I was expecting to get hardly any reviews for my last one, imagine my surprise when I got several. So here we are for another one.
I kinda wonder what path the show is going to take. Wil will obviously end up with one of the two girls. Too bad it's highly unlikely a TV show like this will allow Amberle to return some of Eretria advances. So a triad is pretty unlikely, but one can hope right?
Enjoy.
The first thing Eretria noticed when she came to was that she was warm. Not uncomfortably so, but it was a little out of place. There was a difference between surviving warm and comfortable warm, this was the latter. Something she didn't think she'd ever felt before.
The weirdness only compounded when she opened her eyes to find herself laying in a large bed clad in only a thin nightshirt. Her usual leathers nowhere to be found. Eretria would never sleep in such a state, an ambush was far too likely and she needed to always be ready for such an event. Safety was an illusion in the world they lived in.
As if it could get any stranger, Eretria was not alone.
The rover girl was nestled under the covers between two very different people. Both her bedmates having wrapped their arms around her to hold her closely.
Only after Eretria's eyes regained some of their focus did she see just who she was sleeping with. Wil's short elf ears were unmistakable. On the opposite side, Amberle lay in slumber looking every bit as peaceful as the half-elf.
Something was extremely wrong here. Not because Eretria was essentially snuggling with two abnormally hot people. Okay maybe a little of that, but that wasn't all. Events in Eretria's memory didn't add up.
Last thing she remembered was...
"Morning sleepyhead." Amberle whispered with a smile, her eyelids having risen at some point while Eretria was thinking.
Sleeping in the same bed was one thing, but Amberele giving her a soft kiss on the lips was certainly not expected at all. Unexpected, but most definitely not unpleasant.
At Eretria's puzzled look, Amberle's countenance shifted into one of concern. "You okay?"
"Uhh... I don't know." Eretria really didn't. Something weird was going on here. Her first thought was that the two were playing some kind of joke on her. But that mental track was shut down instantly. Wil was too nice to go along with something like that, not to mention after her last deception him being this close to her was unlikely. Eretria doubted Amberele was even capable of such a thing like this. Maybe if she was a little less stuck up and proud.
"Wanna talk about it?" Amberele questioned while her fingertips danced along Eretria's bare arm. Goosebumps forming beneath the princesses' touch.
Before the rover could speak further, she felt a touch of the lips on the back of her neck. "Morning you two." Now Wil was awake, and this whole deal getting odder by the second.
Surprisingly observant, Wil seemed to pick up on the mood of the women. "Something wrong?"
"How did we get here?" Eretria blurted out.
The other two laughed. But it was Amberele who answered. "What are you talking about? We sleep here every night."
"Yup." Wil reached around Eretria, while keeping one arm around the rover, and took one of Amberle's hands in his own. The princess flashed him a smile before squeezing his hand. "Best place in all the Four Lands."
"But what about your big quest? You know, army of demons rampaging around, big evil demon trying to take over the world? Dying fancy tree?"
Stuck up or not, Amberle embodied loyalty. There was no force in all the world capable of making her quit the task given to her. She'd save her people, or die trying.
"Don't you remember?" Amberle was confused. "We already won over a year ago."
"But that's not... I don't remember that." Eretria didn't understand. She could pull a con like this and make it believable, but not these two. Unless she'd badly underestimated them, Wil and Amberle fully believed what they were saying.
"Well then what do you remember?" Wil planted a kiss to her shoulder.
"We were separated..." Eretria tried her best to pull something from the fog of her mind. "Me and Amberle, you were nowhere to be found Wil. Elf-hunters were after us when we fell into some kind of old human building." The more she spoke, the more Eretria remembered. "We killed most of them and nearly escaped, you came back for us. Just as we were being lifted back to the surface I was shot in the side..."
"Really?" Amusement was written all across Amberle's face. "That's a pretty wild story. But there's one problem."
"What's that princess?"
