A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 404 - Already done



Green energy began to coalesce around Erik's arm as Elora activated the covenant magic. At the same time, he stood up from his throne, and walked in the direction of Alexandre.

"What I want, is for you to shift loyalties," Erik explained while he moved. "Rather than serve Aria, I want you to serve Katya and me."

Instantly, Alexandre's face scrunched up in disgust, "What, so in order to save my wife, I need to serve you instead? How is that any different from our current situation?"

Halfway to the other's throne, Erik stopped, crossed his arms in front of his chest, dark green energy still covering one of them, and curled his lips into an amused smirk.

"Come now, Alexandre," he chuckled, almost condescendingly, but not quite. "We both know this is a very different situation."

He held up one finger on his covenant-magic-covered arm. "For one, your wife won't be living with a sword of Damocles above her head. Yes, you'll have chosen to serve us in order to save her, but you won't continue serving us to keep her safe, you'll do it because we've already saved her."

Then, he stuck up a second finger, "For two, you might not know me very well, but I'm sure you realize Katya will be a far better mistress than Aria ever was or will be. Which is good, because I'll leave soon, and won't be back for a while, meaning you'll mostly be dealing with Katya."

Finally, he raised a third finger, "Third, and lastly, Katya is gunning for revenge on Aria, and I have this inkling that you'll be wanting the same thing."

Smirking, he crossed his arms again, and shrugged, "I'm not saying your situation, or my offer, is perfect, but you can't deny I'm offering you an improvement on your current life, no?"

Alexandre's face relaxed a little, but still remained scrunched up in frustration. At the same time, he sagged back in his throne and slowly rubbed his face with one hand.

Finally, he waved his other hand and groaned, "Fine… I won't deny that's true."

Before Erik could answer, Alexandre's face hardened, "But I have some conditions. First, this deal obviously only comes into effect after my wife is cured. Second, it needs to be set in stone that neither of you will harm or threaten my wife in any way, shape, or form. And third, if it turns out you can't cure my wife, I want Dimitri returned to me."

Katya immediately shot up from her own seat and growled, "Forget it! I'm not bargaining with his freedom!"

Erik turned back to her with a wry expression, "It's a safe bet, Katya, and you know it. Do you really trust me so little?"

But Katya looked at him with determination, "It's not about trust! I simply refuse to bargain with his freedom out of principle."

On the other side, Alexandre shook his head resolutely, "My main concern is my wife. I won't make any deal that doesn't include every possible angle for keeping her safe."

Tension rose as Alexandre and Katya glared at each other, both clearly unwilling to bend on this issue. For a moment, they appeared to be suck at an impasse.

Fortunately, while Erik and Elora were wracking their brains over a solution, one was provided for them.

"You should accept deal, Sestra," Dimitri smiled comfortingly at his sister, while stepping up from behind her throne. "I trust my new friend, and I know you do, too. Besides, even if I do have to go back, is not so bad, you know?"

He winked playfully, "His castle has beautiful guards, yes?"

For a moment, the siblings looked at each other. Dimitri calmly, and sincerely, Katya with frustration and uncertainty.

But eventually, Katya scoffed and scowled, before turning back to Alexandre, "Fine! But I don't like this!" Then, she turned to Erik, "And if this goes wrong…"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Her threat was clear. Even if she and Erik had some rapport, she obviously valued her brother higher, and Erik couldn't blame her for that. So, he nodded solemnly, to indicate he understood.

Fortunately, there was absolutely no danger here, and even Katya knew that, technically.

With that problem solved, a confident smile reappeared on Erik's lips. "Well…! With that settled, let's get to it."

His right arm was still covered in dark-green covenant magic, which he now stuck forward, before repeating every part of the deal they'd agreed on.

"The deal is this," he began. "I promise that, after today, Alexandre's wife, Eloise, will no longer have any poison in her system. If I fail in this promise, Katya will return Dimitri to Alexandre. But, if I succeed, Alexandre will serve both myself and Katya until we release you. However, Alexandre's service to us can never be used to harm or threaten Eloise.

Furthermore, if either of us tries to do so, your service to us will automatically end."

Alexandre frowned with concerned confusion, "Why did you use such strange wording? I'd prefer you just promise not to harm Eloise."

But Erik shook his head, "This is best you'll get. I have my reasons for wording it like this, but I refuse to expand on them right now. If you want me to add anything, I can, but only if it links to you, not me."

Elora and Erik despised having their covenants affect them for too long. At least, most of the time.

In this case, if Erik promised not to hurt Eloise, they'd be bound to that promise for the rest of their lives, or at least until they became strong enough to break a covenant made by a third-ranked fairy. But, the way he'd worded it now, meant that only Alexandre was affected in any way.

A little unhappy, Alexandre thought for a moment, but eventually decided that, this way, there was no more danger from Erik and Katya towards his wife, then there was from anyone else. Thus, he nodded with resignation.

Seeing that Alexandre had come around, Erik nodded. "If you both agree, I'd like to invite you two to come take my hand," he said while panning his gaze between the two third-rankers.

While they both still seemed somewhat unhappy and unsure about this, they did get up from their seats and walked towards the middle cautiously. Neither of them was entirely happy with this deal, but such was the nature of compromise.

While Katya and Alexandre continued staring at each other cautiously, they both grabbed Erik's hand, turning it into a three-way handshake, before agreeing to the deal.

Immediately, the covenant magic got to work, and everyone involved gained a covenant mark. For Alexandre, it was his first, for Katya it was her second, as the other concerned her deal with Erik, and for Erik it was his third mark.

Although he and Elora tried their best not to remain stuck with any covenant for too long, they'd still inevitably gathered a few. Currently, the only ones still affecting them were their deal with Katya, and with Björn.

Fortunately, both this new covenant with Alexandre, and the one with Katya, should release them from any further obligations after today, with only the other two parties remaining bound by them.

As for their deal with Björn, that would remain for so long as Alice wished to be with them, which meant that was actually the only covenant Erik hoped he'd be bound by for a long time to come.

After it was done, they all pulled their hands back, and Alexandre inspected the mark on his hand with a frown. But, even after probing it with his energy, he realized that it appeared like nothing was there, and yet he felt its power winding around his soul.

He quickly decided to move on by turning to Erik with an impatient frown. "Alright… now what? How will you cure my wife?"

Erik smirked softly, before shrugging. "No need for that. It's already done."


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