NOVEL WEB 27) Beads of Love
Chapter 27
[Lucy’s Pov]
Ladon leaves the room, leaving Melora and me alone in her room. I go over the blanket she is under where she is trying to find her bandage clothing. Pulling the cover off, I see her still naked, sitting and hugging her knees. Kneeling beside the bed, I ask, “What’s wrong, Melora?” She looks at me with a tear-stained face and says, “I lied to Ladon.” I narrow my eyes. “What do you mean you lied to him?” “I… I lied about not remembering what I was dreaming about.” I pick her up in my palm and raise her up to my eyes. With my finger, I stroke her cheek and ask, “Do you want to talk about it?” She shakes her head. "No, not right now. You two have your own things to worry about to have me dump my trauma on you.” “Melora… Do you know what Ladon just said before he left?” “Nu-huh.” “He was worried about you and asked me to take you out to get your mind off things that may be bothering you. I have some money, so let’s go shopping. I’m going to see if Helen wants to come too. So how about we have some girl time together and get to know one another more without the stress of monsters lurking about?” At this, Melora blushes when she hears that Ladon was worried about her and smiles brightly when I mention shopping. “Okay!” She stands up on my hand and composes herself.
We go downstairs and see Helen talking to Cliff. “Good morning, Helen. We were just about to come over to your place to see if you wanted to go shopping with us.” Helen smiles and claps her hands together in giddiness. “Really?!” I nod my head as she says, "Awesome, let me go back home really quick to grab some shopping bags. I’ll be right back.” "Okay, we will wait here and eat something while we wait.” Helen then rushes out the door, and I sit at the counter with Melora sitting on the countertop. Cliff brings me a plate of greens and a smaller plate for Melora. “So, you are not going with Ladon today.” I shake my head and say, “Not this morning; we are going to meet at noon and then look around for a house to rent.” “Oh really? Don’t want to stay here anymore, I see.” I am flustered at what to say when Melora says, “Ladon doesn’t want anyone else to hear her at night, so...” My eyes widen, and I look at Melora, who is smirking at me. “Melora!” Then I look at Cliff, feeling my ears burn as I say, “That... That isn’t the reason, Cliff. We are planning to stay in Melcox for a couple of years, so we want an actual house and not just a small room.” “HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Calm down, Lucy. I was just teasing you. I think I like you, Melora. Haha.” I continue burning with embarrassment as Melora and Cliff laugh together and start exchanging dirty jokes.
Suddenly I feel the faint sensation of Ladon’s aura and stand up quickly and rush out the door of the inn. I hear both Cliff and Melora yell, asking what is going on. I run towards the guild and see Helen coming back from her place. When she notices me, she says nothing and just follows. Soon I feel Melora land on my shoulder, and she asks what is happening. “I felt Ladon’s aura. He only releases it to intimidate someone or when his emotions run wild.” Melora is speechless for a second and then asks, “Isn’t he at the guild? How could you feel him when he is a couple blocks away?” “To be honest, I’m not sure, but I need to make sure he is okay.” Melora nods after a moment and puts on a determined face. We are a few buildings away when we see something burst through the wall of the guild. I stop the others pulling them into an alley and look around the corner of the building and watch the person laying on the street grunting in pain. Then I see Ladon step out of the hole made by the person being thrown through the wall.
I hear heavy breathing beside me and see that Helen was having a hard time coping with Ladon’s aura. “Are you okay, Helen?” I ask her, to which she nods and says, “I have felt this before, but not as strong. Is this because of Ladon?” I look back down the street and see the person stand up and realize that it is a bear mink. “Yeah. Ladon is angry right now, so it is pretty overwhelming from up close. I’m going to see what is going on, so stay here.” “”No way!”” I raise my eyebrow at them. “He is your mate, but he is my brother, Lucy.” “Yeah, he is my friend.” I smile and say, “Okay, just stay close to me, okay. There may be more enemies around.” They both nod, and we run to Ladon and see him pull out his spear and shield while the bear mink pulls out a giant club weapon. “Ladon!” Both me and Melora yell his name as Helen yells “Brother!” Ladon stops his attack, which the bear mink never noticed until he looked down at Ladon with shock. Ladon shifts his eyes without moving his spear until he recognizes me and the others. We stop a few feet away, and I finally recognize the bear mink from Ladon’s memories that we shared last night.
I release my own aura with disgust as I see the bear mink. My aura may not be as strong as Ladon’s, but it still affected the people coming out of the guild to see what is going on, along with people walking to the bear mink as Ladon walks to us. “Why are you all here? I thought you were going to go shopping to take Melora’s mind off things.” I didn’t notice Melora blush, but instead I stared at the bear mink with increasing anger as I said, “I felt your aura from the inn, and I thought you might be in trouble.” “Ah, I’m sorry. I guess I let too much out. Thank you, but I can handle it. He is my prey after all.” I see Ladon glance back at the bear mink. “Do you want me to stay, love?” I say as I caress his check in concern. Ladon seems to calm a bit and closes his eyes and places his rough hand over mine. After a moment, he opens his eyes and looks at me softly and with love. “I’m okay. They are just bugs to you and me now anyway. Go have fun.” I smile at his confidence and trust what he says is true.