Amberle didn't speak at first. Instead her hand slipped under Eretria's shirt. The rover tried to hide the hitch of her breath at the feel of fingers on her skin. Amberle's touch didn't go much higher that her hips and stomach. "See? Nothing, not even a scar."
"What?" Eretria looked down and felt the spot she remembered where the arrow pierced her flesh but found nothing just like Amberele said. No wound, no scar, not even a scratch.
She remembered it so clearly though...
"Sounds like a pretty crazy dream to me." Wil chuckled. "As great as this is ladies, we do have to get up sometime. I think it's almost noon."
Eretria didn't miss how she and Amberle both ogled Wil as he got dressed. Eretria was not one to hide when she was interested in someone, but she was surprised to see Amberle doing the same. When Eretria gave her a look, Amberle shrugged with a face that almost said 'can't help it'.
"Anybody needs me, I'll be in the greenhouse." Wil waved as he disappeared out the door.
Amberle sighed, nuzzling Eretria's neck. The rover found herself leaning into the contact without even realizing it. "I don't want to get up... but our boyfriend's right."
Our? That was a new wrinkle. Sure the visual clues had been there this whole time, but it was different to actually hear it out loud.
Don't get her wrong, it was a concept Eretria had thought some about. Wil and Amberle were some of the best people she'd ever met, looks notwithstanding. But as far as she thought, Wil wasn't interesting in her anymore choosing instead the princess. Amberle herself didn't seem all that receptive in the baths at Pykon.
Now here they were, apparently in a relationship.
"Hey Amberle?" Eretria called out while the princess was getting up to get dressed herself.
"Yes?"
"Can you tell me what happened? My head's kinda fuzzy." Eretria tried to hide her nerves behind a small laugh. Whether it worked or not was up for debate.
"Did you bump your head or something last night?"
"No, I'd just like to hear it. Last thing I remember was the elf-hunters."
"Ah them." Amberle's face darkened for a moment. "They almost killed you, but we refused to leave you behind. It was a close call but we made it. We found Safehold thanks to that paper we saw underground, but it was almost too late."
"Too late?"
"We returned to Arborlon but the Dagda Mor had gotten tired of waiting and failure. He gathered his entire force for a frontal assault on the Sanctuary. It was only thanks to you that we were able to sneak around the demons and make it to the Ellcrys."
A fully clothed Amberle sat on the bed beside Eretria, sadder than she remembered ever seeing the princess. "But the Dagda Mor was waiting for us."
Amberle bit her lip, becoming choked up with tears starting to form. Eretria reached over and gripped her hand, not knowing what else to do. Amberle responded by wrapping both of hers around Eretria's.
"You were first to act, but he just knocked aside your knives like they were nothing. Then he hit you with a spell that threw you across the room into the wall. We thought you were dead." Amberle squeezed tighter, bringing the rover's hand up to her chest.
"What happened next?"
"He got me next as I tried to get to you. Wil, our recklessly brave idiot, dove in front of us with the elfstones. You've seen what they do to him when he uses them on a simple demon. He engaged the Dagda Mor himself with everything he had. And you know what?"
"He blew that bastard away?" Eretria smirked with a raised eyebrow.
Amberle grinned and laughed. "Yeah. You have no idea how relieved I was to find you were alright." One of Amberle's hands released its hold to reach over and slide along Eretria's cheek. "We almost lost you."
Eretria swallowed hard. Emotional stuff was never her forte, but something was making her want to try her hardest. "Y...yeah well I'm right here."
"Yes, you are." Amberle grinned and kissed her on the temple before standing back to her feet. "Once the dust had settled, we were heroes. My grandfather even brought out the old custom of granting one wish if it was in his power to do so."
"Didn't he care me and Wil were not exactly elves?"
"No, not that it mattered though. We all had the same request." Amberle wore a dreamy smile. "Bit of a shocker hearing it from you but eh." Amberle shrugged. "Didn't matter."
"What exactly did you... I mean we... ask for?" Eretria had a feeling she already knew.
"A place like this, and our privacy." Amberle answered leaning against the doorway. "We would be left alone to enjoy our lives together."
