Amazon Apocalypse 2: Chapter 8 (Patreon)

I spent most of the night stiff as a board. I sat bolt upright several times as I lay in bed when I thought I felt Myrina’s arms around me. Each time I looked around and realized I was alone.

The door to my little side room in Myrina’s chambers had just been blown open by the wind. I wasn’t surprised to discover an old castle had drafts though, so each time I closed the door and settled back in to sleep.

Not that I got much sleep at all. Cyra’s warning, and then the video the servants had shown me, kept playing over and over again in my head.

“I’m fucked...” I muttered. “Completely fucked.”

I would have to have been blind not to notice Myrina’s interest in me. And I had just as much interest in her. But the trouble was if either of us acted on it, her family would force her to crush my skull between her thighs!

While there were certainly worse ways to die, I had no plans of dying at all. At least not anytime soon.

I needed to think.

I needed to have a conversation, obviously. Myrina had to know what my issue was. The only problem was that she seemed to be ignoring it.

Considering she'd brought me here against the wishes of her mother and her entire clan, I doubted she cared much for the rules or traditions that forced Cyra to do what she did.

But that didn't mean I was willing to risk my life on her being able to convince her family to make an even bigger exception on behalf than they'd already made. Me just being here was causing trouble. Myrina's ability to win more favors for me would be quite limited unless I figured out a way to make myself useful to the Samhain Clan.

So I'd have to talk to Myrina. I wasn't sure if we could ever be lovers, given this restriction, but it was possible that I'd surpass her in a few decades if the integration was as fruitful as Myrina and Cyra claimed. She'd be a goal to work towards. Something to aspire to.

I'd share that idea with her, along with the notion that I didn't want to lose her as a friend. With her family's restrictions, that's all the two of us could be if I wanted to keep her patronage. Which I really, truly did. Just one day of training with Cyra had taught me things I didn't even know I needed to learn. Myrina's family had probably forgotten more tips and tricks concerning the system than I'd ever know.

Only only problem was figuring out how to let Myrina down easy.

It took me the whole night to come up with a solution.

It wasn’t until morning light was creeping over the horizon that I realized I’d had a solution at hand all along.

Why was I even thinking about Myrina?

I had two lovely ladies back home. Bridget and Sakura. They’d made it clear that the two of them wanted me all to themselves.

Myrina was a friend. A good friend I couldn’t afford to lose, but at the same time I could barely handle my existing girlfriends. Add a third to the mix would make things impossible, even if I had the permission of the other two. Which I definitely didn’t.

My heart rested easy knowing I already had the excuse I needed in my hands. I just hadn't seen it until now.

I’d have to tell Myrina I just wanted to be friends. It wouldn’t be my favorite thing to do, especially after Myrina had done so much in arranging this tutorial for me. But if my head would get squished into paste, I had no other option.

As soon as I had the right opportunity, I would break the bad news to her.

Satisfied at last, my final few hours of sleep were peaceful and pleasant.

I awoke to find the sun shining through the nearby window. I dressed and opened the door, expecting to find Myrina up and about.

She was still in bed, though, lying in a heap of blankets surrounded by a fortress full of pillows. She must have had a restless sleep as well.

I poked around her room and figured she wouldn’t mind me using what looked like a workbench. It looked like she was halfway through riveting a set of pink chain mail, so I carefully moved that aside to lay out my wires and started bending them to finish making my Mana Bombs. I still didn’t know if these things would be worth anything, but it was worth trying.

Your Artificer Job has reached level 9!

I finished the last Mana Bomb just as Myrina stirred. I caught a rapping at the door and found the tiger-furred servant I met last night arriving with a tray full to the brim with hot tea, bread, scrambled eggs, sausages, and a few strange blue vegetables I couldn’t name.

“Thanks, I’ll take those,” I said as I accepted the tray. There were plates for two on the tray, so I took my portion and pulled up a seat beside Myrina’s bed.

I know there was nothing quite like a hot tray of food to get me out of bed, and Myrina was the same. I laid her tray out before her and let the smell waft over her.

“The tea’s not bad. I prefer coffee still, but I could drink it,” I said as Myrina groaned and then rose from the sheets like a zombie.

“Shoot, it’s already morning?” Myrina yawned.

“Rise and shine!” I pushed her plate toward her.

Myrina sat up, once again showing off her perky breasts as she stretched and dug in without a care. She’d been naked under that heap of pillows.

She paid it no mind as she ate though, so I paid it no mind either.

“What are the blue things?” I poked the strange fruit. They reminded me a bit of tomatoes, only these were blue. They’d been split in half and fried on a pan.

The food looked and tasted good, though it was plainer than I expected from someone of Myrina’s status. Four basic ingredients, no spices and everything besides the sausage was fresh and local. Back home, I would have just assumed Myrina’s family was just trying to eat healthy, but given the technological level of the rest of the city I figured it might be because there were no spices to be had. Or at least no trade routes to transport them here.

