A/N: This story is an AU, taking place in a Fantasy land of my own creation, 'Etrana' in a time period around the 1600's, but the grammar, and inventions are a mix of renaissance and modern, as I have invented some things of my own. I also use some Skyrim terminology, but you don't need to know what Skyrim is to understand the story.
Warning: Will/does contain mature content including but not limited to: Swearing, violence, sexual content...
"Yo! Get away from there!" Bonnie yelled at the three kids mafficking, trampling her garden along the way.
The children squealed and ran off, back to where they had come from, and she sighed, standing in the doorway of her home.
After a moment, she hurried over to her garden, kneeling down and running her fingertips along the tomato plants.
"They've ruined you." Bonnie whispered, referring to several of the squashed ones.
Looking to both sides of herself quickly, she looked back down before placing her hands along the pummeled tomatoes, cupping them.
"Salvo plantis, sanatio potentia." she whispered, and in her hands the tomatoes flushed outwards, regaining their round untouched shape and vibrancy.
Bonnie smiled and stood back up, brushing any dirt off her petticoat and turning back for her home.
"She witch, she witch!" she heard suddenly and turned her head to see a child holding her mother's hand as they walked.
The mother avoided looking at Bonnie and tugged her child closer to her skirt.
"Mama, the magical lady!" the child continued to look, and squirm his way out of his mother's grasp.
Bonnie blinked, watching him rush over, standing hardly 2 feet wall and stop square in front of her.
"Misses, Misses, please show me your magic." he smiled but his mother felt much differently and walked over, scooping him up into her arms.
"Don't speak with her!" she huffed, stepping away from Bonnie as though she had the plague.
"She's the devil's child." the woman whispered and as she walked away holding her son, he looked beyond her shoulder.
Bonnie watched them walk away until they disappeared around a corner.
She sighed, shaking her head and turned back into her home, closing the door behind her.
"Don't you look doleful." a voice commented from across the small space that was both a sitting room and a kitchen.
The blond, Caroline, her best friend was sitting at the dining table.
"Oh, it's nothing new." she replied, brushing a lock of her dark brown hair behind her shoulder.
"Did someone call out on you again?" Caroline asked with a frown.
Bonnie shook her head, "They scorn me, despite the fact that I have helped more people in this village than the medics combined." she moved to sit beside her friend in a chair.
"They haven't come to your door wielding torches, at least." she chuckled, but there was a sadness in her eyes.
"That is because they are too afraid of me to actually confront me." she reminded Caroline, reaching across the table for a slice of the bread. It was a tad dry, crumbly around the edges, as it had been baked over a week before.
Caroline picked her goblet up off the table and took a drink of the ale inside.
"God bless them." she smirked, and Bonnie smiled back at her a bit.
"Or damn them. Whichever he pleases." she remarked and pulled apart the slice of bread to eat it.
Bonnie finished eating the bread and snatched the goblet away from Caroline, swallowing the remaining drink.
"Well, excuse me!" Caroline teased, taking the goblet back and setting it empty in front of herself.
"That's the last of the ale, we have mead and milk left." Bonnie sighed, tapping her fingertips on the table.
"We'll need the mead for morrow surely." the blond replied slowly.
"Why is that?" she asked, looking up from the table.
"Have you forgotten? We've a rendezvous with Charles and Rowland." Caroline reminded her with a chuckle.
Bonnie placed her hand upon her forehead, "Rowland, really?" she asked, moving her hand back down, knowing very well that Rowland was the one she was expected to entertain. Since, Caroline had a favor for Charles.
"What's wrong with Rowland?" she inquired.
"The first time he met me, he thought I was a bawd." Bonnie narrowed her eyes.
Caroline smiled, "Nye, he thought thou were a courtesan."
"That is the same thing!" she put a hand in the air.
"In a general sense yes, but class wise, courtesan is several pay more than an average hooker." she teased and Bonnie rolled her eyes standing up from the table.
"Are you suggesting that I should take it as a compliment that Rowland thought I was attractive enough that wealthy men would pay to visit me?" she asked with a chuckle.
Caroline rested her chin in her hand, "You corrected him without default however. I was sure he was startled by you."
"Startled? Please, I'm not frightening." Bonnie stepped over to the hearth, adding more wood to it. The flames licked upwards.
"You kicked him in the knee and told him he should swallow hot coals." she laughed.
Bonnie shrugged, "He called me a prostitute, I kicked him, we are nothing if not even." she insisted.
"He wasn't meaning it in a bad way, Bonnie." Caroline shook her head.
"Though, I took it as such." she said simply and placed the cooking pot over the fire.
Bonnie smiled and placed the pieces of raw chicken in the cast iron pot, several carrots, then leeks and placed the lid on top.
"The rumors of my 'devil heritage' doesn't seem to bother him, I will say that." she continued telling away from the hearth.
"That's because he does not believe you are a witch." Caroline told her.
"Which he shouldn't. Unless of course you've told my secret?" Bonnie said playfully, swaying her skirt a bit.
Caroline smiled, "Of course not. You've been my best friend for years."
Bonnie nodded and paced across the room slowly.
"What does Rowland think of me then?" she asked curiously.
"He thinks you are one of the best Alchemics and medic in Etrana, that you are misunderstood." she explained.
Bonnie chuckled, "He might not think the same if he knew the magic of it all."
"You've helped a lot of people, I'm sure he'd understand." Caroline insisted, standing up from her chair.
"Perhaps… Speaking of helping a lot of people. It hasn't been so this week. I've seen one person, treated them for pox. People aren't very sick lately."she said with a sigh.
Caroline smiled, "For us, that isn't such a good thing."
