Chapter Twenty-Four: Noelle

So many things had happened over the last week that Noelle had no idea how to begin processing. She felt as if her life before Zaren belonged to a different version of herself. Like it had been a nightmare that was already fading to the back of her mind. Like it had happened to someone else. She was more than willing to let it fade away. All the pain, the despair, and the hopelessness had no place in her anymore. Not as long as Zaren was willing to let her be a part of his family.

Family.

Dinner last night had been the best night of her life so far. Now, laying with the twins pressed into her side, still wrapped around one another, she couldn’t help but fear that she’d wake up back in her cell. That she’d open her eyes and Vald would be opening the door, throwing her onto her uncomfortable excuse for a bed so he could make sure her health never ticked too high.

But she’d decided she’d trust Zaren. It terrified her to her core, but she’d put her faith in him. She’d allow herself to hope that he really meant the things that he said. That the life he offered was actually possible. That she could actually be a part of his household as something other than a weapon.

But that line of thought brought with it a new feeling. One that had sat in her chest since Zaren had said her name yesterday morning. It wasn’t pain exactly, but it was something of an ache. A dull throb that she didn’t like, but didn’t know how to get rid of. Like there was a part of her missing. It had unsettled her last night when she fell asleep, but it was worse now.

After some thinking, she knew it had something to do with the twins. It wasn’t anything of their doing, but it was related. She could still feel that intense burst of heat when Zaren had charged her with their wellbeing. That he wanted her to be a protector and not a weapon made her feel as if she was floating. It was the same rush as when he ran his fingers through her hair or wrapped her in a hesitant embrace or placed a chaste kiss on the top of her head, but it came from within instead of without.

But as that rush had faded, the ache had grown in its place. Cuddling with the twins until they’d all fallen asleep had helped, but then it made the ache worse. They were so soft and warm. Their hair was sleek and smooth, their tails were impossibly fluffy, and even their bodies were like pillows. They were slightly taller than Noelle was, but they had considerably more in both their chest, hips, and thighs. Everywhere she looked, there was just so much…more of them than there was of her.

In the early morning light, Noelle had a great view of the two curled up face to face. They radiated heat like a furnace, so the blanket had been tossed off long ago. They wore some of Serena’s old shirts Vaze had let her borrow—too small for Serena’s considerable bust but long enough to almost resemble a dress on the tiny frames of the twins—and they wore nothing else underneath. Ryoko’s shirt was still pulled low, but Tsuki’s had ridden up to her waist. Like Serena and Rhallani both, they were shapely and would be very pleasing to the male eye. To Zaren’s eye.

She hadn’t even realized she’d been making the tone of discontent deep in her chest. She knew she’d get no more sleep, so she slid out of the bed. She also wore one of Serena’s old shirts, It had been cut in the back to make room for her nubs, so Serena had given it to her so that she could sleep in it. The cloth still smelled ever so slightly of her, and that brought comfort to Noelle.

That didn’t stop her from shedding the shirt and setting it gingerly on the corner of the bed. The comfort Serena’s scent only deepened that ache further. Today, everything seemed to. Naked, she padded silently to the mirror in the corner of their room. It was as tall as she was, so she could see her entire reflection without having to angle it at all.

She’d put on a decent amount of weight already in the last eleven days. Her ribs were nowhere near as pronounced, and her chest wasn’t completely flat any longer, but it was still little more than two bumps. Her hips still pushed against her skin and her thighs weren’t thick enough to touch unless she forced her legs together completely. The closest thing to any real definition on her was small, lean muscles. She didn’t have any of the soft, inviting parts that the other women all had. The long swathes of soft flesh that Zaren so clearly loved to run his hands across.

Was that the cause of the ache? The knowledge that—compared to Rhallani, Serena, and even the twins—her body had nothing that could possibly compete? Before she even realized it, a film of hot wetness had filled her eyes. She blinked it away angrily. She still wasn’t sure if she wanted him that way. If she could even handle what he might wish to do to her. She knew it was foolish to compare herself to the others in such a way when the most he’d ever done was simply held her, but she just couldn’t stop.

There was a soft knock on the door. The faint scent of Rhallani drifted underneath it, but Noelle wasn’t sure if she could handle talking to someone else right now. Then she heard the sound of a key sliding into the lock, and a moment later Rhallani was sticking her head in. In the mirror, Noelle could see her frown at the bed that only held the two sleeping Kitsune, then her eyes found Noelle.

Her frown deepened. She slipped in and gently closed the door behind her before walking across the room. “Scarlet? What’s wrong, sweetie?”

Curses. Again, the tone of discontent had been rumbling in her chest without her realizing it. She looked at Rhallani’s reflection, keeping her expression neutral as always. She’d had to for so long she couldn’t even remember how to do anything else. “Nothing is wrong.”

If there had ever been a time where Noelle had been embarrassed to be nude, she couldn’t remember it. For most of her life, she’d either been left naked or given rags that barely covered her. Still, she felt the urge to hide her sad, underdeveloped regions from sight. Rhallani, being Rhallani, just stepped forward until her front was pressed into Noelle’s back. She wrapped her arms around Noelle’s torso, her cool fingers leaving trails of fire wherever they touched her skin.

She rested her chin on Noelle’s shoulder and hugged her gently. “Scarlet, you know you can talk to me. Whatever you tell me stays between us.”

Noelle. My name is Noelle. She wanted to say it so badly. To hear her name spoken aloud by Rhallani’s soft, melodic voice. Hearing it from Zaren set her chest aflame, but he was the only person she’d ever given her true name to. The first person to speak it aloud since she’d been taken from her mother. She wanted Rhallani to know it, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Rhallani was so warm. She still smelled like him, too. His scent did a little to calm her, but it made both the heat in her chest and its accompanying ache worse. “You are very pretty, Rhallani.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“Serena is very pretty, too. And Ryoko and Tsuki.”

