Chapter 23: Conditioned

Lucian

Boyfriend, huh? It had a nice ring to it, better than everyone else swinging the word mate around. I’d left Isla in my bedroom, where she promised me she’d join the rest of us for breakfast once she washed up. She hadn’t wanted me to wait around for her, still trying to save some face for whatever reason. Heck, I respected it, and allowed her all the time she needed to admit to the entire court that the both of us were together.

Yeah, together.

Because why wouldn’t I have agreed to that offer?

Isla was a dynamite babe with a powerful swing. It’d be stupid for me to pass on her, even though she was torn when I’d asked her to join Cai, Elrie and I on our adventure. She had said she needed to protect her mother and the Baron’s manor. I understood, and hadn’t pried further, feeling like she could do more work in an environment she was familiar with. 

Never did it cross my mind to push the brakes on how fast I was falling for these girls of Ligera until now. Cai and Isla. And then there was Elrie… who I still hadn’t gotten a chance to get close to, but there was something about her I couldn’t deny. Like this forbidden chemistry, this gravitational pull…

Her history had nothing to do with it. If anything, her being an untouchable had helped me understand her even more. It was something to talk about, something we could work on, that moment she’d mentioned being able to trust me the closest she’d been to anyone…

And then my eyes jumped, her shoulder bumping into mine, where I nearly missed her whizzing past me.

I was so distracted with my own thoughts, that the girl I was thinking about was a few inches away from bulldozing me over. But it clicked, the sound of her crying, her hands over her face. I grabbed her wrist just as she passed me, reeling Elrie in, the ex-slave girl actually fighting me off her this time.

“Let go!” she mewled.

“Elrie, what’s wrong?”

“I’m only doing what you told me to do!” she blared, her face screaming at me.

My chest tanked, and I was torn from her words. What the hell had I asked her to do? To have her so distraught like this?

“Elrie—”

“Please, release me! I need to leave!”

“Where are you going?”

“Anywhere! Anywhere I don’t have to worry about everyone looking down on me, thinking that I’m a monster!” she sobbed. “If you want me out, I will gladly stay out of your way!”

“No one said anything about wanting you out, Elrie. And no one said anything about you being a monster.”

“Cai made that request loud and clear!”

Ugh, that Cai…

“I don’t want to hold anyone back! Just let me go!”

I narrowed my eyes on her, trying to calm her down. “Elrie, you’re not going anywhere. Cai was putting words in my mouth.”

She looked back at me, hopeless and confused. She stifled her crying, and once I reeled her into my chest, I felt her relax a bit.

“You can take my words to heart. When I say something, I stand behind it,” I reassured her, stroking her hair while she clung onto me close. “You’re not a monster, Elrie, you’re also not an untouchable. Not through my eyes. All life is precious. And you aren’t any different.”

“Lucian…”

“Come on. Let’s sit and talk somewhere private.”

Somewhere private might have been a challenge. The entire court was lively this morning, so I settled for bringing her in my bedroom. Isla had already gone down, expecting me for breakfast. I figured Cai was waiting down there as well with Lady Cecil, but I needed to clear things with Elrie. I didn’t want her thinking she didn’t belong, to feel threatened like she had for the past few years. I wanted her to know that she was in a safe place around me, this court, and Cai.

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She was someone else I’d need to talk to separately…

We couldn’t go around treating her as a sex slave. Elrie didn’t ask for that title. I sat her on my bed, before I pulled a chair over and a box of tissues from my desk, sitting it in front of her.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice still rattled and her face still flushed.

I took my seat, leaning in, giving her my full attention. “Hey Elrie, I want you to continue feeling comfortable around me. If something is bothering you, please, let me know. I’ll try and rectify the problem if I can. I don’t want my friends feeling this way.”

She nodded. Finally, a smile on her face. It was faint, but promising.

“I thought you might have changed your mind and seen me as what everyone else did.”

“I don’t judge people like that, Elrie.”

