"Uuuuhh... Mika... Can I finish the drawing tomorrow? I am a bit tired after my visit to Maria"

With a question that wasn`t a question, Nastenkachu came bursting through the door of our two roomed apartment.

"Sure, my queen", I tell her.

Sooo... I guess the drawing will be posted tomorrow... or next year. I don`t know.

It turns out I cant bribe her with chocolate and backrubs either. That usually works when she is just being lazy. She did take the chocolate, however *sob*.

Now I need to go outside and buy some more... Human interaction! NOOOOOO

Enjoy the new chapter your slave has posted!

Venali Tralar POV

Akif keeps looking at me with a questioning look. I can tell he is worried about his friend, and after what he told me, I am not surprised. I just hope he didn’t tell them anything, because I don’t think I would be very welcome...

It’s not like I did anything wrong, but from the pain in Atre’s voice, I could tell that the months we spent together was very hard on him. Now I understand why he just up and left us behind in Ragin. I would have probably begged him to stay.

I am happy he found such good friend. That elf looks familiar, however… Eliyon, was it?

Atre has introduced me to the three of them. Eliyon and Sera seems to be sharing Akif. That is unusual for us commoners to do so, but hey! I didn’t even notice a man I was traveling with for months was deeply in love with me, so what do I know?

My friends came over to our table while we were speaking and told us that they would be going to a different tavern. Something about there not being enough people here, or something.

“Looks like the girls are on the prowl”, I thought as I waved my friends away.

Luckily that was before I told Atre that Rui got eaten by a Blood bear. It was hard for me to admit that to him. I could see him being conflicted. I needed his hug after I told him that. A big one.

His eyes gleamed with happiness when I told him that we are not together anymore. That happiness became concern and sadness after I told him that his friend – Rui - was eaten by a Blood bear last year.

Atre didn’t have anything against Rui. They were good friends, and he never held it against him that the two of us were married. Now that he has told me his feelings, I admire him for that. It would be easy to lose yourself in jealousy when you are in that situation.

It had been at least 3 years since I heard that familiar laughter. I could feel my heart stopping, and my face drain of colour after hearing it.

I remember thinking “ATRE! THAT IS ATRE!”. Of course couldn’t keep away after hearing the signature loud laugh he lets out when something funny just happened.

My heart was racing inside my chest as I came closer. A man looked at me questioningly as I arrived, so I let out a small smile at him before saying;

“Atre? Is that you?”.

After that my day was changed. A man I shared my life with for MONTHS told me he loved me, and spending time with the two of us hurt him so much he was crying as he listened to me and Rui having sex.

Now I understand why he moved to a different Inn the last couple of months before he left us.

I can’t believe we were that loud. He never said anything about it. Maybe he didn’t want to? Maybe he didn’t want to admit to himself that it was me he was hearing?

I should have been embarrassed, but I could only feel guilt and pity for him.

What really made what he told me sink in, was the fact that he was almost crying as he said it. I have never seen Atre show any other emotions other than happiness or anger. He never showed any sadness, no matter what happened.

When we ran upon that burned out village, me and Rui was shocked. Rui cried, and so did I.

Atre wasn’t. He was just angry. Very angry.

He swore to himself that he would find the ones responsible.

Today he was crying. Crying from the despair he felt as he told me his feelings. I presume he did it to rid himself of some of the lingering feelings he had stored in him for years. That didn’t help me with what I was feeling when he told me, however. Now I just feel shame. Shame that I never noticed what he felt for me, and shame that I came over here. It would have been so much better for him if I kept away.

But he needed to get those feelings out.

He told me that after he met me, he never fell for another woman. After he met me, his plans of finding a suitable wife was tarnished. He cursed himself for falling for me – the forbidden fruit, as he put it.

“He really did love me, didn’t he… Does he still feel like that?”, I remember thinking.

“Can you introduce me to your friends? The man is practically being held down by his women right now”, I asked him when I saw the man being given stern orders to sit down again.

Good thing they were here. He would have waltzed straight over and made everything VERY awkward.

Atre just laughed silently.

“Yeah… That is Akif. He has very questionable social skills, but he is the kindest man you have ever met. He is just worried about me. He values friendship more than his own life, I think”.

I looked over at the man. One of the ladies are talking about something, while the other one is nodding furiously. Akif is glimpsing over at us from time to time, but he seems worried about how the conversation is playing out.

The face he is making is actually cute. If it wasn’t for the dagger scar over his nose and the deep groove of a blade passing from his forehead to his cheek, he would have been handsome. Now he is cute, but also somewhat mysterious and scary looking.

“It is nice that you have friends that worries about you, Atre. I am with a small group of adventurers. A lady has to earn her keep, right? I have actually wanted to settle down, but I never found the right time to do it. Something always seem to fuck with my plans”, I told him with a gentle smile.

It was nice to talk with Atre like this. He feels like his old self again – a man I actually liked. One of the few, I might add.