Her brow furrowed, but her smile didn’t waver. “You’re just as pretty.”

The ache throbbed. “No, I’m not.”

Her arms tightened around Noelle. “Of course you are!” Then she winced and glanced sheepishly at the twins, and just repeated in a much quieter tone, “of course you are, Scarlet.”

Noelle just shook her head. “I am not shapely like all of you. I’m thin and unpleasant to look at and… and I’m an abomination.”

Rhallani’s nostrils flared. She stalked around Noelle and put a hand on either of her shoulders. “You listen to me, you are no such thing. You went through something horrible, and it’ll be some time before your body recovers, but that doesn’t mean you’re unpleasant. You’re beautiful, and as you recover you’ll only grow more so.” She caressed Noelle’s cheek with one hand. “And you are not an abomination. Why would you ever think that?”

Noelle couldn’t force herself to meet Rhallani’s gaze. “I’m no Seraphim. People call me that, but it’s incorrect. I’m something else entirely. An abomination.”

There was no answer initially, and when Noelle looked up Rhallani was biting her lip. “Actually, we kind of already figured that out. Zaren did, at least.”

Her hum switched to one of confusion. “But…you never said anything.”

Rhallani gently stroked her hair. “We didn’t want to freak you out. Zaren was worried if he asked you then you might think he was trying to coerce you into telling us your actual race, and he was willing to wait until you were more comfortable to have this conversation.”

The tone of her hum rose even more. “Does he know what I am?”

“No, but he has guesses.” Noelle’s face rose. “We think you’re a new race of demi-human. That when Grimsbane did his ritual, he brought over some kind of new primogenitor species. Not an abomination, but the first generation of something new.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s why he took me in. To learn.”

“No!” she put her hands to the side of Noelle’s face and kissed her forehead. “No, I promise that isn’t it. He wants to help you. He really does care for you, just like me and Serena do. We want to know more about you and your race, sure, but all that comes second to you. To making sure you’re okay and happy.”

“Happy.” Noelle wasn’t sure what that word even meant, but a part of her wondered what it might feel like. That made the ache worse than anything else had so far.

Rhallani let her hands trail down Noelle’s shoulders. “So don’t you worry for a second that your appearance is going to be off-putting to Zaren.” She leaned in close and whispered, “he confided in me that he’s slept with a dragonling before. If he can handle all those scales, then there’s no way he has issue with you. Besides,” she ran a thumb along Noelle’s cheek, “I happen to think that your coloring is rather fetching.”

Her hum sank back down to an uncertain tone. “Zaren would…find me attractive? Even if I am flat?”“I think he would,” Rhallani said with a soft smile. “But he won’t ever act on it unless you wanted him to.” Her tone had shifted to that same reassuring one they all used so often. The one that had terrified her first, comforted her second, then began to frustrate her third.

Noelle shifted her weight from foot to foot. “And if I…If I wanted him to?”

Rhallani’s smile widened until she was practically glowing. “Come here, we don’t need to stand for this whole conversation.” She walked over to the bed and sat down, patting the mattress next to her. “Do you want to get dressed?”

The twins were still out cold, and Noelle hardly cared about clothes right now. Not after what she’d let slip out. She walked over to the bed, but instead of sitting next to Rhallani, she straddled the Arelim and sat in her lap, resting her head on Rhallani’s shoulder.

“Oh!” Rhallani wrapped her arms around Noelle with a chuckle. “Alright, this is more than fine. Come here, sweetie.” She trailed her hands up and down Noelle’s back.

Noelle shuddered each time her fingers went near where her wing stumps sprouted from her back. “Now,” Rhallani said, “first things first. Can I ask you some questions?” Noelle nodded. “Alright, how old are you?”

“I—I don’t know.” Her hum sank lower.

“That’s okay,” she said quickly. “Answer me this, then. How long have you had your primary class?”

“Five or six winters, I think.”

“That means you’re twenty-one or twenty-two. You’d be the oldest one here if we don’t count the years Zaren was asleep.” One of Rhallani’s hands trailed up her back to start caressing the back of Noelle’s head. “Now, answer this however it makes sense to you, but do you want Zaren to be more than what he is now?”

Noelle nodded. “I don’t know what, but…I want the ache to go away.”

“What ache?”

Her hum raised to an embarrassed tone. “I don’t know how to put it into words.”

“If you try, then maybe I could help.”

Her fingers quested perilously close to the nubs on Noelle’s back and she shivered. Noelle’s own hands moved on their own, sliding across Rhallani’s back. Rhallani hummed herself, but it wasn’t the same as Noelle’s hum. She knew it wasn’t involuntary, but a soft sound of pleasure. “When I am near Zaren, I feel…nervous.”

Rhallani froze, but Noelle’s hands kept moving. “What kind of nervous, Scarlet?”

“I don’t know. Always, when others are close enough to touch me, my chest would clench. Like my heart was flinching. I think—I think I was always afraid of what they would do if they wanted to touch me. It was like that at the start, but then it changed. My chest would still clench, and my heartbeat would speed up, but if he touched me—if any of you touched me—it was warm. Nice. I,” she swallowed, “I liked it. And…”

“And…?” Rhallani prompted.

“And if he didn’t, I’d feel an ache. One I didn’t like. It didn’t hurt like I used to hurt, but it was still bad.”Rhallani pressed her lips to Noelle’s temple. “You wanted him to touch you, and you were disappointed when he didn’t.”

It was preposterous, but it made too much sense to deny. “I think so.”

Her head shifted, and Noelle knew Rhallani was looking towards the mirror. “And you’re wondering if he doesn’t because he prefers the rest of us. Because our builds are different.”

Noelle’s voice came out a whisper. “Yes.”

“I can promise you that isn’t the reason.” She kept stroking Noelle’s hair for a while. “You want your relationship to change, but it would be helpful to know how you want it to change.”

