this time? We don't have to hold back. We don't have to pretend. I was a sorceress the moment I touched a spellbook here and remembered how it felt to have power that belonged to me. Do you think Élodie minds being a duelist now? Or that Nellie's complaining about carrying a sniper rifle the size of a horse?"

"Okay, point taken," Gazei muttered.

Rin leaned forward slightly in the projection, water sliding tantalizingly down her collarbone.

"But you need to know something," she said, voice suddenly colder. "We remember the pain too. The betrayals. The old world. We didn't forget what it felt like to be powerless. This time, we won't be."

"I wouldn't ask you to," he said. "Not ever."

Another voice cut in from the background—Lianna this time. "Tell him if he dies, we'll kill him."

Élodie added in French: "And we'll curse him. Eternally."

Gazei raised a brow. "Friendly bunch."

"You married all of us," Rin said, almost smirking. "You have no one to blame but yourself."

They sat in silence for a moment. The crystal flickered, casting soft blue light across his face.

"Anyway," Rin continued, snapping him back. "Focus. We have three days until you reach the Zuma stronghold. Sonja's intel checks out. The place is layered, but vulnerable to siege magic. We've dispatched Zhao's scouts to the cliffs. The rest of us will meet you there after we settle the northern unrest."

"And the army?" he asked.

"Still loyal. Still thirsty for battle. And... some for you."

A pause.

A wicked smile curled Rin's lips. "One more thing—stop flirting with your priestesses. They're beginning to think they're more than toys."

He choked. "I'm not flirting. They just don't wear pants."

"They don't wear pants for a reason, darling."

With a flash, the crystal dimmed. The projection vanished.

The tent was quiet again.

Gazei stared at the empty space where Rin's image had floated and muttered:

"I'm gonna die surrounded by sexy, violent women and none of them will let me rest."

From the side, Remit's voice chimed in casually. "Death by coochie is better than death by boredom, my king."

"Get out."