“Bluefruit. It’s supposed to be good for you. They’re not too bad. Just tough to eat.” Myrina gave one of her’s a tentative poke with her fork. The cooked fruit oozed a strange blue liquid before sliding right back off. “They’re slippery little buggers. Always slipping away from you.”

The utensils we held were made of silver, but quite obviously forged by hand. The forks had only two tines, like something out of the middle ages, so while great at stabbing, they weren’t so good at scooping. Modern utensils might have handled the fruits just fine, but armed as we were the fruits were rather tough to eat.

They weren’t terrible, all things considered. They reminded me of a cross between okra and mangos. Somehow, they managed to be hearty and sweet at the same time.

“No fair. Why’s eating them so easy for you?” Myrina looked at the odd fruit neatly balanced on my fork.

“Innate talent,” I smugly proclaimed.

“Oh yeah?” Myrina eyed me with a sly grin. Then she lurched forward and ate the fruit right off my fork.

“You thief!”

Myrina grinned, swallowed, and then raised her arms. “To the victor goes the spoils!”

I shook my head, then went for a sausage. When I did so, Myrina lunged forward again and ate that too. “Mhmm... being spoon-fed my breakfast in bed? You’re going to spoil me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Alright, two can play at that game.” I speared Myrina’s sausage fast as lighting and moved to eat it. I got one good bite on the end before I felt Myrina’s lips brush against my own. Suddenly, the other half of the sausage was gone.

“Too slow!” Myrina giggled to herself.

I shook my head. “I hope you don’t do this to all your guests.”

Myrina laughed. “You’re my first, so I guess you could say yes. Yes I do.”

Myrina went quiet for a while, smile still lingering on her face. There was a scarlet hue to her cheeks as well as she shot darting glances up at me between her eyelashes.

That was just going to make this conversation all the harder. An icy hand gripped my heart, but I'd known what I needed to do from the moment I got out of bed.

"Myrina... I heard some things from Cyra," I said.

"Don't believe everything my sister tells you, Carter," Myrina hurriedly replied.

I sighed. "And heard things from the castle servants as well."

"The servants love to gossip. Don't believe everything they tell you either!"

"They showed me this little jade tablet. It contained a video of Cyra's fight with her former boyfriend."

"T-those can be faked!" Myrina insisted, dropping her fork and reaching to take my hand in her own.

I met Myrina's gaze with a steady and level expression. "Myrina, you never were a very good liar."

Her shoulders slumped, and sure enough the smile she'd been wearing was gone and had been replaced with an upturned pout. Her eyes were wet too. No tears like I feared, but if I didn't make this quick it would come.

"I... well... it's just..." Myrina trailed off.

"You don't have to say anything. I understand."

"...No fair. I didn't even get to confess my feelings yet."

I chuckled. "You weren't exactly subtle. But it can't happen, Myrina. You know that."

"It's just a stupid tradition. I could just tell my family we were postponing the duel. For a few years. Decades maybe. Centuries if we had to." Her fingers curled around mine, but I pulled my hand back.

I shook my head. "If that could have worked, your sister probably would have tried it. No, I think I have a pretty good idea of the kind of situation your family is in, and it's not one where they can afford to be flexible. You already burned all your influence and capital getting me this far. You shouldn't push it any further."

"I can handle my family!" Myrina insisted.

"Okay, then what about mine?" I asked curiously. "You know I have Bridget and Sakura waiting back home. They were suspicious enough with me running off with you. Honestly, I was surprised they let me run off alone with you at all. The two of them are quite territorial, and it would be wrong of me to take things further with you without their permission. And for that reason alone... I'm sorry, but if you're hoping for something serious it just isn't going to work."

"So... what?" Myrina scowled up at me, and now there really was a tear running down her cheek. Her fingers balled into fists on the table. "Are you going to take off as soon as were done eating and spend the rest of your stay here training with Cyra while I sit here in my room?"

"I wouldn't do that to you, Myrina. After all, we're friends. Best friends. I have no plans on giving that up." After a moment of hesitation, I reached back out and took her hand in mine.

"So... you're not leaving?" Myrina asked, a hopeful note in her voice.

"No. I'm not going anywhere, Myrina. And I'd like to keep being your friend, if you'll have me?"

Myrina's chest heaved and she turned away, gaze locked on the window outside. I gave her all the time she needed to think. Eventually she turned back around.

"A-and as my friend... you're going to stick around, right? Still be under my patronage? Still train with me? Still do fun stuff together?"

I chuckled. "I wouldn't be much of a friend if not, would I?"

She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, and a moment later the smile was back on her face.

"A-alright. Friends. I can work with that." Under her breath, she added a few quiet words that she probably thought I couldn't hear. "...for now."

<Note>

So sad. Myrina got friend zoned. Such a shame, but at least the issue with her family is 100%, totally and completely dealt with.

Looks like she'll definitely be just a friend for the rest of the series.

There's no possible way I'd let Carter have a third lover.

Or would I?!

(I would.)