Just trying to think of an answer to that line of inquiry made her sink her face into Rhallani’s neck. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I want, I just know that I don’t want things to stay like this.”

“That’s okay,” Rhallani cooed. “Let’s start with what you do want. You said you wanted him to touch you more. How? Like this?” She went back to running her fingers along Noelle’s hair and back. “Or do you want more?”

“I—I don’t know,” she breathed. It was a lie. The heat in her core frightened her. She wondered what it would be like if Rhallani’s soft, cool hands went further south. She wondered what her lips would feel like against other parts of her, not just the top of her head. She wondered more what it would be like for Zaren to do the same. For once, she didn’t wonder out of fear.

“Hmm. How about this, then.” Rhallani moved her hands to match where Noelle was touching her. “Zaren won’t push the boundary between you two because he’s afraid of hurting you, but he won’t mind if you’re the one doing the pushing. Do you think you’d be comfortable doing that?”

Noelle’s mouth was suddenly very dry. Her hum had risen in pitch again, which could only be a good thing, but the idea of being the one to initiate… She slowly slid her hands down Rhallani’s back, and Rhallani moved her hands in a perfect mirror. “This is okay?”

“Scarlet, you can touch me however you want, and I promise I’ll be okay with it. Just go as far as you’re comfortable going.” Noelle experimentally explored Rhallani. One hand went to her lower back while her other rose to caress the back of her shoulder. She danced around the sensitive area around her wings, not trusting herself with the power she suddenly wielded. “There you go, just like that. Do what feels good to you.”

Noelle sat up. A quick glance towards the twins revealed Tsuki awake and watching them curiously, but she was still wrapped around a snoring Ryoko. Noelle turned her attention back to Rhallani. She brought her hands around to Rhallani’s front, and Rhallani continued to mirror it. Then she slid up and, before her fear could get the better of her, she caressed Rhallani’s breasts.

Rhallani smiled, then she moved her hands to do the same. Noelle felt a little foolish when she felt Rhallani’s hands passing over her small bumps, but then she squeezed. A gasp slipped out of Noelle while sharp warmth bloomed in her body. She squeezed Rhallani again, and Rhallani squeezed back. She started to knead Rhallani’s breasts, and the hands on her tiny chest did their best to mirror the movements.

“Does that feel good?” Rhallani asked. Noelle nodded eagerly, and Rhallani chuckled. “It feels good for me, too. See? Don’t worry if you don’t have udders like Serena, you’re beautiful in your own way.”

Another wave of warmth flushed through Noelle’s body, but it had nothing to do with Rhallani’s hands. She went lower, trailing down Rhallani’s sides and onto her thighs. Her breath caught at the feeling of Rhallani’s hands doing the same, bringing them perilously close to the hot ache in between her legs. She slid her hands back up and around to cup Rhallani’s rear through her skirt, and a moan slipped from her mouth when Rhallani did the same. She clutched Rhallani’s butt and moaned again when Rhallani’s fingers dug into her own bare flesh.

“That’s it,” Rhallani breathed. “You’re in control, here. Do whatever you want.”

Whatever she wanted? What did she want? Her core ached, but it was a completely different feeling than the ache in her chest. A needier one. A more urgent one. Would it really be okay if she slipped a hand between Rhallani’s legs? But there was another part of her that demanded attention. The flesh on her upper back prickled unbearably. It had been for days now.

She left Rhallani’s rear with some reluctance and traveled back upward until her fingers dug into the flesh between Rhallani’s shoulder blades. When Rhallani copied the motion, Noelle cried out and fell forward into Rhallani’s chest. The Arelim tensed, but Noelle just dug her fingers into Rhallani’s flesh harder. Then she cried out again when Rhallani copied the movement. Her hum had risen to an all new pitch, one she’d never heard come from her own chest before.

“Scarlet?” There was worry in Rhallani’s voice, but Noelle felt as if she no longer had control over her limbs. She continued to dig into Rhallani’s back, and Rhallani did her best to keep up. She searched around with her hands, burying her face in Rhallani’s neck, finding the spots that relieved that prickling. That sent waves of warmth through her body stronger than anything they’d done so far.

Then she touched Rhallani’s back where her wings would have sprouted, and she felt Rhallani’s fingers on her growing nubs. White hot pleasure wracked her and her body clenched. Tremors ran through her while she clung to Rhallani, who just softly massaged her back. Some kind of pressure that had been building in her abdomen seemed to release with incredible force, and finally she went limp.

“I don’t—I don’t know what that was,” Noelle gasped.

Rhallani kept softly pressing her fingers into Noelle’s back. “That, unless I’m very mistaken, was an orgasm.”Noelle froze. She looked down to where her legs were spread over Rhallani’s lap to see a patch of wetness already spreading along her skirt under Noelle’s slit. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“Shhh.” Rhallani pulled her back into her chest. “It’s alright. You’ve never been touched like that, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of or sorry for. Do your wings hurt? Is that why you had me massaging them?”

Noelle reached behind her, but her arms couldn’t quite fold enough for her to touch the base of her wings. “They don’t hurt, but they itch. It’s prickly, but you made them feel better. Do you think something’s wrong?”

When Rhallani’s fingers brushed against them, she shivered. They were nowhere near as sensitive as they were a moment ago, but they still sent waves of sensation through her body. “No, I don’t think so. They’ll probably itch like this until they’re healed. We’ll still tell Zaren and have Mihrel take a look at it. Can I tell Zaren some of what you’ve told me? Your age and your willingness to set the pace?”

Having Rhallani be the one to tell him felt like a weight was being taken off her shoulders. She gave Rhallani a short nod, and Rhallani smiled again. Now that Noelle was calmer and thinking clearer, she took a moment to read Rhallani’s face. The flesh around her eyes was tight, and her cheeks were redder than they would have been with how little she and Noelle had just done.

