Combat Healer Ch. 37 (Patreon)

April 15, 2023

RELEASES: Innocent Devil's Harem Book 7 is finally live on Amazon.

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NOTE: This starts with a heartwarming POV from Wren, but the overall chapter does also end on a little bit of a cliffhanger.

It's not too bad, in my opinion (if anything, it's exciting/intriguing), but just FYI.

<< Chapter 36 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 15 (Book 2) | Ch 29 (Book 3)

- CHAPTER 37: Understanding -

Present Day

An elf girl with a gray face, midnight skin, black hair, and slitted crimson eyes, stretched briefly in the tall grass on the edge of a forest, before curling back up in the shade of the tree she napped beneath, her mind slowly drifting off back to sleep. She was aware her master was meeting with the young king now, but knew it was unlikely he would need her for anything.

At least, not while the sun was up.

Wren was looking forward to the evening.

Her master had promised to spend some time with her once it was very late and most were long asleep, though she was secretly hoping to see him before then. After all, it sounded to her like he might be required to stay in his room a lot while waiting for these meetings, so there really was no reason why she couldn’t find a way to sneak into his chambers.

She’d have to be careful to not be seen, but she felt confident she could manage it.

They could spend most of the day together!

And then, once it was late, they could explore the darkness of the palace together.

She knew not to get her hopes up, but she was truly looking forward to it.

She loved being able to hear her master’s thoughts, but nothing was as perfect as being in his presence. She wanted to nap with him curled up against his side. She wanted to snuggle with him whenever he decided to read a book. She wanted to dance around him when he got up to look out the window. She wanted to run with him in the darkness of the night. She wanted to fly with him in the freedom of the skies.

Just so long as she was with her master, she felt content.

Though she had to admit, even now she felt fairly content.

Sleep.

She slept and yet every time her mind roused, she heard her master’s thoughts again. Even heard them in her dreams while she rested.

Peaceful.

So peaceful.

The sound of the tall grasses and leaves in the breeze.

The warmth of the yellow light in the bright blue sky.

The song of all the tiny birds who got to sing because she hadn’t squished them yet.

Taking a deep breath, she rolled over on her back and looked up at the pretty sunlight streaming through the leaves, a warm smile touching her full gray lips.

Today was not a very good day for some, but it was a good day for her.

She found that curious.

There were many who had been happy whenever she’d been sad, and there were now many sad when she was happy. Something she found very curious. For her entire life, she had never really considered anything other than her own feelings. Never considered anything beyond her own experience, but now she realized that each person had an experience like hers.

Like the girl being harmed right now, in front of her master.

It was an experience Wren knew she wouldn’t like very much, and yet it was not her own experience. She didn’t personally have to suffer, and it didn’t really affect her life in any way.

Yet…

Master wasn’t very happy.

He didn’t want this random girl to suffer such an experience.

Something she found curious.

What if Wren had been that girl? Would master feel the same way? And how would she feel when master saved her? How would she feel knowing master cared about her own experience?

Wren knew how she would feel.

It would make her happy knowing that master cared about her experience.

It would make her happy knowing master would find a way to end her suffering.

And she realized, that was why she was happy now.

Because master cared about her.

Should she ever be in trouble, or even should her feelings simply be bad, it would matter to master and he would try to make her happy again. Try to ensure that her own experience was a good one.

Which was why her master now considered how he might save this girl, even if he couldn’t do it in this moment. Not without big problems.

Wren felt like she finally understood.

Someone else’s suffering might not affect her personally…

But when she was suffering, it was nice for someone to take her suffering away. And perhaps, if she did end someone else’s suffering, then maybe they would return the favor one day. Just like her master took away her suffering, and just like she intended to always do for him.

Yes.

She finally felt like she understood.

What it meant…

To have empathy.

* * *

Oh, how I wished I could just kill this immature bastard of a king now.

If only it were that simple.

