Much to Camara's visible disappointment, these last three weeks have not yielded her the results that she wanted; she wasn't pregnant yet, despite Aethisia's best efforts in supplying her sister the semen needed to conceive.
The whole house came together to support her, comforting her and telling her that it will happen eventually; if not now, then when spring rolls around.
Seeing her so despondent hurt, and I could only pray that she would be capable of conceiving soon.
Besides the failed conception of a new addition to the family, Rhefia had managed to get used to Camara's pheromones, which made it easier for Kalia, Yiksa and I to enjoy some free time instead of satiating the Deerkin's sexual appetite.
Though, admittedly, we had been coming across more unique ways to do so, with that shower of ours being the newest demand that Rhefia had when she felt too horny.
Since Aethisia spent most of her time comforting her elder sister, she wasn't in the pavilion as much as before, and Rhefia asked if I wanted to spar with her, to see if I could improve a little before we set out.
I accepted her offer, enjoying the way my muscles burned after the warm ups and how intense the spars could get.
My skills had shifted, according to Rhefia; while I had the {Spearwoman} skill, it seemed that I was more suited to something else.
Her reasoning had been that my body just wasn't suited for spear fighting, telling me that I relied more on my mobility when I fought, which wasn't aligned with the spear.
I didn't plant my feet enough to empower the strikes I dealt, and I was quick to move away from an attack instead of meeting it, disengaging from the fight and finding something more advantageous for myself.
With that in mind, the Deerkin carved a rudimentary wooden axe for me, showing me how to use it as a weapon instead of a tool, stating that I seemed more comfortable with the axe.
Her reason was mainly that she had seen me use the axe with a high enough proficiency when I chopped down the trees around us, so she wanted to see if that translated to fighting skills as well.
Which is why I was hacking away at a training dummy, Rhefia standing beside me as she observed each of my blows.
Neither of us felt comfortable sparring against one another with weapons, since we had no way of healing the injuries sustained from accidents; I was new to my axe, and Rhefia was used to sparring Aethisia, who was skilled with a spear.
So she observed me as I swung the axe diagonally down at the dummy's neck, the wooden blade glancing off of the support stick that held up the 'head'.
Wincing slightly at the way the handle dug into my palm, I took a deep breath and started again, raising the axe and slamming it into the dummy's torso.
Following her directions, I flowed with the movement of the axe, moving from a right to left slash to a top left to bottom right slash, keeping the movements as one.
When the sequence ended, I restarted from a different side, mixing it up and moving my body with each slash and cut, trying to remain on balance and in control.
However, I still wasn't used to this amount of exercise, nor was I used to swinging an axe this way, so I stumbled on my last swing.
Reaching forwards, Rhefia caught me by the shoulders and raised a brow, her amber eyes filled with both worry and pride as she said "You're not doing to bad, Astra. Want to take a break?"
Nodding, I dragged in a gulp of air before sitting beside Rhefia on the stairs, staring at the axe in my hands.
Pursing my lips, I looked over at her and said "I do like the exercise, but I don't think physical combat calls to me like it does you..."
The larger Deerkin smirked and nodded, reaching over and ruffling my hair.
"It doesn't need to 'call to you' like it does me; that's not the point of this, love. I want you to be at least capable of warding off someone should they get a little too close, and appearances mean a lot in combat. If you look like you're skilled, and you wield an uncommon weapon, people think twice before trying to fight you. I know you prefer your magics, just like I prefer the feeling of cold metal in my hands.
Just think of this as a... precaution, a way to keep my sexy wife from being looked down upon~! Thought, if you flash that Blood Magic, or Dark Magic of yours, I doubt people would think to talk to you."
Rolling my eyes, I leaned into her side and took a deep breath, her minty scent washing over me.
"I shouldn't need to worry about others looking at me, not when I have such a qualified bodyguard like yourself, hmm~?"
Grinning sillily up at her, I chuckled as she began to laugh, her amber eyes filled with warm love as she nodded.
Patting her chest, Rhefia looked down at me as she said "Of course dear~! I couldn't call myself your wife if I didn't keep you safe, now could I? But, such a... precarious job deserves a reward, no~?"
Hearing that, I smiled as I nodded, sliding my hand over her thigh and towards her cock, grabbing it as I said "It does indeed... what kind of wife would I be if I didn't reward you for your work, dear~?"
Narrowing her eyes, Rhefia's smirk widened as she reached for my head, her voice turning raspy as she said "A hand isn't a reward, love. You know that much..."
Her commanding tone made me shiver, and I slipped off of the step and knelt in front of her, staring up at her as I whispered "How silly of me... sorry that I forgot, dear... let me rectify that..."
Reaching forwards, I began to kiss and lick her shaft, before I started to eagerly suck on it, her sweaty musk making my head swim with each bob up and down.
Like most nights, I began my wifely duties with great vigor, pleasing Rhefia as best I could before falling asleep in her arms, overflowing with her love.
And just like that, winter continued to crawl by, the constant blizzard forcing us to seek warmth in one another's arms...