A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Sometime later, in a luxurious bedroom, two amber eyes fluttered open.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Erik's hands were folded over his chest, and his first reaction was to grin widely. "This is a nice way to wake up," he muttered, as he looked up at the two beautiful fleshy orbs dangling above his head. "Although I wish they weren't covered by cloth."

Instantly, Emma's bright smile shone down on him. "Master! You're awake!" she exclaimed happily while caressing his hair. Erik realized his head was resting comfortably on her thigh, which was better than any pillow.

"It seems so," he chuckled, while various other voices started filling the room as well.

"Master!" Stay connected via empire

"Erik!"

"Teacher!"

Erik recognized them all, of course, and quickly turned his head to look around the room. Astrid and Emily were sitting on his sides, Anne and Nora were standing respectfully at the foot end, and Alice was standing next to the bed. They all wore expression of relief and were dressed in their usual clothes.

He noted Seraphina wasn't in the room but decided not to comment on that yet.

"Hey girls," he greeted them with a small grin. "I hope you weren't too worried about me, it was just a little exhaustion, after all."

"Just a little exhaustion?!" Astrid growled as she narrowed her eyes. "You almost died out there, and I couldn't do anything! I'll worry whenever I damn well please!"

Frustration was evident in her voice. The fact was, that she would be as useless in the water as any of them. The only reason Erik was able to compete with that kraken was due to his armour, after all.

Having somewhat expected such a reaction from her, Erik pursed his lips and smiled. "Of course you will, my little Spark. And don't worry, I'll make sure you can participate in the next underwater fight."

A small smile appeared her face, but then she quickly scoffed and looked away. "We're sparring later!" she stated matter-of-factly, not brooking any talk back.

Erik knew she needed to vent a little, so he nodded and chuckled, "Of course."

He turned to Emily, "What about you, little shadow? Anything to say about what I did?"

Surprisingly, the raven-haired masochist avoided Erik's gaze by looking down at the bed, guilt flickering in her eyes. "I—" she began, but Erik immediately interrupted her.

"Don't look so guilty, little shadow," he spoke sternly. "I had my reasons for going after her, and yes, the fact she's your friend was part of that, but it wasn't the only reason. Besides, you're overestimating the danger I was in. I could have escaped into my dimension at any point."

Emily, too, now smiled a little. She'd been afraid he would be angry with her. Suddenly, a spark of lust appeared, "I still request a big punishment, Master. Something I won't enjoy too much!"

Erik chuckled and rolled his eyes. So far it had been impossible to find a punishment for Emily that she actually didn't enjoy at all, but there were a few that she disliked more than she liked.

"I suppose you do deserve that," Erik smirked playfully.

With that, Emily seemed satisfied, and Erik looked at Emma. But before he could ask anything, his maid-wife simply smiled at him, her eyes full of love. "I'm just happy you're alive, Master, and I don't mind what you did. All I want is to support you, no matter your decisions."

Erik stared at her for a moment with a complicated expression, and then sighed. "I don't deserve you, Emma."

"Of course you do, Master," Emma smiled so purely that everyone in the room felt like there heart was being pierced. But then, Emma suddenly smirked uncharacteristically playfully, "Although I will be expecting that grand wedding you promised me."

"As soon as my mother can be there for it, my little Glimmer," Erik smiled softly.

Then he turned to Alice, who was standing next to the bed. She looked relieved and calm, but now that he looked at her more closely, he noticed a slight redness in her eyes, and dried tears on her cheeks.

They stared at each other for a moment, without saying anything. Alice, softly trembling, Erik a little thoughtfully. Yet, Alice likely realized he could tell what had happened, because her cheeks turned red, and she looked away.

"W— What?" she grumbled in a failed attempt to be stoic, before answering the question he hadn't asked. "I know from my father's memories that he believed a warrior should follow his heart. That's what you did, so… no complaints here."

"Are you sure about that?" Erik asked her with a soft gaze. "If our situations were reversed, I might have been sad, angry, and deeply worried."

Alice trembled a little harder, but didn't answer, while she continued avoiding his gaze. After a moment, Erik sighed, "I'd like to talk to you later, Alice."

The young warrior gulped and stammered, "F— Fine."

After getting Alice's assent, he acknowledged Anne and Nora's presence by nodding at them. His two servants simply smiled and bowed a little, "We're happy you're alive, Master." After which Nora winked, "Please let us know if you need 'anything'."

Next to her, Anna blushed and groaned under her breath, but still found herself nodding. Over the past week, she'd quickly settled into her service role far more enthusiastically than before.

Erik smiled contently, but then moved on. They were still servants, after all. He liked them, but didn't love them.

Finally, he decided to address the elephant in the room. This metaphorical elephant was the reason he hadn't gotten up, or even raised his hands. Namely, there was an immovable obstacle sitting on his chest-folded hands and glaring at him angrily.

Unsurprisingly, it was a fairy-sized Elora.

Erik smirked wryly while he looked into her eyes and noticed it was filled with anger, love, worry, and more anger.

Whenever she looked at him like that, he knew it was better to just pretend she weighed the equivalent of a few houses, by not getting up until she lost her glare.

He scraped his throat slightly, "Uhm, Elora…"

"Shut up!" she snarled, arms crossed in front of her chest, and legs spread wide. "You endangered our family! You don't get to speak!"

Erik pursed his lips and did as she said. He decided not to point out that he'd already spoken, nor that he could have retreated into his dimension at any time. She knew both those things and mentioning it would only make her angrier.

Thus, silence descended for a moment, while a wry Erik and a furious Elora stared at each other.