If only we didn’t have to worry about the kingdoms across the sea, which were absolutely a sincere threat, should they be provoked. A threat we couldn’t afford right now when the Northern Invasion was on the horizon. Not when every Scourge Suppressor in the kingdom would be needed for the task of defending the entire continent. Not when we needed the southern kingdom to be focused on farming and supplying food to feed the literal army in the north, rather than dealing with political upheaval, and the potential economic disaster it might cause.

Of course, cursing him with the Plague or Decay was potentially an option, but the suspicion would again be a big problem for a variety of reasons. And it would absolutely be suspicious when I was, very obviously, the last person who saw the king before his untimely death.

General Vildred and the other nobles could never find out I might have been responsible for killing Lord Vizen. They could never even become suspicious that I might be able to kill anyone with curses. Which meant, I just needed to do this the right way – Eliza’s way.

Assuming that nothing changed the urgency of the situation.

Thus, I remained where I was as he stabbed another piece of meat from the slightly trembling bowl, keeping my expression neutral as he chewed for a long minute.

“So,” he finally began, now that we were without the other man in the room. “Let’s talk girls. What’s your preference?”

Given what I’d seen so far, I felt confident about how best to respond.

“A cunt is a cunt,” I said simply.

“Ha!” he barked out, pointing at me excitedly with the knife. “Yes! There’s something to be enjoyed about them all, huh? And yet, they’re all the same, really!” He laughed again. “Tell me, what was your last one like?”

I decided to go with Lyla for my description, doing my best to sound impassionate toward the person in question. “Blonde, gorgeous, and skinny. Was an absolute bitch, but she just needed a good fucking to get her to change her attitude.”

His dark eyes were lit up in excitement.

And I wanted to shove my claws through his eye sockets.

Because he and I were not the same, as he seemed to assume from my comments.

Unlike how he clearly viewed women, I truly respected Lyla, even if I did find her bitchy, and I would always respect her. I’d never do something to harm her, and would absolutely never try to force myself on her. Had she indicated that she didn’t truly want me to fuck her, then I absolutely wouldn’t have. In fact, that was the entire thing that stunned me in the first place, the idea that she wanted me to fuck her even when she made comments like regretting what we’d done, comments that in no way actually implied that she wanted to be done.

I could have fucked her against that tree, and she would have gladly hooked her leg around my hip as I impaled her, even despite what she’d said. She wouldn’t have asked me not to, instead begging me to do it with her nonverbal body language. Using her cunt to apologize for being mean and for hurting my feelings with her words, too prideful to actually say ‘sorry’ out loud.

Of course, I didn’t fuck her that first time, because I assumed that she was saying she was done.

I took her hint. Or what I thought was a hint.

I absolutely respected that decision.

Which was all entirely different from this fiend.

His tone was still amused. “And when was that?” he wondered curiously. “That you taught that blonde bitch a lesson?”

I frowned, trying to look overly pensive. “Well, I’ve been traveling for a full three days, your majesty, and it was the night of our departure. That makes it almost four days ago.”

His expression was sympathetic. “No women came with you?” he wondered.

“Unfortunately not,” I replied simply.

He nodded, glancing at the girl he’d cut. “Just wondering…Allister, was it? Can I call you Allister?”

“Of course, your majesty, if that is your preference.”

He grinned at me. “So Allister, would it greatly offend you if I killed this girl in front of you?”

The girl’s rich green eyes widened in horror, her entire body beginning to tremble again.

My response was immediate, because I knew he was looking for a reaction.

“Why would such a thing offend me? Although, I would be curious as to why you would wish to do such a thing, your majesty. That girl can hardly be enjoyed if she’s dead.”

He laughed. “I’ve got hundreds of others. And really, I just want to see you bring her back to life, since there’s nothing too impressive about Heal. I want to see something that the other healers can’t do.”

The girl was shaking violently now, still holding the bowl of meat, still looking up at him, but her green eyes completely unfocused as she visibly panicked, likely knowing there was nothing she could do to escape this situation.

My tone was calm. “Your majesty, I regret to inform you that there is no spell that can bring back the dead,” I replied, though it wasn’t technically a lie.

