Eric, The Nice Guy

“Those are not the criminals!” Eric yelled, pushing himself through the door.

The man in full plate looked at Kieran, who had his sword still in hand.

“They look like to me…” he said.

“’Cause you’re blind as a mole!” Eric countered.

“Eric?” Sophia said surprised as she recognized him. “What are you doing here.”

“Coming to your rescue of course, Miss Silvia!”

“Thought I told you to give me until tonight, before you get the guard involved… The sun is still out,” Kieran sighed.

“I think I gave you long enough! How could I sit still while Miss Silvia is in danger!” Eric retorted.

“I’m fine Eric. Sorry for making you worry and thank you for coming to save me,” Sophia said with a warm smile.

Eric stepped forward and pushed himself through the soldiers that were surrounding her and the others.

“Certainly, I would do anything for you, Miss Silvia. That’s the least I could do!”, he said rushing towards Sophia. “Aah, it warms my heart to see you unharmed, Miss Silvia. But you look tired! We best get out of this dreadful place and let you rest somewhere nicer!”

“Now wait a goddamn moment!” the man in the full plate armor yelled. “Nobody leaves until I know what was going on here! Who the hell are you and why are there so many dead bodies here?”

“This is Miss Silvia, a renowned biologist from the academy, and her bodyguard! You ought to be a bit nicer to her! She’s the reason you still have a brother-in-law!”

“You have my thank for that, but that doesn’t change the fact that I need answers before I can let you go.”

Sophia gave him a brief summary of what happened, omitting certain details like the shackles and the involvement of the Oash family.

“And you two are?” the man in full plate armor asked after listening to the story.

“My name is Bastian and this little brat is Va—” the swordsman next to Kieran began to introduce himself.

“Victoria! My name is Victoria and I’m no brat, I’m a cartographer and he is…” Victoria interrupted and glanced over to Bastian,” my bodyguard.”

“More like caretaker…” Bastian mumbled only to himself.

“So, a biologist, a cartographer and their two bodyguards…” the man in the full plate armor began and looked around the chaos in the entrance hall, “did all this without any injury to themselves? Together with outside there are like forty dead guys here…”

“Two very good bodyguards,” Sophia corrected with a nervous smile.

“The best!” Victoria added smiling naturally.

“Huh…” the man in plate armor sighed and turned towards Eric. “You vouch for them?”

“Absolutely!” Eric replied immediately.

“Good… I doubt we could restrain them against their will anyways and I don’t wanna try…”

“Does that mean, we can go?”

The man in plate armor nodded slightly and turned towards his soldiers.

“You two go downstairs and see after the three other captives. The rest of you look if any of them survived and arrest them and someone go fetch the undertaker… tell him to bring the big wagon…” He ordered.

“Now let’s get out of here, Miss Silvia. I bet you’re hungry after this whole ordeal.” Eric suggested.

Sophia stomach began to rumble like on command.

“Yeah…” she said slightly flustered.

They went outside the house and through the front yard of the hide-out.

“I guess the next stop is in Leiden, Bastian” Victoria mentioned as they walked out of the door.

Bastian sighed, “Do I have any say in this?”

Victoria looked at him and smiled, “Nope.”

“Leiden is further up north you said, right Eric?” Sophia asked.

“It certainly is. Takes about two days of travel by horse.” Eric confirmed.

“Huh…” Sophia turned towards Victoria, “We are bound northwards as well. Maybe we’ll make a stop at Leiden too, so how about we travel together?”

“That would be awesome!” Victoria exclaimed happily. “How about we go right now?”

“No!” Eric interjected surprisingly energetic, and went slightly red. “I mean it’s already so late…”

“He’s right… and I would love to sleep at least one night in a comfy bed, before I have to sleep outside again….” Sophia agreed, “How about we meet tomorrow morning?”

“Ok, fine…” Victoria replied.

“You two got horses?”

“One…”

“We as well…”

“I could provide you with an old wagon of mine, so you don’t have to ride double on the horses.” Eric mentioned.

“Oh no, that’s too much, you’ve already done so much for us,” Sophia declined.

“No, I insist! Anything I can do for you, Miss Silvia, I will do happily.”

“That’s so nice of you. You’re way to kind, Eric.”

She gave him a warm smile, which he returned.

“Well then, until tomorrow! This is our stay Where are you staying?” Victoria remarked and pointed at the inn they were just passing. “Where shall we meet?”

“At the Ehrlich Store. It’s just a bit further down this road, you can’t miss it,” Eric answered.

Victoria and Bastian said goodbyes and went inside the inn. Sophia, Kieran and Eric continued down the road. It didn’t take long and they reached the Ehrlich store.

“Would you like a bath before the meal, Miss Silvia?” Eric asked.