Rui was more emotional than Atre. Not that Atre doesn’t show emotions. Atre is probably the brightest and happiest man I have had the pleasure to encounter. No… Rui was emotional in the wrong way. It was actually one of the things I disliked about my husband.

He always ended up crying over something small. He practically broke down after we walked into that village. The scent of burned flesh was overpowering.

Atre just stood there in anger while Rui cried.

No… Atre shows emotions. What Atre has, and Rui didn’t have, is strength. An internal strength I have never met in another person. I can feel that strength coming from Akif as well. In one way the two of them are similar. They both truly value their friendship, and will do anything to keep their friends safe.

Akif seems like a gentle soul. Actually! He feels like a bear – Gentle and loving until you threaten his family. Then all hell breaks loose. That is what I did today. That is the eyes he gave me when he saw what face Atre was giving me. Hell.

I could see Atre trying to hide his pain, but he couldn’t completely cover it up. He probably knew what would happen if Akif noticed.

Akif looked like he was about to step between us at that point. Luckily he decided not to.

“Let me introduce you to my friends then”.

He gets up, and motions for me to follow him.

I can see the face of concern on Akif’s face as he watches his friend walk over to him, but it is replaced with curiosity when he notices Atre isn’t hurting any longer. The questioning look he sends me is that of a child. It is as if he is asking me;

“What happened”.

I give a small smile to Akif and am introduced to Akif, and his ladies Sera and Eliyon.

The girls get up and shake my hand. They aren’t hiding that they are worried about Atre. I can feel some hidden feelings in that handshake, but at least they welcome me for now. Akif follows suit, and shakes my hand with a steady grip. He didn’t hurt me, but I could definitely feel some force in that handshake.

A proper man’s handshake. I hate it when they touch you as if they are afraid to break something.

“So how did you guys meet”, Eliyon asks me.

“Aah! We met in this tavern. Atre was drinking alone in a corner, and me and my groupmate thought he looked lonely sitting there drinking alone. He told us he wasn’t, but we were very welcome to sit with him”, I tell her as I look over at Atre. I have a small smile on my face, and Atre returns it in full.

I figure it is a good idea to hide that the groupmate I talked about was my husband. These two seem sharp, and I presume they have some kind of feeling of what happened between us. If I tell them he was my husband they will be able to connect the dots, and they might dislike me.

Now that I have found Atre again, I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to lose my last true friend.

“How did you meet him?”, I ask Eliyon.

“Aaah… He is my uncle”.

She looks over at Atre with a questioning look, and a small shake of his head can be seen. Almost undetectably, but it is there.

What are they hiding?

“Me and Akif met him when we were traveling. He was the guild master in the adventurer’s guild Akif came to register in, and they hit it off immediately”.

“You were a guild master, Atre? I should have known… You are a white ranked adventurer after all”.

“Well… Right now I should be clear ranked”, He tells me offhandedly before returning to the conversation him and Akif has been exchanging meanwhile me and the ladies are talking.

CLEAR RANKED? YOU ARE A TOP RANKED ADVENTURER?

“You are a top ranked adventurer?”

“I haven’t actually gone there to be tested, but from what I know about the requirements, I should easily be able to pass them”.

I just shake my head. He already was the most powerful adventurer I have met, and there are only a few white ranked adventurers in the country. On Aeria as a whole you might have… 1000 altogether. Maybe a 100 clear ranked adventurers.

“What have you been doing all this time? I thought that the job as a guild master practically means your death as an adventurer”, I ask I’m incredulously.

“Well… What you are saying is true. I didn’t get much adventuring done, but the guild is in the hands of my second in command, right now. I am thinking of just letting her take the seat of guild master”.

“Well… what are you doing here then?”

“Atre is here on some official business. My… Our king asked him to escort a client back to the castle. That is why they are here as well”, Eliyon tells me.

That… was a slipup!

“So you are taking advantage of Atre’s strength, as well? We did that a lot. Atre was like our back up plan if we fucked up somehow. It felt safe to have someone close by that you knew could handle whatever you threw at him. He is the strongest man I have ever met, you know! Before we met him, he was a lone wolf that did everything on his own! No groupmates”.

Eliyon looks funnily at her uncle.

“Yeah… that sounds like my uncle alright!”.

Akif has been quiet this entire time, and is carefully examining me.

Small talk doesn’t seem to be enough to win this one over…

I figure I should talk a bit with Akif. Maybe he will realize I don’t have any “evil” intentions.

“So, Akif! He was the guild master when you registered? How did the two of you meet?”.

“I pierced his legs, and healed them afterwards. Now… what happened?”.

I cough up the gulp of mead I just swallowed. Atre is laughing his ass of, and the same goes for Eliyon and Sera.

Pierced his legs? WITH WHAT? And what is the deal with not avoiding that monstrosity of an elephant in the room? You just jumped straight in there, didn’t you?