Because, while true that I’d done just that, only about four days ago, it was a Skill that did the impossible by borrowing a higher entity’s power, not a Spell that I could wield whenever I wanted. Plus, I was pretty sure such news wouldn’t have reached his ears yet, so I felt like he shouldn’t think I was lying about resurrecting the dead.

Nevertheless, I knew why he was interested in seeing more than just ‘Heal.’

The vast majority of healers could only use Heal to begin with, and anyone having greater talent often enlisted their services in the Guilds, many of them also moving to the north for better opportunities. I was certain that there might be healers in their southern Guilds who could also use Greater Healing, but their Guild system was outside of the control of the king much like how the northern Guilds weren’t directly a part of the Queen’s army.

An arrangement due to a treaty signed hundreds of years ago, and one this king had to respect whether he wanted to or not.

The king frowned in response to my denial that I could raise the dead.

“Okay, so then what’s your best spell?” he asked seriously.

It was obvious he wasn’t going to let this subject go.

But dammit.

Did he know about the spell that created light?

I realized I was going to have to be careful about my wording…since he might know if I was lying. And I definitely wanted to avoid telling him what was truly my best spell.

I kept my tone casual. “The spell Greater Healing can allow a person to recover from almost anything not fatal.”

He perked up at that, as if he actually wasn’t familiar with Greater Healing at all.

“Oh! That sounds perfect! I want to see you use that!” he said cheerfully, abruptly rising from his throne and turning toward the girl with tan skin.

Shit!

I wanted to stop him, but I knew my opposition would only make it worse.

Knew that he probably would really kill her if I indicated that I wanted no harm to come to her. Because unfortunately, he was the king, this was his land, and whatever he decided was permissible here.

Including torture and murder.

This young immature boyish king was allowed to kill anyone he wanted.

The girl focused up at him in a panic, even as he spoke to her for the first time.

“Scream, and I’ll slit your throat,” he hissed, abruptly lunging downward with his knife.

It sank right into her gut, and she dropped the bowl, her entire body shaking violently as he withdrew the knife from her flesh, even as she fell backward, both of her hands grasping over the gushing wound…

Only for him to immediately readjust the knife in his hand and thrust downward, stabbing her again, cutting part of her hand this time as well.

Her entire body bowed, her green eyes wide with terror, the veins in her neck bulging, her entire rigid form trembling as she tried to hold up one hand in defense, a silent plea for him to stop when she saw the knife coming for her again.

“Get your fucking hand out of the way,” he snapped, not waiting for her to obey as he crouched over her and immediately started stabbing rapidly in violent succession, thrusting the blade into her gut over and over and over again, as if he was suddenly pissed and trying to get out his aggression.

And I decided right then and there.

Somehow, someway, when it was time for this evil king to meet his end…

I would be there to end him.

And I’d make it as violent and painful as possible.

I was going to skin him alive.

I was going to peel his muscles off his body one by one.

I was going to break every single bone in his skinny body.

And then I was going to fucking heal him, to do it all over again.

Fucking bastard.

After stabbing her nearly a dozen times in rapid succession, he finally sounded out of breath from the exertion, only to curse under his breath.

“Dammit, fucking got blood all over me,” he hissed, abruptly stabbing her one last time, this time in the lower chest, between two ribs, causing her to make a tortured gagging sound, the first real noise she’d made. He then pulled the blade out and stood up, focusing down at what he’d done. “Damn. She’s a mess,” he commented casually, focusing back at me. “Well? Let’s see it.”

I held out my hand.

Forced my tone to be neutral. “Greater Healing.”

Her body recovered in a matter of seconds.

And she was left staring up at the ceiling, visibly traumatized and terrified, unable to move, unable to do anything except just lay there completely still, likely wishing she could get away, wishing she could escape this hell she’d found herself in.

Alternatively, the king sounded excited.

“Whoa! That was amazing! Holy shit! Can we do it again?”

Absolutely not.

It shouldn’t have happened the first time!

Thankfully, I’d noticed something important.

Something extremely important.

