Bound Beneath the Moon [ONC 2021] ✔

Chapter 11

I see white ears poking over the balcony again. Erie's here. She came to see me again. But the timing isn't as nice as I expected it to be. Morven wanted to talk with me. He just wanted inputs and help with his wedding, and he wanted to know things were going with my "cat wife."

    It's slightly irritating. Sure, Erie has plenty of cat-like features, but I love that about her. I love everything about her. What am I not supposed to love?

    I can't get over her responses from today's challenge. All her responses were peaceful, trying to avoid military conflict if necessary. But if she had to, her strategies were genius. Oh, how I wish the entire royal court wasn't biased towards Jhorlauhin. Maybe they'd give Erie a chance if they knew I loved women, or more like loved a woman like Erie.

    She's calm at first. Tail twitching, baggy shirt with tight jeans, and her traditional trench coat. But in her hand in a small box. I can't help but get to my feet and rush over to her. Morven seems like he isn't bothered that I ditched him at the large vanity in my room.

    Erie freezes when her eyes land on him. She lets out an awkward laugh. "Wow. Didn't know you had a friend over."

    Morven just shrugs, still looking through the nail polish colors. He wanted to have a "gossip night" with just the two of us, including half-assed spa sessions. "Pretend I'm not even here."

    Erie holds out the golden box with her traditional nervous smile. "I brought this for you."

    I'm cautious when I do, just in case her gift is fragile, but I take the box from her and flip open the lid. The inside is blanketed with purple velvet fabric, which supports a small dagger in the box. It's not sharp, but the curves and shape of the steel could make for a deadly weapon. The handle is made of pure gold. Bright, purple crystals lace into the silvers swirls covering the handle.

    I can't even tell I'm smiling so much. But she sure as moons noticed it.

    "I thought you would like it. I heard about your Mom, and thought you needed a weapon, too."

    "My mom would take this from me if she saw it." A laugh comes from me. "But I love it. Thank you."

    Mom used to be a soldier. A long time ago, Zophoria was at war. It was violent, scary, but dozens of years before I was born. Dad was still learning the ropes of ruling and Mom was training for war. Her kill count was substantial, everyone feared her. She wiped out an entire army by herself once. The scars on her neck are from the time's enemies tried to slit her throat open, the claw-shaped scars were from off-planet beasts that people used as weapons, and the scar on her eyebrow was from a time she tried saving Dad.

    But after the war ended, Grandma and Grandpa didn't have anything to do with their most prized soldier. So since violence and death threats were being thrown around, they made Mom become the bodyguard of their son. And despite how Mom never wanted to admit it until their wedding day, she fell in love with him almost immediately. Dad felt the same. Not even a year later, Marious was born.

    The scar on her eyebrow was a while before, though. It was an assassination attempt on my father, but Mom was right there. And instead of someone losing their lives, Mom just lost an eyebrow.

    Grandpa still hasn't let it go after almost 25 years. He still cracks jokes about it to this day. So in the end, it doesn't surprise me that Erie knew about her. Everyone on Zophoria knows about her past. It's why they respect her so much as queen and why they didn't bat an eye when Dad decided to marry a blacksmith's daughter. But even if mastery of weaponry runs in her side of the family, she still hates the idea of any of her children wielding a weapon.