A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Erik sighed, and decided Katya was right. But, he also realized he wasn't entirely blameless either, and he actually didn't want Katya to feel any lingering resentment over the fact he did all this without talking to her about it.

So, before Katya could say anything, he went down on his knees as well. Now they were both on their knees, sitting across from each other.

Katya frowned. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Erik shrugged laconically and smirked slightly. "I respect what you're doing, Katya, and I'll accept your apology like a man, but only if you accept mine as well. I put your brother in danger and changed the plan without talking to you, and although I had my reasons, I still feel I should apologize for it. It showed a lack of respect."

The werebear blinked for a moment in surprise, but then she chuckled. "Good. Then I apologize for my lack of trust. The fact is, that I really would have called it off if you'd told me about the plan before, and that would have clearly been a mistake."

Erik nodded, his lips curled up in a small smile, "Then how about we agree that next time, you'll trust me, and I'll keep you in the loop on any plan changes."

"Next time?" an amused Katya questioned. "Next time we'll be fighting to determine master and servant, so I'm not sure if that plan tracks. But I do appreciate the sentiment."

"Fair enough," Erik chuckled, before elegantly getting back on his feet, followed by Katya.

However, when they were standing, and Erik wanted to get back to the others, Katya stopped him with a playful smirk. "Hold on. You apologized to me, but I believe you owe Dimitri one as well, don't you? Although, if you ask him nicely, maybe he'll forgo the kneeling?"

At the end of her sentence, she turned to Dimitri, expecting to see him laughing it off, but instead, he was scratching his head awkwardly.

"A— Actually, uhm…" the man mumbled, clearly nervous about something.

Katya frowned in surprise, before panning her gaze between a smirking Erik, and an awkward Dimitri. Finally, Erik shrugged with pursed lips, "Actually, I'd already told him about it when we were still traveling to the boat, back in the UK. He was fine with it."

"What?!" Katya flinched and exclaimed furiously, before turning around to glare at an awkwardly chuckling Dimitri. "Dim-Dim! I believe you and I have something to talk about!"

Naturally, what followed was another session of a loving sister providing her brother with some disciplining.

Erik chuckled while he waved his hand to make the two remaining thrones disappear and re-joined his wives. There, he was surprised to find a pouting Seraphina, accompanied by a mischievously smiling Emily trailing slightly behind.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Erik raised a questioning eyebrow, wondering what Seraphina wanted from him. He realized he'd been a little harsh with her earlier, but he also believed she deserved it, so he wasn't planning to apologize.

And, as it turned out, she didn't want him to. In fact, it was the opposite.

"I'm sorry," she muttered under her breath while looking away. She didn't sound insincere, but she clearly didn't exactly want to be there either.

Naturally, Erik raised an amused eyebrow as his lips curled into a small smirk. "Oh? What for?" he asked.

But before Seraphina could answer, a mischievous Emily prodded her from behind. "You can do better than that!"

The raven-haired vampire groaned, but this time looked Erik in the eye. "Look!" she pouted aggrievedly. "Don't take this to mean that I suddenly like you or anything, but I'm sorry for going out of my way to find fault with you! It's just… ugh—"

She rolled her eyes, and groaned again, before finally looking him in the eye. This time, with more pride and determination. She sighed, "Okay look, we should have a conversation later, alright? It's just… this past year has been hard on me. And we should talk. But not now!"

Then, she just turned around and walked away, sulking slightly while waiting for Katya to finish disciplining her brother.

Erik looked at her leave with a surprise, before turning to Emily. "Do you know what that's about?"

Emily nodded with pursed lips, "Yeah, she told me a little, and I convinced her to talk to you. If you want me to tell you I will, of course, but—"

"No, no," Erik waved a hand, interrupting her. "That's fine, let her tell me herself. But why did she assume we'd have a chance to talk later?" He raised an eyebrow, "Did you tell her about Elora's plan?"

"I might have," Emily giggled mischievously. "The good news is that she's actually interested in the idea." Then, she winked, "Don't worry, Master, she'll marry you like a good girl, soon enough."

Erik chuckled at Emily's antics, but couldn't deny that he loved her apparent intention to corrupt her friend into marrying him.

Meanwhile, Katya was done, and joined them again while dragging a scuffed up, groaning Dimitri by his collar. When she reached them, she pulled her brother to his feet, and dusted off his back. "Sorry about that," she told everyone laconically. "Just needed to teach my brother a lesson about sharing."

Dimitri chuckled in defeat, "Big sestra can be very dangerous when agitated." But then he turned to Erik and grinned, "Is warning for you, yes? I don't need to be big brother, threaten you to treat Katya like lady she is, because she'll do that for me, hahaha."

Unfortunately, Katya didn't appreciate that and narrowed her eyes at him, causing Dimitri to quickly cough and wave his hand. "A— Anyway. Erik, new friend, thank you for the rescue. I understand you're leaving now, but next time we meet, let's drink together, yes?"

Erik chuckled and nodded, "Deal."

With that, it was time to leave, but there was one more thing to deal with. Erik, his wives, and Dimitri watched patiently while Katya turned to Seraphina with a frown. "Little Sera," she began. "Thank you for your help in rescuing my brother."

Seraphina smiled surprisingly shyly, "Of course, boss. It's the least I could do..."

"Maybe so," Katya smiled in response. In the end, they were still boss and subordinate, after all. "But thank you all the same. I know you're not a shapeshifter, but you still might have informed Aria."

Instantly, Seraphina scoffed with disdain, "Hmpf, of course not. I might as well stick a dagger in my back myself. Faster that way."

Katya grinned, "True enough. But right now, there's something I'd like to offer you as a thank you. If you want it."

Seraphina looked at Emily, Erik, and the others, before pursing her lips slightly. "I know. Emily told me already."

"Alright… so?" Katya asked, curiously.

Seraphina frowned with a hint of sadness, before giving Katya a determined nod, "I'll do it. Thank you, Lady Katya…"