I’d noticed the reaction of the other girl, the blonde one who was far heavier and thicker. Completely opposite of what I would expect, she seemed absolutely calm, as if she personally was not fearful of being harmed. As if she personally felt confident the king would never hurt her.

It was shocking, but I couldn’t deny what I saw plainly.

And so, I had a response ready.

“Your majesty,” I said politely. “It is my personal opinion that you picked the prettier of the two to play with, and it would be a shame to see that bronze skin of hers soiled with more blood.”

He laughed. “Play with?” he repeated, a huge grin on his face. “Ha! I like the sound of that,” he continued, abruptly turning back toward his throne and moving to sit on it, grabbing the cup from the other girl’s hand.

The chubby blonde truly didn’t look nervous at all.

I used the opportunity of his distraction to cast a silent spell, knowing it wouldn’t make up for what she’d endured, but hoping she would never have to suffer anything like that ever again, since I didn’t plan on staying much longer in this audience hall. Which meant the temptation to see what I was capable of would hopefully be removed as well.

‘Heal Ailment, Trauma.’

Her entire body stiffened at that, growing completely still, focused up at the ceiling like she couldn’t comprehend what just happened to her. Couldn’t comprehend why she was suddenly okay right now, as if what she’d just endured was only a horrible dream.

A terrible nightmare, and nothing more.

No doubt she’d still be afraid of what the king might do to her in the future.

Healing her trauma didn’t remove the knowledge that she’d just nearly been stabbed to death, all for this sick bastard’s amusement.

She could still remember it happening.

But the trauma itself from the experience was at least gone.

She would be able to make decisions now, without her terror getting in the way.

The young king took a few big gulps from his cup, not having noticed anything different with the girl lying on the floor, only to abruptly point toward her without looking.

“Want that one?” he wondered.

My eyebrows raised at that.

Was he serious?

I knew he must be playing some kind of game, unless he truly just didn’t care about her, since he apparently had hundreds of others. Hundreds of girls in his royal harem.

I kept my tone reserved. “A gift?”

He nodded, his dark brown eyes visibly amused.

I frowned. “To have, or to borrow?” I wondered.

He smirked. “I think I like you, Allister. Much better than the filthy elves who have visited in the past. Fuck, they are so arrogant. So high and proper.” He laughed. “What would it take to have you serve me instead?”

I gave a fake easygoing laugh. “You jest, your majesty. I may be a healer, but I cannot recover from losing my own head.” I gave him a fake grin. “Gifts won’t go unnoticed though,” I lied.

He grinned right back, completely fooled. “Take her. She’s yours. My advisor, Lord Grimaldi, shall not be available until later this evening, so use her as you please, in the meantime.”

I nodded, acting like I didn’t care. “I believe I am expected to meet with a Commander, but not until a bit later.”

“Ah yes, Lord Demetri.” He waved me on. “Go do what you need to do. I’ve seen enough. Take her home with you. She’s yours.”

I nodded slowly, feeling like there was going to be a catch.

Focusing on the girl, still covered in blood even if she was healed, I spoke directly to her, my tone demanding.

“Let’s go then,” I retorted.

She glanced at me with wide eyes, only for her gaze to begin shifting away, like she was going to look at the king, followed immediately by her stopping herself. As if she too were afraid that he’d change his mind if she even so much as met his gaze. Thus, instead, she lowered her head entirely as she slowly got up, her dark brown hair hiding the sides of her face, and then carefully began walking toward me with hunched shoulders, her tan bloody arms stiff at her sides.

I could tell she was terrified.

Not of me, but of him.

Of him changing his mind.

Which was exactly what he did.

“Oh, just a moment,” the king commented, causing her to freeze solid, the girl finally looking up at me in sincere terror, visibly begging me to save her now, even as he continued. “Maybe I’ll keep that one, and you can have this one.”

The chubby blonde girl actually frowned at that.

I knew he was playing a game, and I felt fairly confident how best to respond.

I shrugged, my tone indifferent. “You are the gift giver, your majesty. Give one, give neither, the decision is yours.”