“Yeah, I think I could definitely use a wash…” Sophia said and sniffed her armpit, “Oh, I definitely do…”

“Then it’s down this hallway the fifth door to the right. In the meantime, I’ll go and tell the chef to prepare something good for you.”

“Thanks, Eric.”

Eric hurried through some other door and left Sophia and Kieran alone. She went in the indicated hallway.

“He likes you…” Kieran said catching up to her.

“Who?” Sophia asked confused.

“Eric.”

Sophia furrowed her brows.

“Bullshit… He’s just nice to us, because we saved his life,“ she said and waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

“He’s nice to you… I think he would prefer it if I wasn’t here actually…” Kieran countered.

“Well, I can understand that notion… But I don’t think you’re right. He’s just a nice guy.”

“If you say so…”

“I do… and now I say it’s time for a bath!”

Sophia opened the fifth door to the right and it opened to a large bathroom. Kieran went to follow.

“What the… Where do you think you’re going?” Sophia asked and stopped him.

“In the Bath apparently…” Kieran answered shruggingly.

“What? Why? I’m going to use it now!”

“You told me to stay by your side from now on…” Kieran explained and began to smile. “In fact, you ordered me to.”

Sophia opened her mouth in protest but closed it back up and glared at him.

“So that’s what you meant with regretting it…” she mumbled.

Sophia held up her arm with the mark.

“I take back my previous order to you.”, she said and it began to glow. “Sorry, but you won’t be seeing me naked today. I know you’ve been hoping for it… though luck, eh?”

“As if…” Kieran scoffed, “You’re not my type anyways…”

“Oh, so what’s your type then?”

“Not little girls that can’t even beat me in a sparring match, hesitate in battle to the point of nearly getting killed… and then become upset about it and gets herself kidnapped.”

“You… idiot!”

Sophia smashed the door shut, leaving the smiling Kieran outside.

“Stand guard that nobody comes it!” he could hear her muffled voice from the inside and his mark reacted.

Kieran crossed his arms and leaned against the wall next to the door. Waiting like this he stood there until the young woman came back out of the bath.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry,” she said without looking at him.

Kieran followed her. Sophia wore one of the provided bathrobes and had her hair wrapped up in a towel around her head, leaving her neck exposed. Walking behind her, Kieran could smell the lilac from the bath essences she must have used.

“Ah, perfect. I was just going to look for you, Miss Silvia. The Dinner is served and ready to be enjoyed,” Eric exclaimed as he came around a corner and spotted them. “Should I let something other to dress into be prepared for you before we eat, Miss Silvia?”

“No need. I’m starving, “Sophia declined. “And Eric?”

“Yes, Miss Silvia?”

“You can stop calling me Miss every time.”

“Certainly Mi… Silvia.”

Eric quickly turned around and led them towards the dining hall, but Kieran noticed his slightly red ears. The meal was even more bountiful than yesterdays. Sophia declined the wine offered and they began to eat. Eric regaled them with stories and anecdotes from his past during their meal. Sophia listened and laughed at his occasional joke, which made him talk even more. Kieran didn’t care much about stories, as he was more focused on trying every bit of food on the table.

“Compliments to the chef! The food was absolutely amazing!” Sophia said after finishing her fifth plate.

“He will be happy to hear it.” Eric replied with a smile.

“So, and now I think it’s time to hit the bed. We got a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow.”

“You’re really leaving so soon?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid we have to.”

“Okay. I’ll see to it that everything is prepared for you in the morning.”

“You’re way too kind! Thank you so much!”

Sophia and Kieran got up to leave.

“Silvia, before you go, could I talk to you some more for a bit…” Eric began and looked at Kieran, “in private.”

“O-Okay…” Sophia said and sat back down.

Kieran gave her a brief look but then left the room. He went up to their chamber and began cleaning, polishing and oiling his sword. Around half an hour later Sophia came into the room.

“You were right…” she said quietly and sat down on the bed.

“About?” Kieran asked.

“Eric…”

“What did he say?”

“He asked me If I would come visit him again and stay longer… very much longer… Then he said… the L-word.”

“That he likes you?”

“The other one…”

“Oh, he straight went there…”

“He did…”

“What was you answer?”

“I told him that I appreciate the feeling and that he is a nice guy…but that I don’t feel that way about him… I mean how could I? I don’t even know him… He doesn’t know me either… and what he thinks he knows is a lie…”

“You don’t need to know someone to fall in love… Sometimes just a random encounter, an act of kindness, a smile… or even a lie can be enough… Love works in funny and mysterious ways. It can hit you when you least expect it and doesn’t have to end in happiness…”

“But is that really true love?”

Kieran paused for a moment to think and then looked up at Sophia.

“I don’t know… but it’s the only one I know…” he said with sadness in his eyes.