Chapter 19: Elrie

AN: for fans of the series, the previous chapters have been updated. Please refer back to them if you get lost. Enjoy!

Lucian

If Cai was worried about her being a shadow elp, I could just shine my pendant light on her and check for myself. Then I could put those doubts to rest. But as we made our way back to Rasani Manor, I couldn’t find myself understanding how this gem worked. I remember Shinra saying that working this thing was natural, that my father didn’t need any help manipulating it. I needed to use my newly awakened light to somehow make this thing tick.

Yeah, no idea…

I must have looked like a noob twisting and turning this thing between my fingers, even rubbing it down like a goddamn magic lamp. Nothing I did worked, and I didn’t want to start unnecessarily pushing out massive waves of light. I’d just have to wait, the time it took to get back to Cecil and Isla feeling like a few minutes when I preoccupied myself.

For the most part, the walk was quiet, Cai keeping to herself while having a close eye on Elrie. The need for separation was strong with Cai, naturally being overprotective of me, but if we were to work as a team, she needed to learn to trust Elrie to some degree.

Once we reached the Rasani Manor, we were greeted by guards just the same. Only this time, the guards were even more wary with Elrie in our group.

“Hey!” I greeted, under the afternoon sun with a cheerful demeanor. As for the guard, he looked back at me with his spear and his heavy armor like he had no idea who I was, even though we’d met not too long ago. Although to be fair, his focus was on Elrie, the bubbly girl with the same hat she refused to part with when I’d first met her. She wore a smile just as friendly as mine, but the guard wasn’t buying it.

“What’s your business here, travelers?” his raspy voice begged, Cai and I looking at each other lost.

“We came back here to help with the shadow elp problem,” Cai insisted.

“As promised!” I beamed. “Maybe you’re not familiar with the buff new look, but it is I, Lucian!” I boasted, giving him a heroic pose.

“Oh my, what a pleasant surprise!” Cecil’s lovely delightful voice greeted us, the lady of the manor elegantly pacing herself to us from the front door. “I could have sworn I heard my two favorite people out in my front yard! And might I say, you’ve gotten bigger, Lucian!” she cheered, until her eyes fell on Elrie, where her happy approach crashed faster than I could batter an eye. “Um, who is this?” she asked, looking at her disgusted.

“She’s Elrie, our friend,” I greeted on her behalf.

“She is Lucian’s friend,” Cai corrected. “And she’s a sex sl—”

“Heh, no need to get into all the details!” I quickly interjected, shutting Cai up with my hand over her lips. I knew what she was doing, trying to label Elrie as an untouchable, so Cecil wouldn’t let her in her house! I removed my hand over Cai’s quick firing lips and continued to convince Cecil. “Don’t worry. She’s my moral support! A little light on the light, but she’s as sweet as pie! And can make you one, if ya want!”

Elrie nodded vigorously. “I can cook a mean pie!”

“Lady Cecil, we are back as promised, here to help with the infestation. But before we get to that, I need to stock up on my arrows. Do you have a personal blacksmith?”

“Of course I do! Come, come, let’s go inside where we can get you situated and ready for tonight’s patrol. Guards, they are okay to come with me.”

++++

What a sweetheart that Lady Cecil was, even though she was skeptical about Elrie, she allowed her into her home anyway off of my judgment call. I appreciated her having so much trust in me, enough to give Elrie a guest room with its own private bath. While Cai stocked up on her weapons supply, I assisted Elrie in getting adjusted in her bedroom. There was a hobo smell coming from her that I hadn’t caught before, Cecil having had pointed it out, handing me washing supplies on her behalf. And while Elrie didn’t exactly scream sex slave anymore, the hand-me-down clothes she had on her back wasn’t doing her any good either.

More giving from Cecil helped her look more presentable, by offering Elrie a small wardrobe and stocking her small closet with clothes. They were Isla’s old and edgy clothes, so they were small enough to slip over Elrie’s petite size. And once I got her situated with a drawn bath and something to replace that number she was wearing over on the bed, I got ready to dash off.