He grinned, seeming to like that response. “Well, I can tell you really like that one, so she’s yours. I was bored of her anyway.”

I simply nodded once, and turned to leave again, without a word this time.

The girl immediately followed, her head bowed.

As I opened the large wooden door to the audience hall, Lord Cassian met my gaze, only to look confused when I stepped to the side and gestured for the girl to proceed, so that I could close the door behind me before the fickle king changed his mind yet again.

Cassian was only confused briefly, because he hadn’t seen her yet.

But the moment he laid eyes on her, laid eyes on all the blood covering her exposed body, his reserved expression became one of absolute horror.

The girl looked up at him and then immediately averted her emerald gaze, her expression pained as she silently moved past him, clearly wanting to get further away from the audience hall, further away from the king, before waiting on being told what to do next.

It was very obvious that the young Lord knew it wasn’t the king’s blood.

Knew that the king was perfectly fine.

He didn’t think for one second that I might have committed an assassination.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the door closed all the way before the bastard spoke up again.

“Oh! Lord Cassian!” he called out.

We both hesitated briefly, before he moved closer and peeked in his head through the mostly closed door. In the meantime, I walked past him and toward the girl, who looked up at me with a pleading expression. I then stopped in front of her, listening for a few seconds to their conversation, wanting to ensure the king wasn’t really going to change his mind.

Because as much as I wanted to help this girl, I was here for a specific purpose, one that involved a plan to save the entire southern kingdom, and I couldn’t sacrifice that for one stranger I barely knew. Of course, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t still try to save her once the sun set, and once I was free to be a monster in the darkness, but I couldn’t do so openly.

Thankfully, the king was requesting something practical.

He was going to spend the rest of the morning playing with his other pet, and wanted to ensure that the blood was cleaned up. Also confirmed that he’d given me the girl to take home, and to ensure the other guards knew, so that they didn’t think I was stealing.

Lord Cassian reassured him that he would have everything taken care of, and encouraged him to enjoy the rest of his morning.

I slowly slid off my blue hooded robe with silver accents as the girl stared up at me, only to carefully drape it around her shoulders to hide her nudity. Something she didn’t seem to care about, but also something I didn’t want to catch everyone else’s attention as we walked through the castle.

She carefully slid her arms through the heavy silk sleeves, the garment looking huge on her given my size, and then just let it hang open since there was no way to fasten it closed, not attempting to keep it shut to hide her exposure, though a lot was hidden in a layer of drying blood.

I turned to Lord Cassian as he closed the door, with me now only wearing the black leather pants and white silk shirt.

His eyes widened again as he focused on me, almost as if he didn’t truly register before now just how broad my chest was, just how thick my arms were, just how massive my muscular legs were.

I was a healer, and yet I could see it in his blue eyes.

He wasn’t confident he could beat me in a fight, despite no doubt being competent with his sword. However, he visibly shrugged off the thought when he focused on the girl again, only briefly, before forcing himself to resume that neutral expression.

His tone was reserved.

“If you would please follow me, I will take you to your chambers until Commander Demetri is ready to see you. I also need to make a few stops along the way, as requested of the king.”

I simply nodded.

He turned to lead the way, his posture stiff in his armor.

I followed, and the girl immediately was on my heels, walking as close as possible without tripping over my feet.

From my conversation she overheard with the king, it was very likely she thought me a horrible person, which was a major testament to just how much she feared the king, given her current behavior. Clearly, even as horrible as I might be, I was the lesser of two evils in her mind.

As we traveled through the lavish hallways, I used the opportunity to assess Cassian’s information, discovering that he was a Fighter with the Knight focus, very comparable to the Warrior focus that was most common among Oni and Elf Fighters, except that the Knight focus often resulted in skills that were not nearly as powerful.

Of course, the humans also called their guards by the term ‘knight,’ though many of them probably didn’t have the Knight focus, instead having something more common among humans, such as Swordsman.

Common, and weaker overall.

Both in terms of skills and the chances of having higher stats.

In Cassian’s case, he was A Tier, at least, but just barely.