“You are upset?” Noelle asked.

Rhallani’s eyes widened. “No, of course not! You did nothing wrong, Scarlet.”

But Noelle just tilted her head. “Not me, no. You’re upset about something else. Did Zaren not satisfy you last night?”

Tsuki’s ears flicked to attention, and Rhallani turned a shade of crimson. “W-well, not entirely. Serena was still exhausted because she didn’t sleep much the night before last, so she passed out after just a couple of orgasms.”

Considering he’d taken Rhallani when he thought Noelle had been asleep a few feet away in the past, she wasn’t sure what the problem was. “He didn’t want to continue?”

Rhallani let out a long sigh and fell back so she was laying on the bed with her arms splayed, a naked Noelle still sitting on her lap. “Of course he did. He was completely willing to fulfill my every desire even after Serena had nodded off.”

“But you didn’t let him,” Noelle guessed.

“Nope.” She took a long breath. “He was exhausted, and he was in thinking mode. Something’s on his mind, and I figure it was our fault for asking too many questions after you three went upstairs last night. He’s ruminating, and he’s doing it all alone, and he still want’s to make sure we’re all taken care of.”

“Um,” Ryoko said, having finally woken up at some point, “I’m confused, but isn’t that a good thing? Aren’t most men usually the opposite?”

Rhallani waved her hand. “Oh, sure, it’s amazing. It’s one of the many reasons I love him so damn much, but sometimes I wish he’d worry a little more about what he wants.”

Tsuki sat up and Ryoko came with her. “I don’t understand,” she said.

“Well,” Rhallani huffed, “he’s amazing. He’s attentive, a wizard when it comes to puzzling out exactly what I want and when I want it, and he’s so damn willing to help me and Serena live out our wildest fantasies. He’s loving and caring and a fucking great cuddler and I find myself falling in love with him more and more every day.”

The twins looked to Noelle, but she just shrugged. She was as lost as they were. “And that’s a bad thing?” Tsuki asked.

“Of course not!” she said immediately. “But it occurred to me the other day that I have absolutely no clue what he wants, especially in the bedroom. I’d kill for him to throw me down and take what he wants from me for a change, but he always manages to turn it around and make it all about me or Serena.” She closed her eyes. “I’m starting to wonder if he even knows what he wants.”

Tsuki crossed her legs, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. “Let me get this straight. You have a big, strong, very attractive man apparently devoted to your pleasure, and that upsets you?”

“Yes!” Rhallani exclaimed. Then, “No!” She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. “I don’t know! It’s not just when we’re in bed, I’m worried if he keeps giving and giving and I don’t find some way to give back then he’ll burn out. I’m terrified he went so long unable to want for anything he forgot how to.”

“Like me,” Noelle said softly.

Rhallani sat up and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. “I’m sorry. I should have thought before I spoke. But yes, you two share some similar scars. More similar, I think, than he lets on. He’s just much further along in his recovery than you.” Her hand rubbed small circles on Noelle’s back. “I’ve just been thinking that if I can get him to express his wants in the bedroom, then maybe it’ll help him do the same outside of sex.

“I want—” Noelle’s breath caught at the word, but she forced herself to keep going. “I want to help him, then. Or, at least, help you help him.”

“Count me in, too,” Tsuki said. Rhallani’s head whipped towards her, and she shrugged. “What? I like sex a lot, I just prefer getting to pick my partner. You’ve been hyping Ren’s dick up something fierce, and I’m gonna be curious ‘till I can give it a go.”

Rhallani was biting her lip, and Noelle found the corners of her lips twitching. She knew the Arelim was currently imagining some very interesting situations that involved Zaren, her, and Tsuki. Noelle, too, most likely. “I have no idea how we’d even go about doing that, though,” she admitted.

A slow mischievous grin spread across Tsuki’s face. “Well, good thing I’m a master planner. Tell me, what do you think about having me tie you up completely? Blindfold and gag and everything? If he can’t use your words or expressions, then he’ll have to improvise.”

From the way her breathing hitched, Rhallani definitely wasn’t against it. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted.

Tsuki leaned back, her grin widening, then suddenly she was behind Noelle, a shadow of her fading where she’d sat. She’d used a skill, but Noelle had no idea how it worked. She wrapped her arms around and started kneading Noelle’s breasts. “Or we could just send this one in. If neither knows what they want, then there’s a lot we could learn from what he tries first.”

Noelle decided she very much liked the feeling of Tsuki pressed into her back, playing with the small bumps on her chest. “I would—mmh—I would be willing to try that.”

Rhallani’s brows had disappeared into her hairline. She looked at Ryoko. “Are you comfortable with this?”Ryoko blushed deeply. “I’ve never been with a man. Or anyone, really. Ki was always the more outgoing one, I’ve never—” she squirmed where she sat, “I’ve never wanted to, but Ren seems nice. If he wanted to, then maybe—”

“No,” Tsuki cut in, hugging Ryoko to her chest. “No, if there’s anything anyone wants to do with Ko, I’ll do it. Leave her alone.”

Rhallani scratched Tsuki behind the ears. “Nobody has to do anything they don’t want to, but,” she flashed a smile at Ryoko, “if you want—and only if you want—I’m sure he wouldn’t be too hard to convince. I’m not sure if even he realizes how desperate he is for love and affection, so if you wanted something less casual then I'm sure we could get that going.”

Ryoko let out a quiet squeak, but her tail swished back and forth rapidly. Tsuki didn’t look too happy about it, but she made no further argument. Her stomach, however, decided to choose that moment to let out a low growl.

Rhallani laughed. “Why don’t we go get some breakfast, huh? Ren and Serena are still sleeping, so we can plan a little longer before they get down.” She glanced at the wet spot on her lap. “I’ll have to grab a new skirt, though.”

