When we stumbled into our room back at Boradan's Lodge, we were both stumbling and exhausted.

"Her face was so funny..." Vral tore my shirt off, revealing her lean, athletic build in the dim light of our room, pulled her leather pants off, and climbed under the covers. "Can't blame her. You are quite an eyeful."

I laughed at the image. I'd given Vral my shirt since I'd kind of torn hers to shreds back in that alley. The innkeeper, a sleepy middle-aged human woman, eyed my chest like it was a particularly tasty piece of meat when we'd entered the inn, then never stopped until the key was in my hands and we were making our way down the hall. "I was worried you were going to jump on her there by the end."

With the sweetest, most innocent tone I've ever heard her conjure, she said, "Now, why would I do something like that?" As she spoke, Vral patted the sheets next to her.

Crossing my arms, I asked, "We both know you."

She batted her red eyes at me, which were glowing in the dim stream of moonlight pouring in through the crack in the blinds. "You think I'd really cut a bitch for looking at my man?"

"Yes."

She giggled. "Okay, yeah, I totally would. But I got what I needed tonight, and I know where your heart is now, so she got lucky." Patting the sheets again, she added, "Now get that fine ass over here before I drag you to bed."

"Yes, ma'am." With a grin, I made my way to the side of the bed, pulled my pants off, and went to climb into bed.

"Nuh, uh." Vral held her hand up, stopping me. "No chance."

"What?" I looked down at myself but didn't see anything.

"Take those fucking things off." She pointed at the tight undergarments I'd left on.

"Are you sure?" Even after our time in the alley, I didn't know where the boundaries were.

"Did I stutter?" She crawled toward me. "Take. Them. Off."

Pulling them off and throwing them to the ground, I couldn't help but grin when Vral's locked on my groin. "Like what you see?"

"Yes." She wasn't even trying to hide it.

I loved her enthusiasm, but she was new to this part of her life. I didn't want to ruin her. "You sure you're up for it?" I couldn't help but play coy. "Back in the alley, I distinctly remember you asking how Tristan could walk after—"

"Oh, I still stand by that. I don't know how that bitch does it. I'm fucking broken." She laughed, the sound bright at first, then heavy. Sultry. "The thing is, Tris taught me about these other options that she says can be just as fun..." She licked her lips. "So get in bed. Now." Her words were both growl and command.

She didn't have to ask me twice. I threw the sheets back and jumped into bed next to the naked goblin. The instant I crawled under the sheets, her lips were on mine, hungry for my everything.

"Good boy..." She started kissing down my cheek. Then, she was nibbling my neck. Biting my chest. Licking down my stomach, her hands tracing toward my groin. Stopping below my belly button, she grinned. "Show me what kind of man you are again, boy toy. Put me in my place."

Weaving my hands into her wavy hair, I guided her exactly where I wanted her.

***

"Mmm..." Vral murmured against my chest. Her skin was so smooth.

For a long time, I sat there enjoying the feeling of her body growing and shrinking against mine with every breath.

Finally, as the orblight grew brighter outside our window, she yawned. "I think... we need to take more time off... That was so much fun..." Her voice was hoarse.

Kissing the top of her head, I pulled her closer. "We should."

With another yawn, she turned and rested her head on my bicep. She blinked a few times, then her red eyes found mine. "Thank you."

"For?"

"For..." She leaned in and kissed me. The passion of the night before was gone now, replaced with a tender affection that I could feel through the softness of her lips. "For seeing me..." She scooted closer until her head was in my neck. Curling her hands against my chest, she murmured, "And for making me feel so safe. I don't remember ever feeling safe before."

I pulled her so that her body was pressed against mine. "You'll always be safe." I felt a little queasy, probably from the alcohol, but I pushed the feeling down. It wasn't important now.

"I think I'm actually starting to believe that." Leaning forward, her hand found my jaw, and she kissed me again. Our tongues found one another and entwined for a few moments before parting once again.

I reached down and took her hand in mine. "You'd better believe it."

"I will." She kissed my chest.

I felt a question enter my heart. One I needed the answer to. Wanting to clear the air, I decided to be direct. "So... what is this, then? Are we...?"

She snorted. "What do you think we are? You think I'd do all that with any old loser?"