“You know, my life here hasn’t been the best. I can’t remember a time when I was truly happy. And then, I met you. You make me happy, Lucian. And when Cai told me that you didn’t want me around anymore, it broke me. I felt like you’d run a knife through my chest. I thought that, finally, I met someone who cared about me as a person and not as an object. Something radiating from you made me feel safe, promising me that you’ll always be there to protect me. I didn’t want to tell myself that this feeling was all a lie.”

“It’s not, Elrie. Trust me.” I said, taking her hands into mine with a warm genuine smile. “It’s my job to protect my friends.”

She grinned. “That’s lovely to hear, that I am your friend. A true friend. My slave master said that to me once too, but… he treated me less than human. He was a brute, not the merchant, but someone else. He owned me for a long while before I escaped. The torment and belittlement was too much to bear at one point. If I didn’t leave, I was afraid that I would have done… dark things to that man. And then, that merchant found me, alone, starved, in the middle of a deserted plain. He lured me with kindness, and then, I found myself being in the same situation as before. Granted, it was a lot less physical, but the mental brutality stayed the same. I was just an object, a tool of pleasure.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Elrie. Just know that you won’t find any of that here. I am a fighter of the people, and Cai, while a little rough around the edges with newcomers, is a light warrior. General of Kiran’s army. We are good people, and we aren’t here to hurt you. We want you to feel safe here.”

“Cai said that you’re a very important person. I could feel it, too.”

I smiled. “Yeah, she didn’t want me to get into the specifics, but, it’s only a matter of time before you learn that I’m Kiran’s son. Which makes me a sun god in Ligera as well.”

She gasped. “Kiran’s son? I didn’t even know he had a family here in Ligera.”

“That’s because I don’t think he does. I’m from Earth. Which makes me only a half god, or demi-god. Kiran is still supposedly missing in action on his planet.”

“Oh, wow. Now I feel terrible, for asking a sun god to bathe me…”

I laughed. “Well, you shouldn’t. You trusted me enough to do it, and I shamefully enjoyed it… Heh!” I got up, not wanting to let the girls downstairs wait too long. I took Elrie by her hand, helping her up as well, where she looked at me lovingly. “I hope you’re feeling better about being around us, Elrie. I will talk with Cai about what she said. You have to excuse her. She’s seen some things… and, you know, she’s only out here saying that to you because she’s worried about our mission being sabotaged.”

“Trust me, Lucian, I am not trying to harm you and Cai in any way!”

“I know that. I just have to convince Cai so we are all on the same page!” I chuckled. “It’ll take her some time to see that. Until then, make it a habit of talking to me when you don’t feel welcomed around us, all right?”

She blushed. “I really like you, Lucian. You’re kind, gentle, considerate, and caring. There’s really nothing not to love about you, and what you stand for. A true warrior of the light. A true protector of mankind.”

“I’m just being me, Elrie. The only thing that changed was my title on this planet. It’s how I was raised, to do good by people whenever I can.”

“I’ve heard of people praying for a miracle, wishing their sun god Kiran would come back. Ligera’s suffering had gone on for far too long. Why is Kiran allowing this to happen? Why isn’t he here? Some were starting to lose faith in him. Because how could he allow Ligera to crash and burn? It seems like he had been on Earth, and he wasn’t aware. The deterioration of our country is blind to him, but not to his son, Lucian,” she said, bringing herself closer to me. “Lucian, whatever brought you here, whatever made those stars align…” she broke, breaking into tears again. “Words cannot express my gratitude.”

My eyes softened on her, Elrie getting my chest fluttering. “Maybe words cannot express…” I whispered. “Looks like you want to show me in another way…”

“I am not allowed,” she gasped, with my hand over her cheek.

“I’m giving you permission to.” It was hard, for her to see herself as anything but a sex slave. Maybe she didn’t want to give me the wrong impression, but I didn’t want her worrying about all of that. My thumb stroked that tear drop under her eye, her face begging at me. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of meeting her halfway. I wanted Elrie to have enough confidence to kiss me on her own. I had already given her permission, and she accepted it, getting on her tiptoes to brush her lips against mine.

But that was all she did, brush our lips together, before she bolted out of my bedroom, probably feeling undeserving of my love.

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