Troublesome Informant.
I ran my finger along the string of my bow subconsciously, watching as Yulie spoke with a young Farian outside a small tavern. I hated Greede with a passion, too many people cramped into small spaces, especially in downtown Greede, where me and Yulie had the misfortune of being. I sighed softly and placed my bow back onto my back.
"We need this information." I could hear Yulie pleading, obviously things weren't going well. I could see that this Farian, Councillor Wez, was going to be a problem. I hoped that we could do this without being forceful. However, being a former resident of Greede myself, I should have known differently.
"Well I have decided that I cherish my life more than your precious kingdom." The Farian replied coldly, waving his hand dismissively. Seeing no other option and running out of patience, Yulie decided to resort to something a little more practical. Grabbing the Farian by the collar of his expensive tunic, she flung him towards the railings, his back smashing against them. I couldn't help but smirk as the Farian squealed in shock, his arms flailing wildly.
"Now you're just beginning to piss me off, Wez!" she shouted, stopping several passing civilians. Great, i thought to myself, that's all we need, attention drawn to ourselves. I decided the matter had become far too risky to be prelonged any longer and needed to be dealt with, now. Pushing myself off the wall that I was leaning against, I walked over to Yulie and put my hand on her shoulder.
"Let me deal with this, Yulie." I whispered into her ear, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. She hesitated for a second before nodding begrudgingly and stepping back, pulling Wes up as she did and letting go of his collar. Wez looked at us both, a mixture of fear and hatred burning in his eyes, as he regained his composure.
"I am an ambassador of Faria!" He barked angrily, straightening his tunic. "And I will not be treated this way by two human thugs!" I could feel the anger resonating off Yulie beside me and couldn't help but be grateful that she was my partner in this. When Yulie was pissed off, all hell was about to break out, usually on her victim's genitals. I myself had been on the receiving end of one of her kicks and can easily say that the possibility of us having kids was looking slim now. I decided it was best if I done the speaking from here before the good ambassador irritated my beloved anymore and got himself or his genitals kicked into oblivion.
"You are betraying your nation just by agreeing to meet us here, Councillor Wez." I growled coldly, my silvery grey eyes boring into his dark green ones. He flinched at the mention of betrayal, the Farians were a proud people who valued their honour above all else. And that there was my weapon against Wez. "You are the one who requested for us to meet you here, claiming to have important information regarding the safety of the kingom of Balandor, yet now you're whining about your safety and refusing to speak? I thought we were meeting a proud Farian councillor, not some cowardly runt." This had the impact I wanted. Wez drew himself up, anger swelling in his face and chest.
"How dare you accuse me of cowardice!" he roared, stepping forward into my face. Yulie made to step forward to stop him but I held my hand out across her chest, careful not to grab her breast as I did. Normally I didn't like people getting into my face but if it meant I could get the information I needed, then i had to let it slide this once. I decided instead to maintain eye contact.
"Then prove to me you aren't a coward, Wez." I replied icily. Behind us the crowd had grown in size and I could hear them muttering, many inquiring about what was happening. "Give us the information we need, for if it involves Faria, you will be protecting both your own citizens as well as Balandor's." I could almost hear the metaphoric cogs working in his mind as he began to process all I had said. Finally he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and nodded.
"Very well, I will tell you." He whispered, his voice calmer now, though still retaining a bit of it's edge. "There are those amongst our council who believe that peace with Balandor is both counter productive and an insult to all those who died in the war of the two nations." I nodded softly, frowning slightly. "I have heard rumours of certain council members amongst this faction who have begun funding some remnants of the Magi to act as a mercenary force, though the intentions are currently unknown. That is all I have heard but as I have previously stated, it is all just rumours." Besides me, Yulie had calmed down a bit too and was now looking at me, concerned.
"And yet, behind every rumour, there is a glistening of truth..." I whispered, more to myself then to the councillor. However he nodded in agreement anyway.
"Yes, that is why I felt it necessary to contact one of your kingdom's agents." He explained, a little shamefully. "I feel I must apologise for my performance before hand. I am just weary from the long travel and paranoid of being followed." I nodded, it was easy to see that the position he had put himself in to relay this information to us was indeed one fraught with danger.
"It's fine, Councillor." I reply dismissivly, shaking my head. "I too must apologise for insulting you, but you must understand, I'm sure, the reason behind it?" Wez nodded, sighing softly. I looked past the Farian and frowned, it was getting late and we still had get back to the merchant quarter, which was where our inn was situated. "We must go now, for we will be setting out for Balandor early in the morning." The councillor nodded again and bowed slightly, whcih me and Yulie returned.
"Safe travels to you both." He muttered, nodding at Yulie. Yulie nodded back, though i could still feel the hatred flowing from her steel grey eyes.