I kiss him on the cheek lovingly and start to walk away, but Melora says, "Wait, Lucy! Shouldn’t we stay and help?” I breathe deep and turn back around and shake my head. “Nope. The love of my life has it covered. There is no need to worry.” Melora looks conflicted, but then Helen says, “Don’t worry, Melora. Brother can take care of himself. He always comes out on top.” Helen runs up to Ladon and hugs him, to which he returns. “It’s okay, Melora. Go have fun with these two; you deserve it.” Ladon says, reassuring her, who just sighs and flies over to my shoulder and sits down. I smile at her and stroke her light green hair. Helen soon follows, and we walk down the street towards the merchant’s district.
When we reached the merchant’s district, Helen asked, “So what are we shopping for?” I think for a moment and look at Melora, who has a worried look on her face as she keeps looking in the direction of the guild. “How about we find some clothes and daily needs for Melora? She doesn’t have anything beside the makeshift bandages as clothes.” When Melora hears this, she turns around and pouts, “Hey! Being naked is better than wearing clothes. I do not see how you other races stand having clothes rub up against your skin or fur.” Helen and I giggle at her as she returns to her usual self. "Melora, you can’t go around naked all the time. Besides, I’m sure Ladon would like to see you in a nice sundress.” Helen says, poking the nymph gently. Melora blushes and looks up at me, then turns away. “I don’t care if Ladon likes it. He has Lucy for such things. You should have heard the two last night. I’m sure the whole inn heard them.” “Melora!” I exclaim with embarrassment with her nonchalant jabs at me. Helen giggles and says, "Oh, really? Is he that good, Lucy?” I shift my eyes back and forth looking for distraction from the conversation, but I find none and just nod my head slightly. “I…I… I am still a little sore since it was my first time, but he used a spell to help me get through the pain. And then it was... just... bliss.” I say those last few words in a whisper.
Melora and Helen smile as they pull me into a café and demand details. I relent and talk about our shower and how he made it so special. Then I mentioned how he was still hard after his knot shrank. “I know he wanted more, but I was too tired and in slight pain that I think he stopped out of consideration.” I deliberately left the part where our memories were shared between us. Helen has her head resting on her hand as she listens, while Melora has drool coming out of the side of her mouth. “Have you talked about him having more wives?” I nod my head and say, “Where he comes from, having more than one partner is not a social norm, and he is not really comfortable about it.” I reply. “How do you feel about it?” Helen asks another question, and I take a moment to think before I say, “I told him I want a big family. Meaning I would like for him to have someone else besides me with us. I even told him that I was into women as well as men. Though he will only ever be the single male in my life.” Melora finally speaks up and asks eagerly, “And? What did he say to that?” I smile and say with pride, “He said that he wouldn’t mind having another female, but there were conditions since he loves me and does not think if he could love anyone else.” Helen raises her eyebrow and says, “What does that mean exactly?” Melora nods her head quickly, listening intently. "Well, for him to consider us having a third, then we both should have romantic feelings for them and that we do not have to imitate moments with said partner by ourselves before the relationship is made official between all of us.”
Helen and Melora just look at me, not saying anything. Melora is frowning a little and is rubbing her chin in thought. “That... is actually a rather practical and mature way of looking at having multiple partners. Most men do not even consider the relationship of his other partners before starting something else with another mate, let alone only wanting to be exclusive with one partner.” I smile softly and ask her about Vincent. “He is similar to Ladon in the aspect of only loving me at the moment. But I may bring this up to him eventually. I may be a dwarf, but I can barely handle him on my own since he is a bull mink.” I giggle and say, “I’m glad we have someone who loves you dearly, sis.” Helen giggles and nods in agreement. Then I forgot about Melora and asked, “Do you have anyone waiting for you, Melora?” Melora snaps out of her thoughts and says, “What? Um, no, we nymphs are not really the ‘keep the same partners’ kind of race. We live long lives, and if we do get into a relationship with other races, we usually become heartbroken since we live longer.” My smile fades a little when I hear this and just say, “I see.” Melora notices my fading smile and says rather seriously, “But if it were you and Ladon... I may reconsider my trend of not being exclusive to anyone. I mean, you two are so hot, and I envy the love between you two.” My eyes widen and my ears burn redder as I digest what she just said. “Did she just confess that she likes Ladon and me? I do think she is beautiful, and we get along, but I don’t know how Ladon feels. Plus, there is the whole eye and pulling thing as well. Was this meant to be? Did the gods bring her, me, and Ladon together?” My thoughts go wild as we change the topic and chat about different things as we finish our drinks.
