AO 5 Ch 29

Chapter 29

I was laying in Maribelle’s lap when all of a sudden Eva ran out of the forest. I sat up, readying my magic for something to come roaring out of the forest, but that didn’t make sense as Emlyn and Zuri followed behind her, chatting and laughing.

Eva beelined towards me and I waited to see what she had to say, except she did not stop. Her body slammed into mine and her lips pressed into my lips.

I squawked like any unprepared man would do and flailed.

She held my face to hers, her lips running over mine in an unpracticed kissing technique that was sloppy and half licking.

I had to wonder if Eva had ever kissed anyone before. My mind was clearly not in it and I barely had a chance to kiss her back before it ended.

She pulled herself back, gasping, her face aflame with a blush that ran from the bottom of her crinkling eyes down to her jaw. She stared at my face, and I wasn't sure if she saw exactly what she wanted or nothing at all.

I tried to remain stoic in the wake of my surprise.

Her eyes roamed my face for a few more moments before she turned and fled like a deer seeing a hunter for the first time.

I stood there blinking, still surprised at what had just happened. 

Emlyn was laughing so hard she nearly fell over.

"Did you put her up to this?" I growled at my anchor. This joke wasn’t that funny.

"Whoops!" Emlyn said and slipped away. "I think we need more firewood."

“You just got firewood.” I pointed out as she slipped back into the woods, ignoring me.

Emlyn’s departure left Zuri, who had just been in the woods with Eva standing there.

I pushed off the ground in a hurry and jogged up to Zuri, ready to interrogate my beautiful anchor. "You can explain what happened, right?" I said as sweetly as I could muster. 

Zuri gestured for me to follow her a step away from the camp and spoke in a hushed voice. "Eva has feelings for you, Ard." 

"Huh?" I touched my lips, suddenly thrown way off guard. "Okay, that makes the kiss make a little more sense, but the feelings are still a mystery to me." I rubbed my thumb across my jawline, thinking. "Whatever, it makes sense. I am quite handsome." 

"Ard." Zuri sighed. "Nevermind." She shook her head. 

"But seriously, Zuri," I pushed. "As in, likes me because I'm a good match for a political rich, or likes me because I'm just that incredible?" Those were two vastly different things to me.

"Given those two options," Zuri sounded exasperated, "I think it would be the latter."

“That’s not bad. One for two is passing right?”

“It is not.” She deadpanned. “However, I didn’t realize she could get multiple reasons. In that case, I’d say both, but the latter becoming the primary at some point recently.”

I gave her a big grin for playing along with me and grabbed her hips to keep walking with her. "Zuri, we haven't had much of a chance, but I want to apologize." Rather than focus on Eva, I wanted to take the chance for a private conversation with Zuri. It’s hard to have one of those when you’re stuck in a carriage with Emlyn all day.

Actually, I should check in with each of my anchors.

Her face became an unreadable mask. "Apologize for what?" 

"You know exactly what I'm trying to apologize for, Zuri." I sighed, I wasn’t going to get away that easy it seemed. "But I guess I owe it to you to say it out loud. I am sorry for benching you during the fight. You did very well. You were level-headed." 

Zuri shook her head. "No, I wasn't, Ard. I mean, I faked it well enough but you were right." 

Leaning against me, her head rested on my shoulder, and her arms snaked around my waist to hold tight. "I wasn't calm and collected. In fact, I was nearly jumping out of my skin to go kill those mages." 

Zuri’s voice dropped off as she spoke. "If it wasn't for you leaving your defense up to me, I probably would have pulled something more akin to Maribelle's strategy, rushing headlong into them and claiming a life at a very reckless cost. But… you were more important than revenge, probably the only thing more important than it in the moment." 

I frowned, squinting at her. "Does this mean you owe me an apology, or possibly a thanks?" 

"Careful." Zuri put her lips against my neck and kissed me gently, nuzzling.

I was getting some serious mixed messages. But I was fairly sure that was her way of apologizing. Zuri just really didn’t like to lose. “What was that?” I grinned against her kisses.

"Don't make it a thing, Ard," Zuri pulled back and rolled her eyes.

“Oh common, give me this one." I egged her on. 

Zuri let out an insufferable sigh. "Ard, you were correct." 

I sighed, letting out a moan almost sexual in nature, feeling immensely satisfied. Not only was I right, but I ‘won’ versus Zuri.

Instead of asking her for it again, I just mentally replayed Zuri's voice saying, "Ard, you were right. Ard, you were always right," as Zuri cuddled against me. But a moment later, I felt a jab in my side.

"You're thinking ridiculous things, Ard." Zuri grumbled.

"Maybe, but they're making me happy." I grinned back.

