The Scarlet Paladin

Chapter 71 - Ursa

After her initial hesitancy towards the Scarlet Seraphs' gifts, the northern woman did decide to ride along with them. She kept herself closed off and distant from the women as she felt their gaze on her in a new light. She now knew that they weren't just watching her out of fear or distrust, but with lust. It was new to her.

She kept her distance at night as well, opting to set up a tent outside. She guessed they were good people in general, but their oddity made her hesitant to sleep next to them. For the first two days and nights, she mostly kept to herself entirely. She ignored the redheaded leader's attempts at conversations on the first day, opting to stare out the window.

It was on the third day that she said more than a few short words to the group. She was sitting opposite of the twins on that day as she stole glances at the two. The more confident one would get defensive the moment she did, shielding the shyer one with her arm or body. The woman had to bite back her smile as she found it comical to think that the frail girl could hold her back. She did let a smile through, which is what caused the conflict.

"The fuck are smiling at?" Elsie nearly growled at the stranger. Claire was surprised at the hostility from Elsie. It wasn't a tone or emotion she'd ever really seen from her. Claire turned to the woman as she dismissed Elsie's question, opting to look outside again.

"E-elsie... calm down. We need to get along." Ana said softly as she held her sister's arm. "She was f-fighting for her life earlier... she was looking for an easy out."

"I don't care. Had Claire not been in the way, she would have killed you." Elsie said, her eyes glaring at the woman. "Least she could do is apologize."

The woman turned back to Elsie, her eyes meeting the older sister's. She let out a sigh and finally spoke. "There's no apologizing in combat."

Claire finally decided to jump in. She dashed to Elsie's side as she moved from her seat to seemingly attack the woman. Ana covered her sister's mouth to stop the swears and insults that would soon come from her. The two pulled her back to the seat as Claire did her best to diffuse the situation.

"Sorry. She's... she's very defensive of her sister." Claire got out. She was hoping to dance around their true relationship as the woman eyed the three. Her eyes faintly glowed red as she was seconds from a fight. "Please, just humor her."

"I won't apologize." The woman retorted.

"W-why?" Ana asked meekly. "W-we were trying to help-"

She stopped as those red eyes glared at her. She could feel her sister tense up before she thrashed against Claire's grip. Ana felt fear take over her as the woman targeted her again. Her voice stopped as her mouth ran dry.

"You can at least apologize for the misunderstanding," Claire said. She was getting equally as mad as Elsie now. "Is it that hard to say sorry for misunderstanding our intentions?"

Those red eyes moved to Claire as she confidently met them. She moved Elsie to her side as she met the stranger. They stared at each other for a long, silent moment before the woman turned back to the window. "No. I don't apologize for defending myself."

Elsie slipped out of her sister's grasp as she finally was able to chime in. "Defending yourself? My sister fucking healed you and then we fed and clothed you. If it weren't for us, you'd be found by the actual guard." Her anger seeped from her as she spoke.

The woman let out a sigh before turning to Elsie. "What do you want? A medal? Money?"

"An apology." Elsie shot back. "And a thank you."

"Like I said, I won-" The woman tried to say.

"Then why the fuck are we helping you?" Elsie's question wasn't for the woman as Claire felt her gaze on her. "Maybe She was wrong."

"Elsie... p-please..." Ana said to her sister.

"No. She's an ungrateful bitch who would have killed you had it not been for our party members." Elsie said, her eyes never leaving Claire as she spoke. Her anger turned to her party leader. Claire took a moment to think. Elsie was mad we were helping her at all after she targeted her sister.

"Elsie, I get it. I'm mad too." Claire said as she turned to her. "But..." She stopped for a moment, looking for any words to justify the woman being here. She only had the word of her Goddess and that wasn't good enough. "No, you're right."

Claire took a deep breath before speaking to the woman. "We did save your life and are giving you a ride to the nearest town... I think you owe us quite a bit."

