“Annie thinks the stranger might have a big cock.”

Belle laughed, leading Bran to do the same. His laugh was less about her lewd statement and more about the idea that his daughter had said such a thing.  

Belle disappeared into the darkness, leaving Bran wondering whether she would even return. She didn't, and eventually another male villager arrived to take his watch over the stranger. 

Bran returned home, finding Annie soundly asleep in her bed. He looked down on her with pride for a long time, the light of a single candle flickering on her face. 

Her birth had been a miracle, yes, but Annie had been a marvel in so many other ways after that, things that were of her own doing, not her parents’. She was smart, beautiful, athletic, loyal, loving; she was everything Bran could have wanted in a child. 

Soon, he thought to himself, she'd be having children of her own. Bran thought again about the stranger, King. Bran hoped the man would turn out to be healthy in every way, of course. He would certainly have knowledge of the outside world that the Elder Council would find of interest. 

Beyond that, though, Clan Kyst would look at the stranger as a wonderful source of [i]new blood[/i], an increase in their genetic diversity. 

Annie would be of age soon, of course. Would Bran want to see this stranger put a child inside his own daughter? If he had a choice, [i]no[/i] man would ever [i]defile[/i] his [i]little girl[/i]. But that wasn't his choice, nor was it realistic. 

Bran turned away from his daughter's bedroom to finish some chores before heading for his own bed. Undressed, Bran found his cock again more hard than not, and he considered finding satisfaction alone, as – unknown to him – Annie had before she, too, went to sleep. 

But he resisted, wanting to [i]save[/i] himself for his [i]coupling[/i] with Belle. Now that she'd chosen him to father her child, they only had to wait for her to [i]enter her moon[/i], which could come in weeks, days, or even tomorrow. 

Because she was a virgin, it was incumbent on him to refrain from sexual activity prior to their coupling. The act of intercourse for a [i]pure[/i] woman could be painful, so limiting the [i]trauma[/i] of intercourse by limiting the duration of it was stressed by the Matchmaker. Bran would show Belle the respect she deserved by leaving his cock alone and lonely until he had successfully [i]seeded[/i] her.