Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 56: Complex Thoughts

Maruka carried the sleeping Eory through the now-boisterous hallways of the fortress with a whistle on his lips.

The Selkie wondered how Eory could tire himself out so efficiently when he had done so little in comparison with the other recruits, but he supposed that even minor tasks could tire out someone who had been locked in a tower their whole life.

The recruits gave Eory evil looks as Maruka passed them by—they were assuming that the selkie had given Eory special treatment due to sexual favors—and Maruka was glad of it.

If I want him to open up, I should make it so that I am the only one he can rely upon. Maruka thought to himself. Them and Pollyanna already seem to be abandoning him.

Maruka felt guilty about his actions, but at the same time, he coveted the idea of having someone who could only rely upon and love him and no one else.

Maruka was glad he had built up much stamina over the years thanks to his own training and hard work, otherwise fighting all day and then having to carry a sleeping fairy through the vast halls and many stairs of the iron fortress would be exhausting.

Eventually, Maruka arrived the recruit quarters. Since his hands were full, he asked an elf to open the door to Eory's quarters for him.

The recruit assented, giving both Maruka and the fairy he held the stink eye as he did so. Maruka ignored the look and entered the room. He shuffled toward the bed with Eory's arms still wrapped around his neck.

The fairy began to mumble. "Pollyanna... I want Pollyanna..."

Maruka paused when he was about to lay Eory down on the bed.

He murmured, "let me make love to you, Pollyanna. Just let me see what it's like."

Maruka said gently, "Eory, you're d-dreaming..."

"No, no... It's Them I want. Give me Them." The pitch of the fairy's voice change; it was lighter and more feminine. "Let him make love to me."

Maruka was chilled to the bone but undeniably enticed by the fairy's unconscious ramblings.

The fairy's lips were parted in an irresistible way; his face was close enough for Maruka to admire every inch of it.

The selkie simply contemplated the fairy's lips for a moment—under a spell that he could not shake off.

Eory whimpered in his sleep. "I miss Kori..."

Maruka unfroze.

Hastily, he laid Eory down on the bed, but the fairy refused to remove his pale arms from around Maruka's neck.

"I don't care that you're the sickest woman on Yharos, Pollyanna--I want you! I don't care about the consequences!" Eory begged.

At his begging, Maruka's heart fluttered. He realized how Lollia must have felt when she had him at her mercy.

She must have felt powerful and invulnerable.

Eory brought his odd, yet flawless, face closer to Maruka's.

Eory's soft breathing brushed the selkie's face; Maruka admired the spiral tip of the fairy's nose and the sweet dimples at the corners of his mouth.

Tears emerged from the corners of the fairy's closed eyes. "I can't show you my body, though; you wouldn't like it."

Maruka stayed tensed where he was. His hands, which were previously wrapped around Eory, now burrowed deeply and rigidly into the bed. Maruka's lips parted and closed as he fought his baser instincts.