Soon we leave the café and head to some shops with clothes to find some for Melora. We couldn’t find any clothes in her small size, so she grew large again, and we picked out some clothes for her in this size. Then, after buying a few dresses and other pieces of clothing, we went to a tailor to see if they did custom orders. The tailor took Melora’s measurements and quickly made her a dress for when she is in her small form. We leave the tailor, and I look up at the sky to see that it is almost at its zenith. Since Helen’s shift starts soon and I have to meet up with Ladon, we head back to the inn.
As we walk, we pass some vendors on the street selling various items. I stop in front of one that has hair beads for sale. Melora is sitting on my shoulder and talking to Helen when she notices that I stop. “What is it, Lucy?” “Hmm…oh nothing, I just want to look at some of those hair beads.” Helen turns around as she had walked further on before noticing that I had stopped and Melora wasn’t listening to her story about how some customers can be a little handsy. “Do you want to buy some hair beads and braid your hair?” Helen asks, walking back to our side. “Yeah. In my clan, mates wear matching beads to let everyone know that they are taken.” “Well, Ladon does have long hair, so he would look good with a braid and bead. I am sure he would like what you get him.” I smile at Melora’s comment and walk over to the vender to look at the beads. They are in different colors and various designs. One in particular catches my eye, and I pick it up one to look closer. "Ah, you have a good eye, my lady. That is an amethyst of a deep purple shade with the Mother Moon at her crescent as a diamond embedded into it.” I absolutely love it and would think that it would go well with Ladon’s hair, so I ask, “How much?” “Hmm…I could part with it for twenty silver.” I give her the coin and put the bead into my storage ring. Smiling at the thought of giving this to Ladon, I leave with the others and return to the inn to wait for him.
[Ladon’s POV]
Right now, I am sitting on a bench by the river in the Merchant’s District. Watching the boats go by and eating some street food. “I didn’t think hot dogs would survive time and the apocalypse.” I say to myself, enjoying the blast to the past, and then suddenly I jump when I hear someone reply. “Those aren’t called hot dogs, Sir Ladon.” I look next to me and see Amelia, Oliver’s daughter, though now instead of armor she is in an elegant dress. A knight is standing next to her, looking around for any threats. “Jesus Christ, lady! Fuck! Was I really so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even realize you were there?” The knight looks at me with disdain from my use of language in front of Amelia, who just giggles. “They are called monster sausages, by the way, and I have never heard of this Jesus Christ.” I wave my hand at her in dismissal and look at the boats again. “Don’t worry about it. He is long dead and was the source of a lot of wars back in the day. What do you want? She does a little curtesy bow and says, “Amelia Melcox, daughter of Hilltop Oliver Melcox and Lady Tina Melcox, Protector of...” “Yeah, yeah, I get it enough with the fucking titles.” In the corner of my eye, I see her mouth twitch in annoyance. “I’ll ask again. What do you want, Amelia? It has only been an hour since I left the guild.” “I simply wanted to thank you.” “No, you didn’t. Now stop wasting my alone time and get to the fucking point.” The knight begins to draw his sword, but Amelia puts her hand up, stopping him. “Have I offended you in some Sir Ladon? It is only polite to fully introduce myself and say thank you for bringing so many scum to justice.”
I finally turn to look at her and stand up, stretching as I do before I speak. “One. I don’t need your thanks for cleaning up a mess that should have been taken care of by you and your family of so-called nobles. Two. The whole thing was personal to begin with when the Stray Dogs and Noah’s team decided to fuck with Lucy, my friends, and me. Three. It may not be fair, but you remind me of someone who betrayed me in the past, and you even have her name. So please, for the love of the gods, get to the point of why you are here so that I can go about my business. I need to pick up a few things for my lady.” With each word I spoke, Amelia looked more and more uncomfortable. After a brief silence, she clears her throat and says, “Fine, Sir Ladon, I came here to ask what your intentions are, here in Melcox.” I sigh and roll my eyes before saying, “If you are scared about yourself and the rest of your family, then don’t be. None of your names showed up in the papers I have, and y’all have not done anything to me or anyone else I consider friends. So as long as y’all stay out of my business, we're all good.” I smile evilly and add one more tidbit: "Besides, if I wanted you all dead,” I come in close quickly; not even her bodyguard could react as I materialize my claw and press it to Amelia's neck. “Then you already would be. Now piss off. I’m sure we will see each other again at the end of the week for the dinner that your father invited me and the rest of the people involved with the attack on the drunken elephant." Amelia gulps and nods as I let her step back. “Thank you for your time, Sir Ladon.” She bows and walks away while her bodyguard follows her and keeps an eye on me.
