Chapter 210: Chapter 210

210 Chapter 210 : winter is upon us

Julia had not slept a wink for over a week now, did a war really take this long to end? She was going mad worrying about Clovis and wondering why they hadn’t returned yet. She had her head laying on Clovis’ bed while her body rested on the floor, she felt some sort of comfort whenever she was surrounded by his belongings and scent, so she had been doing this for a while.

Julia craned her neck towards the door where someone was knocking and calling out to her, but unlike the usual feminine voice of her appointed hand maiden Fridah, there was a male voice that mad her get to her feet.

“Lady Julia are you in there?”

Julia sighed in disappointment, that wasn’t Clovis’ voice. She had wanted to ignore whoever was calling to her but she walked towards the door hoping whoever it was had some good news for her. At this point any news would be good news as long as it assured her that her Clovis was still alive.

When she opened the door she found Theo standing outside with his usual emotionless constitution. “Good morning my lady, may I have a word with you?”

Julia wasn’t particularly fond of Theo, he had not been the nicest person to her in the past. “If it has nothing to do with Clovis I am not interested.”

“I have word from him,” Theo responded and handed her a small parchment.

Julia had never grabbed something so fast. She quickly unrolled it with much haste. It read:

‘my beautiful little dwarve, the spell you’ve put me under is in full effect for I have lost sleep without you by my side. I am writing this letter to tell that I am well and you need not to worry, eat well, sleep well, and keep yourself healthy for the sake of this love struck lycan of yours. I will return in a few days, there have been some unexpected developments and I apologize for not reaching out to you earlier. In the meantime, I entrust Fridah and Theo with your wellbeing and safety until I return. With undying love, Clovis.’

.....

Julia felt like a boulder had been taken off her shoulders, she smiled and squeezed the letter against her chest after knowing that Clovis was alive.

But wait, what were these ‘unexpected developments’ that he was talking about in his letter? Had the war not gone according to plan? She hoped they were okay and no one was hurt.

“What is taking so long for them to return?” Julia asked the tall slender lycan man in front of her, “were they not successful in the war?”

The dwarve noticed how Theo’s unemotional face showed hints of sadness before he retained his usual composure. “There is nothing you need to worry about my lady, the war is over and prince Clovis shall be returning in no time at all, that is all that matters.”

Julia knitted her eyebrows together suspiciously, this man was definitely hiding something from her and she wondered why.

“In the meantime, shall I get Fridah to make you some breakfast?”

Julia nodded slowly, “that would be nice, can she serve it out in the garden like before?”

“Of course my lady, it will be ready momentarily.” Theo bowed respectfully and walked away leaving Julia feeling a little confused. Since when had Clovis ever bowed to her?

*

When Melissa opened her eyes she found herself waking up in the arms of someone whose scent she remembered vividly, that musky woodsy smell could only be the scent of her first love, the elven king and the father of her child, Gareth.

She felt him loosen his hold on her much to her displeasure and looked down at her face with a smile. “Good morning beautiful..”

His voice was still a bit sleepy and rough making Melissa’s spine tingle. “Good morning,” she responded with a smile. It was a surreal feeling waking up in his arms like this, she wouldn’t mind doing this everyday for the rest of her life.

“You’re up so early, is something wrong? Does anything hurt?”

Melissa shook her head, “I feel much better today.”

Gareth smiled and placed his forehead on hers, “I’m glad.”

Just in that moment Melissa sneezed making the dark haired elf frown.

“It’s a little chilly this morning,” Melissa mumbled while stroking her nose with her index finger.

“Aye, winter is upon us.” Gareth pulled Melissa closer and tightened his hold on her. “You need to keep warm.”

Melissa gasped when she noticed that Gareth was shirtless, “aren’t you cold?”

“I was keeping you warm with my body heat,” Gareth responded and plastered the woman onto his firm chest. “It will do you good to tear away some of your clothing as well so we can keep each other warm.”

The very mention of ‘tearing her clothes off’ made Melissa flash. Why was she so embarrassed about being naked in front of Gareth anyway, she was carrying his child for goodness’ sake.

Gareth sat up and helped her sit up as well, “it’s still very early, let’s keep each other warm for the time being.”

Melissa averted the man’s gaze as he untied the knots of her top and pulled it off. Gareth paused for a moment and stared at her chest.

“Gareth you’re embarrassing me..” she whispered.

The elf blinked a few times and smiled sheepishly, “forgive me, it’s just that your breasts..”

Melissa folded her arms over her chest and blushed intensely.

“They look much fuller and softer than they did before,” Gareth added on as he moved his hands to her brais pants that she had worn underneath her armor. “Pregnancy looks good on you..”

Melissa trembled as the dark haired elf slipped off her trousers before taking off his own clothes. He then pulled her close until her naked body was pressed firmly against his.

Melissa’s heart was running a marathon in her chest being naked and under covers with Gareth, his warmth and scent were intoxicating.

“How are things on the Merian side of camp?” She asked in low voice as if scared she may awaken a sleeping beast if she spoke too loud. “Have they found Elric?”

The elven king moved his hand to Melissa’s lower back, “they have not, if he is not found in three days they have no chioce but to return to Meria without him.”

“I see..” Melissa cuddled up next to Gareth and sighed. She couldn’t help but think this was her fault, if she had told Elric about the baby earlier maybe he wouldn’t have run off, or if she had taken better care to keep the baby a secret from him, maybe he would still be here.

Gareth moved his hand from Melissa’s lower back to her bottom and then to her thigh. He pulled her leg around his waist and gazed at her beautiful blue eyes that sparkled even in the darkness of the tent.

“He is not dead,” Gareth assured the woman having sensed her guilt. “He probably just needs some time to process everything that has happened, I assure you he will show up eventually.” Gareth pulled Melissa on top of him and gently cupped her bare bottom. “That bastard is too stubborn to die anyway.”

Melissa gasped when she felt Gareth’s shaft slip into her core. He grabbed her bottom gently and slid the woman down his shaft gently.

“Frequent coitus is strongly recommend during pregnancy,” the man whispered and pushed himself further into Melissa. “It’s good for the baby...”

*

Stefan tuned around when he heard the flap of his tent opening and immediately rose to his feet when he saw Aiden walk in. The two men stared at each other for a long moment not knowing what to say, both filled with emotions they couldn’t quite explain.

“How is she doing?” Aiden spoke first while looking at his mother who was asleep in the furs behind his father. Marceline had sustained a few injuries when fighting against Damien and was still recovering from them.

“She is well, she’s just a little tired,” Stefan responded without taking his eyes off his son. “How is your son? And Estel, how is she faring?”

“Damine is still unconscious but is healing well. And you know Estel, as stubborn as ever, even though she needs to be resting she’s up and about the camp.”

The small smile on Aiden’s lips made the Kaiser’s heart ache. “I’m so sorry son, I should have come after you and looked for you. I should have helped you look for your wife, but instead you had to go through all of this on your own. I failed you as a father.”

Aiden took a few steps forward and gave his father a small smile, and just like Stefan’s, Aiden’s eyes were equally misty. “I shouldn’t have run away from my people, I didn’t really give you much of an opening to help me, you failed no one father.”

The two men closed the distance between than and embraced each other in a hug.

“I thought I would never see you again,” Stefan whispered in a strained voice.

“And I thought I’d never be with my family ever again,” Aiden responded before breaking the hug. “But now look at us, Estel and my son, and now my sister and you and mother. It’s like a dream.”

Stefan gripped Aiden’s shoulder firmly and gave him a nod, “it’s good to have you back my boy, we were all so lost without you.”