Biting her long ear, I said, "I don't know the rules. I didn't want to assume."

With a contented sigh, she said, "Well, I've been a bad girl and haven't been proper, but I figured that, since I almost took your hand already, and my ka'dral accepted you last night, it's probably okay to rush things a little." She patted my chest. "But that doesn't mean you're off the hook, Mr. You'd better offer your hand sooner rather than later, and you'd better make it special."

"I will." I squeezed her hand as another question came to mind. "You're okay with it being the three of us?"

"Shit, I like that elfblood more than I like you.

I sighed. "Good." I definitely loved them both and never wanted to have to choose.

"Don't worry so much. If it ever came down to it, I'd kill you off and keep her."

"Kill me off? Why?"

She laughed. "Goblins don't do divorce. So don't fuck up." She said it like it was a joke, but I was fairly confident it wasn't.

"Noted."

Looking up at me, she grinned. "But yes, I am fine with it. Plus, Tris said we'll end up finding a stray at some point, so I guess I'll have to get used to sharing you."

I couldn't imagine loving anyone else. Two was already a lot, especially with these girls. "Yeah, maybe. We'll see."

"I'm not complaining, and I don't think Tris is either. I don't know how either of us could handle you alone. She says she's sore all the time. I keep telling her to cool it a little, but she always blames me. Says it's half my fault! Little slut."

I kissed her again. "You'd manage."

"Fuck if I would! I'm sore as shit. You're carrying me all day today, asshole. Tomorrow, too!"

"That bad?"

"Yes! You go shove a—"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

There was a knock at our door. Then, a soft, familiar voice sounded from behind it. "Alex? Vral? Are you in there?"

"Speak His name! There's that hot ass girlfriend of ours!" Vral shot out of bed, giving me an eyeful as she hustled to the door. Unlocking it, she turned and leaped back into bed.

When the door swung open, Tristan floated into the room, then shut the door behind her

"Hey, girlie!" Vral chirped as she pulled covers over her breasts.

"Hey, love!" I smiled at her, hoping I didn't sound too weird. I'd never had a girlfriend-instigated date night with another woman before. How the hell was this conversation supposed to go?

I didn't stew about it for long. When she turned, she had the most intense look I'd ever seen on her face. Her lips started working, and she said, "I was so worried about you two..."

"Worried?" Sitting up, I let the blanket fall to my lap. "Why? Is everything okay?"

She took a step. Then another. Then, she launched herself onto the bed, wrapped us both in her arms, and rained kisses all over our faces.

"Tris!" Vral was giggling. "What are you doing?!"

I managed to catch her lips with mine for a quick kiss before she moved back to Vral. "Good morning! Ready for breakfast?"

"I love you both so much!" Tristan's words were muffled through the sheets.

"I love you too!" She'd really missed us.

"I, um... yeah, me too... with the love and all that..." Vral mumbled.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" All at once, Tristan pulled back and looked at us both. "Are either of you hurt?"

"Hurt?" I looked at Vral, who shrugged.

Tristan pulled the sheets off of us and began inspecting our bodies as if she were a doctor... which was probably exactly what she was in this world. "Tell me if anything hurts! Anything, anywhere, okay? And let's look for dark spots. Even the smallest spot might be deadly. And don't forget the symptoms. Tell me everything. I'll fix it. I'll fix it all. I can do it."

Vral pulled the sheets back over herself and blushed. "Maybe when the boy's gone, you can help heal my—"

"Heal what? Where?! Tell me!"

The goblin blushed. "Um... down... below?"

The quarter-elf shook her head. "Your legs? Abdomen? Tell me, where were you hit?!"

I pushed Tristan back and sat on my knees so I could hold her off. Something was seriously wrong. "We're okay. Totally okay. Take a breath."

"But—"

"Talk to us. What's going on? Did something happen?"

Her sapphire eyes moved between us, growing increasingly confused. "It went great, but... that's not..."

Vral jumped in. "I'm fine, Tris. Just sore, but I knew I would be. You told me to expect it, remember?"

"Sore?" She searched our faces. "You mean..." She smiled ear to ear, "I am so happy you two crossed that bridge. About damn time... but... do either of you know what happened last night?"

