“Oh, that’s fucked up, man,” I laughed so hard that I had to let Maebe’s hand go, “and no. No luck.”
“What is it that is ‘fucked up’?” Maebe asked curiously.
Muu eyed me for a moment, then spoke up, “Not too much. Just trying to give Zeke some encouragement to pursue a… new interest.”
I’m going to murder you, you little bastard. I glared at him, and it only made him laugh.
“What is this new interest?” Maebe’s hand found mine again, and my anger abated slightly.
“We can talk about it later.” She looked uncertain. “I give you my word.”
I felt that all too familiar weight settle on my chest.
WARNING!
You have given your word to a denizen of the Fae Realm. While you are not within the realm, the beings of that plane of existence carry with them a true power to hold others to their oaths. If you break your word, the consequences could be dire.
I hadn’t planned on breaking my word, but fuck.
“Very well then.” She smiled reassuringly at me. “Eroan, we are leaving now. You know what you must do—do it. Everyone? Are we ready? Do we need anything?”
“Nope, I’m good,” I said. “What is he supposed to do?”
Maebe blinked and answered, “He is to ensure that the people here are taken care of as well as to ensure that the High Elves do not return without my knowledge.”
Cool. That was a good idea.
Muu shook his head, and James said, “Let’s get it.”
The others agreed, and we were on our way. Maebe used her glamour to hide, make herself look like a normal woman to others, but with my True Sight, I saw right through it. The entire time we walked through the city, she was watching those we passed. Her curiosity of the Prime Realm was so cute and mildly terrifying due to the fact that she could easily lay waste to this entire place.
“Wait, what is that?” she asked at one point as we passed a bakery. I saw her point to a small tray with what looked like a cookie.
“It’s a cookie, I think,” Yohsuke answered before I could. “Seems kind of plain, but the people here did just get shit under control.”
“What is a cookie?” Maebe looked at it more closely. The baker eyed us suspiciously.
I tossed the man a silver coin, and he held up five fingers. I took the hint and grabbed five of them from the plate. I handed one to Maebe, tossed one to Yoh and asked if anyone else wanted one. Jaken nodded, and so did Muu.
I popped the item into my mouth and began chewing. It was sweet and tasted a little nutty, but I couldn’t place the flavor entirely. As I ate mine, I watched Maebe’s face light up. This regal woman, whose very word could begin a war that would shake an entire world, was finding such pure joy in a cookie.
“I could make a better one,” Yohsuke grunted, “but it’s okay.”
“You can make these?!” Maebe asked in delight. Yoh nodded and smirked at her reaction.
After another twenty minutes of walking through crowds and crowded areas of the city, we exited the southern gate and summoned our mounts.
Thor was happy to see me, and the others seemed to be in good spirits.
Maebe closed her eyes for a moment and flexed her hand in front of her. “Reymire, come to me.”
The shadow beneath her grew larger and larger until it was the size of Thor. Then it stood and began to crawl out of the ground. The beast who came looked like a pitch black lion. The mane shook out easily, and it observed its surroundings before lovingly headbutting Maebe on the shoulder.
Maebe mounted the lion with ease, and we set out on our way. We rode for a few hours before the light began to fade and we decided to set up camp. We all did our part, and even Maebe walked the campground in a wide arc, a trail of shadow falling behind her on the ground. Once the circle was complete, a dome of shadows closed around us, and I had to admit—it felt weird.
“What was that you just did?” I asked as she sat next to me.
“That is a barrier spell,” Maebe explained. “It will keep creatures and anything weaker than me from spotting us and attacking us in our sleep. There will be no need for a watch.”
“Won’t people see it?” Muu asked. “Forgive me, I don’t know much about magic.”
“That is alright.” Her genuine smile seemed to put Muu at ease. “The spell is simple. Anything or anyone that looks at the barrier directly will simply gloss over it. If something plans to walk through it, they will experience a sense of dread twenty-five feet away from it and will avoid the area. As we were inside the spell area when it was cast, we can come and go as necessary for unpleasant business. Just be aware that once you leave the area—you are exposed.”
“Good to know,” Jaken said as he prepared to go outside of the circle.
“Hey, Muu, you gonna open that bundle or what?” Bokaj asked loudly. “Come on over here and show us what you got!”
He stood up and walked over to the others, and as I stood to do the same, Bokaj gave me a thumb up and another wink with an exaggerated eyebrow waggle.
These nosey motherfuckers, I thought to myself. I kind of preferred the surly Ranger to this one.
“While we have a moment, you had something you were going to talk to me about earlier?” Maebe sealed my fate.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. Partially trying to rid myself of the sudden dread I felt and partially to try and find the right words to convey how I was feeling.
“You can speak plainly with me,” Maebe reassured me. She put a hand on my knee to comfort me, and I put my hand on hers.
“I told you I missed you,” I began. She nodded, and I continued, “Well, in that time that we had together in your realm, I began to develop feelings that I hadn’t expected. Feelings that, as time went on here, began to develop into an interest. There is a saying where I’m from, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’. That was the case for me.”
She seemed slightly confused but tried to comprehend the idea. “So, you are saying that while you and I were separated, your thoughts and emotions toward me deepened?”
