Chapter 468: Chieftain Kaiden
Kaiden stood before the crowd consisting of over a hundred rescued men and women, children and elderly.
He took a slow breath before speaking.
"I want to say something before we move forward. You all swore your allegiance to me, but I know that oath wasn’t made under the best of circumstances. You’d just been freed from your chains and taken revenge on your oppressors. Emotions were running high, and I won’t pretend I don’t understand what that does to a person."
He looked over them, the starved, the scarred, the survivors. "So if anyone here wants to step back from that promise, now is the time. I won’t hold it against you. I’ll understand completely."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Some lowered their heads, whispering to one another. But before it could spread, two figures stepped forward.
Taigi, the young woman who had been ordered to seduce Kaiden by Varek, knelt first. Beside her, the quiet male hunter who had taken charge of the men did the same.
"Chief Kaiden," Taigi said, bowing her head. "We may be weak right now, but we are not without honor."
The hunter nodded firmly. "We didn’t pledge ourselves out of fear or confusion. You gave us our lives back. Our fealty stands, so long as you’ll have us."
The words struck through the crowd like a drumbeat. Kaiden studied the faces around them, seeing the tired and uncertain expressions, but no one stepped away. If anything, their stances grew firmer.
He nodded slowly. "Then I’ll accept that loyalty. But I should be clear about one thing. I don’t have land of my own for you to settle on."
He paused, then glanced at Calypso, standing proudly a few steps behind, watching the scene with a happily flicking demonic tail behind her.
A smile emerged on his lips.