I try to find a suitable answer to what he asked me, but Atre rescues me after catching his breath.

“Don’t worry, Akif. There were some unresolved things that we had to sort out. Venali is a sweet girl. When you get to know her, you might even like her”, he tells the curious man waiting with a humorous voice.

MIGHT even like me? How bad did I fuck up for making him cry? Well… I didn’t make him cry, but he doesn’t know that!

Akif seems to calm down some after hearing Atre’s humour, and actually seem to warm up to me, somehow.

“Ok! This just got weird! You know what would make it better? CHOCOLATE SWEETROLL! Let’s go!”, Eliyon tells us as she shots down the glass of rum that Akif has been holding, but not drinking.

Sera nods, and grabs Akif.

“Are you joining us?”, She asks me when she sees Atre getting ready, but not me.

“Aah… if you allow me”, I tell her, but looking at Atre. He gives me a gentle smile before stroking my hand.

“Yeah… Come. I need some sweet stuff right now”.

Uuuh… let’s not read into that.

I get up, and follow Atre meekly. The three of them are getting on a Dunedime beast that is standing outside of the tavern, but Atre is riding a gorgeous Diamond deer stag. It looks absolutely fantastic!

“Are you coming, or what? Are you planning on walking?”, he asks me with a smile.

I give a smile of my own, and try to get on. That fails miserably, and my attempt at jumping onto the deer like a boss, ends up with me falling headfirst towards the ground.

Luckily Atre is there to catch me by back of my clothes. With a strong pull, I am lifted onto the stag.

“That is not how you get onto one of these you know. Riding a stag with your face plastered to the ground is a bad idea”, he tells me as he gently rests his hands on my hips while holding the reigns of the deer.

I can’t help but blush slightly at his comment, but I let it go. Those smart replies are something I have missed.

As we ride I can feel the tension lessen between small talk. His friends seem to realize that Atre is fine, and it makes the butterflies in my stomach fly away.

I don’t feel nervous now. I feel at home.

I didn’t realize how much I missed Atre. Yes, I was sad when he left, but I was too preoccupied with Rui to actually notice.

When Rui died I was too preoccupied with my grief to realize, and the friends I got in the adventurer’s guild filled the hole which Atre left.

I didn’t realize that hole never was filled until now. Now that he is back in my life, I am not letting him go. I can feel his strong hands resting on me. He hasn’t changed at all. He is still as handsome as I remember him to be.

A muscular body (for an elf), with the scars and wounds that follow years of being in combat. The small rift on his cheek is new, but it only adds charm to his already handsome face.

With how he looks, he should have been able to get any girl he wants.

Wait… Pierced his legs?

Akif is getting tired of our slow pace, and speeds up while he is listening to the fanfare of complaints being chucked his way. He gives less than zero of a shit about what they are saying, and just rides on.

Atre starts moving faster, but he slows down after I ask him;

“Uuuh… what did Akif mean when he pierced your legs?”, I ask him.

“Aaah! That is a good story! This snotty brat came into the adventurer’s guild, and his lady told us that he should be evaluated by a white ranked adventurer. I didn’t think anything of it then, but she was oddly familiar with the adventurer’s guild. It turns out she is an adventurer”.

“Anyways! I obliged, since I hadn’t had a good fight in months. I could see in the snotty brat’s eyes that he anticipated the fight just as much as I did”.

“I figured I would test his limits, but no matter how hard I pushed, he always fought back with ease. Eventually he cornered me, and shit went downhill rapidly from there”.

“Long story short; He pierced my legs with an Earth Strike, and healed me up afterwards. Then we ran to a tavern and had a good drink”.

“That snotty brat is Akif. Akif used to be the Champion of the Arena in Cosir. You know… Gladiators and all that. He was a slave of course, but he got his freedom after that fight”.

“He is a good lad. Never knew anything except for fighting, but he is learning the ways of a civilized man… Slowly. That is why he is so straight forward with you. He actually doesn’t know what he is saying is considered rude or uncouth”.

“Akif… Akif is a man I admire, Ven. Not just because of his physical strength, but also because of his emotional strength. He managed to stay the way he is after YEARS of death battles. He is still the same caring person Sera met in the slave barracks”.

“He is also the man that made me progress these last couple of months. He could give Ragamond a fight for his money, I tell you”.

“Ragamond Heir? The founder of the adventurer’s guild?”, I ask him in a disbelieving voice.

“Mhm! That’s the one”

“When you told them that I was the strongest person you have met, I wanted to tell you that there and then. What stopped me is that he gets embarrassed when I do that. He doesn’t like to show it, but he does. I know him that well. Akif is almost like my own brother now, and my niece is head over heels for him. You need to see those three in action sometimes. The conversations going on between them could fill a court jest with jokes for days”.

So… Atre lost a friend in Rui, but gained a brother in Akif. Good!