CHAPTER 76: IN BED WITH SYL, III

The silence pressed around them.

Syl’s breath caught somewhere between her chest and her throat.

Amon hadn’t expected her to ask such a question. Syl hadn’t expected to do so either. She hadn’t meant to ask that question, especially not like that, with a trembling and shaky voice. The flicker of candlelight made shadows dance over her naked body.

"I really do find you beautiful," Amon answered, his eyes softening, though the smirk on his face remained. "I’ve found you beautiful since the first time I laid eyes on you," he added honestly.

Syl blinked, not having expected such a straightforward answer. His honesty made her pulse quicken. She looked down, realizing too late that her arms weren’t hiding her body as much as she thought. Her skin still glowed faintly where he had touched her, where the Resonance had acted. The warmth hadn’t faded. It pulsed, slowly and rhythmically.

"I see." She answered with a nod before approaching the bed and slipping beneath the sheets again.

Amon was left surprised and disappointed. ’So that’s that, huh?’ He sighed internally.

Syl glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Her gaze slowly lowered, momentarily fixated on the tent between his legs. She quickly looked away.

"It’s no wonder you want to form a group of rejects, everything considered." She said while staring at the ceiling, fighting every urge to stare at him or at the physical reaction she had elicited in him.

"Everything considered?"

"You’re half Monster, half Beast." Syl shrugged. "The biggest reject on the bunch, I’d assume."

"I wouldn’t say that." Amon muttered. "I’m not Monster nor Beast, I’m just myself."

"Huh. I didn’t think you would care about such things."

"Who said that Hobgoblins are Monsters in the first place?"

"Humans say so," Syl answered. "Just like most things, it comes from Humans."

"Do you feel like a Monster?"

Syl pursed her lips at the question.

"Your Species dictates what you are. That’s all there is to it."

"So the Humans want you to think." Amon muttered with a shrug. "I don’t think that I’m a monster, and I don’t think you are a monster any more than I think of Akane as a Beast."

"You’d have to be a Monster to find someone like me beautiful." Syl whispered as she looked away.

"Really?" Amon’s lips curled. "I heard your Chief actually fancies you quite a bit."

The words immediately hardened Syl’s facial expression.

She turned onto her side again, facing away from him.

"That’s a sore spot, right? Sorry-"

"One night when I was a child," Syl started, interrupting him.

She stared at the ground below, her head at the edge of the bed, unsure whether to say more or remain quiet.

Syl felt the bed under move.

"One night when I was a child, the village was attacked by the Orc Tribe that is in constant war with the Hobgoblin Tribe."

Amon listened intently. The fact that she hadn’t phrased it as ’Our village’, ’Our Tribe’, ’My village’, or ’My Tribe’ actually meant a lot to him.

"I killed an Orc that night, and was proclaimed a Warrior." The look in her eyes slowly darkened. "I was small enough to sit in the Chief’s palm with room to share..."

Her words trailed off, as if she had gone back to that time.

"A Warrior at such a young age?" Amon whispered, curious about where this was going.

"That short moment when I was raised high above and cheered on by everyone... The child is a Warrior, the Chief had shouted... Everyone cheered and applauded... At the time, for a long time actually, it was my dearest, proudest memory."

"Not anymore?"

Syl brought a hand to her face as she gritted her teeth, feeling years of rage and treason rise inside of her.

"Female Warriors aren’t true Warriors." She muttered. "They’re not meant to die in battle. They’re meant to fight for a bit, then become one of the Chief’s women, fated to be used to strengthen the Tribe."

Amon stared at Syl’s back silently. She was trembling. Her voice was shaky, too.

"When I think back to it, it’s ridiculous." Syl chuckled, but Amon knew she didn’t find it funny at all. "The child is a Warrior, he said..." She rubbed her face, fighting back tears. "What he really meant was, I hereby claim this child to be my woman in the future. Haha! That’s all it is, really. All I’ve ever been to them. My proudest memory was nothing more than my womb being claimed unbeknownst to me."