"You too, Councillor." I replied, turning away. Yulie turned with me and, together, we pushed our way through the gathered crowd and quickly made our way through the winding alley ways of Downtown Greede.
"Damn nobles." Yulie spat after a few minutes of walking in silence. I nodded in agreement.
"Councillor Wez is arrogant, it is a well known fact." I admitted softly, noticing a guard spying on us. This made me uneasy, I had a long history with Greede's authorities when I was younger and I knew how easily they could be bought. It wasn't called the Free city of Greede for nothing. Yulie must have caught on to why I had gone quiet, for she reached back and pulled the hood of her thick black cloak up, covering her short lavender hair, and moved closer to me. Sometimes I swear she can read my thoughts. Softly, I put my arm around her shoulders and composed my thoughts.
"Do you believe him?" she whispered, as we resumed walking towards the train station, my other hand resting on the dagger I kept hidden under my own dark red cloak. I frowned for a moment before speaking.
"I believe some of what he has said." I finally replied, sensing the guard's eyes on my back. "However, I feel he is only feeding us half-truths for the time being." Yulie frowned and sighed.
"Pointless politics." She whispered, shaking her head. "That's all this is, pointless." I pulled her a little closer and kissed her cloaked head, I hated seeing her like this. Finally, after another five minutes, we reached the packed train station. Yulie went to check when the next train was leaving, giving me the chance to slip into the crowd. We were still being followed, though our pursuer was clumsy and easy to sense. I watched as he walked by, looking around. He was wearing the standard issue armour of Greede and held a spear in his hand. As much as I would have liked to disable the man where he stood, I knew it would be suicide in the middle of such a crowded area. Frowning, I instead pulled the hood of my own cloak over my head, hiding my thick mass of deep red hair, and began looking for Yulie, slipping from one crowd of people to the next. It didn't take long to find her and bring her up to date on the situation.
"So we are being followed." she muttered, as we made our way towards our train. I nodded softly and looked behind me, scanning for the mysterious guard. He was stood questioning one of the clerks and I could see, to my amusement, that he was frowning deeply. Resting my hand on Yulie's back, we boarded the train to the Merchant district. I knew the trip back to the merchant quarter wouldn't take long, half an hour at the most, so we decided to just sit in the first carriage we found, which was mercifully empty. Once inside, I closed the double doors whilst Yulie sat on one of the crude benches and pulled her hood down.
"I'll be glad to see the back of this city." I muttered, turning back and sitting next to Yulie. She smiled saddly at me and pulled the hood of my cloak down before resting her head on my shoulder.
"Why do you linger so much on that day for, Cervus?" she whispered softly, closing her eyes. I frowned a little and looked out of the window for a moment. That day, that day when I saw truely what humanity was capable of in it's lust for power and control. Sometimes I wish I was a Warg or a Farian, maybe even a Papiluar, though to be honest the very thought of being four foot tall with long ears always made me chuckle. I sighed softly.
"I never told you everything about that day, did I Yulie?" I whispered after a moment, deciding it was best that I just spoke of it now and got it over and done with rather then try to sidestep it completely. I felt Yulie shake her head a little against my shoulder.
"Not really, no." I heard her whisper softly. I couldn't help but smile, she had such a cute voice. Putting my arm around her, I thought back to that day when I was fifteen.
"Well remember how I had told you that I had witnessed the murder of some people, back when I was fifteen." I asked, watching her. Yulie nodded softly and looked up at me. "I had been walking through one of the alley ways when I heard shouting on the main street. I decided to see what was happening and found myself with the perfect view to something extremely ... distressing." I closed my eyes and sighed. "The execution of a family. It turns out the father had attacked a member of the local cartel that had raped his daughter. This cartel used to run things in Downtown Greede and weren't too impressed when some outcast had attacked one of their men for doing what they wanted. I still hear, to this day, the screams of the children as their throats were slit before their father's eyes when ever its silent. I can still see how he had begged for their lifes before hand, then being forced to watch as they were ripped away from him before his very eyes. All in the name of keeping power." I opened my eyes again to see Yulie's own staring back at me, tears brimming up slowly.
"They killed his children!" she cried, outraged. I simply nodded, I had never spoken of this to anyone and so couldn't think of anything to say. I went to look away but felt her hand rest itself on my cheek to stop me. Slowly and softly, it forced me to look at her. "Cervus, I'm so sorry ..." I put my hand on hers and kissed her lips softly, closing my eyes in the process.
"Don't be, Yulie." I whispered, cursing myself in the back of my mind. She had enough to deal with as it was, she still hadn't come to terms with Leonard's death. No one had. It had been hard on all of us, we had fought all that way, aware that some of us might not be coming back but still ... it doesn't make it any easier when it happens. I closed my eyes again and sighed, my mind drifting away.