“We’d make absolutely stunning children,” he replied, smirking. The mischievous twinkle was back in his eye.

“Everyone and babies!” I exclaimed. “Is Satu rubbing off on you?”

“It’s an unfortunate trait she shares with her son.”

“Can we even have babies? Like, logistically? As Erlking and the stag?” The thought popped into my head before I could chase it away for the ridiculous thing it was.

Soren frowned, thinking. “I’m … not sure. I don’t believe the original stag ever was in the position to have offspring with the Erlking. Because, I mean, it was a deer. A magical deer. But still a deer.”

I smiled. “Yes, it was, in fact, a deer.” At least physically. I could attest to how not a deer it was in other ways. Deer didn’t help regulate the entire universe, for the most part.

Soren had that soft look in his eyes that was always reserved for me. “Do you want to hear a story?”

“A story?” I asked.

“To help you sleep.”

“I didn’t know you told stories,” I said.

He blushed, pink spreading across the gray-blue skin of his cheeks. “I mean, I don’t really. Only one. It’s true, so I don’t know if that even counts. Tanya told me it when I was little.”

I raised my eyebrows. I could not for the life of me picture Tanya, red-headed, scowling, snapping Tanya, sitting down and telling a young Soren a story. “Really?”

“Well.” Soren rubbed the back of his neck. “My mother and she were very close apparently. I don’t know, maybe it was because they were half sisters, so there was less competition between the two. When my mother was attacked by the draugr, Tanya could only save her or me. My mother told her to save me and look after me. So, Tanya delivered me and my mother died.”

There was a shine of grief in Soren’s eyes, for the mother he never got to know. I felt for him. At least I knew my family before they died. I knew I was loved. Different, yes, but loved.

“I’m sorry,” I said, placing a hand on his bicep.

“It’s fine, it’s why Tanya took so much of an interest in me. She always would tell me stories about how my parents met. I thought it was quite romantic.”

“You, a romantic?” I giggled.

He smirked. “Marriages tend to be arranged and betrothals are common. Breaking betrothals, too, which I really should have taken into consideration when I decided to join my ex-betrothed’s team on a hunt for a magic deer and take along the girl I’d been pining after for half a century.”

“Yeah, you kinda fucked that one up, Soren,” I said, but couldn’t help but laugh. Not at the memory of almost being murdered, but the way Soren described the events as if it were another regular evening.