“No, I will sleep on the ground.” Merida stared at him. Arad sighed, exhausted, “Use the bed,” He glared at Merida.
Aella stared at them, “She’s right. I can’t let you sleep on the ground,” Arad stared at her, “You change your mind quickly.”
The three of them kept arguing, and after half an hour, Merida stared at the ceiling. She and Aella slept on the bed, squeezed beside Arad.
“What am I doing!” She stood, screaming.
Arad opened one eye, staring at her back, “We’re in an inn. Keep your voice down.”
“What are you two talking about?” Aella sat up, rubbing her eye as her chest dangled.
^This elf is in her underwear. Even Arad isn’t wearing his top. Why am I sleeping in the same bed as them?^ Merida stared to realize. They argued, and this is how it ended.
Merida looked won. She was the only one fully clothed, “I will go sleep on the ground,” She was about to stand, but Aella caught her, “We already talked about it! Get back down,” She pulled her to the bed.
“Let me go! Let me go!” Merida struggled, but Aella quickly wrestled her back into the bed.
Arad went back to sleep, closing his eyes and letting the girls deal with it. [You aren’t interfering?]
^What could I even do?^ Arad asked, [I don’t know. Try calming them down.] CRACK! The two girls wrestled on top of him, and Merida’s elbow dug into his chest.
Arad opened his arms, catching Aella and Merida simultaneously and pulling them toward the bed. “Let go of me!” Merida growled as Arad’s arm wrapped around her shoulders.
“Argue about it in the morning. For now, sleep!” Arad growled without even opening his eyes. ^That’s right, if I can’t tell her to sleep on the ground or get her to sleep in the bed. All I need to do is postpone the decision to the morning!^
Mom sighed. The decision was flawed, but it worked in her and Arad’s favor, so she doubled down, [She’s calming down!]
Merida went silent for a moment, relaxing beside Arad and looking away. “Fine,” she mumbled with a faint voice, resting her head on his arm and closing her eyes.
Aella smiled, hugging Arad’s right side and closing her eyes.
***
The morning quickly came by, and Arad woke to a strange feeling. ^A hand is on my crotch. Aella, Merida is on the bed, do you remember?^ He slightly opened his eyes, peeking down.
It was Merida. She had one hand in his pants and one in hers, masturbating.
^Ayo!^ Arad screamed inside his head, ^Mom do you see that?^
[I do. She doesn’t know you’re awake. Let her finish.] Mom replied immediately, [Everything is working better than I expected,]
^What? fine.^ Arad didn’t move and kept observing her. ^But is this normal?^
[No, and that’s why you mustn’t confront her now. Don’t move.] Hearing that Arad didn’t move and waited.
Merida’s hand movement got faster and faster, and her breathing got heavier. “AH!” A muffled moan escaped her mouth as her hips trembled.
With shaking eyes, she pulled her hand from Arad’s pants. It was dry, not got out of him.
Merida stared at her, “Nothing,” She mumbled, sniffing it for a moment before licking her fingers while still playing with herself.
^What is she doing!^ Arad kept screaming inside his head. [Don’t move no matter what,]
After thoroughly licking her fingers, Merida stared at Arad and Aella’s faces and slowly crawled down, pulling his pants down.
^Mom!^ [Let her do what she wants. Don’t move,]
Merida shoved her face into his meet, sniffing him like a hungry dog. Spacing out momentarily, she opened her mouth, pushing the whole thing in her throat.
^It’s in her mouth!^ Arad wanted to move, [I told you to stay still. Do you want Aella to kill you?] His body flinched, and Merida stopped a bit before continuing.
Quickly, Merida forgot herself and started going faster and faster. When she looked up, Aella was glaring down at her in the eyes.
^Aella is awake! She is going to kill her! I need to stop them,^ Arad screamed internally, but Mom stopped him again, [Don’t! If Aella wanted to kill her, she would have done so already.]
Merida froze, almost choking up. She slowly tried to stop, but Aella caught her by the hair, “What are you doing?” She whispered.
“I can explain…” Merida said, almost tearing up.
Aella put a finger to her mouth, “Be quiet unless you want to get beaten to a pulp.” She glared at her and then looked at Arad’s face. “He’s still asleep. Come with me.” Aella pulled Merida toward the room’s corner.