Vral and I looked at one another and grinned.

"Uh... A lot happened last night," I said.

"Yeah, everything did," Vral laughed.

"Almost everything," I corrected.

"What else is there?" The goblin looked at me and cocked her head.

"Well..." Considering Tristan's mood, that was a conversation for another time. "Our lovely girlfriend can explain that to you later."

"Oh, okay!" Vral looked back at Tristan. "I did the thing you taught me," her smile grew. "He loved it. I did, too."

I was pretty sure I knew what she was talking about, and I did, in fact, love it.

Tristan looked at us like we'd grown two heads. Each. "Hold on. What do you remember about last night?"

I searched my memories. A lot of it was a haze, but I could remember the beginning pretty well. "Well, we split up. Then, we went to Ratskull's Tavern and met up with Vral's... what was the word, again?"

"Ka'dral."

"Your stepmom?"

"Yeah! I mean, it translates more to 'perfect mother figure who exists to right your wrongs,' but stepmom is close enough."

Continuing, I said, "Then, we drank some, uh..."

"Breskaya."

"You two drank the blessing?! How much?!!"

"Four shots for me, three for Vral."

"Goddess..."

Vral glared at me. "Tris gets my people. Step it up, loser."

I sighed. "Then I played daggerfist," I held up my hand, which had mostly healed. "After that, we danced with some dwarves. Oh! When we walked back here, on the way..." I felt my face get hot. "We stopped at a well to wash off and found an alley to, uh..."

"So hot..." Vral breathed.

Tristan's face dropped. "Do either of you know why you stopped at that well, exactly?"

I looked at Vral. "Why did we stop at that well?"

She shrugged. "We were sweaty?"

"You were attacked!" Tristan leaned forward. "Do neither of you remember that?!"

"We were?" I didn't remember that at all.

"Uh..." Vral's eyes grew distant. Then, she snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! Remember those idiots who jumped us after we left Ratskull's?"

No. I did not. "Did they fight well?"

She snorted. "No. They were bitches."

Bitches... "Oh yeah! We did get jumped! That was so dumb."

Vral laughed. "Shit, I forgot about that until right now!"

"You... you forgot?" Tristan was looking at us like we were crazy.

"Yeah, they weren't much." I remembered glimpses of the fight, but it was all hazy.

Vral took Tristan's hand. "I owe you an apology. I didn't believe you when you said you can't go anywhere with this guy without shit going south. But then, last night, right when things were getting good, we got jumped by, like, five weaklings."

"I think it was closer to ten." I couldn't remember exactly, but ten felt more right than five did.

"It wasn't ten." Tristan shook her head. "It definitely wasn't ten."

"It wasn't? How many was it?" I kind of remembered fighting for a while, but after the first face broke, I got super into the fight, and it all became a blur. "Fifteen?"

"You fought thirty-seven people last night!"

"Thirty-seven? Hell yeah."

"Heh, fuck yeah we did."

"Turn off your fight boners for one second and listen to me!" Tristan took both of our hands. "Lize found me this morning and said her guards found you last night covered in blood and surrounded by a pile of half-dead people. When they approached you, you both ran off before they could talk to you, but they knew who you were. They searched for you all night but couldn't find you to make sure you were okay. That's why they came and found me." She gestured at herself. "I've been healing all night, doing my best to save the four who wouldn't have made it without the Goddess's grace."

"Why save 'em?" Vral asked.

"Because..." Tristan's face grew hard. "Because life is sacred. Even if they might deserve it in the moment, we don't know what someone might become when given the chance to be better. Death should only ever be reserved for those who can't be redeemed."

"Well, we're okay." I pointed at myself. "More than okay. We had a great night."

"The best night," Vral responded.

"Are you..." She looked at us both. "Are you both not worried about this? Concerned about your lives? Their lives?"

"Should we be?" I laughed. "They attacked us."

She searched my face. "I know you went through a lot, but..."

I laughed. "Any of them die?" I didn't care, but I was curious.

"Fuck 'em," Vral added.

"No. You two did well preserving their lives, even if those lives aren't worth shit." Her jaw was tense.

"Why'd you tell me to hold back?" Vral asked me. "I could have ended it last night."

