Chapter 905 904 - Outing
Naeku's breathing sped up a little. Her eyes widened as she straightened from his lap and pushed off his chest. "R-Really? Already…?"
Erik smiled a little. "Well, I understand it's soon from your perspective, but especially Elora's been waiting a long time." Then he cocked an eyebrow, curious about the nerves he sensed from her. "I thought you'd be more excited, though. Didn't you want to be a mother?"
She blinked, and then her face quickly softened. "Well, yeah…" she muttered, and sighed back into his chest. "I'd just never really expected it to happen… I mean, I also wanted to marry for love, which meant that, in my mind, I always had to give up one or the other unless I fell in love with a werepanther like myself."
She cocked her head a little and smiled at him. "Then I fell in love with you, and I was able to quickly give up on motherhood because I'd prepared myself for it… But now you've barely allowed me to get used to the idea of maybe getting everything I've wanted before it's about to actually happen!"
Her head leaned forward, and they kissed passionately for a moment. "I'm excited…" she whispered afterwards. "Just give me a moment to get used to it…"
Erik smirked wryly. "Well… you've got several moments. Remember, you're still the last in line, and I don't believe Elora's had the time to solve our incompatibility issue yet. I believe she's still working on Astrid."
The fairy's voice echoed in his mind: "Correct."
Naeku gently caressed his cheek and smiled. "Then I'll wait patiently. For now, it's enough to know the moment is on the horizon…"
They looked deep into each other's eyes for a moment… before Erik jumped up with a wide grin and swept her up in his arms. "Good! Now let's get to the exciting part!"
She yelped and giggled in his arms before they disappeared into the bedroom. During the following night, Naeku proved she was still his obedient little princess kitty wife…
***
When they emerged the next morning, the first thing they did was pay a visit to Ankhur together. Doting father that he was, he reacted with almost giddy excitement at Naeku having joined his level. For nearly an hour, Erik's presence was mostly forgotten as Ankhur fussed over his daughter and told her several times how proud her mother would have been.
Erik didn't mind, though. Ankhur's behaviour in this moment amused him, and he looked forward to rubbing it in his face sometime…
After Ankhur let them go, they left the palace. Erik planned to show her the market he'd recently uncovered. At the same time, he gave her the gift he bought there, which—aside from the makeup—also included a wristband.
He'd had some trouble thinking of a gift she would enjoy, until he came across a stall that sold the materials for these wristbands and then helped make them. Since Naeku had given him one, he decided to give her one back.
Fortunately, she loved the gift, and the bustling market brought her nearly to tears of happiness.
"Seeing my people thrive like this is the biggest gift you could have given me…" she sighed emotionally, eyes locked on the busy plaza in front of her, even as she fondled the band around her wrist.
They stayed there for several hours as Naeku insisted on meeting every seller to ask about their business. But… they did eventually move on, because they had a final destination. A destination that made Naeku a little nervous.
***
It was late in the afternoon by the time Erik and Naeku reached the place. They were just on the edge of the inhabited area of the city. Even after many of those living in small villages had moved to the big cities, Enkare Nkai was still far from filling up.
They were hiding themselves in a small alley between two empty houses and spying on a different building a little further in the street. This building was quite large, but looked equally as abandoned as the two it was next to. Yet, the main difference was in the handfuls of people making their way into it every few moments. Mostly while wearing cloaks, and seemingly careful to make sure they weren't being spied upon.
Of course, avoiding third-ranked senses was as good as impossible for them…
"That's already hundreds of people…" Naeku muttered in a complicated tone. "Is it that widespread already…?"
With a sigh, Erik nodded slowly. "Yes. Honestly, Nora and Anne have been incredibly proficient. Not just in establishing and spreading this cult, but also in keeping its existence relegated to rumours. According to them, only about ten per cent of their followers show up every evening, just because they have to stagger them due to limitations on space."
"Only ten per cent…" Naeku sighed, her expression strange. "So that's thousands of people in total…"
She looked away from the building and turned to Erik. "So…" she began hesitantly, seemingly inspecting him. "How does it feel to be worshipped by so many people…?"
Erik was leaning against a wall, arms crossed in front of his chest as he smirked wryly. "I mean… I doubt all of them actually worship me. I suspect most are just looking for community and guidance or simply like the worldview and message they've ascribed to me."
She narrowed her eyes a little. "You're avoiding the question…"
With a chuckle and a helpless shrug, Erik admitted the truth. "Most of the time it feels weird! But… sometimes it does feel good. You know better than most how much I enjoy devotion, especially in women."
Naeku smirked at him, but didn't seem necessarily put off. "I guess that's fair… but you know we've seen several men enter the building, right?"
"I know, I know!" Erik sighed deeply. "But what can I do? Making it a women-only cult worshipping a male figure would have only one purpose…"
Naeku rolled her eyes and turned to look around the corner at the building again. "Yeah, a purpose you'd enjoy…" she muttered wryly.
"Can't deny that," Erik chuckled, his eyes quickly drawn to Naeku's beautiful ass. Though they were outside the palace, the fact that they were hidden meant Naeku didn't mind being out of her beast form. Tradition only demanded she not be seen in her human form, after all. She'd spend the entirety of their market trip in werepanther form, but as soon as they went unseen, she changed back, and she was still dressed in the same seductive outfit as before.
Meanwhile, the trickle of people had stopped. "Looks like that's everyone," Erik nodded, glancing around the side. "Shall we go?"