Later in the night, Alarick took a sleepy, drunk Erriene upstairs while everyone passed out at the hall and out on the front of the castle by the big bonfire.
Several villages had also made smaller bonfires and were dancing around it, commemorating the joining of the kingdoms once again, taking any excuses to stop working and drink until dawn, making Maud a loud and warm place tonight.
Erriene shifted in his arms once again, too sleepy to notice Alarick was carrying him once they were outside the view of the hall.
He carried him through the corridors and into his room- their room. He put Erriene on the bed, watching the man immediately curl to his side before going back to lock the door and telling the soldier stationed outside to leave for the night.
While he was there, Erriene needed no other protection. He put the key around the doorknob.
He turned slowly to Erriene. The elf was sitting up now, looking warily at Alar
Erriene nodded slightly to the bed, face tucked against the pillow while Alarick undid his underpants, and slid them all the way down his legs, opening them again to settle down between them."I have to make our bond permanent, Erriene," he said rather desperately, wanting Erriene to understandhis actions.Why he had to do what he’s about to do… what they’re about to do.Erriene whimpered and made soft complying sounds, still too scared, as if trying to sooth a beast."Yes, just… be careful. Please, pleasedon't hurt me," Erriene begged, voice small and wavering.Alarick felt his heart squeeze. So unlike the strong, brave Erriene he knew.And he had done this all.He brought his hands to Erriene's face, kissed him once on the lips."No, never," he whispered between kisses, "You know I would neverdo that to you, Erriene."Erriene nodded again, turning his head
Alarick woke up with Erriene sleeping, relaxed across his chest, long white silver hair interlaced across his fingers, his left hand across his chest, and a pale leg draped across his abdomen.He caressed Erriene’s head, smiling when the elf tucked his face even further on the crook of his neck and made soft cooing noises. He put one hand on Erriene’s thigh, moving it up and down his skin, and Erriene only burrowed himself closer.Erriene was a lot better like this, docile. He liked it.Something had caught his eye and his smile turned into a grin when he saw the newly formed tattoo-like mark of a ring around Erriene’s ring finger and middle fingeron his left hand.His ring.The one on the ring finger was a swirl of gold and silver intertwining each other and is the mark of their marriage, while the red and blue swirls around the middle finger was a mark of their strong bond which signifies that they had consum
“Where are you going?” Erriene asked suspiciously from his seated position at the table.Erriene was reading one of his books and had looked a little frightened when Alarick entered the room, but soon masqueraded his fear.Alarick looked back at him. He was kneeling in front of his chest, the one always locked where he kept important weapons and tools.One more week had passed and not a glance from Erriene. Now, he was leaving the castle.There were troubles in the North of the country and he had to lead an army there, make a speech and recruit more soldiers from the villages.“Away,” he deadpanned. “I would have told you sooner but you were running away from me.”“Already?” Erriene asked, ignoring the second part of what hehadsaid, a strange emotion across hisprettyface.He looked away from him and Alarick’s face fell. He didn’t know lea
Alarick had been away for a week now, and with nothing to do, Erriene had decided to go down the fair and buy materials to work on stitching the clothes in Alarick’s chest.A lot of his armors and shirts were ripped, probably from training and actual battle, and laid forgotten at the bottom of his chest. He opened the chest because he was feeling bored and curious, and he decided to sew the clothes because he had nothing to do.Also, Alarick should lock it if he didn’t want anyone going through it.Not because he missed him, he told himself. No, not really. That would be ridiculous.Definitely not because he could smell him on his clothes. That one time when he couldn’t stop himself from taking a shirt from Alarick’s chest and burying his nose in it was an accident.But the nights were getting colder since the first one, and he couldn't deny that.“Let me accompany you, Dalli,” Avinash had sa
Alarick sat in front of Erriene in their room with his hands joined together on his lap.Erriene crossed his arms, too nervous by the man’s silence.“Alarick?” he called tentatively, and Alarick narrowed his eyes, blinking hard, a scowl appearing on his face.Alarick looked tired. Erriene felt a stab of guilt for troubling him right after such a long travel.“You say he is alive,” Alarick repeated, looking right into his eyes.He nodded. “Yes.”“In the mountains.”Erriene nodded again, one hand messing up his hair, too agitated to stop himself. He hadn’t managed to sleep the whole night.Alarick seemed paralyzed for a second, almost as if hit by a spell. But his tone changed.“We will prepare the journey,” Alarick stopped himself, growling a little. “I should have known. I was stupid and mamkkapaid the price for all these ye
Alarick had encircled his little nymph in his arms, one arm around his shoulders and another behind his knees and lifted him up in a bridal carry.Erriene tentatively circled his arms around his neck as Alarick proceededto sit on the bed with the creature on his lap, delicate legs sideways across his thighs.Alarick kissed his forehead when he heard a little sigh. Erriene slowly turned up his head towards his neck and buried it there, bending his knees for him and against his chest.He took Erriene’s slippers away, and took the pale feet in his hand, massaging it for a while. He had already felt better. Despite being already aching, he wanted to be as slow as he could be, to savour it, and to discover Erriene’s body with more care than their first time.He buried his face in Erriene’s hair and relished in the sweet scent he had missed as his free hand continued moving gently over Erriene’s body, his other arm st
The next day, Alarick sent a letter to his father.He rested his elbows on his knees. The thought of his mamkkastill alive in the mountains, alone, probably wounded or suffering,brings a bad taste in his mouth. It had been somehow easier when he thought him dead and at peace.He’d left Erriene alone in the morning, and the prince seemed weirdly distraught by the idea. Erriene asked again and again if he would know where to look for Aefstine, seeming very concerned.If he really had seen what he claimed he have, Alarick couldn't blame him for having nightmares. He had them too. Every time he looked at the mountains, he wondered if one day, those giants would break through and try to claim the land back.Never once had he thought that he would be the one to break the contract. But really, it was the giants who broke the seal. It was them who betrayed his people.Alarick breathed through his nose and rememberedthe
It was the Frost Giant’schief that invited Alarickand Randalinside, and a guard of some kind accompanied them.Alarick and Randal walked among the city towards the hut of the chieftain.Alarick's shoulders were tense. The females were about his size, and the males taller, but their back curved in strange ways. They were far from what he considered human.Yet, he came from one of them.He could not feel any connection to these people.He looked at some females passing through with dead wild pigs on their shoulders, primitive weapons on their hands, and he tried to imagine calling any of them mamkka. But it was the image of Aefstine that fluttered in his mind, and squeezed at his heart.If he didn't know any better, he'd say he came from Aefstine's womb somehow. His first memories of childhood being in his mamkka's lap, grabbing at the jug of hot milk, his mamkka's laughter and kisses and warmth…