For The Whored: Beyond Ch. 50

"But... I..." Mayby looked back and forth between the pair and Elunara.

"I am beyond pissed at you Mayby. It'll take a lot of fast talking for you to calm me down, and I may not even hear it at this point."

"Elunara!" Mayby began to wail.

Elunara grabbed her ears. "Gods, shut up."

Mayby sniffled and her lip quivered. "I never wanted to make you mad at me. I just, I guess I just heard wedding bells and got excited. It never occurred to me that he wouldn't want to, I mean, they moved in together."

"Because Carla is a nice girl." Elunara gestured. "Which is why I convinced them to work it out together, Carla is a sweet girl, and Ryan is a nice guy. I think they'll be darling together." She rubbed her belly. "Stop kickin' me, momma's trying to be angry."

"Oh! You can feel them kick now? Can I touch? It's been so long since I've felt babies in the womb."

"Ugh, fine. But I'm still pissed at you."

Mayby put her hands on Elunara's belly. "Aww, how adorable."

"Lunari is--" Ryan slapped a hand to his mouth.

Mayby whipped around. "Lunari is WHAT?"

"Nothing. I didn't say a damned thing."

"Ryan you will spill or so help me..."

Ryan groaned. "Lunari told me she is pregnant but didn't want to rain on my wedding parade. She was going to tell you next week. Now she is probably going to kill me."

Mayby made a loud shrieky noise that had Elunara grabbing her ears again.

"I take it William and Lunari are doing well?"

"Apparently, it took some convincing, but William is less concerned by his birth these days." Ryan shrugged. "She gets all moony-eyed when she talks about him, but he won't come back to Stormwind, he's avoiding Lulu, but Lunari came back for the wedding. She works so hard to make him happy, it's kind of nauseating." He blushed.

"Poor girl shouldn't have to work." Elunara shook her head. "But I can't stop her." With a sigh, Elunara rubbed circles on her belly. "Alright, babies, let's go for a walk. Carla, which way is your house?"

"Um, my house is this way. Why?"

"Lead the way. I have someone I've never met to slap down too."

"Please don't slap my father."

"Verbally. What does your father do?"

"Book seller."

"Really?"

"He specializes in rare and hard to find books, but in general he sells books. He's very discerning. Made most of his money in his youth translating and obtaining books for Brann Bronzebeard himself."

Elunara stopped. "What's his name?"

"Richard Bentley."

Elunara choked. "Oh, this should be good."

"Why?"

"No reason, no reason at all." Elunara eyed Ryan. "Ryan, did you ever do what I tell you about finding a new job?"

"I've been working for Richard as an accountant. Turns out I have a head for numbers." He shook his head. "Carla isn't kidding, he's loaded."

"Well, well, well." Elunara licked her lips.

"I am SO confused right now." Carla frowned.

"With Elunara, you just go with it."

Carla pointed to her house. "This is us."

Elunara stopped and put her hands on her hips. "This is almost as big as my house."

Carla nodded. "Which is why I let Ryan move in, I thought we just had so many empty rooms..." Carla pushed the door open.

Tilda was standing in the foyer, she glared at Ryan, but froze when she spotted Elunara. She curtsied.

"Ryan, my boy. I see you've brought back Carla, and who..." Richard's eye went wide, and he just stared, open mouthed at Elunara.

"Long time, no see, Richard." She cocked her hip and crossed her arms. "What's it been? Thirty, thirty-five years?"

"Thirty-six." He squeaked.

"I've never heard my father struck quiet before." Carla was in awe. "Wait. You... and my father?" She turned various shades of green.

"Hey now, he did what had to be done, to save all of our lives."

"I think we should go in my office now." Richard had turned several shades of red himself. "Tilda, bring tea."

In the office, Elunara looked around at all the books. "Yeah, this fits you."

Richard sat at his desk and took off his glasses and cleaned them on a cloth. "Where to begin..." He sighed as he put back on his glasses.

"I'll save you the embarrassment." Elunara grinned as she sat on the edge of the desk. "Thirty-six years ago, when your father was in his twenties..."

"Twenty-two to be exact."

"Me and a group of seven explorers, plus Brann Bronzebeard, got stuck in a trap-laden temple. Your father and Brann translated the words on the wall and altars to figure out how to disable the traps, of which I helped to dismantle." She shrugged. "It's really as simple as that."

"Oh. Oh! So, you didn't... you know."

"That's part of how to dismantle the traps." Elunara shrugged.

"I'm confused again."

Shaking her head, Elunara sighed. "I'm trying to paint you a picture here. I had to perform sexual acrobatics in order to fulfil the goals put forth in the translations. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how he views the situation, he had to volunteer in order for us to get out of the temple."