“Well, looks like you’re all set her! Please, make yourself right at home!” I said, saluting her goodbye before she stopped me right on my tracks.

“Lucian!” she cried, standing there with her bare feet on that ivory marble bathroom floor, with her towels cradled in her arms. “I cannot thank you enough…” Her voice shattered, the look on her face making my heart skip a beat. She was on the verge of tears, before I rushed to take her in my arms.

“Hey, there’ll be none of that here!” I said, trying to cheer her up. “Don’t worry about repaying me any, Elrie. It’s my responsibility to help my people in need.”

“Cai said that… I’m not allowed to touch you…”

I looked down to her, stepping back an inch to meet that watery beautiful gaze. “Well, I’m telling you that it’s okay for you to give me a harmless hug!” And she did. As soon as I gave her permission, she flung herself to me, holding me nice and tight.

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“You must really someone special. I can tell that your heart bleeds kindness,” she whispered, letting her fingers graze down my stomach tenderly. “Lucian, I have an odd request…”

My eyes grew. I had Elrie over here getting a bit touchier than I anticipated, stroking her fingers down my abs with her face burrowed in my chest. Her heart was racing, and so was mine.

“Um, what do you need, Elrie?” I asked, dropped my hand on her shoulder. She looked up to me shyly, chewing on her lip as she slowly drew away from me.

“My hair, can you please cut it?”

I cocked a brow up. “You want me to cut your hair?”

“Yes, please. If you can,”

I chuckled, feeling like I dodged a tempting bullet there. “Sure, I can try, but Ima’ warn you, I’m not the best artist with scissors. I feel like you’d be better off asking—”

“No!” she cried. “I only trust you to do it!”

I could tell she was passionate about only having me handle her, so I agreed, and set up shop in the bathroom. To be fair, her hair wasn’t the best, filled with split ends and hiding knots. It needed a good trim, and I tried my best giving her one. Although she continued to refuse my suggestions to take off her hat. I abided by her strange request and didn’t question it. After twenty minutes, I gave her the hand mirror that was in the medicine cabinet so she could take a look at my creation.

Not half bad, if I did say so myself.

Cutting her blond locks in layers gave me a somewhat reasonable excuse to hide my uneven finishes, but she loved it, so much that she followed up with another bizarre request.

Elrie wanted me to give her a bath.

Hmmm, the devil was tempting me tonight…

I had to scratch my chin on that one, without even asking myself why she couldn’t scrub down on her own. Maybe she didn’t want to be alone? Heck, was she going to ask me to sleep with her tonight as well?

Would I!

I left her question hanging for too long, and gave into the thrill of bathing her. It would have to be our little secret, because for a fact, Cai wouldn’t hesitate to send poor Elrie packing if she knew I touched, I mean really touched, an untouchable.

The towel went off and my forehead started to sweat. Elrie slipped her tasty taboo body into the warm bath I had topped with hot water right after her haircut, seeing as it had been sitting there for a while. She wasn’t angling at me, nothing frisky or raunchy. But as she slipped into the water, I noticed those welts on her skin, possibly from her ex-slave owner’s lashes. I fretted, my chest tanking once that image of her abuse resurfaced. I looked down, my eyes catching a little nub hanging on her tailbone, covered with what looked like an adhesive white gauze.

I didn’t think anything of it, as it seemed she really just wanted me to help bathe her. So I knelt along the edge of the free standing bathtub, with a sponge at hand, and her velvety smooth skin in the other.

Okay, this was totally unfair…

“You’re doing great, Lucian…” she whispered. “I hope this isn’t making you uncomfortable…”

“Heh, not at all!” I lied, my voice breaking out into a high pitch.

“It’s just nice… being around a man who doesn’t want to control and abuse me…”

I froze.

“I want to trust men again, to trust people again. And I feel like you can help me get there…”

 

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