The woman furrowed her brow before her shoulders untensed. She took a moment to look over the three before her. "Fine. Thank you." She finally said, conceding to the paladin.

"For what?" Elsie snapped back. Claire moved her to her lap, settling the angered girl on her as she struggled for freedom. She held her tightly, trying to signal for her to relax.

The woman gave them a weird look after Elsie was moved to Claire's lap. She thought about their gifts again and how close to each other they were. Her wolf-like senses could smell the arousal when they looked at each other, let alone touching. She sighed again, letting the thoughts leave her.

"Thank you for saving me." She said, conceding to the mage. "And thank you for healing me." She said to Ana, who nodded back.

"Was that so hard?" Elsie said. She met the annoyed gaze of the stranger again before Claire jumped in again.

"Elsie. Calm down. We need to get along, at least for another couple of days..." She whispered in her ear. Elsie squirmed in her grip as Claire's breath hit her skin. Though it'd only been a day of traveling with her, Elsie was also annoyed that their nightly activities were stopped.

"Fuck me... her presence is annoying in so many ways..." Elsie whispered back to Claire.

"Damn. Do you ever shut up?" The woman retorted, taking a moment to watch the sexually charged interaction before speaking. Her tanned skin hid the blush of her face at the display.

Claire let a laugh through as Elsie turned to glare at her. "Wow... can't believe you laughed at that," Elsie whispered angrily to her lover. She made sure to grind against her lover as she whispered, Elsie's body still craved her arousal. Her anger died down as she felt Claire's growing arousal press into her butt. For a moment, they forgot about the woman before she let out a cough.

Both women stopped their lustful stare down, looking away from one another. She crossed her legs as she watched the two. "So like... do all of you..." She left her question hanging as she found it hard to finish her question.

"Uh... yeah. We all do." Claire said, squirming underneath Elsie. She too felt a bit frustrated at the lack of activities last night, and she lost herself for a moment. At least Elsie was calming down.

"Strange... all of it's so strange." The woman said, furrowing her brow again. She uncrossed and recrossed her legs, not noticing the effect it had on the three right away. "All of it... lovers who are sisters, a Goddess giving a gift like that..." Both sisters flinched as the woman let out a chuckle. "My 'curse' enhances my senses. I can easily tell attraction from the smell..."

"Oh... sorry, they do have the approval of our Goddess..." Claire said a bit meekly as the woman looked the three over.

"Strange goddess." The woman said, uncrossing her and recrossing her legs again. She let out a laugh as she watched their eyes collectively follow her legs. "But she has a noble goal. The men in this country are treated so poorly..."

Ana perked up slightly at her words, curiosity brimming as she spoke. "H-how are they treated by... your people." Her voice tapered off as the woman focused on her. Her red eyes were too intense for Ana as she moved to hide behind Claire.

"Like actual people. Our men tend to our camps or homes while we work. They are protected by every woman in the tribe." She said with a soft smile. She looked to Elsie, who tensed up again before saying, "Sorry for frightening your sister. This time, I didn't mean it."

"Wow. And I didn't have to force that out of you." Elsie retorted. She had fully calmed down from earlier as she gave the woman a smug smile. Claire let out a sigh as Elsie's anger finally passed. She looked at the woman who had an equally smug smile as Elsie's before Claire realized she didn't even know her name.

"Shit. We never exchanged our names. I'm Claire obviously, these two are Elsie and Ana." She pointed to the two sisters as the woman nodded. She had heard all their names previously.

"The two outside are Lily and Jasmine, I know. I have keen ears." She said, leaning back in her seat. She let out a sigh before telling the three her name. "Ursa. My name is Ursa."

"That's a surprisingly beautiful name for someone so... savage" Elsie said without really thinking. Ursa's eyes faintly glowed again as she looked at the twin with annoyance.

"Damn, I liked you better when you didn't talk." She said back to Elsie. The two exchanged a smirk before Elsie let out a laugh.