"And nobody argued?"
"Well... I did have to promise my Uncle Ander he could visit whenever he wanted. Apart from that no."
A place all of their own? Eretria had never had anything remotely like this. Rovers tended to travel, staying in one place was far too dangerous. To have something she could say 'that's my house' was unheard of.
"Come on. Wil and I don't mind, but you do have to get some clothes on." Amberle gave Eretria a flirty wink then vanished out the door just like Wil.
Eretria sat there for a few moments utterly dumbfounded, with a unfamiliar feeling in her gut. Since when did the uptight princess act so... much like her?
The weirdness factor was way off the charts now. Not that Eretria was complaining, she was liking this so far. Any world where Wil had forgiven her and Amberle more open was fine with her.
Getting up, she soon found her usual leather outfit and threw them on as fast as possible. She wanted to see more of this place they had settled down in.
Leaving the bedroom, Eretria found the small house to be sparsely furnished. A clear sign that either they didn't have much, or hadn't been here that long. Considering Eretria and Wil, it was probably a little bit of both. Their home was a step down from a room in the royal palace. Making it all the more meaningful Amberle not only lived here, but enjoyed it.
Bare or not, Eretria liked it already. Having never owned anything before, she'd have been excited just to have four walls and a roof, the former being optional.
A sudden spike of pain in her side almost knocked Eretria off her feet. It would have, had she not put a hand to the wall to steady herself. One deep breath later, it was gone just as fast as it arrived. Feeling around the spot, Eretria couldn't find the cause.
"Weird." Stepping out of the house, Eretria put it out of her mind. Maybe she would ask Wil about it later. He would have something for a stomachache.
The first thing to catch Eretria's eye was the small glass windowed building nearby. Judging from the green tint of the windows, that must be Wil's greenhouse. She'd heard of the things before but wasn't entirely sure what they were for. Maybe for growing plants?
"Eretria!" Looking for the source of the voice calling out to her, Eretria found Amberle rushing toward her looking panicked.
Eretria opened her mouth to speak but her voice refused to work. That was when she felt the wetness on her side. When she absentmindedly touched the spot with her hand, she saw the fresh blood covering her skin.
Eyes widening in horror, Eretria looked down to find the entire left side of her shirt was soaked with the crimson fluid. The red slowly spread further and further.
The pain she felt inside came back like a hammer blow, Eretria was falling to her knees before she even had a hope of stopping. The world already spinning as the agony grew in intensity.
"Eretria!" Now Wil was screaming for her. Through her blurry gaze, she could barely make out his approaching form. But just like Amberle, no matter how fast he ran, he didn't get any closer.
Eretria was taught growing up never to show pain. It was a sign of weakness, but this was too much. A whimper escaped her lips as she fell onto her back. A pool of blood forming beneath her limp body.
The rover's eyes sealed tightly in a vain attempt to block out just a little of the pain. When she reopened them, everything had changed.
The grass she was laying on had disappeared, replaced with a moving wooden cart. The cloudy sky, gone and in its place the branches of trees. Her body had been tossed into the cart along with a pile of assorted equipment and provisions.
Weak hands drifted to her side to find where the epicenter of her torment was. Eretria had to clench her jaw hard to stifle the gasp when she felt the arrow wound. Someone had poorly dressed it, likely intentional. The bleeding had been stopped, but whomever had done it didn't care how much it hurt. Something Wil would never do.
Head lolling to the side, Eretria caught sight of the elf-hunters that pursued her and Amberle through the woods.
That's right... they had nearly escaped. Wil came back to save them just like they had joked he would. But Eritrea had been hit in their flight and pulled back down.
It was nothing but a dream... this was reality.
"Wil... Amberle..." Eretria croaked out just before losing consciousness again.
That went better than I thought it would. It's going to be a one-shot for now unless I get suggestions or enough reviews.
If there's something I learned when writing my other story Package Deal, it's that I have a fascination with triad relationships. And this show has a perfect setup for one!
Let me know how I did everyone.