Chapter 35:

  “Here we are,” Feli opened the door.

  A large wooden tub and a small bed took most of the space in the cramped room. A single lit candle stood on the windowsill.

  Feli fidgeted with her fingers, “I know it’s not much for someone like you, but it's the best we have. Sorry.”

  Stryg stepped inside and glanced around the tiny room. It was indeed small compared to his apartment. He remembered how he used to live back in the Blood Fang tribe, in a tiny tent with several other goblins. Had it been the Stryg of a few months ago, he would have been ecstatic to have been in a room like this. Now, it just seemed tiny. How quickly his perspectives had changed.

  “It’s fine,” he said.

  “Sorry, one second,” Feli reached under the bed and pulled out a small wooden box, “We normally carry a medkit for times like this.”

  She opened the kit and pulled out a small towel, a roll of gauze, and a small bottle of alcohol. She stared at Stryg’s arms. They were covered in blood and she could even spot bits of flesh hanging from a few of his claws. She resisted the urge to wretch at the grisly sight.

  This goblin was her one true chance to rise above her station. She couldn’t throw it away by vomiting on her future husband. No, she needed to be helpful to him in his time of need. It was the only way her plan of seduction would succeed. Alluring and graceful, not disgusting.

  “I’ll have to disinfect your wounds first,” she said.

“I’m not injured,” Stryg said.

  Well, not outwardly at least. His arms burned from the spell he cast earlier. He had never cast a spell of such a large scale before. His body wasn’t accustomed to it, and the toll was painfully obvious. He wanted to get a drink to numb the pain. But getting this close to Feli was nice too.

  “So, that’s all the other guy’s blood?”

  “Yes. It’s not much really when you look at it. The face doesn’t have a large amount of blood. Had I gone for the neck then there’d be a lot.”

  This wasn’t a lot? Feli didn’t want to know what Stryg considered a lot.

She made a forced smile, “May I?” She held the towel in her hand.

  Stryg slowly nodded.

  “You’ve got some blood on your face,” Feli bent down more than necessary and began to wipe his cheeks with ginger care.

  Stryg’s eyes were in perfect view of her large breasts, only a few inches away. Her olive skin almost glowed in the firelight. Her long purple hair tickled his nose.

  He tore his eyes away from her chest. “Your hair, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “You like it?” Feli smiled. She had dyed her hair to help attract attention. It had worked like a charm, giving her an exotic look.

  “I didn’t know humans could have purple hair. Are you a hybrid too?”

  “Oh, um, no, I’m not. Humans normally don’t have purple hair. I bought a potion from a salon that changed the color of mine. It was pretty expensive, honestly.”

  Feli laughed at herself, “Probably, sounds like a waste to a mage though. I bet you could just change the color of your hair whenever you wanted. ”

  “I like it,” Stryg’s eyes went back to her chest. “A lot. Your hair, I mean.”

“I’m glad I bought it then.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Stryg’s eyes stayed on her jiggling breasts as she finished wiping the last bits of blood from his face. The conversation fell into a small lull as silence threatened to make the moment awkwardly tense.

  Feli’s mind raced, she wasn’t sure what to say to a mage. Stryg seemed content to keep staring at her breasts, which was good, but it seemed she wouldn’t be able to count on him to carry the conversation. She needed to say something fast.

  “...So, you’re a half-goblin?”

Stryg closed his eyes, “Yeah. It’s weird, I know.”

  He was so focused on her beauty that he let slip out one of his more shameful secrets. He supposed it wasn’t much of a secret actually. He was obviously very different from the other goblins.

  Feli’s hands stiffened in panic. His nature was clearly a sore spot for him. She needed to salvage the situation. “I like hybrids.”

  “Really?” Stryg opened his eyes and stared at her own chestnut eyes with an unwavering intensity.

  Feli swallowed, “Yeah, I think their unique nature makes them more attractive. Like your eyes, I’ve never seen anything like them.”

  Feli stared into his yes, his dilated pupils threatening to overtake the lilac irises completely. She could lose herself in those alien eyes.

  “Beautiful,” she whispered and was surprised to find she meant it.

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A knock on the door broke the spell-like moment. Feli took a step back from Stryg.

  “Come in,” she said.

“Excuse us, sir mage,” Carla said.

  The stable hands stood behind Carla.

“We brought plenty of water for your bath. I also brought you your drink.”

  Carla ushered the stable hands in. They quickly and silently began filling the large tub with hot water. They then headed back downstairs to get more buckets of water. Carla placed Stryg’s shot of Fire Breath in the corner.

  “I’m sorry, we would have had the bath already prepared had we known who you were,” Carla bowed her head in apology.

  Feli stepped in front of Carla, “Yes, on behalf of the entire Merry Crescent, please excuse our behavior for not recognizing you as the mage you clearly are.”

  Feli bowed her head too and held her hands together, using her arms to push her breasts forward.

  Stryg’s attention fell to the woman’s bountiful chest, again.

  Clara stepped away from Feli, “I would have recognized you earlier, but we all thought magi wore black robes.”

  “Many do, I’m told its tradition. Some don’t, my master being one of them. She isn’t one for rules in general. I’m still a student at the academy, so I couldn’t wear the robes even if I wanted to.”

