Chương 14

"I never really thought I'd be happy to be back in the forest," Noah chuckled.

"What makes you say that?" Vela asked. He thought back over the last few days before answering. After nearly seven hours meeting with the tribe, he'd barely managed to make it back with Ciri and her parents before collapsing face‑first onto the bed and falling asleep almost instantly. They'd let him sleep until nearly noon the next day, when Ciri came in to check on him, waking him with breakfast and a concerned look. Then the real work started.

The next two weeks had been personally fulfilling but utterly exhausting. From dawn until dusk he drew up plans, helped Bryn shape metal, carved wood, and built things to solve problems big and small. He watched with pride each time his designs came to life, enjoying the sight of his hard work making the tribe's life easier.

When the first set of carts carrying stone rolled into town without squeaking Myrithra herself meekly apologized for her earlier comments, adding that the carts were not only faster and easier but that they were far less painful on her back muscles. If that had been all the last two weeks entailed, he would have been far less eager to head back into the forest.

Unfortunately for him, Ciri had interspersed the planning and building with a seemingly endless number of lessons on how to speak, read, and write in both Fae and Common. During the last week she'd even refused to cast the translation spell in the afternoons, forcing him to immerse himself in the language or be unable to communicate at all. Though I have to admit, it was effective, he thought.

I've probably got the vocabulary of a first grader at this point, but at least I'm not totally useless without the spell anymore. To make matters worse, his official 'introduction' to the tribe had brought on an endless tide of unsolicited romantic advances.

While another version of him might have enjoyed the idea of seemingly half the single Fae women in the tribe wanting to sleep with him, the current version had to navigate all the social awkwardness that came with it: explaining that he was flattered, but he'd be leaving the village soon to track down his brother, and that he couldn't "settle down" as the tribe's newest house‑husband.

He'd stumbled over his words the first few times he had to do it without the translation spell, but by the end he'd repeated himself enough that he could say it in his sleep. Of course, his polite refusals only seemed to make the women glare at Ciri if she was nearby before trying harder. A collection of used panties and letters promising everything from nights of passionate sex to dowries began showing up at the front door—often two or three at a time.

Thus far he'd relied on the technically true excuse that he'd been too busy fixing things around the village to read them, and even if he had the time, his language skills were still too poor. That excuse isn't going to last forever, he thought before finally answering Vela's question.

"I think you know exactly what makes me say that."

"Is it because you've mixed up some Fae words again, and said something you weren't supposed to?" She teased him. Noah rolled his eyes at the memory from a few nights ago. Determined to show his progress with his language skills, he'd confidently thought he'd declared 'I am a craftsman, searching for my brother' by repeating the phrase ' Æven vel norvæl, rethæn vor thael'.

He knew he'd messed something up when Vela broke down in tears laughing, her cackles only growing louder when Thala softly explained that the phrase he was looking for was'Æven vel norvel, rethyn vor thael', and that what he'd really said was 'I am a concubine who desires my brother'. Ken chuckled as Thala looked over at Ciri.

"You know, you should be taking a more proactive role here," she chided, "He's going to have to accept another Fae woman into your relationship at some point. You may as well direct him toward someone you can live with. Like that Myrithra girl, for example! She seems quite smitten with him."

"Mother!" Ciri hissed before replying more evenly.

"I am taking a proactive role. There are no candidates in the tribe I would be comfortable with."

"None at all?"

"None." She glowered at Thala.

"See? That settles it," Noah interjected, hoping to prevent an argument.

"Anyone who wants to be in a relationship with me needs Ciri's approval. And if nobody meets her approval, then nobody else gets in."

"Harem dynamics are important," Ken said softly. Noah's eyebrows shot up at the use of the h‑word, but before he could respond, Vela shot back, "Not if there isn't a harem to begin with."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Noah asked.

"Are you saying you would prefer our daughter be stuck in a monogamous relationship without the love and support of fellow wives?" Aelya countered. He furrowed his brow, realizing he hadn't considered that angle.

"Alright, hang on. That's not what I'm saying." He stopped walking and looked Ciri's parents in the eyes.

"Yes, I like the idea of being in a loving relationship with more than one woman. But I'm coming from a completely different cultural context—one where that sort of relationship is usually seen as taboo. So if I'm going to do that, I'm going to need help from Ciri in navigating the social norms. And she's not going to feel comfortable navigating them unless she feels comfortable with the other woman. So for that reason, she gets veto power—now and forever." There was a long silence before Ken grinned.

"Well said."

"I can live with that," Thala said.

"As can I," Aelya agreed.

"Me too," Vela added, then frowned.

"Did… Ciri coach you on this?" This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Coach me? No. Did we talk about it and come to a shared decision, knowing this conversation might come up? Yes," Noah admitted. Aelya chuckled as Vela rolled her eyes and Thala muttered under her breath.

"At least they're not pretending to be 'just friends' anymore." That particular illusion was shattered when they walked in on us making out in her bedroom, Noah recalled, turning away to hide his crimson cheeks. Ciri took his hand and led the way down the winding forest path before Ken spoke again.

"I see you've made some changes to your crossbow design," he said, gesturing to the weapon slung across Noah's back. Between all his other projects, Noah had found time with Bryn to design and test new versions of the crossbow. The latest iteration was both smaller and lighter than the first—light enough to wield comfortably with one hand. While it sacrificed power and range, it made up for it with a catch beside the shotgun‑like pump that reset the bowstring.

The smaller, gravity‑fed six‑inch bolts dropped one by one into the channel with each slide of the pump, allowing him to fire eight shots in quick succession before needing to reload.

"Yeah," Noah said.

"This one performed much better in testing. Here's hoping we won't have to use it though."

"If we do—how effective is it?" Aelya pressed.