"But you said there were seven others, couldn't THEY have--"

"They did." Richard's voice was grim. "All of us did. We had to; or die trying. I don't like to talk about that day, even your mother had no idea. But my fortune was made that day because the last room... well it was filled with treasure, just a seemingly endless supply of treasure."

Ryan stared at Elunara. "You got the treasure too?"

"Not really. I had no interest in it. I gave my share to the rest of the Explorer's League, and I bounced along on my merry way."

"Then why were you there?" Carla was still trying to process the situation.

"Protection. The Explorer's League paid for protection. While they couldn't afford many, they could afford the best, and that was me at the time."

"So, even my own father does not remain untouched by you..."

Elunara laughed. "I do have my disgusting whore hands in all the pockets."

Carla winced. "I'm sorry I said that."

"You said--" Richard sat up straight. "Carla!"

"Father, it was... a mistake. I was just so upset that Ryan had been with her too..."

"Ryan!" Richard stood up and slammed his hands on the desk. "How DARE you do that to my little girl! The wedding is over!"

"Oh, NOW you want to hear what we have to say!" Carla stood up.

"Both of you sit down and shut up." Elunara crossed her arms. "These two finally decide they want to get married, so I came here to help them out, not screw them over."

"What?" Richard blinked at her.

"For the last three months, you haven't listened to a WORD your daughter has said. I came here today to pick at you about it. But I see the real problem is that you don't listen to a word anybody has to say. Which is no different from last time. Ryan did not actively cheat on Carla; he was in my clutches before she even met him."

"Oh." Richard dropped down into his chair. "I'm... I'm listening now."

"Father, for the past three months I have been TRYING to tell you that we were not getting married. I only let Ryan move in because I didn't want him to leave Stormwind just because he couldn't be in the guard. I thought that, since we had so many rooms here, that he could stay. Instead, we find ourselves forced into a wedding neither of us wanted."

"Carla, I--"

"We've been scheming for months trying to find a way around it. That's why the wedding planner keeps getting her stuff wrong, that's why the cake was messed up. The catering, the decorations, the flowers, everything. No matter what you scheduled, corrected, cleaned up, or ordered got screwed up. That's why the date kept having to be pushed back. The only thing I haven't done, and can't bring myself to do, was trash the dress."

Richard blinked at the pair as if seeing them for the first time. "Why didn't you just ask to speak with me?"

"I did! Every day! Six times a day almost! Every time, you ignored me and shoved the next decision in my face. I rejected decisions on things I loved, just to be as obstinate as possible!"

Richard pinched the bridge of his nose. "I just thought every girl wants her day to be perfect."

"It wasn't even MY day! It was yours!" Carla yanked at her hair.

"Carla, my dear child. I am so sorry. I... I'll call it off. I'll send them all away."

"Um." Carla blushed "We kind of changed our minds today."

Richard's eyebrows shot up through his hair. "You..."

"Didn't do that." Elunara snorted. "Yet."

"But... if you spent so much time trying to not get married, what changed your mind now?"

"Does it really matter, papa?" Elunara shrugged. "If it didn't before?"

"It does. Because I was a fool. I was so eager to see my little girl married off, that when I finally had the chance, I was going all out."

"Why DID you push so hard?"

Richard sighed and leaned back in his chair. "After you and I... had that moment, I realized that I had spent too much time buried in books, and not enough time pursuing... other interests. I wound up looking around and I found a woman who was right under my nose. Clara was a librarian in the Explorer's League, and I discovered from other people, that she'd been flirting with me pretty hard, I was oblivious to it. When you... opened my eyes to the female body, well, I started seeing her as more than just a librarian. I found a soulmate, who had been waiting in the wings. She was everything to me. All the books in the world had not prepared me for her. We married, and we wanted children. We tried... many times. I bought this house with the goal of populating it with as many children as we could fill it with. What we got, was tragedy after tragedy. Miscarriage after miscarriage. We came to the conclusion that maybe we were doomed. Then, after ten years of trying and giving up, Carla, our miracle baby came along. She was named after her mother. Unfortunately, her mother died in childbirth." Richard sighed and tapped his fingers on the desk. "We were doomed. But I had my Carla, and nothing was going to take her from me. I admit, I may have spoiled her endlessly. Making sure she had the best of the best of the best. When she reached the age of maturity... at first, I was terrified that she would go the way of her mother. I was viciously protective, not that she knew it. A handful of gold in any suitor's hand was usually enough to ward them away."

"You..." Carla looked ill.

"Had to fend them off with a stick." He shook his head. "Then it occurred to me, that maybe Carla could fill the house with those children we so desperately desired. So, I reversed the process so the speak."

"YOU--!"

"Sit down, shut up. Let him tell it." Elunara pointed to the chair.

Carla snapped her mouth shut and flopped down.