“Yes.” I nodded, probably a little too enthusiastically. “That’s right! And seeing you again, being here with you now, it’s even more on the forefront of my mind of how much I like you.”
“I like you too.” She smiled. “That is a new thought for me. I am familiar, in an academic sense, to this feeling, and I am capable of feeling attraction to things. I find the way I feel with you pleasing, and something I would like more of, I think.”
“I understand.” I pointed toward my friends. “I’ve been exceptionally lucky to be surrounded by people I can trust. Friends. Brothers. Men willing to fight and die for me because they have no doubts I would do the same. I sometimes forget that I’m your first friend.”
“I am glad of that, though,” Maebe commented. I looked at her a moment so that she might elaborate. “You have been very understanding of my role to my people. The part that I play. You have made no plays at power. You ask for nothing but my company and that I be myself. Whoever that may be. Your presence has given me things to ponder, things to learn of myself and those around me. It has given me you.”
“I’m happy I can do that for you.” I was short on words otherwise, but I had to be honest with her. “I’m worried that with how I feel, that I might hurt our friendship—and that’s not something I want to do.”
“How would you being fonder of me jeopardize our friendship?” She cocked her head slightly to the left. “That seems like a fruitless thing to concern yourself with.”
I bit my lip and nodded—she wasn’t wrong.
“I guess I should be a little more courageous and just come out with it, huh?” I observed aloud. I looked at Maebe. “I want more. More than just your friendship.” I held my hands out to allay her reaction. “I don’t want more power. I don’t want to use you. Hell, I really only want to grow closer with you.”
“So you wish that we become closer.” Her demeanor changed slightly
. Her back was a little more rigid, her shoulders square, and her chin a little higher. “You do not wish for power. You do not wish to use me? You do not seek my throne or to allay my foothold in this realm?”
“I won’t stop you unless you or your people harm the innocent,” I told her truthfully.
“I would expect nothing less.” Maebe smiled slightly. She relaxed a little. “What is it that you would have of me?”
“Honestly?” She nodded quietly. “Just you.”
“I do not understand.”
“Do your people date each other?” I asked softly.
“We predate many generations of sentient beings in this realm,” she informed me. “I fail to see how my age has anything to do with this conversation.”
“No, no,” I laughed, “do your people court each other? Take on relationships with another of a more… relationship minded focus?”
“He wants to ask you to be his girlfriend!” Muu shouted.
“I’m going to murder you,” I roared and stood.
“Zeke,” I felt a hand on my arm, but the grip was ridiculously strong for the small hand grabbing me. One thing about the Fae—Maebe in particular—is that they are inhumanely strong. I looked back, and she pulled me down next to her. “Are you asking for me to be your lover?”
I blushed fiercely, and for the third time that day, I seriously thought about testing if the Gods could bring us back with Muu as my test dummy.
“It’s a lot deeper than that for me, but in a sense—yes,” I admitted. “I would like that deeper relationship with you.”
She thought for a moment quietly. Not looking at me or anyone else in particular then said softly, “I must think on this.”
She rose from her seated position and left the safety of the shadow dome and walked out of sight.
I… wasn’t sure what I had expected. Nothing? I hadn’t even pictured this conversation happening in the first place, but now that it had, I felt drained.
“That wasn’t a no,” James offered with an attempted reassuring smile.
“Let’s just eat and get some rest,” I said tiredly. “I don’t much feel like sparring suddenly.”
The others seemed to understand, and I did my best to ignore the sympathetic looks they slid my way occasionally as I ate my dinner of fire roasted chicken and potatoes in silence.
I let Kayda out of the collar and summoned Coal so the two could spend time in the fresh air. I stipulated very sternly that Coal was not to leave the safety of the shadow dome unless I was with him. He seemed to understand. Kayda went off to hunt for the two of them after promising to stay close. He dug himself a hole in the coarse ground so that nothing would catch fire and then curled up.
I curled up a bit later in my sleeping bag with Coal at my back a foot away but carefully not touching me and tried to put the thoughts of my bumbling earlier out of my mind.
I must have dozed off after a while because I felt motion next to me. I came to quickly with my claws ready to gouge the hell out of some eyes when I felt a cool touch on my face and saw Maebe.
“Come with me,” she whispered quietly.
I checked the others over as I got up. Everyone was in a state of their individual rest. Coal raised his head and blinked at me bleary-eyed then laid back down. Kayda watched us leave and then settled beside her adopted brother.
We walked through the dark plains for ten minutes and mounted a hill to sit beside each other. We sat there for some time before I had to break the silence.
“Mae…” She reached out and took my hand.
“Do not apologize,” she said softly. “It has been some time since I took a lover. Even longer since I allowed myself to believe it was for anything other than political gain or power.”
She leaned into me, and I wrapped my arm around her on instinct. She tilted her head up and looked at me, the stars above us reflecting in her eyes.
As I looked down at her, she smiled. “I choose to trust you.”
She raised her chin slightly to me, and I leaned down until just before my muzzle met her lips—I quickly shifted shape into my human form—and kissed her softly. Her lips were soft and cool, like a pillow freshly turned. I loved it.