“Sorry,” Noelle mumbled.

With two fingers under her chin, Rhallani lifted Noelle’s face up so she could lean in and place a soft kiss on her cheek. Warmth bloomed from the spot where her lips touched Noelle’s flesh, and a shiver went through her body. Rhallani grinned. “You have nothing to apologize for. Now come on. With you and Tsuki on my side, there’s no way he’s ready for what we can come up with.”

# # #

Noelle slipped into some of the clothes they’d bought for her. They were so much nicer than anything she’d ever worn, and sometimes she never wanted to take it off. Not only because she loved the feeling of the soft cloth against her skin, but for the fact that someone had bought them for her. They were far and above the most comfortable clothes she’d ever owned, and she cherished them on a level she kept carefully hidden from the others for reasons she didn’t fully understand.

She convinced the twins to at least put on some undergarments under the shirts that hung off them, but they didn’t want to wear anything more than that. They didn’t have clothes yet that would accommodate their tails, and like Scarlet they were used to making due with very little clothing.

By the time they were all dressed Rhallani was waiting for them in a fresh skirt. She confirmed that Zaren and Serena would be remaining in bed for a bit longer, so they all headed down to get some food. Noelle ended up with a plate full of sausage, eggs, biscuits, and gravy. She made sure to drink another of the wellness potions during the meal, and she found herself mostly listening while Tsuki and Rhallani started to bounce ideas off one another for the best way to discover Zaren’s desires.

Since they were hardly the only ones in the dining room they kept their voices low and the details light, but it still wasn’t long before the needy ache started to build again in Noelle’s core. The one that was much warmer than the one in her chest that had faded considerably since this morning.

They’d been talking for nearly half an hour when the door to the tavern opened. It had been opening and closing periodically as people left for the day, but something about this time made Noelle’s skin crawl. Then she sniffed, and her blood froze in its veins. She knew that scent. She knew it very well. She still smelled it in her nightmares.

The conversation in the room seemed to die a little, as if the man who walked in carried with him such an intimidating air that even the other customers took notice. Tall and broad. Bald with a scar running down the side of his face. Beady black eyes that were filled with cruelty. Well-used, intimidating armor and a half-dozen weapons hanging off him. He scanned the room and his gaze fell on her.

He smiled. A slow, malicious smile. The smile of a predator that had found its prey cornered and injured with nowhere left to go. In that instant, every bit of progress she’d made in dragging herself away from what he’d made her seemed to vanish. She wasn’t Noelle anymore. She wasn’t Scarlet, either.

She was Seventeen, a subject who didn’t even get a name. Just a number. Unable to fight back. Unable to do anything but lie there and suffer through whatever pain he had in store. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t remember how to. She regressed back to the slave who only did what it was ordered to. Even if it wasn’t there, she felt the weight of the metal collar that made her body no longer her own.

She whimpered, and Rhallani’s head shot up. She looked to the door and paled. “All of you, get upstairs now.” She stood. “Find Ren, hurry. I’ll slow him down.”

No! Don’t! Please, just run! Noelle wanted to scream, but she was a prisoner in her own body. The twins stood, and Tsuki grabbed both Ryoko and Noelle by the arm, but she couldn’t move. She was clutching the table to tightly. Trembling. Oh gods. She was going to go back, wasn’t she? He was here to take her and break her back down into Seventeen, only it would be so much worse now that she knew what her life could be like. She’d gotten a taste of freedom, and it would haunt her for the rest of her miserable life.

Vald prowled across the room with a furious smile. Rhallani tried to head him off, but she barely got more than a few words out before he struck her. The back of his hand crashed into the side of her head hard enough to send her sprawling into the empty table next to her. She bounced off it and hit the ground, trying and failing to push herself to her feet. Noelle knew the force of that strike. For someone like Rhallani who had never been seriously struck like that, it would be a few minutes before the room was done spinning.

“I’ll deal with you in a minute, Arelim,” Vald spat. Other customers stood, some muttering and others shouting, but Vald was far too intimidating for them to actually stand up for a demi-human. Then he closed the rest of the distance between him and Noelle. “Seventeen. You’ve been very bad. You were supposed to stay put.”

A dozen responses came to mind. She could claim that she’d been forced to, that she’d had no say, but that felt like it would be disrespecting Zaren and Rhallani. No, she wouldn’t say that. She wouldn’t say anything. He’d punish her no matter what, and she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of begging. At least the twins had disappeared at some point. At least they’d be safe.

“Let’s go.” He gripped her arm roughly and yanked her to her feet. He looked her over and grinned. “Well, it looks like we’ve got some work to do. You seem to have entirely too much health at the moment. Don’t worry, I made sure to get the inn with the soundproof rooms.”

Raw fear coursed through her, and she let it. She didn’t want to go back. She wanted to stay. With Rhallani. The twins. Serena. Zaren. He could sense fear, right? Surely he could feel how scared she was right now. She wanted him. Needed him. She’d decided to put her faith in him. He wouldn’t want her to go either. For him, she could fight back.

She dug her heels in and yanked. Vald clearly wasn’t expecting resistance, because she actually managed to twist her arm free of his grip. She was just as surprised as him. Surprised enough that she ended up falling to the ground. She tried to run, but that small moment of defiance had taken every part of her. She had none left. Her limbs would no longer listen to her.

He glowered at her. “My, my, it seems we have a lot of work to do. Just remember that what comes next you brought on yourself.” He reached for her, and another terrified whimper escaped her lips.

A flash of silver.

A heavy impact.

An axe slammed into the table between them hard enough to knock it a foot to the side. Vald flinched back, and tears of relief fell down Noelle’s cheeks when they both looked to see Zaren standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was barefoot, wearing only pants and a thin shirt, but he was here.