She kissed me more firmly. "Well, you'll just have to let your imagination play out a few different scenarios. Especially when it comes to how you'll bond me."

My imagination of her telling me I was right came to a sliding stop, like a team of horses having their reins jerked back. 

"What was that?" I turned to face her more fully. Zuri was nearly as tall as me, but pressed against me with her head on my shoulder, she seemed slightly smaller. 

"I'm not very good at repeating myself, Ard." Zuri glanced up at me, her eyes boring into mine. "And I think you heard me the first time."

"You're interested in bonding?" I repeated. 

"Yes, Ard. If anything, your refusal to let me go out and fight showed me that even with you at the lead and ostensibly in control of my soul, you will still make the right decisions when it comes to utilizing my talents." She stared off into the distance.

I squinted and thought about what she had said. It made sense that Zuri's hangup on bonding was that if I had total control of her soul, I may not be as tactical as she would want in the moment. Battleground tactics and strategy was what ran her entire life; it was a huge part of her identity.

Knowing I would stay in control and use her properly made her far more comfortable. I could see how it would be a concern that she would need to address and come to grips with before giving me that type of control. 

"Well, the best way to bond you, Zuri," I kissed the top of her head, "is to show you that even if you surrender everything to me, I will give it back to you wholeheartedly and I will never take control completely away from you." 

She had tucked her face into the crook of my neck, but I could feel her lips spread apart into a broad smile.

It seemed I had said the right thing.

“We’ll need a proper bed for that.” She promised. “Ard, I love you.”

“And I you. Though, I prefer to show it with my actions again and again if you’ll let me?” I held her close and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s walk and talk. I could use a good Zuri analysis of everything right now. It feels like I’ve been blind since the fort without you confidently by my side.”

“I’ve been here.” She argued. “Just my mind has been distant.”

“That’s your best part though. Well, second best.” I teased and enjoyed my stroll with her through the woods to stretch my legs from the long day of riding the carriage.

***

After I had removed the distance that had built up between Zuri and I, Eva was still avoiding me. I decided to go hunt Emlyn down. She had clearly been part and parcel of goading Eva into kissing me.

While Zuri had explained what was happening, at the end of the day, everyone looked to Emlyn as the best way to understand me. In truth, Emlyn was then my guidance into understanding all of them.

Not to mention I had taken it upon myself to check in with each of my anchors this evening.

"Wow, it's taking you a long time to finish collecting those sticks," I said finding my target.

Emlyn glanced over her shoulder, an eyebrow quirked up. "You know, you really shouldn't wander off from camp without anyone. Do you remember that time where you got kidnapped and bopped in the head? Oh, you might not. There was definitely some brain damage." She replied.

I chuckled, coming up behind her and wrapping my arms around her hip, pulling her into me. The move was familiar and comforting. "Oh yes, tell me all about the times where I suffered brain damage because you were an incompetent anchor."

Emlyn grunted, "I'm pretty sure we agreed that that one was your fault."

"Did we? I must have forgotten," I grabbed her cheek and twisting her face so I could kiss her. It was nice when Emlyn shut up. She hummed into the kiss and leaned back on me. We savored the kiss for a long moment, my hands beginning to wander her hips. It reminded me of when we were both just normal villagers, teenagers with undeniable urges between a boy and a girl.

She broke the kiss and gave me a quick peck on my cheek. "Are we sneaking off into the woods?"

I hummed, thoughtful for a moment. "That does sound like a fun idea." I kissed her back quickly, enjoying the way she leaned into me wanting more.

She wiggled her hips and hummed as she peppered me with another kiss on my cheek. Then she tucked my arms against her chest so that I couldn't escape and hummed some more as she took on smothering my cheeks and neck in kisses.

"I don't think I want to strip down. It's a little cold," she said, twisting around and wrapping her arms around my neck before kissing me again. "But if I have you all to myself," she kissed me again and I had no problem savoring the kiss and walking her backwards against a tree.

Emlyn pulled me down to the ground so we could both lean against the tree and just kiss.

These were the kind of kisses I could never get tired of sharing with Emlyn. They were filled with history and memories. 

She broke a flurry of kisses. Her eyes were a little hazy and hooded as she stared up into mine.

"You know, I do regret that you ran off and became a four-sphere.” She told me.

“But now you have to share me?" I asked her. Poking her in the side, "You've been a little extra mouthy to me lately."

"And here I thought you liked my mouth. You seem to like the way I use it," Emlyn sidestepped the accusation with another jab of banter. With that, I kissed her on the cheek and then down along her jaw and nibbled on her tender neck.