^I can’t hear what they are saying,^ Arad thought. [Aella will notice if you moved a bit. Stay still.]
^But I can’t even see them,^
[Forget about and stay still like a stone,]
After a few moments, Aella and Merida returned to the bed, Sleeping beside Arad.
^Merida as well? I thought she was about to kick her out!^ Arad screamed inside his head. [What a development,]
Merida reached with her hand to Aella, grabbing her arm. Aella smiled at her, “I know,”
Aella crawled up to Arad’s ear, “Arad, Arad!” She whispered, “Wake up.”
[Pretend to wake up,]
Arad slowly opened his eyes, “What? Is it morning?” He mumbled.
Aella smiled, “It is,” she smiled, kissing his cheek.
Arad sat up, waiting for them to bring up what happened, but they didn’t. Merida pretended to wake up just like him, stretching her arms.
As they stood, Aella walked up, and Merida brought her clothes, “Should I help you?” she asked with a shaking voice.
Aella smiled, “Of course,” She let Merida help her wear her clothes.
^What are they doing? I expected this to be a blood bath,^
[Merida owns Aella twice now. One for cutting her ankle and now for keeping what she did a secret. They must have settled for another price.]
^ Won’t that activate her contract?^ Arad thought, [It will unless she tells you about what happened soon.]
But as Arad was thinking, Aella approached him with Merida, “Arad, can I ask a favor of you?” Aella said with a worried face.
^Is she about to tell me?^
“What is it?” Arad replied with a smile, waiting to see what she would say.
Aella stared at Merida and then back at his face, “I know this might seem strange, but I beg of you, please don’t get angry.” she bowed down, pushing Merida with her.
Arad helped her lift her head, “You don’t need to do that,” He said with a wry smile. ^Why all the show? Is what Merida did that bad?^
[Dependig on the person. It wouldn’t be strange if you beat Merida to death, the same for Aella protecting her.]
^I don’t feel like that. Is that fine?^ Arad asked. [No lasting damage was done, so I don’t think it’s worth starting a fuss about it.]
After taking a deep breath, Aella recited what Merida did in detail. Apologizing in her stead and forcing her to apologize alongside her.
Arad listened as Aella talked, “So, can you please forget what she did?” ．
Arad scratched his head, looking at Aella’s face and Merida’s head that was stuck to the ground.
“Aren’t you assuming too much?” Arad said, staring at them.
Aella looked won, “Yeah, I guess even I can’t speak up in this.”
“Please!” Merida cried.
Arad looked at them, confused, “You’re misunderstanding,” He sighed, “Aella, can you at least explain to me why you want to help her?”
Aella stared at him, poking her fingers together, “Remember what we talked about before. I’m an elf, and that might take a bit too long. I was thinking of using what she just did to convince her to get it done.”
[She wanted to blackmail her with this to get her to carry your child. This elf is crafty. But that won’t do. The child will most likely resent you and her.]
Arad shook his head, “You know. That won’t work,” He sighed, patting her head, “I’m happy about your enthusiasm, but this is going too far.”
Aella stared up at him, “But!” But she went silent, looking at Merida, “Don’t even think about it. She is dangerous.” Arad stated. To him, this was the best excuse to get rid of her.
[I agree with Aella, don’t even think of getting rid of Merida.]
^What?^ Arad gasped, ^She tried to kill us! And now she did this! She’s too extreme to be trusted.^
[I know, but she isn’t a danger anymore. And she will be a helping hand in the future.]
Arad sighed, grasping his head and staring at Merida, “I’m too exhausted to decide. Do what you see best.”
Merida lifted her head up, almost crying, “I’m truly sorry. I couldn’t control myself.” She then turned toward, Aella, “Sorry, I laid my hands on him. I bet you want to kill me,”
Aella patted her head, “Calm down. What did attract you to him?”
Merida froze momentarily, looking away with a red face, “You won’t laugh?”
Arad stared at her, “Why would I laugh?”
Her face paled, looking at the ground, “Aella will laugh at me, you might get disgusted.”
Aella glared at her, “Just speak!”
Merida looked at them, “The smell. It was intoxicating, and when I looked at his face. I felt he was glaring at me even though he was asleep.”
[The Wyrmwolf and Vampire blood, I should have guessed.]