I didn't want to answer with Tristan there, mostly because I had no good answer other than that Tristan would be upset if I didn't try. "The guards found them in the end. They're in prison now, right?"

Tristan nodded. "They will be."

"That's good." It wasn't like they'd end up in a fighting pit or anything. With the laws changed, they'd probably end up in some cushy work camp for a year or two before being released. "I'm happy they're alive to see another day."

Those beautiful sapphire eyes locked on mine. "Don't say what you don't mean."

I wanted to say that I cared. That life was precious. That everyone deserved a second chance. I used to feel those ways. But I didn't feel that way anymore. Not after everything I'd been through. Not after being tortured to hell and back and watching as the "civilized" people cheered for my blood. Fuck them. "Bad shit happens to bad people. It happens to good people, too. That's not on us. We did what we had to do."

"Yeah, they chose to fuck with us. Why should we be upset when they got fucked with back?"

Tristan looked at each of us, the disapproval clear on her face. "I'm not saying they're innocent or anything, and I'm not even saying that they should be alive. If they'd died in that fight, you'd have been justified in protecting yourselves. And, had they hurt you, I'd have hunted them down myself..." She swallowed hard. "But I'd still be sad. It would still be tragic. Death is so often senseless... And easily avoidable!" She looked at us both. "I'm concerned about your hearts." She turned to Vral. "Vral, you're alive because Alex took pity on you. He thought you deserved more and made sure that, no matter what, you'd make it to a better life." She turned to me. "Alex, you've always seen the best in people, and you've always tried to understand when people aren't their best..." She looked at us both once again. "Have you both become so cold that neither of you cares at all? Don't the death and pain and harm matter to you?"

Vral shrugged. "I don't give a shit about anyone else If someone hurt you or him," she pointed at me, "I'd kill them without a second thought, or I'd die trying. That's all I give a shit about."

Nodding, Tristan turned to me. "And you?"

I took a breath. I understood what she was saying. I did. But I didn't feel it. "I..."

"Don't sugarcoat it. Just tell me how you feel. Don't tell me what I want to hear."

I sighed. "I understand what you're saying. I really do. But you showed up here worried if we were hurt and clearly worried if we'd survive. We did. So did they. What else is there? Do you want me to put their lives above my own? They were our enemies. Why should I care?"

"No, I just want you to understand that—"

"Then it doesn't matter. We did what we had to do, so that's the end of it. They can live out their shitty lives in prison, and maybe one day, they'll come back and be better people." And if not, fuck 'em. It wasn't my job to fix them. And if they'd died, that's what they would have deserved." That didn't feel quite right, but I couldn't place why. I knew that I hadn't done anything wrong when I'd entered the Pit, and I knew the others hadn't either. But, if people had actually done harm and landed in there, would they have deserved it? I didn't know.

"You don't know what else happened last night, then, do you?"

I shook my head. "No." I was still grappling with my thoughts. My feelings. None of it felt right.

Her lips fell into a frown. "Elise and Davik were attacked last night. Khadrel, too. They all barely survived, and they wouldn't have had my moms not been there to help." Her words were fire. "They've all hurt people! Are they bad? Irredeemable? Do they deserve to die for their failings?" She looked between us. "Tell me. Do you get to decide who lives or dies? Do you get to decide who's worthy?"

"Why do you care about them?!" I snapped. "They attacked us, remember?!"

Tristan snapped back, "They're all peasants who lost their homes during the Barons' War!" She glared at us both. "Every one of them was compelled by powerful magic to track you down and kill you! None of them even remembers what happened!"

Vral and I looked at one another.

Once again, I heard His words rattle in my head: WHEN YOU GROW TIRED OF WATCHING THOSE YOU LOVE SUFFER IN THE GODDESS'S LIGHT, WHEN YOU LONG TO SAVE THEM FROM THEIR FATES, REMEMBER THAT I OFFER ANOTHER PATH.

I spoke without thinking. "Why?"

"Why what?" Tristan's voice was sharp.

"Why were they attacked?"

"Because they've hurt a lot of people, Alex."

I shook my head and heard His voice again: KNOW THAT, WHETHER OR NOT YOU CHOOSE TO SERVE, YOU ENACT MY WILL ALL THE SAME.

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