Her hand touched my chin as she explored my lips with her own. When we came out of it breathless and giddy, she sighed.
“I trust you too,” I whispered into the top of her head. We laid back against the side of the hill and watched the stars. Both the ones in the sky and the ones on each other. We stayed there for some time simply enjoying each other’s company.
Chapter Seventeen
Mae and I walked back to camp hand in hand. The night was still relatively young, and I was starting to get tired. Everyone was still asleep when we walked through the dome. Kayda slumbered closer to my sleeping gear and Coal.
I ducked into my sleeping bag and undid the toggles that kept it closed and opened it for Maebe to slide in next to me. As she did so, she looked at me differently.
“Yes?” I asked.
“This is my first time seeing this human form,” she explained. “The features are about the same, but there are differences. That, and before, I didn’t take stock of you as a potential match.” She must have seen my face fall or something because she added, “Not that you are not attractive to me.”
I leaned down and pulled her into my arms easily. “Thank you.” I kissed her once more on the top of the head. Then we settled in for the night.
I fell asleep with Mae’s hands around me and slept probably the best I’ve slept since I had come to this world.
… Eke’s sleeping with her. Is this common? Did they make up? What’s going on? I heard Muu project. He hadn’t mastered leaving anyone out of messages yet.
I didn’t see them come in, but it seems new to me, Jaken answered.
I smiled and felt Mae brush her hand over my hip. She knew I was awake.
“She and I are fine,” I said aloud. “This isn’t the first time that we have shared a bed, but it is as an item.”
“Congratulations, you two.” Yohsuke stepped over to us. “Yo, you dressed?”
I looked down, and my shirt was off somehow, “Yeah man, I have my pants on.”
“Cool. Breakfast is on, be done in a bit.” He smiled.
“Anyone wanna spar?” James asked.
Muu stood. “I’m game.”
The two of them went out of the dome to get a morning workout in, and I stayed where I was. Maebe was warm against me, and I dreaded having to lose that so soon.
“I must ask you, Zeke,” Maebe spoke after a moment. I looked down at her expectantly. “Have you had any other lovers while here? Any of these ‘girlfriends’?”
“No.” I shook my head. “The remotely closest I have come is to a woman named Vrawn, and she came on to me.”
“How so?” She frowned in thought.
“She kissed me on the cheek, then kissed me fully,” I explained. “She works in a bathhouse as a worker? Uhm… fuck it. She helps wash patrons, and if they are interested, she will sleep with them.”
“And you didn’t partake?” She looked at me oddly when I shook my head no. “Are you uninterested in women? Is there a lack of ability? Are you shy?”
I had one of the “excuse me” moments—you know—where you blink a moment and look at the person.
“Most healthy men would not refuse a woman who is willing to alleviate their stresses for coin.” She frowned deeper. “I do not mean to be rude, but this is a common practice even in my culture.”
“Where I’m from, it’s frowned upon, but I realize that as long as everyone is a willing participant of age—it’s their choice.” I shrugged. I suddenly felt the urge to not be laying there, but I continued, “While I found Vrawn attractive in her own right, I didn’t want that. But I made sure that she was well compensated for her time, and she was grateful. We’re even friends now. The fact that I understood what she did and still treated her with dignity was something that I think she liked.”
“You paid her for her time but didn’t take the service?” Her eyebrows raised slightly. “Okay. I believe you.”
I nodded once, and as I was beginning to try and sit up, I felt a hand on my thigh and stiffened.
“Are you alarmed?” She tilted her head to the side with a smile. “I have to make sure what I now claim as mine works.”
“It works,” I said softly. I knew my friends could probably hear our soft speaking, but the embarrassment of the questions and the curiosity was a little too much. “I cannot believe this is happening, but believe me, it works.”
“Ah.” Mae nodded. “You are shy, then. This is okay. I will tend to you, Zeke.”
Ooooooookay. Time to get up. Oh god. I kissed her forehead, and her smile deepened.
She grabbed my thigh again. “Wait.” She looked toward my friends. “I do not do this often, so I will make this as painless as possible.”
I saw her eyes flare pitch black and a dark sphere burst around us.
“What did you just do?!” I asked.
“This is a seclusion spell that will not last long,” she explained. “I wanted to offer you an apology. I did not mean to cause you distress, nor did I mean to imply that you were broken. You are so strange to me. Your ways are so different. I wanted to let you know that I will take care of you.”
I laughed a little. “It’s okay. I forgive you, and I mean it, things work down there.” I blushed a bit more.
“I cannot wait to see,” she pulled me closer to her and held my cheek before kissing me deeply.
The spell dissipated and my friends were around us ready for a brawl.
“You didn’t answer our telepathic calls, and now, here you are again.” Jaken blinked. “You okay?”
“Don’t worry, guys.” I waved them away. “We’re fine. Thank you.”
They looked us over for a moment longer before going back about their business.
“Have you learned any of the Celestial language while you have been here?” Maebe asked me.
“I’ve tried to look over it, but it’s a little harder for me to understand,” I admitted.
Into the Dragon's Den (Axe Druid Book 2) Page 39