Emlyn moaned, giving me access to her neck. "Can't help it." She ran her hand, her fingers through my hair. "You were supposed to be all mine, and now you have all of these other ladies." She groaned. "I am a little bitter.”

“Just a little," I teased, looking up at her.

"We're going to pretend it's just a little, alright?" She glared at me and I chuckled with a shrug before bringing her lips back to mine.

"You know you're always the first," I told her.

Emlyn hummed. "But I'm not the mantikitten, or your little sexy maid, or your tactician. I'm just," she wrinkled her nose, "I'm just sort of your best friend, while also being your lover."

"You want more." It wasn't really a question.

Emlyn stopped kissing me, and hit the back of her head against the tree. "You see, this is why we haven't been having serious conversations, Ard. Because you get right to the point I don't want you to get to."

"I'm just too smart for you, Emlyn. What can I say? It's a curse; one that I have to bear." Really when it was just the two of us, we knew everything already about each other. The banter was just the way we communicated.

"Yeah, who's the one being mouthy again?" She squinted at me. "Maribelle's your little murdery maid. You very squarely put Zuri as your tactician, the one to make the plans. And then any time we're facing anything remotely monstrous, you look straight for Aurelia. And you call her your little manticore. Not to mention she is so adorable when you put her in your lap."

"Emlyn," I began, "what happened when Eva wanted to figure out where she stood with me? I coached her. Did she go for any of those three?"

Emlyn looked to the side. "No, she went for me.”

“And why is that?" I prodded her further. 

Emlyn wasn't stupid. Not in the slightest. She was, however, the kind of person to get in her own way. "Because I'm the one who knows you best. Though, I have to say, that is not as impressive as any of the other roles." 

I shrugged. "No, Emlyn," I said, patting her on the head. "Because you're my favorite. You're my first and my favorite, always will be. You're the one who knows me best. You're the one that gently needles me back into line when I'm going too far." I continued to poke her. "Not to mention, when it comes to figuring out something like Eva, I don't need Zuri, Aurelia, or Maribelle. What I need is you. Not just because you might understand the other person, but because you understand me best." 

Emlyn wrinkled her nose. "Really?" She asked after a moment.

"Really, Emlyn. Are you going to make me admit it? Make me get down on one knee and profess that you are my favorite? You understand me best. And when it comes to personal matters, I trust your opinion above all else." I told her honestly.

Emlyn pursed her lips for a moment before spreading into a giant smile. She kissed me in a flurry of kisses and held me tight with a little more than natural strength so I couldn't get away, before coming up for air.

"Ah, that's better.” I smiled. Those kisses held the heat that had been missing from the session earlier.

“Right, so you had a question." Emlyn pushed me back as if she hadn't been the one that just prolonged that engagement and folded her hands in her lap. "For your o’ great and wise Emlyn. Your favorite. What is it that you wish to seek my wisdom to explain?" 

"Well, I have a few things." She nodded as she listened to me, her fingers laced in her lap. "One, Missy is the Hollow Mage and Hecate."

I had to admit I enjoyed dropping that bomb. 

Emlyn blinked at me several times, processing my statement. She opened her mouth to speak and then clamped it shut for a second, her brow furrowing. "All three? And the statue?" 

"And the statue.” I confirmed.

She stared out into the middle distance. “I mean, you did comment about the maid at one point. Yeah, something was off there. Hecate hasn't clearly explained. But then I also assume that means my mother was aware. And granted, she probably became your mother's maid to help heal her and then hide herself. That makes sense.” Emlyn muttered to herself. “But if she did that, and she stuck around, as well as not trying to murder you like a Hollow Mage should, that means she's rather invested in you." Emlyn processed the information aloud and I nodded along.

Honestly, I was rather proud how quickly she was putting it together.

"Are you gonna fuck her?" Emlyn asked.

I nearly fell over and laughed. "She's like a million-year-old goddess." 

Emlyn shrugged. "I mean, I'm sure she still has lady bits that you can rearrange.”

“Okay, we're moving on to the next question.” Missy was likely listening in and I didn’t want to have my soul explode.

“I think that's a very important part of this.” Emlyn was stubborn beyond compare and her expression told me she wasn’t going to drop it.

“Well, you now know the full story as much as I do. And it might change how we address the next part." I started trying to move on.

“We missed something there.” Emlyn snickered. "But, yes, that does change things," Emlyn said. "But then your other problem, Eva." Emlyn hummed in thought. "You should probably fuck her too. You should probably fuck the goddess and then the princess. No, princess and goddess. Work your way up," Emlyn said after a moment of pondering.

"Emlyn, can you please take this seriously?" I rolled my eyes, but I felt a little better after the teasing. While everything was complex, there was something nice to just laughing through the mess.