Syl shut her eyes for a moment, crossed her arms, and calmed her breathing.

"Hobgoblins pride themselves on being different than Goblins. Different than Goblins, and more like puny ants, acting and living to strengthen the colony, the tribe... At least, that’s how it is for the females. Males still get to fight, die in battle, have children, or abstain." She turned towards him with a slight smile on her face. "So, no," Syl said, her wet eyelashes glistening. "The Chief didn’t fancy me." She turned back to face the dark corner of the room. "He fancied the strong children I could have given him, the Warriors I could have added to his Army, and nothing more."

A couple of silent seconds passed before Syl felt the bed move again.

She could tell that he was inches away from her, and could almost feel his heat.

"Sounds like," He whispered in her ear. "If he had given you even a tiny bit of attention, you might have fallen for him completely."

The words hit Syl like a brick to the forehead. She immediately frowned, confused, before suddenly laughing out loud.

She laughed so much that tears started welling up in her eyes, which she wasn’t so quick to wipe, because, this time, they hadn’t been caused by sadness, sorrow, or anger.

"I really might have." She said with a chuckle, wiping her eyes. "What can you expect, though? I’ve looked up to the Chief since I was a child."

"I’m happy he ignored you so much then." Amon whispered.

"Huh? Why do you...?" Her words trailed off as she suddenly felt his heat against her.

His chest kissed her back while his hand gently caressed her arm.

"Had he been a better Chief for you, you wouldn’t have come back for Akane, you wouldn’t have left the tribe..." He whispered in her ear. "I never would have known you." Amon added before laying his lips on her shoulder to glance at her face. "Things worked out pretty well for me." He smiled.

His words were so offensive, crude, and sadistic that Syl’s brain had no time to actually stop and process the sudden physical closeness and contact.

"You’re such a dick." Despite saying so, Syl couldn’t keep the corners of her lips from curling. "That’s the conclusion you’ve arrived at after everything I said?"

"Well, yeah." He said, caressing her arm with one hand, and playing with her hair with the other. "Don’t forget that I am a reject between Monster and Beast who likes a girl that even Goblins aren’t into."

"Oh, right." She nodded with a chuckle. "You know exactly where to hit for it to hurt."

"Oh, come on. I’m opening my heart to you and presenting it on a platter. Why would anything I say hurt?"

"I’ll have you know," Syl said matter-of-factly. "That just before that Monster of corruption showed up, just before you showed up, a Goblin offered to share a roof with me."

"Oh," Amon smiled. "Did he, now?"

"He did," She nodded proudly, clearly sarcastic and self-depracating. "He was pretty funny as well..." Syl whispered before momentarily frowning. "I wonder if he survived."

"Wow," Amon acted shocked. "Here I am, but you’re focused on a funny Goblin instead." Acting hurt, he started pulling back.

"No, no!" Syl chuckled, her hands reached for him. "It was just a passing thought." She laughed, her hands lying on his cheeks, keeping him from pulling back.

As Amon remained silent, Syl’s eyes slowly widened.

His face was so close to hers. She had her hands on his cheeks. They were in the same bed, both naked under the sheets.

Syl pursed her lips, slowly lowering her hands.

"I think..." She whispered with quivering lips and eyes that seemed lost in his. "It might be time for us... To get some sleep..."

"You think so?" He whispered back, not moving away from her by even a fraction of an inch.

"I..." Syl’s face slowly blushed as she remembered the intensity and size of the physical reaction her body had elicited in him earlier. She gulped. It was clear that he wasn’t lying. It was clear that he did find her beautiful. A physical reaction like that couldn’t be faked. Still, Syl had trouble believing it. "I think we..."

Her words trailed off as his hand slowly moved closer to her face.

The back of his hand caressed her cheek, before moving down to gently hold her chin and push it upwards.

He leaned closer.

Syl’s mind went blank. Her body heat had suddenly increased by multiple degrees.

Amon was getting closer, and she had no idea what to do.

Syl’s eyes closed, her lips parted slightly, and she waited, unsure what was about to happen.