Chapter 36:

  Feli grabbed the soap, dipped it briefly into one of the buckets, and began to lather Stryg’s back. “So, what brings a mage to the Merry Crescent?”

  Stryg felt a bit odd having someone wash him as if he were a baby, but he enjoyed being in such close proximity with the beautiful barmaid. “I… had a rough night. I came to get a drink.”

  Feli paused. Stryg had just killed a guard because he had a rough day? She didn’t even want to think about what would constitute a rough day for a mage.

  “I thought magi went to fancy bars and restaurants in the night district or someplace,” she continued.

“Well, actually I did come from a restaurant in the villa district, but I much prefer a tavern like this.”

  “Really?” Feli giggled while scrubbing his arms. “You like a rickety tavern like this over a modern marble restaurant?”

  “Yes. Both have annoying people, but the food’s better here.” Stryg titled his head back, “And I actually like some people here.”

  “Me too,” she whispered into his ear.

A shock ran up his spine as she kissed his shoulder. He liked it.

  “Did you always prefer tavern food over the fancy stuff?” Feli asked, hoping to gather more information.

“If by always you mean a few months, then yes. I haven’t been in Hollow Shade for very long.”

  “You’re a foreigner? From one of the nearby towns or somewhere further?” Feli asked.

“Further. Vulture Woods. I was born into the Blood Fang tribe, one of the greatest tribes.”

  Feli paused her washing. She had never gotten a formal education, but people talked a lot in taverns, and she had learned to listen. Vulture Woods was one of the most dangerous areas in all the Realm. The only tribes that were said to live there were the savage sylvan tribes. Barbaric goblins who like the other residents of Vulture Woods, killed anything on sight.

  Stryg couldn’t be one of them, could he? His speech was clear, devoid of any brutish accent she would have thought barbarians used. Then again, Stryg had ripped a man’s face off. Feli’s resolve wavered, she was scared. What if she made a mistake and he decided to kill her? He was a mage and she was just a common barmaid, no one would bat an eye. The guards were clearly on his side as well. Her death would go unnoticed.

  “Feli, are you done?” Stryg asked.

“Not at all,” Feli kept washing his back.

  She couldn’t give up over some tavern rumors. Even if Stryg was dangerous, it didn’t mean he’d harm her. All she needed to do was seduce him. Many men had fallen in love with her and she hadn’t even been trying. She could do this. He was still a man like any other.

  “What brought you to Hollow Shade?” Feli asked.

“...I was travelling in the Woods and my party and I were attacked by a group of lamias.”

  “What are those?”

  “Beastkin, half-snake. They killed everyone but me. A poacher managed to catch me in my weakened state.” Stryg clenched his fists. “It was my complete failure.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that. But, you can’t blame yourself, it sounds like you were ambushed. No one can see something like that coming.”

  “I should have seen it. I’m the one with perfect night vision,” Stryg had never told that last bit to anyone, not even Plum or his master. But having Feli here, somehow made it easier, if only a little.

  He took a ragged breath, “I should have warned my tribemates. But, I froze and they died.” And then he found out the shaman, Cruvor, had lied to him. Stryg didn’t want to talk about that sore part though. That night couldn’t have been worse for him.

  Feli didn’t know what to say. So, instead she leaned forward and hugged him from behind, her large bust squishing onto his back. Feli rested her head on his shoulder and leaned her cheek on his. Stryg loved the soft sensations, he closed his eyes and tried to enjoy the moment. He now understood why someone would want help in a bath. He could get used to this.

  “After the poacher tied me up he brought me to this city. I escaped thanks to my magical abilities. Then I managed to enroll in the magic academy. I promised myself I’d become strong. Strong enough to find that hunter and capture him. I’ll find his damn centaur too, kill it and roast it over a fire. I’ll eat it in front of the damn poacher, then I’ll kill him too.”

  “Eat a centaur, hehe. That’s funny.”

Stryg opened his eyes and turned to look at her, “I wasn’t joking.”

  “Huh? You’re saying you’d actually eat a centaur? I know their animals, but they’re still intelligent. They’re not like chickens,” Feli explained as if he hadn’t thought it through.

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  She heard rumors that some of the upper society ate centaur meat, but she didn’t think it was true.

“I’ve eaten other intelligent creatures before. Even a human once,” Stryg said.

  Feli took a shaky step back.

Stryg saw the fear in her eyes. He liked the idea of being feared, but not like this.

  “Does that sound strange to you?” Stryg sighed. “I’ve noticed there are a lot of things people here find weird that I find normal and vice versa. I try not to talk too much to avoid the attention it draws me. I’m not here to make friends. Not that I see you as one. But, heh… For some reason,” His lilac eyes met hers, “I thought it might be different with you. Just another foolish mistake.”

  Feli recognized the feelings behind the look on his face. The feeling of rejection and its acceptance after being rejected so many other times. This was bad, she was losing him, because of her own idiotic assumptions. He wasn’t going to kill her. He was all alone in this city, like her.