  Feli’s head snapped up, “You’re a student at the mage academy?”

“Yes.”

  “How wonderful,” Feli smiled, but her mind was racing.

  If he was still a student it meant he wasn’t wealthy or powerful. Well, not yet at least. Her rise to a high-class wife would have to wait a little longer. But, this was a good thing she told herself. It meant he probably hadn’t married anyone yet, which meant she had a better shot of tying the knot with him.

  “Yeah, I’m glad to have a chance to learn at the academy,” Stryg said.

  “Excuse me, sir mage. The tub is full. We also brought a few extra buckets of water. There’s also some soap and plenty of towels. We won’t take any more of your time,” one of the stable hands said before they left.

  Stryg was beginning to enjoy the mage treatment. Why hadn’t he said he was a mageborn earlier?

  “Please, allow me to assist you in your bath,” Carla smiled. She played with her blonde hair.

  That was the one thing Stryg didn’t like. Why did they think he needed help to bathe? Sure, he looked a little young for his age, but he wasn’t a child. Nor was he an idiot and his injuries weren’t so far gone that he needed assistance.

  “No, I’m alright,” Stryg said.

Carla’s smile fell, “Oh, are you sure?”

  “How dare you question him,” Feli chastised. “Stryg said he was alright, so he’s alright. Thank you for bringing him his drink. You may go now.” Feli ushered Carla away before she had a chance to protest.

  Feli closed the door on the miffed barmaid.

  Feli made sure the door was locked before turning around, a seductive flair in her step, “Now, where were we?”

  Stryg stretched his stiff limbs, “You want me to take a bath?” He looked at his hands, “I guess they are a bit bloody.”

  “Don’t worry I’ll take care of that.” Feli grabbed a fresh towel and began washing his gore stained hands with one of the buckets of water.

  “I can do this you know and take a bath too. I don’t need your help, I’m tired, not weak.” Stryg protested.

  “I’d never think you're weak, especially after how you...dealt with that guard. I know you can clean yourself up. I just want to help,” Feli leaned forward, “In any way, I can.”

  “... Any way?”

  “In any way you can imagine,” Feli whispered. She finished cleaning his arms. “Let me first help you into the tub.”

  “Ok,” Stryg gave his assent.

  He was beginning to understand why she had brought him to the room. He stood still while she carefully removed his blood-stained shirt.

  “I’ll get someone to wash your clothes and have them dried by morning,” Feli said.

“Thanks.”

  Feli knelt in front of Stryg and unbuckled his pants, “It's my… pleasure.”

  He wasn’t wearing any underwear. She had never been with a man before, but in her line of business, she had seen many naked drunken men flounder about the tavern. Feli was surprised, she had thought his privates would be smaller than a human’s, but it was just the same, if not a tad larger.

  She wondered what it would look like, erect. Or how painful it might be. Her face was only two inches from the twitching appendage. She could smell its musky scent.

  Stryg stared at her frozen expression with mild curiosity.

“Had she never seen a dick before?” He wondered.

  He supposed it was possible, there weren’t any night challenges in Hollow Shade as far as he knew.

  Feli felt her cheeks grow warm. She lowered her head and went to work on his shoes. She paused, puzzled at the sight. His laces weren’t tied, rather tucked into the soles of the shoes. She easily pulled his shoes and socks off and stood up, careful to not look at Stryg’s groin.

  “All done,” Feli cleared her throat. “The water is pretty hot, please be careful.”

Stryg stepped into the large tub. He sighed in comfort as he slipped into the hot waters, “It’s perfect.”

  “I’m glad,” Feli said and began to take off her white apron.

“What are you doing?” Stryg asked.

  Was she going to take a bath too? The tub was large, but not that large. He didn’t like to share. It’d be cramped. Actually, that might not be bad. He imagined being pressed against her soft body. Yeah, definitely not bad.

  “My clothes will get all wet if I help you bathe, silly,” Feli smirked.

“I’m not silly,” Stryg narrowed his eyes.

  Feli raised her hands an alarm, “I’m sorry, I was just teasing you. It was a joke.”

  “Where I’m from people call those sort of jokes insults.” He already had to endure his master’s insults. He refused to hear them from another.

  “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” Feli promised.

  Okay, so Stryg didn’t like jokes, at all, she thought. Noted. She needed to avoid upsetting him. Teasing was off the table.

  “Why did you stop?” Stryg asked while glancing between Feli and the fallen apron.

“Oh, right.” Feli unbuttoned her black corset, letting it drop to the ground.

  She shimmied out of her red skirt and slipped out of her shoes and socks. She was only left with her undergarments. Feli was more than used to the stares of men, but she still felt mild discomfort being half-naked. Feli took a deep breath, what was she thinking? This was her future husband, he was going to do much more than just see her naked.

  Stryg’s eyes savored the sight before him. Feli’s unblemished olive skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. A little body fat covered her soft lean belly. Without the corset, her bra did little to contain her large breasts. Stryg watched Feli grab his drink from the corner. She deliberately spread her legs and bent down to grab the beverage, giving him a perfect view of her heart-shaped bottom. While her butt was small compared to Tauri’s, it was just as tight.

  Feli strutted over with a titillating gait, “Your Fire Breath.”

“Perfect.” Stryg grabbed the drink with a grin.