"Within about twenty meters, it'll draw blood from anything wearing less than an inch of steel plate. Within ten meters, it's deadly."

"That's not a weapon for large battles," Ken observed.

"That's a weapon for street fights and assassinations."

"It's a weapon of last resort," Noah corrected.

"If a monster or Corrupted is charging me, it'll put as many rounds into them as possible before they reach me."

"And if they do reach you?" Aelya asked.

"Well, that's why you're all along for this little stroll through the woods, isn't it?" Noah replied with a cheeky smile. The rest of the march to the woods—known in the Fae language as ' Sylvæn'mæren' or ' the wood that remembers', as Noah quickly learned—was surprisingly easy. Ciri's spells kept the forest's denizens – including the pesky flies and mosquitoes - at bay, giving the group plenty of time to alternate between teaching him Fae and answering his many questions about Tenebrae.

Even with his limited vocabulary, he found the spell lasted longer than it used to, and he could hold a conversation for longer and longer even after it wore off. When they reached the border of the woods, however, Noah fell silent. They had been walking through forested terrain the entire time, but the much older, larger, and more widely spaced trees ahead gave him pause. As they neared the first massive deciduous tree, he veered off the trail, holding his arms out as he approached it.

"What are you doing?" Ciri asked, coming to a halt.

"This tree is huge," he said in awe.

"You are amazed… by a tree." Aelya shook her head.

"I can't even wrap my arms around half of it. It must be hundreds of years old."

"Thousands," Vela corrected as he stepped away from the enormous trunk.

"Many of these have been here since the ancient Fae empire."

"I'm surprised nobody has tried to cut them down."

"No Fae would perform such an act," Thala said, shaking her head.

"And the forest is dangerous enough to ward off all but the most foolhardy humans." Noah unconsciously checked that his borrowed knife was still strapped to his side, his crossbow to his back, and his extra bolts secured to his pack before replying.

"What sort of danger? Other than griffons, obviously."

"Most creatures will avoid us due to my spells," Ciri said.

"However, redcaps are known to live in this area."

"And if we assume I don't know what those are…" he prompted.

"Redcaps are small, green‑skinned creatures who live in wooden villages," Aelya explained.

"They can sometimes be bargained with, but they're far more likely to attack. Individually, even you could defeat one in single combat, which is why they often attack at night and in large groups." Goblins, basically, Noah thought, ignoring the unintended slight.

"Why are they called redcaps?"

"They wear red hats that they dip in blood with every kill. The deeper the red, the more they've killed," Aelya replied.

"Well, that's… morbid." Noah scratched the back of his head as he returned to the group.

"What's our strategy if we come across them?"

"The three of you stay behind the three of us," Thala said, gesturing to her fellow wives.

"Their weapons are crude, and we should be able to defend you. If you have an opportunity to kill one without exposing yourself, take it—but do not put yourself in harm's way." Noah considered her words as they moved deeper into the forest. As much as his pride hated to admit it, she was right. The three women were far better armored than he was, wearing full leather gambesons, metal greaves and vambraces, and carrying thick wooden shields on their backs instead of backpacks like his.

He also knew firsthand that Vela and Thala wielded the swords at their hips with expert skill, and that Aelya was far too practical to carry the spear lashed across her back unless she knew how to use it. Message received, he thought, not for the first time. In this world, men aren't the protectors. We're the protected ones. After another hour of walking, the sky above them began to darken.

The shadows cast by the ancient trees seemed to lengthen by the second, making Noah's eyes dart from side to side in anticipation of something leaping out at him. When Aelya finally called for a halt for the night, he suppressed a sigh of relief, shrugged off his backpack, and began setting up camp.

"We brought enough food for three days," Ciri announced as Ken began striking flint for a fire.

"We should start searching for the ruin as soon as dawn breaks. I designed the optimal search pattern based on historical accounts and where I believe an undiscovered ruin is most likely to lie." They finished setting up simple cloth tents propped up by scavenged branches just as the last rays of sunlight disappeared over the horizon.

They gathered around the fire afterward, watching it crackle as it warmed the food they'd brought: barkhide boar wrapped in soft pita‑like bread made of spiral grains and spiced with firevine roots. It reminded Noah of shawarma without the hummus or sauces—a comparison that, once shared with Ciri, prompted her to whip out her notebook and begin interviewing him about human dietary habits so she could "perform a comparative analysis between the two realms."

Eventually, though, the need for sleep won out over conversation, and one by one they retired to their tents. Thala offered to take first watch, deliberately looking away as Noah and Ciri shared a lingering goodnight kiss. The fact that her parents had brought separate tents for the two of them made their message clear. We won't stop you, but we'd rather not explicitly enable physical intimacy with our daughter. With only a thin layer of cloth separating him from the hard‑packed ground, sleep did not come easily.

Visions of vicious goblins in red hats attacking in the night danced through his mind, prompting him to double‑ and triple‑check that his knife, crossbow, and bag were within arm's reach. He tried everything he could think of to sleep, from doing mental math to recalling the elements of the periodic table. When he finally drifted off, his dreams were far more pleasant: Ciri straddling and kissing him as he loosened her corset, feeling her soft skin beneath his fingertips.

Her hips rocked back and forth against him as she leaned back and started to unbutton her shirt with a shy smile. His cock seemed to grow harder with every inch of alabaster skin she revealed, straining against the confines of his pants by the time she finished with the last button. His dream had just reached the best part when she looked down at him and hissed urgently, "Noah. Wake up." He blinked in confusion, prompting her to lean forward and shake him by the shoulders.

A moment later he opened his eyes in the real world to see her shadowed form standing over him, the fire behind her extinguished. His mouth opened and closed, but before he could speak, she whispered:"We are in danger."