Chapter 18: Getting the coin to Mante, part 2

Fen didn't take off the flower crown the entire day. They traveled the road, and were not stopped by anyone. The incubus was humming a jolly tune, and subconsciously putting mana in his voice.

Sebastian had never heard something as lovely. The humming was making him feel at peace, and he felt like he needed to talk to the demon. To make him notice him.

The merchant went to the front of the wagon, and tapped Fen on the back. The incubus turned around, and gave him a dazzling smile that made his knees go weak.

"I think you have a lovely voice," Sebastian spoke, and he rested his hands on the bench. Right next to Fen's tights.

"Don't let my lovers hear you," Fen told him with a wink. Sebastian sighed, and was going to blurt out another compliment, when he was pulled back to the back of the wagon. 

"He is taken," smoke rose from Karakon's nostrils. The merchant blinked at him.

"Well, I just wanted him to know he has a lovely voice," Sebastian defended himself. He had wanted to do more than that. But he didn't want to push his luck.

"Taken," Alistair spoke, glaring daggers into the merchant. "If you keep on sniffling around him, you will end up a head shorter."

"Alistair!" Anmu protested. "This is too cruel. You can't just..."

"If we leave it up to Fen, this harem will become too big for words," Alistair snapped. Then, he made note of the hurt expression on the Naga, and bowed his head. "Sorry."

Before Anmu could speak, Eleric gave out a sigh.

"The question is, do we want to possess Fen, or do we want to love him?" The elf asked. His eyes were puffy from the lack of sleep. The movement of the wagon was lulling him to sleep, Fen's humming helping along. He was at peace, so, he could think clearly.

"Yes, Fen is not a possession! A pretty trinket for us to take out when the fancy strikes us," Anmu agreed with the elf.

"What are you both saying?" Karakon asked. "That we are not enough?"

"We are not saying that, but..." Eleric bit his lower lip before continuing. "Fen will be happier with a bigger harem. Let Sebastian romance him. If Fen ignores him, then we are enough to make him happy. If he welcomes him, then we will just have to live with that."

"Alistair, say you are not ok with that," Karakon turned to the vampire next. Alistair looked to the front of the wagon, where their whispered conversation wasn't reaching Fen, hopefully.

"You have until the end of the trip to try and romance Fen," the vampire told the merchant. "And us, as well."

Sebastian blinked at that.

"You as well? I thought that you didn't want me to be part of the harem?" The fair-haired merchant asked.

"We don't, but Fen does. Still, we are a package deal. Do you want Fen? You will have to get us as well," Alistair said, and then took Eleric in his arms, and began to pet his hair. "Sleep. Tonight, cuddle up to us, instead of picking roses all night."

"But they made him happy," Eleric said with a smile. He allowed the fingers in his hair to lull him to sleep, and he was soon drifting off.

Karakon edged closer to Anmu, and placed an arm around him.

"Beauty, I have been neglecting you," the dragon murmured, and he kissed the Naga on the cheek.

"You have not, not really," Anmu said. He rested his head on the dragon's chest, and allowed for him to lean them back in the wagon.

Sebastian stared at the four. They cared about one another. He wanted that for himself. His life was an empty one. Buy ships, sent them to Vermilion Island, trade with the cities there. His base of operation was Bellete, sometimes Sacro.  Constantly traveling, constantly alone.

He turned to Yurek, who was dozing off with the golden bird chick in his arms. Sebastian took off his cloak, and draped it over the goblin. Then, he went back to the front of the wagon.

"They told me I have the green light to romance you all," the merchant admitted. Fen giggled at that.

"I had my sights on you since the moment I saw you," Fen told him, and a warmth spread over Sebastian's face. "But they were against it."

"I will capture all of your hearts. More than that, I will never argue when you demand another lover," Sebastian promised. He knew the nature of the average incubus. They didn't have lovers, they had toys. Yet, Fen was different.

"And why is that?" Fen asked, curious.

"Because I know your heart is big," Sebastian spoke, and he meant it. "Too big to be filled with a handful of people. I know you cherish your lovers and don't want to hurt them. But I don't believe that you should be hurting yourself by abstaining."

"Do you really think that?" The incubus asked, eyes soft. "You will give me free rein to collect all the beauty in the world and fill in my harem with morsels?"

"There is nothing I won't allow you," Sebastian insisted. "Do you know who talked them into accepting my advances?"

"Eleric?" Fen guessed.

"How did you know?" The merchant asked, a small smile on his face.

"He understands me the best. I might have shared my soul with him. Something I didn't do with the others. Not even with Anmu," Fen admitted. He had not shared his soul with the rest because they were not the first person who had given him a chance. In a way, Eleric was the one he held in the highest regard. Even though Anmu would forever be the crown jewel of the harem.

"The crown suits you," Sebastian reached out, and petted a delicate petal. "I will need to make a surprise for all of you, and soon."

"Well, if you are up to the challenge," Fen murmured, and he bent so that he could kiss Sebastian on the forehead. "Know that, as long as you think of me as a free spirit to be respected, you can have a place by my side and in my harem."

"I'll remember that," the merchant cupped Fen's cheek, and nuzzled their noses together. "Now, please keep on humming. Your voice can melt even a heart of stone, and mine is quite tender, I assure you."

Fen laughed at that, and resumed his humming. Sebastian crawled back to where the rest were sleeping, and then to Eleric's side. He laid his head on the elf's shoulder, and drifted off to sleep as well.