Unsurprisingly, we made a stop where the young Lord informed the maidservants there was a mess to clean up in the audience hall, and also making it clear that the girl whose blood had been spilled was alive and doing alright, since no doubt they would be shocked when they saw the mess, likely thinking someone had been murdered.

He then proceeded to lead us further within the servant area, only to abruptly stop outside of a random doorway.

“The servants’ latrine,” he said simply. “I’ll wait here.”

I gave him a confused look, my brow furrowing more when he didn’t meet my gaze. Only for him to glance at the girl, looking her up and down briefly, his own brow furrowing heavily.

“Perhaps…you should take her too,” he added hesitantly.

The girl simply looked up at me, waiting to be told what to do.

Having no idea what was going on, I decided to just take the hint and see what came of it. Turning toward the door, I opened it and stepped inside, unsurprised that it was fairly putrid smelling within. There were three holes in the stone slab that were the toilets, with there being another wooden door to the side.

Ensuring the girl stepped inside with me, I closed the door behind us.

She looked around the small stone room as well, and then focused up at me, again waiting to be told what to do.

Frowning, I shifted my gaze to the other wooden door when it creaked open hesitantly, a short young woman peeking through the crack, her brown eyes widening when she looked up at me. She then opened the door more fully, her face visibly flushing deeply as she silently approached, unexpectedly reaching out for my black leather pants and trying to undo my belt.

I was shocked.

Without hesitation, I reached down and grabbed her light brown hair, my tone firm as I tugged her head away.

“Not interested,” I said firmly, unable to believe this was happening.

Did Cassian really think I wanted something like this? For some random girl to suck on my cock?

And why?

Because the king had given me a girl to have?

The timid girl fell on her ass as I reached to open the door again.

“No wait,” she pleaded, abruptly crawling to my feet, and urgently trying to get at my boots instead. “Please,” she begged quietly, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks, her voice barely above a whisper. “Please, please, please. Please save her.”

My eyes widened in surprise, and I abruptly crouched down, her face suddenly between my strong thighs again, even as she looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. My voice was just as quiet.

“Save who?” I whispered.

“The princess,” she pleaded, literally saying it like a plea.

“Princess Marta?” I said in surprise, knowing she was the one who would likely ascend to the throne once the current king was overthrown.

The timid girl’s entire face scrunched up in visible grief. “S-She’s been dead for two months now,” she whimpered.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Princess Marta was dead?

How?

And what of the others?

The king had several older sisters!

“What of the other princesses?” I asked seriously. “And how are their deaths not known?”

“They’re all dead,” she sobbed. “Princess Erika is the only one left. Please. Please save her.”

Fuck.

Fuck, this changed everything.

The humans could only be crowned Ruler if they were of the royal family.

It was based on blood!

And Eliza’s plan couldn’t work if there weren’t any others to fucking take the throne!

Fuck!

“Where is she?” I demanded.

“We have to use the sewers. It’s the only way,” she begged.

Now I understood.

She was trying to undress me from the waist down, because we’d fucking have to use the sewers. And my skin could be washed, whereas the putrid scent of shit wouldn’t as easily be removed from clothing.

Good thing I was wearing undergarments, since leather could chafe otherwise.

Only problem was that I had someone tagging along now.

I focused up at the half naked girl, standing right next to my crouched position, seeing that her green eyes were wide with sincere horror at the news she’d just overheard.

My tone was hard. “You either need to stay here and wait patiently, or else walk through shit with me.”

“Thank you, thank you,” the timid girl whimpered, burying her face against my crotch.

My unanticipated companion’s green eyes were still wide. “I…I’ll go. Please take me with you.”

I was surprised by that response.

Walking through shit was kind of a big deal.

It implied that potentially being reclaimed by the king was far more horrible for her.

I immediately reached down by her ankles for the edges of the long navy silk robe, a robe that only went down to my knees when I wore it, beginning to fold it up and tighten it around her tan thighs, only to start roughly tying it snuggly to avoid it getting filthy. The alternative being her trudging through shit naked, which I doubted she would be too interested in.