I sigh and look up and see that I still have time to go buy the things I want to get Lucy. “I haven’t even been back in the city for a day, and people just won’t leave me alone.” I mutter to myself as I walk towards the western wall. I walk around the alleys and ask a few people where the Mink’s Bathing Products store is, and I finally find the street it is on. Suddenly a couple of people—a human and a dwarf—jumped out at me with daggers. "Hey, pretty boy! Give your coins, and you won’t get hurt.” I furrow my brows in annoyance and say, “Are you serious? What is up with today? Look, mother fuckers piss off. I am already in a bad mood.” They both laugh, and I just start walking again, trying to get past them, but the dwarf shoves me back. “Give us your coin, and we'll go.” I quickly stomp the ground and throw them against the wall, binding them with stone. I just walk past, leaving them there screaming at me to let them go. “Fucking idiots.”
Soon I arrive at the store and go inside. The shopkeeper looks up and smiles at me. “Welcome, how can I help you, good sir?” The leopard woman greets me as I walk in. I smile at her and say, “I’m looking for some good potions for my mate. She is currently using some cheap stuff, and I want to surprise her with some quality stuff.” She smiles brightly and comes around the counter, coming closer to me. “Oh really?! You have a mink as a mate?” “Yes, she is very sweet and the love of my life. So could you please help me out since I am not very good with beauty products?” I am charmed by her friendliness for her customer. It is like a brush of fresh air compared to the recent encounters I have experienced today. She puts her finger on the chin and sucks in air thinking. “What type of mink is she?” “A moon rabbit mink.” “Oh, she is rather rare to see around here. I am guessing that she has blue or silver fur with white or black hair.” Impressed at her close guess, I say, “Ya almost guessed right. She has cyan-colored fur with white fur on her chest and tail. But her hair is a dark pink.” “Interesting. It seems she has some unique traits.” I grin and nod my head. "Well, then follow me, and I’ll help you pick out some potions that are for rabbit minks. I have some good-quality ones that I am sure you will like. They will make her fur soft and smooth and even increase her sensitivity in some special activities.” I cough at her last couple words, and she giggles.
I have been meaning to ask Lucy, but maybe she could tell me. “Can minks feel…um…feel sensual touch through their fur?” We walk around the store, arriving at some shelves with various bottles in different colors. “Have you not asked your mate?” She asks with a raised eyebrow. “I have been meaning to, but we have been busy with a job for the guild, and other things seem to keep popping up.” “I see. Well, it is different for every mink type, but our creator, Goddess Fauna, deemed us with fur that is just as sensitive as a human, dwarf, or elf’s skin.” I grin to myself and am relieved that Lucy may feel more than I realized when I kiss her body. “Thank you for telling me. I have been a little worried that she may not have felt my... techniques.” “Hehe, you are very welcome. You seem very openminded. I wish more of other races would see minks as people and not just strange animals.” I raise my eyebrow and say, “Minks are one of the races of the gods, though. Your race is amazing in my opinion.” “Yes, well, we have gotten used to other races looking down on us. But you did not come here to hear me complain about something that is out of my control. Let’s pick out some products for your lucky mate, shall we?”
For the next hour or so, the shopkeeper helped me pick out some potions for Lucy. I left the shop pleased with what I found and hoped that Lucy would like them. I then headed to the shop Arcane of the Unicorn, and the experience inside with the owner was rather uncomfortable. I buy an earring with a bigger storage space for Lucy. It is a silver loop with a pink gemstone embedded into it. I decide to leave the shop quickly to get away from the horny unicorn. I’ll come back at a later date with Lucy so that the woman backs off. I look at the sun and see it close to its peak for the day, and I start walking back to the inn. I catch sight of the girls and see Lucy at a stall selling beads. I hide and was going to surprise them as a prank, but then I hear Lucy talking about matching hair beads as mates in her clan. I wait until the girls leave and go up to the owner of the stall.
“Hello sir, could I ask you something?” “Sure, good, sir. How can I help you?” I look at the beads and ask, “The mink girl from before; I am her mate, and I was wondering what kind of bead she bought.” He narrows his eyes and says, “For all I know you are a creep.” I roll my eyes and hand him a couple silver coins, and he tells me with no more questions. “It was an amethyst stone with a diamond in the shape of the Mother Moon at her crescent.” “Do you have the same design but with a cyan colored bead?” “Hmm…let me see.” The vender looks through his collection and finally pulls out a bead. “This is an aquamarine bead with a pink sapphire shaped as the Mother Moon waning in the opposite direction of the crescent that the mink girl picked out.” “How much?” “Hmm…one gold.” My eye twitches since I know that I am being ripped off, but I do not care and just want to be with Lucy right now. “Fine. Here. I’ll remember you ripping me off asshole.” He just smiles and waves me goodbye.