“I’m going to have to ask you to step away from my companion,” he said. His tone was calm. Too calm. His feet made no sound on the wooden floor while he walked towards them. His face was completely devoid of emotion, but there was a darkness in his eyes. Angry did not begin to describe what Noelle saw in them. It should have terrified her, but instead it chased her fear away.

Vald turned towards Zaren and cracked his neck. “So you’re the little shit who stole my property?”Zaren stopped just out of reach from him. He ignored the question. “You should know that your skill that makes people you look at afraid of you is doing more harm than good. There have been perilously few people in my life I’ve feared, and I killed all of them.”

A skill? Noelle was already terrified of him, so such a skill would magnify that. Just knowing about it made the terror inside her wane. Vald just snorted. “Cute, but I don’t give a fuck about that. You want to do the smart thing? Stay out of my way. I’m taking that one.” He jerked a thumb at Noelle.

Again, Zaren gave no indication he’d even heard Vald speak. He turned his face towards where Serena, who had on about as many clothes as Zaren, was helping Rhallani stand. Around them the other customers were already fleeing the room. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m f-fine,” she said thickly. Already Serena was healing the damage, but Rhallani’s eyes were still unfocused.He turned his attention back to Vald. “I’m going to ask you two questions.”

Vald snorted. “Let me guess, answer or die?”

Zaren didn’t even blink. “If what you did to my friend wasn’t enough of a reason to put a dog like you down, you striking a woman I love would be. No, you died the moment you walked in that door. Answer my questions, and I might just make it quick.”

Vald just laughed. “Aren’t you an uppity little shit? An Arelim lover? Seriously? What, you got a demi-human fetish?”

“I can tell by your hands that you’re not much more than a brute,” Zaren said. Vald tensed, but Zaren continued. “Definitely not a surgeon. Who took her wings?”

Echoes of pain raced through her back. The white hot pain stabbing into her over and over for years and years. Vald just frowned. “Why the fuck would I give a shit about that?”

Zaren just sighed. “I suspected as much. Fine. Last question, who took over for Vorl?”

Every muscle in Vald’s body went taught. “What the fuck did you just say?” Now it was his voice that was dangerously quiet with the threat of violence.

“Vorl? You knew who he was, at least. You’re old enough, and you’ve got enough resemblance in your face to be his kid. Nephew, more likely, since he didn’t exactly prefer women.”

Vald took a step towards him, which meant it was a step away from Noelle. “How the fuck does a kid like you know that name?”

“It wasn’t Korr, that’s for sure,” Zaren continued. “In fact, I was fairly certain everyone involved ended up six feet deep, yet here you are. Still using Vorl’s brand. I want to know who I missed.”

Vald fingered the cudgel that hung from his belt. A brutal instrument for a brutal man. “Change of plans. I’m going to kill you slow. Find out every little morsel of what you know and how you know it. You’ll be begging for death by the time I’m done with you.”

Zaren was supremely unimpressed by Vald’s threats. “He begged, you know. Your uncle. Begged me not to kill him. Tears and snot all over his face.” He scoffed. “Pissed me off. Can you imagine? All the lives he ruined, and he had the nerve to beg? How many of his victims pleaded for mercy, I wonder? I was very happy not to give him an ounce, though sometimes I wish I’d done it slower.”

Vald took his cudgel off his belt. “I don’t know what bullshit you’re spouting, kid, but—”

“Your father didn’t beg—I’m guessing Korr was your daddy at least, he certainly passed on the temperament and lack of intelligence—but most days I figure that’s just because I didn’t give him the chance. He was actually dangerous, so I didn’t really have time to chat before I separated his head from his shoulders.”Vald’s breath came in ragged gasps. “How did—”

“I burned the bodies, of course. Had to make sure Grimsbane didn’t use any of the twisted magic that might remain from your uncle’s brands or marks. I left the heads, though. I wanted the others to know I was coming.” Zaren lifted his arms, almost as if welcoming an embrace. “Slavers, torturers, and monsters are so often cowards, I knew they’d scatter like the cockroaches they—”

“RAAAAAGH!” Vald screamed. He lunged, bringing his cudgel down, but Zaren was ready. Shadows erupted from him when he darted in. One second his hands were empty, the next there were daggers in his palms. Two tendrils of shadow caught the cudgel and pulled the blow past him while two more stabbed towards gaps in Vald’s armor. Zaren’s hands became a blur, and Vald staggered back. He screamed, but this time in pain. The hilts of two daggers protruded from him, sunk into the gaps between his armor. One in his leg, the other in his side. “You little fuck!”

Already, there were two more daggers in Zaren’s hands. His tendrils whipped around him agitatedly. “Your father made sure I knew exactly where every nerve cluster on the human body was and what it felt like to get stabbed there. I was thrilled when I got to return the favor.”

Vald ripped the dagger from his torso and charged. Zaren met him head on, his form disappearing in a whirlwind of shadow and blade. Vald must have had thirty levels on him, but Zaren fought like a force of nature. He slammed four more daggers into the soft points of Vald’s body, and the man screamed in pain each time. His shadows alternated between blocking and stabbing for any target they could reach. In seconds, Vald was covered in a dozen injuries.

“It always annoyed me,” Zaren summoned two short swords, “how sadists like you could never seem to handle pain.”

With another roar, Vald charged once more. This time Noelle saw the activation of a number of skills that seemed to give even Zaren a hard time, right up until a blow connected with Zaren’s side that sent him flying. He landed on his feet, but Noelle could tell the strike had hurt. Zaren was an amazing fighter, but he was still only level twelve.

Zaren was right about Vald being a brute. He relied on force far more than anything resembling skill, but he had plenty of it. Vald would have him beat in sheer stats alone, and Zaren’s skills only helped him when he was outnumbered, fighting someone who feared him, or fighting in the dark. He had none of those advantages right now.