"Again, only the best for my little girl. I studied them, interviewed them, set up dates according to my standards and practices. I probably drove you insane, and I am sorry for it. When you found this boy, and you invited him in, I was thrilled you found an interest. I did my own research about him. He comes from good stock, at least, his Aunt Mayby is friends with Queen Elunara, that's good enough in my book. I never expected you to show up at my door like this, not after all these years. Given your reputation, I felt you forgot about me."

"I didn't come here for you; I came for Ryan and Carla. Not because Mayby is my friend, but because I saw two kids in love who needed help with their voices."

"Love? You do love this boy? Not because I've roped you in to a marriage?"

"Well, I..." Carla looked at Ryan and blushed. "I want to. I don't know. Father, I... Papa," She corrected. "I met this man and I found out he was nice to talk to. None of your annoying matches ever made sense to me. They were endlessly annoying. Whenever you had a match for me, I would get so frustrated and annoyed I would go to the one person I knew I could talk to, which was Tulani. I thought... I thought I was in love with her. But she knocked me back. She broke my heart, and I took it out on Elunara, who made me realize I didn't KNOW Tulani at all. That I can't love someone I don't even know. Someone I had a one-sided relationship with. When I met Ryan, I... well he was cute, and he wasn't a pressure. He was just..." She flapped her hand as she searched for a word. "Nice. No one else had just been nice. All of your matches were total bores, or snotty, and in some cases, creepy. But not Ryan. He was never pushy, or rude, or boring. And when he said he'd have to leave the city, I panicked. I couldn't let him go. When everyone thought we were getting married, it ruined him for me. Sorry, Ryan."

"No, I'm with you. Sort of." He took her hand.

"I spent so much time trying to get out of the wedding, I didn't take the time to get to know my would-be fiancé in that way. I just didn't give him the chance he deserved."

"And you? Ryan?"

"Well, Sir, I'll be honest and say that when I first met Carla, I didn't have a thought in my head about her. I was running late for my appointment with Elunara so she could sketch my portrait for my mother. Then I didn't think about her much because I was obsessing over another girl who only saw me as a friend. But like Carla said, we could talk about anything. It was nice having a friend, it was nice having someone that I wasn't thinking about my pants with. Not that Carla isn't pretty, I just didn't see her like that. I saw her as my friend. When I got rejected... well Carla was there for me, even though I didn't think much of it. But, over time, I began to see her as kind of interesting. I LIKED her first, and when she offered to let me move in, I wanted to cry. No one had been so nice to me, other than Elunara." He shrugged.

"However, these last three months have been... something else. I liked getting into mischief with Carla, dealing with her plans to get us out of this mess. Any idea she came up with, I was there to do the muscle work. We bonded over our desire to not be pushed along. Not that anybody could see that. I will be honest with myself and with Carla completely. She told me at the beginning that maybe we should date and see where it goes. I liked that idea, but she was so busy trying to get out of it, that I was willing to give her that. Hell, I started getting to the point where I was willing to give her anything she wanted, if only to see her giggle in that little way she does when she's got a plan going on in her head." Ryan blushed and looked at the carpet.

"Adorable, really. But keep going." Elunara gestured.

"I wanted to be romantic, but like, I'd bring her a present and she'd suddenly get an idea how to sabotage the wedding. Or I brought her flowers, and she came up with a way to irritate the florist. She wasn't seeing me in that way, so I sort of gave up on the romance idea and went back to helping her be happy. Then today when she came into my room, upset and frantic, speaking in half words and thoughts, I just wanted to hold her until she calmed down. And when... well." He stared at the wall, his face on fire. "She said she wanted to be kissed... I knew I had one chance. Only one. And I blew it. I dropped that blasted book you gave me, Elunara, and she saw a picture in it and blew up at me. When she lost it on me, I suddenly knew. Everything. I knew I couldn't be without her. I knew I was going to hate myself for the rest of my life if I let her stay mad at me."

"And that's where I come in." Elunara shrugged. "I had previous dealings with Carla and her emotions, and I had previous dealings with Ryan and HIS emotions, and quite frankly, I think they're darling together. I will personally be there tomorrow to bless this union, come hell or high water."

Richard sat back in his chair, quiet. Carla and Ryan kept sneaking little glances at each other as he watched. An act that he'd never noticed before. "I've been so blind. But now I see. I am so sorry, my darling Carla, for treating you so badly, when all I thought I was doing was helping, spoiling you, even. I hope, in time, you can forgive me."

"Oh, papa, I was so upset with you, angry even, but I think I know what I want now, and it's Ryan."

"Then you shall have him. As long as he agrees, of course."

Carla blushed. "He officially asked me to marry him today."

"Good. I'm glad."

Elunara stood up. "Well, now that that's settled, Where's your bathroom? I need to pee, again."