I then stood up a little, prompting the timid girl to pull away, and I began slipping off my boots, having no problems balancing at all on one foot, only to finally tug down my leather pants.

The timid girl immediately grabbed all of it and turned to rush it into the other room, only to call out to me in a quiet voice.

“Please. In here.”

Now only wearing my white silk robe and my very thin linen trousers, most of my strong legs bare, including my feet, I stepped into the small room, seeing that there was a large square opening in the floor, usually covered with a piece of rotting wood.

The timid girl was already almost halfway down, holding onto a rope that was tied to a metal rod near where she’d placed my boots and pants. Also near to where two buckets of clean water resided, no doubt to wash our feet after the return trip.

“Please, this way,” she begged, before carefully sliding herself down.

I could hear her splashing in the shit below.

Well, fuck.

Time to get dirty, I supposed.

I knelt down by the square hole, seeing that she’d illuminated an extremely small Light Crystal, waving it up at me. Honestly, it wasn’t that far of a drop, and I wasn’t sure the rope could hold my weight, so I placed my hands on the sides and carefully began lowering myself down, only to readjust my hold as I got lower, until I was finally hanging by just my fingers.

Stretching my feet down, I felt the shit at my toes, knowing some splash was going to be inevitable.

Letting go with my feet still tensed, I thankfully only dropped a couple of inches, my reflexes and strong body actually resulting in basically no splash at all. I then focused up to see that my companion was urgently trying to follow, her legs already hanging as she started to lower herself on the rope.

Quickly glancing down the tunnel, I realized that it was fairly skinny, only a little over three feet wide, but that it was plenty tall enough for me to walk freely.

Which meant, I’d have the freedom to carry someone, if so desired.

Frowning, I reached up and wrapped both hands around the girl’s waist, causing her to freeze solid.

Freeze solid…and then slowly let go of the rope entirely.

She was stunned.

I could see it on her face as I carefully lowered her, lifting up my knee briefly to set her ass on it, perfectly balanced, even as I readjusted my arms underneath her knees, only to lower my leg and carry her effortlessly in my strong arms.

She was stunned because…

Because the moment I wrapped my hands around her waist, she could feel that I was fully supporting her weight. Something even the average strong man wouldn’t easily be capable of. She could feel that holding the rope was doing nothing to prevent her from falling.

However, it was also obvious she fully expected me to set her feet down in the shit, because when I instead readjusted her in my arms, and especially when I nodded at the other girl to start leading, my companion just stared up at me in absolute disbelief and shock, followed by…perhaps a bit of awe.

Slowly, she readjusted her arms around my neck as I began trudging through the sewer.

I didn’t look at her, instead focused on my surroundings, thankful I could see in the limited light without my eyes giving my Nocturnal Vision away, like was usually the case for elves when their irises flashed silver.

However, despite not looking at her, she didn’t look away from me at all.

Not for the entire time.

She was dressed in my navy silk robe, carried effortlessly in my strong arms, and now she was staring at me like I was her literal savior.

Her literal dreams come true.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, because I wasn’t in a position to protect her right now. If the king requested her back, I could literally start a war by refusing, and given that the south produced most of the food, they could starve us very easily. Not to mention, even if we did defeat them quickly, it would no doubt cause major problems with the kingdoms across the sea, drawing us into a war we couldn’t afford to deal with when fighting off a literal invasion of monsters.

Fuck, maybe I just needed to figure out some way to get her out of here.

I could just claim she ran away.

Perhaps I could get Wren involved, maybe have her fly this girl away, but that would mean my unexpected companion learning of that secret too – the fact that I had a monster friend.

All for a stranger.

All for some random girl.

Fuck.

She should probably know.

I didn’t like her looking at me that way, so I needed her to know.

I sighed heavily, ignoring the horrible scent filling my lungs, even as I continued to follow the timid girl down the tunnel. “I’m sorry for what happened,” I said quietly, not looking directly at her.

She spoke for the first time.

“It’s not your fault,” she whispered.

I frowned. “I’m surprised you would say that, given that my responses encouraged him to hurt you.”

