Ero Skill Tree

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Seven: Under the Stars

Once Serin had left, I reached for my clothes and started to get dressed. Ella was still sat in the middle of the tent, naked.

She looked at me disappointedly. "Are you going to leave me like this?"

I nodded slowly. "Sorry, I'd like to continue. I can't skip my turn on watch, the others need to rest too."

Her eyes widened longingly. "But..."

"Don't worry, we can continue this another time."

A smile reappeared on her face. "I hope so."

"We will."

I continued to dress. Once fully clothed, I moved to the front of the tent to find my boots. I turned back to check on Anya. She was still out of it.

I looked to Ella. "I need to go now, but can you make sure she wakes up soon?"

She pulled the bed covers up to her shoulders and nodded. "I'll make sure she gets up."

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

Once I had my boots on, I climbed out of the tent and headed towards the campfire. Both Serin and Ceraphine were sat there waiting for me to relieve them.

I waved as I approached. "Sorry about the wait."

Both girls looked up as I spoke.

Serin smiled and patted the ground next to her. "It's okay, it's only just time to swap."

I eased myself down onto the floor next to her. "I didn't mean to keep you up."

She laughed. "We could hear you were, um, busy..."

Ceraphine drew a little closer to us and the fire. "What happened to Anya? She was supposed to be keeping watching with you."

"She seemed a little tired. I'm sure she'll be along soon enough."

"She got the lucky draw and then decided to not show up for her first shift. That girl!"

"Sorry, I suppose it's my fault."

"No, I expect you wanted to sleep too."

"You two can go and get some rest, I'm okay to take the watch on my own for now."

Ceraphine got to her feet. "I think I'll take you up on that." She yawned and turned to Serin. "Are you coming too?"

She shook her head. "I think I'll stay up with Theo for a little while. You go on ahead, I won't be far behind."

"Okay."

Ceraphine left the two of us sat by the fire and headed back to one of the tents where the other girls were sleeping.

It was a little cooler here in the foothills than it had been on the plains. I warmed my hands on the fire and listened to it crackle.

After a while, I turned to Serin. "You know, you really don't have to sit up with me."

"I know." She smiled and shuffled closer, then leant her head on my shoulder. "I wanted to sit up with you."

"Was there something you needed to talk about."

She shook her head. "No, not really."

I put my arm around her. "And everything is, okay?"

She looked up at me. "Yep... I just wanted to sit like this for a while."

"Okay."

She huddled a little closer. "It's not often I can get you alone now."

"You know I'll always make time for you if you wanted."