Zaren might be able to whittle down Vald’s health, but all Vald needed to do was land a few solid blows, and from the look on his face he knew it. “You’re weak. Good, but weak. No fortitude, and no health.” He threw his cudgel aside and drew a hatchet.

“I think I’m gonna keep you alive long enough for me to do to your other little pets what I did to Seventeen here.” He twirled the hatchet and limped forward. “The Arelim, the Kitsunes, and even that blond bitch there. When I’m done, they’re gonna look just like she did.” He jerked his hatched towards Noelle.

He attacked Zaren again, but Noelle was hardly paying attention. The thought of being at Vald’s mercy back in her cell terrified her to her core, but he wasn’t just threatening to take her back. He was going to hurt the people she loved. The people who had saved her and shown her kindness and warmth. She felt a heat in her chest. One completely unlike the one she felt when Zaren touched her. When Rhallani or Serena held her. This heat was sharp and painful, and it demanded something of her.

Anger. Fury. Rage that choked out the fear. Vald would not hurt the people she cared for. Her trembling stopped, and she reached out and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the axe still sticking out of the table next to her. Vald was pressing Zaren back into the room—now empty of other patrons—but that just increased the distance between her and Vald. Zaren fought defensively, but she knew he’d be fine for a few more seconds. She backed away to give herself a little more distance.

She’d wanted to be a guardian. Zaren had asked her to be a protector. It was time for her to show him that his faith hadn’t been misplaced. She gripped the axe in both hands and waited for her opening. For Vald to throw himself into another barrage of rabid hacks. For him to be completely certain he was overwhelming his opponent with raw force, as was his way. Then, she activated [Bull Rush].

She hurled through the space of the room at a breakneck pace. Not quite as fast as Serena’s rush, but damn close. Zaren’s eyes widened a fraction, but he just twisted out of her path and lashed out with his tentacles to keep Vald’s attention. The blow would have been devastating, but Vald inadvertently shifted just enough so that his armor took the brunt of the attack.

He grunted in surprise. The force of the blow compounded with her skill sent him crashing through the nearest table. She stood to her full height and brandished her axe. “You will not hurt my family,” she told him.

Vald spat out a wheezing laugh. “Family? A mutt like you? It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.” But there was a hint of fear in his eyes. He knew better than anyone her skills. Her stats. Her health. They could hit one another all day and it would be him that ran out of health first, especially after he’d been damaged by Zaren.

But she couldn’t use most of her skills. Not without enduring more pain and injury, and that would make Zaren sad. Rhallani and Serena, too. No, she’d defeat Vald without resorting to the skills he’d forced upon her.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. “Noelle?” Zaren asked softly.

She shivered. One simple word, and he’d dispelled all her fears. She could do this as long as she had him. “He is mine.”

He nodded as if he’d expected much, and she felt warmth spread from his hand. “I’m right here. No matter what happens, he isn’t taking you.”

No. He wasn’t. Zaren wouldn’t let him, and now neither would she. He stepped back, his blade at the ready, and inclined his head. The message was clear. Vald was hers. He wouldn’t interfere unless he had to. He understood that she needed to do this. Needed to face him.

“Cute,” Vald spat. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

Noelle wasn’t Zaren. She didn’t know how to goad Vald into attacking, so she started things off. She lunged in, and he brought his axe up to meet hers. She wasn’t used to fighting with so little strength, but she felt so much lighter than before. Quicker. There was no pain to slow her down, and her body didn’t feel as frail as it once had. That was all thanks to Zaren.

After the very first exchange, she thought she may have made a mistake. He slipped her guard and the blade of his axe slammed into her side, but the impact was dull. She staggered back, more in confusion than pain, then looked down to see why. There was a gash in her shirt, and underneath she could see the black matte metal of the armor conjured by Zaren’s skill.

He’d let her do this, but he wouldn’t leave her undefended. The warmth she’d felt spreading over her had been his magic wrapping around her. Protecting her even as she protected him. Her heart sang even when Vald tried to use her momentary distraction to get a strike in. Shadows erupted from where her wings would be and knocked the blade aside. He’d given her two tendrils to work with in addition to the armor.

Worry started to settle into Valg’s gaze. He glanced to the door, but he’d already threatened her family. She wouldn’t let him escape so easily. She threw herself at him, trusting Zaren’s magic to keep her safe. The tendrils didn’t attack, but between them and the armor they made an impenetrable defense. They allowed her to attack with impunity, and Vald had no recourse. He tried to hack at her, but he wasn’t fast enough to get past the shadows. Wasn’t smart enough to think of a way in that wasn’t a frontal assault.

She threw herself forward and swung the axe with everything she had. Fury built up in her, not because of what he’d done to her, but what he threatened to do to the others. He wanted to use raw aggression to overwhelm his opponents? She could do the same. He became a blur. A shape that was nothing more than a destination for the axe in her hand. She slammed it into him over and over, some blows blocked and others slipping past his rapidly weakening defenses.

She gave him no room to fight back. No room to escape or mount a defense. She’d fought through unimaginable pain for as long as she could remember, and not even her screaming muscles or aching lungs could get her to let up. Not until he was on the ground in front of her. He weakly tried to raise his hatchet, but she knocked it away and leveled her axe at him. It was chipped and shattered by the ferocity of her inexperienced assault, but it was enough to put fear into his black beady eyes.

He was panting, bleeding from a dozen deep cuts all over his body. Gashes where she’d cut through the armor he wore. Blood seeping from under the dents where she hadn’t. With Zaren’s help, it had been laughably easy to defeat him. She could feel the fear from both her past and his skill knocking at her consciousness, but her anger held the reins now.

The tendrils wrapped around the arm holding the axe. Not pulling her back nor pushing her forward, but strengthening her. She understood. Zaren was telling her that he was there. He was with her, but it was her decision. Vald’s fate was in her hands.