Her voice was almost inaudible. “There’s nothing you could have said to make him not hurt me.”

“He’s hurt you before,” I realized.

She shook her head, her rich dark hair bouncing slightly. “No, and he’s never slept with me either. But I’ve heard stories. Very horrible stories.”

“He’s never slept with you?” I said in sincere surprise.

“I’m…I’m a virgin,” she whispered.

I finally glanced at her, a little skeptical.

Her rich green eyes were intense. “I promise I speak the truth. He overlooks most of the girls. This is the first day he’s chosen me in the year that I’ve been a part of the king’s harem.”

I frowned as I focused ahead again. “I am sincerely sorry,” I repeated, deciding to make my point. “And I don’t want harm to come to you. But I also can’t start a war over you.”

She grimaced at that, only to abruptly pull herself closer, burying her face against my neck as she tightened her arms around me. “I…I understand,” she whispered.

Fuck.

She wasn’t making this easy.

I took another deep breath, the scent of her hair actually making me want to breathe in even deeper, despite the horrid smells. “If possible, I will try to keep you out of his hands. But I can’t make any promises, and for that I am sorry.”

“I understand,” she repeated almost inaudibly.

Dammit.

“What’s your name?” I unexpectedly wondered, uncertain of why I was even bothering to ask.

“Blake.”

I didn’t respond.

Knowing her name was going to make this harder.

I gritted my teeth. “What would you do to be freed from this place?”

She tightened her arms around my neck. “Anything.”

I didn’t respond.

She continued. “I’ll be your wife. Or concubine. Or anything you want. I’ll obey your every wish.”

I sighed heavily. “I wouldn’t want someone who chose that because it was her only option to escape this hell.”

She pulled away, looking at me in surprise. “It’s…I think it’s what I would choose anyway, even if I were free to do anything I wanted.”

My brow furrowed at that. “I do have other women,” I said seriously. “More than one.”

Her green eyes were hopeful. “Okay.”

“And that’s what you would have chosen anyway?” I said skeptically.

Her eyes were searching mine now. “From what I’ve seen so far, you’re everything I’ve dreamed of in a man. Strong, handsome, confident, wise, brave, tall, caring, gentle, considerate, selfless. And those are only the things I’ve seen so far.”

“And what if there is a darker side to me too?” I asked seriously.

Her brow furrowed slightly. “One that would hurt me?” she whispered.

“Never.”

Her gaze became tender. “A man I can trust, even if he is capable of scary things. A man who is gentle with me, even if there is darkness within him. A man who I want, who can also keep me safe. This is a man I desire.”

I frowned. “You may find me very scary,” I said seriously. “I would never hurt you, but if I entrust you with all my secrets, you may find them terrifying. And it will be problematic if you can’t handle them.”

“I’ll handle them,” she promised.

I sighed heavily, unable to believe I was really even having this conversation with her, and uncertain if she truly could even grasp what she was potentially getting herself into. Maybe she would be alright with it. But what if she wasn’t?

Dammit.

How had the conversation even taken that turn?

I supposed she’d gone that direction when I asked what she would do to escape this place.

Since we had the time anyway, the timid girl having gotten quite a bit ahead of us, but still clearly within sight, I decided to check Blake’s information, not really caring if she didn’t have a Class, with me assuming she would definitely be Focusless, but just kind of curious…

However…

What I divined…

Was absolutely not what I was expecting…

I froze solid, my eyes widening in shocked horror.

----------------------------------------

Blake Sangrit

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STATUS

Race: Eldritch/Human (Hybrid)

Gender: Female

Age: 19

Class: Rogue

Focus: None (Locked)

----------------------------------------

Eldritch.

This girl…was a monster.

One of them.

One of those monsters.

The ones we’d been urgently killing in the capital.

Oh my God.

FEEDBACK: Well, if you didn't already want the king to die a horrible death, I'm sure you do now. Thoughts on this chapter?

Thoughts on that ending? (Specifically, thoughts on this girl named Blake?)

Chapter 38 >>

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