43 (Second Part)

The dinner is over. The tribal maids take away the junk. Erika, lying on her back, pats her slightly swollen belly from the feast. Ash shows a mist of satisfaction in his eyes. Neddin stands up and announces that he is retiring to his quarters, followed by Zell. Gaita is the next to leave, her mood still unrecovered from the parental comments.

Now free of protocol, Nadjela slips into the group, feeling like one of them again. She asks what they thought of the food, all agreeing that it was great.

"It's the least they deserve. If it wasn't for Chester, and you, Erika, I'd be flying high today"

"You don't owe us anything"" says the Lancaster.

"We did what we did, because we wanted to" Erika assures him, her face tinted with fermented fruit liquor. "And in my case without payment.... That's what really pisses me off the most..." She sits down and gives the young woman a long look. "Nadjela, are you a witch?"

"Not that I know of..." The princess shows equal parts surprise and confusion.

"Something strange happened when we met. I'm not supposed to like you so much, you're not supposed to like me so much" Maybe it's the liquor, but Erika seems abstracted, as if unable to know if what's happening to her is positive or a betrayal of her roots.

"Why do you say that...?" Nadjela's voice conveys concern.

Erika strokes her arm, takes a deep breath, and lets it out.

"I've never seen myself capable of... Be a good person? Help for the sake of helping? Fight with no definite benefits?"

Chester and Ash watch her, very quiet and attentive. Erika continues.

"I'm broken, Nadjela, That's why I'm alone and lost in this world. We're still partners, but wait until the danger is over, then you'll see my seams and you'll tell me to fuck off, because I'm fucking evil" she closes her eyes and squeezes the bridge of her nose with her hand. "And I accept that! What else do I have left? When you have no one, there are two options: Either you make peace with yourself, or you shoot yourself. No, sir! I'm not a coward, sir!"

The huntress keeps her head down, her shoulders shiver, and a faint whimper blooms in her hair. Two small, gentle hands take trembling fingers. Erika's face rises, and she is very close to Nadjela's smile.

"I... I don't see seams... But I'll tell you what I do" she runs her fingertips over her cheek and through her hair. "I see a very beautiful, very intelligent, and very strong woman, who faced danger for me"

Erika, teary-eyed, sniffles and says:

"I tried to kill you, remember?"

"It's true... Our relationship is complicated"" she says, knowing that can't be ignored. "But in the short time I've been alive, I deduce that every valuable bond is. Nothing and no one is perfect. And if problems help me to meet more valuable people like you, let it keep on raining" Nadjela pulls Erika into a tight embrace and whispers in her ear. "I lost a friend... And heaven brought me a new one. Thank you"

They embrace.

They remain entwined for a minute until Erika finishes unburdening herself. As they separate, their hands in each other's arms, the huntress's trembling eyes are fixed on the princess, her cheeks aflame and her breath quickens.

"Nadjela..."

"Yes?" The princess asks innocently.

She squeals as Erika pushes her to the floor and straddles her, assaulting her lips and invading her mouth with her tongue. Chester loses his smirk and runs to save Nadjela, who jerks under the mercenary's body. The Lancaster tries to pull Erika up, but she clings on too tightly.

"Ash, help me!"

"G-Go!"

The maids also appear, attracted by the commotion, and witnessing the red demon devouring the lady's face, they overcome their fright and run to pull. They are pulled apart. Erika is red and panting. Nadjela is limp, and with those lips glistening with foreign saliva, she tries to catch her breath.

"Apologise!" Chester scolds Erika.

"I'm sorry..." The German woman seems to be coming to her senses. She stretches her face. "Christ, what happened to me...? I didn't mean to make a soap opera, and I didn't mean to, uh, steal your first kiss..."

From the floor, Nadjela, half recovered, blurts out an answer that astonishes everyone.

"It wasn't... It wasn't my first kiss"

The most stunned is Chester.

"How...? But who...?"

Nadjela smiles a not-so-innocent smile, and puts two fingers to her lips.

"A woman's secret"

The Lancaster mouth drops open. He snorts, looks up at the ceiling, and with his hand pushes back his hair.

"I am a gentleman. I will not delve into a lady's past on a whim" he says.

Erika says she's going for a walk to get some fresh air. Ash also wants to stretch his legs, but first he spies which way Erika is going, and then takes the opposite path. Chester helps Nadjela up, and as soon as they leave the leader's house, the Lancasterian tries to guess.

"Was it that Zell guy?"

"Ew, no"

"That Bironte is quite muscular. Did he beat you up?"

"No"

"Tashala had a wife... So Ash?"

"How could she be?"

"What about your sister?- Aah!"

Nadjela puts an end to that conversation by kicking him in the shin.