“P-please…” he begged.

Disgust filled her. This was the man she’d feared for so long? All of the sudden he seemed so much smaller. Her body still remembered the pain he’d put her through, but for the first time she felt like she might be able to truly move past it. She lowered the axe, and then Zaren was there. He nodded at her, his eyes glowing in approval, and she let him pull her away from Vald so he could take her place.

“Unfortunately,” Zaren said, drawing a blade from his storage, “I’m not so forgiving.” He lifted the blade and pressed the tip to Vald’s throat.

The door burst open. “Stop!” a new voice called.

Zaren sighed, but he looked up at the four city guards that had just burst into the room. Then he looked down at Vald and pressed the tip of his blade forward enough to draw out a bead of blood. “You started this, and I’m sure nobody will put up much of a fuss if I end this here and now.”

“W-wait!” Vald cried. “Answers! You wanted answers!”

One of the guards stepped up, a hand on her blade. A tall woman with weathered armor. “Stand down, sir. You’re holding a defenseless man at sword point.”

The blade didn’t move, but his eyes flicked to the insignia on her breastplate. “You’re a captain, right?” he asked.

The guard frowned. “I said—”

“You might want to listen to this next part, Captain.” He dug the blade in deeper. “Talk. All of it. Bases, numbers, names, or I’ll split your throat open before the captain can even draw her sword.”

The captain tensed, but not before information started to tumble out of Vald's mouth. Locations where other slavers hid, how many slaves were there the last time he was in them, the names of the local slave trade leaders, the routes they used, everything he could think of. “I don’t know who took over after Vorl died, but I know that a new player is in charge now. I’ve never met him, and I don’t know his name, but he’s supposed to be strong. The second coming of Valethar Karn, some say.”

Zaren let out a long breath. “You get all that, Captain?”

The captain in question, who was standing with her mouth open, merely nodded. “We’ll have operations in place by the end of the week, I’m sure.”

“Good.” Zaren took one last look at Vald and shook his head. He banished his sword, then said, “you’re just like they were back then. There’s nobody you won’t sell out to save your own skin. May you rot just like they did.”

He turned to walk away, but Vald wasn’t as beaten as he’d pretended. He lunged at Zaren’s back, a dagger in his hand. The captain lunged forward drawing her weapon, and Noelle cried out, but Zaren hardly reacted. Two black tendrils shot out from his back, moving so fast Noelle could hardly track them. They severed Vald’s arm at the wrist, sending the hand flying, then whipped across his chest and gouged out four deep cuts in his chest in the blink of an eye. The tendril—its tip shaped like a long, thin blade with a tinge of red in it—cut right through Vald’s armor. Then with a final flick, one left a deep cut in the side of his neck that fountained blood.

He staggered back, blood spurting from his stump, his injuries, and his mouth, then slid down the wall. He burbled something unintelligible, looking at Zaren, then he slumped. The light went out of his eyes. Vald was dead.

The captain stood frozen, her sword halfway from her sheath. “You killed him.”

“And the world is better off for it,” Zaren said. “My skill defends me automatically. It activated when he tried to strike me.”

Noelle had seen his skill acting defensively, and she knew what she’d just seen had been different. She also knew he’d baited Vald into attacking. She didn’t plan to say any of that out loud, though.

She couldn’t take her eyes off Vald’s corpse while Zaren talked with the guards, who regarded him cautiously. At some point the axe fell from her hand, and not long after she felt arms wrapping around her. Two, then four, then eight. Rhallani, then Serena, then the twins all wrapped around her. Only then did the tears start to fall. Vald was dead. He’d never hurt her again. He couldn’t take her away any longer, and it was thanks to Zaren.

Her face ended up buried in Rhallani’s chest, but she felt hands stroking her everywhere, Her hair, her back, her arms. Someone grabbed her hands. Someone else placed a kiss on her forehead. An arm wrapped around her stomach and someone’s face pressed into the back of her neck. She couldn’t tell who was who through the film of tears in her eyes, but she didn’t care.

Then they parted, and she felt cold where their warmth had been. She wanted to protest, but then he was there. She could tell by his smell. By how much harder his front was than the others. His hand found the side of her face, nearly eclipsing her head with its size, and she turned towards his warmth and threw her arms around him. She twisted her arms in his shirt and he held her close, caressing her head while she cried into him. Soft warmth enveloped her back and she knew she was being sandwiched against him. She also knew there was nowhere she’d rather be.

“I made you a promise,” he said softly, “and I keep those.” That’s right. He’d promised to kill whoever came for her. Vald really had been dead the moment he’d walked through the door. She pressed into him even harder.

She never wanted the moment to end, but there was something she needed to do. Something she wanted to do. That felt like an important distinction to her. She pulled away, and they let her. Zaren wiped the tears from her face, and she let him. Then she turned towards Rhallani.

“I never thanked you for saving me that day in Listone,” she said in a wavering voice.

Rhallani, who had tears in her own eyes, smiled wide. “You don’t have to thank me. Every day I’m glad I found you, Scarlet.”

“Noelle,” she corrected. Then she looked to Serena. “My name is Noelle, and I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to tell you that.”

Rhallani’s tears fell, and she pulled Noelle back into an embrace. “That’s a wonderful name. Noelle. I love it.”Serena, also crying, joined in. “I’m glad you’re a part of our family, Noelle,” she said.

Noelle felt a hand that could only be Zaren’s on her back, just below her wings. Where she wanted to be touched the most. “Let’s go upstairs for a bit to calm down, then we can worry about setting out for the day. How does that sound?”

Still buried in Rhallani and Serena, Noelle could only nod. Growing closer to Zaren was an inevitability, she decided then and there. Right now she just wanted to be surrounded by the people she cared for. By the people that cared for her.

And while he herded them back up the stairs, her hum reached a warm pitch she never thought she’d hear again.