  How could she not have seen it earlier? The way he had always acted in the tavern. Away from the rest even when they sat next to him. He was alone, but maybe he didn’t want to be. So, what if he had possibly eaten a person? Vampires drank the blood of practically anyone, it didn’t mean they would kill their friends and family. Feli couldn’t afford to shy away from him now.

  “You’re not a fool, far from it. You’re different, but you’re a mage, what mage isn’t?” She laughed, and leaned into the tub. “And I like you just the way you are.”

“...Is that so?” Stryg muttered. His eyes stared at her swaying breasts.

  “You can touch them,” Feli said.

  Stryg didn’t hesitate. His hands tore out of the water and grasped her boobs. His fingers sunk into her soft flesh. He could feel her nipples beneath the bra. A smile crept onto his face as he kneaded her tits.

  “They’re so big,” he muttered.

“You like them huh?” Feli smirked.

  “Mm,” He drew his face closer. “How did you come to the Merry Crescent in the first place?”

Feli’s smile fell. She didn’t want to tell him about her past. There was nothing pretty there.

  “I grew up around here and I just picked up the job when I was ready,” she said.

  Feli placed her hand on his toned chest, she liked what she saw. Her fingers traced downwards, below the water. Her hand wrapped around his erection.

  It was bigger than she imagined, “It seems you have something ready too.”

  Stryg wanted her badly and in his mind she had just issued a challenge. Goblins were always competing, to make others submit, to prove to be on top. He wasn’t going to lose this night challenge. He kissed her red lips with swift deftness. She returned his kiss with a small moan before she stood and took a step back.

  “What’s this?” Stryg stood up too. Was she trying to back off after all of that?

  “Please, don’t misunderstand. I want to spend the night with you. But,” Feli curled her lips, “I’ve never done this before. You see, I’ve been waiting for the perfect one.”

  She took off her bra, her bountiful breasts and nipples revealed in all their glory, “I’ll only be with my future husband.”

  “So, you’re saying you only want to have sex with your husband? Where is he? Is he the one challenging me?”

  Feli turned her head and frowned, “What? No. I want you to be my husband. I’ll only sleep with you if we get married.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  Feli looked up at the ceiling. She wanted to scream so badly. Feli had waited so long for a suitable middle-class husband, someone who could take her away from the commoner’s life. Instead she found a once in a lifetime potential high-class husband, and he didn’t even know what marriage was. She felt as if her patron god, Stjerne, was playing a trick on her.

  Feli took a deep breath. It was okay, she could do this. It didn’t matter if he was a barbarian, she could teach him. She’d help them both rise above their station.

  “A marriage is when two people decided to become romantic partners for life. They promise themselves to each other and no other.”

  “Wait, you are saying that if I marry you, I can’t have sex with anyone else?” Stryg asked with skepticism.

  Feli was one of the most beautiful humans he had ever seen, but in his time in Hollow Shade he had seen many other beautiful women. Feli was insane if she thought he’d only sleep with her.

  Feli began to panic as she saw Stryg glancing at the door. “W-well, actually that’s not always the case.”

“Explain,” Stryg said with a taut voice.

  “Even if I became your wife, your equal, I wouldn’t mind you visiting brothels and the like if you wish.”

  “There’s no such thing as equality. Someone is always greater than the other. And why would I ever need your permission for anything?” Stryg narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t her slave nor her pet.

  “Um, okay, I see.” Feli bit her lower lip. He valued his independence, that was fair, if a bit rude in the way he phrased it.

  Feli didn’t want to mention diverse marriages, but it seemed she had no choice.

  “Most people, well actually, most commoners, tend to enter equality marriages. A marriage where both partners are equal, an equal wife and an equal husband. But, some people, the more well-off individuals, I guess, enter what is called a diverse marriage.” She sighed, “It's where one primary spouse has several minor spouses.”

  Feli didn’t want to mention diverse marriages because minor spouses were often subject to the whims of the primary spouse. Feli had hoped to enter an equal marriage so that she may have greater control over her life. She still could. Feli could leave right now and hope to find a potential middle-class husband. She knew if she waited long enough, one would appear. But, if Feli left now, she could say goodbye to ever living in the villa district, to ever grace the high-class lifestyle. Feli knew what she wanted, she made her choice.

  “...I can be your minor wife. All you have to do is sign a little marriage contract,” she whispered.

“I’ll think about it,” Stryg didn’t want to enter a contract without looking at it himself.

  Though, the proposition of marriage did seem tempting. It reminded him of the Blood Fang’s chief and his two women.

  Feli took a shaky breath. This goblin was pushing her limits, but she had already chosen him. It didn’t matter if he didn’t marry her right away. An engagement would suffice. Even just getting pregnant could work. Commoners may abandon their children, but no middle-class, let alone high-class had that luxury. They’d be shunned by upper society.

  If things went well tonight Feli would make Stryg take her as a minor wife, if not take her hand in an equality marriage. Well, probably not the latter, but the former was enough for her. Feli was going to get out of this place, one way or another.

  Feli slipped her thumbs into the sides of her panties and pulled them to the ground.

She sauntered over to the tub and gently pushed Stryg back down into the water, “Do you like what you see?”

  Stryg swallowed his saliva. The game was afoot.