"Not at all. We have fifteen gold, that should hold us over for the week though." Bonnie told her, and her friend nodded.
Bonnie and Caroline had been living and working together the last four years. Bonnie was eighteen and Caroline was six months her junior, at seventeen. Caroline wasn't too skilled at Alchemy but she could stitch wounds well and was handy when it came to childbirth.
"You know, we could be married by now like other women our age." Caroline chuckled and leaned against the end of the table.
"You've been saying that since we were fourteen. Yet, here we are." Bonnie smirked.
Caroline glared at her best friend, for not having let her continue her thought.
"I was going to say… But, we make do on our own. Although, half of the village thinks we're bedmates." she flushed red.
Bonnie folded her arms, "We're two unwed, childless females living together, and not actively seeking marriage to a man. Of course they think we are queer." she chuckled.
"Not that there is anything wrong with such." Caroline pointed out.
"Not at all."she agreed, "After all, the King isn't against marriages of any kind. If we were bedmates, we would have been married by now." Bonnie teased and her friend flushed even harder.
"Shush!" Caroline giggled and hid her face in her hands.
"I hope you realize, I'm only going to meet with Rowland because you want to see Charles and he refuses to come without his friend." Bonnie said, switching the subject, not wanting to embarrass Caroline any further.
"I'm aware, and I adore you for it." she smiled, removing her hands from her face.
Bonnie looked over at the pot hanging over the hearth, and stepped over, using a rag to place over the lid before lifting it and checking on the food.
"Should be done soon…" she mumbled and moved over, sitting back down in a chair, stretching her arms above her head.
She yawned and then placed her arms on the table, resting her chin in her palm.
"Today is my father's birth celebration you know." Bonnie mentioned, and Caroline moved to sit beside her.
"Do you care?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Not particularly. Sure, I left home at thirteen and told him to shove it, but I still love him." Bonnie smirked, closing her eyes.
Caroline laughed, "Of course…"
"I do feel bad, however. You didn't chose to be rid of your parents." she said, referring to Caroline's loss of her parents due to the black plague.
"You didn't chose to lose your mother, either." Caroline reminded her.
"This is true. In a cruel sense, I killed her." Bonnie shook her head and opened her eyes, staring at the table.
Her friend put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't say that. You were babe, she made sure you were in this world before leaving."
Bonnie looked over at Caroline and sighed, "I suppose you're right."
After a moment, she looked across the room, and over at the plates sitting along the counter near the wash basin.
Turning her left hand palm side up, she outstretched her fingers a bit.
"Levate." Bonnie said and the plates, as well as forks lifted from the counter, floated across the room quickly and landed on the table in perfect order in front of both girls with a small clink.
"Show off." Caroline teased her, and she smiled.
"If you have it, vaunt it." she replied, looking to the left and watching as the sun finished setting Leaving the room in orange glow from the heartfire.
With one glance at the half melted candle on the table, the wick lit and brightened the area a tad.
"Do you suppose Charles is actually interested in me romantically?" Caroline asked her.
Bonnie stood from the chair and stepped over to the pot, and lifting the lid off it, turning the food inside over once, listening to it sizzle, steam rushed outwards.
"I guess. Although, I thought you just wanted to get into bed with him." she chuckled, and replaced the lid before standing up straight and placing her hands behind her hand.
Caroline blushed and fiddled with a wavy lock of her hair.
"Honestly, I do. That's what I'm worried about, him being smitten with me."
Bonnie smiled, "From what I've heard, Charles is no stranger to carnal knowledge, I'm sure he won't be too damaged from a romantic rejection." she chuckled and tapped her foot, impatient for supper.
Caroline nodded and sighed, watching the flames flicker in the hearth.
Once the food was done, they sat at the table, eating and Bonnie was counting how many gold they'd have left for food if they bought the ingredients she needed to make more elixir.
"I think we could do by on eight gold." she said slowly, placing a bite of chicken in her mouth.
"One loaf of bread, a head of cabbage, milk and salt." Caroline nodded, "That's five gold."
Bonnie pursed her lips, "That leaves us with three gold for taxes."
"Better than no gold for taxes." her friend shrugged and reached over, taking a drink from a goblet of milk.
There was a sudden bang on the door and Bonnie got up from her seat, rushing over and opening it.
"Bloody hell." a young girl Bonnie knew as Klarie stumbled in, blood dripping from the hand she had coddled in a rag.
"Klarie, what happened?" Bonnie asked with a sigh and closed the door behind her.
Caroline stood up quickly and they walked the girl over to the small bed in the corner of the room.
Klarie, who was barely thirteen years old, sat down and Bonnie unwrapped her hand. There was a 5 inch slice from her middle knuckle to past her wrist that was at least half an inch deep in some parts.
"Ass faced monger at the Blue Barb got mouthy with me." she explained and Caroline shook her head.
"Care, valerian, rag, needle and hemp." Bonnie said and the blond moved over to the other side of the room, grabbing several things from a drawer.
Caroline set the things down on the bed and Bonnie moved to sit beside Klarie.
She opened the bottle of water mixed with valerian root, and poured some on the clean rag until it was damp before patting it over the wound in an attempt to keep it from infection.
Klarie grimaced and looked away.
"You shouldn't get into fights." Bonnie chuckled and set the rag down.
Grabbing the curved needle, she fastened a thin twine of hemp to it and slowly slid the needle into one side of the wound.
"Hell…" Klarie grumbled and Caroline moved over to hold her wrist still.
Bonnie continued suturing the wound until she got to the other end, and then tied it off three times.
"If this gets infected, come to me right away, not a week after or you'll lose your hand." she told her.
Klarie nodded and stood up from the bed. The thin girl was wearing brown breeches, and a thin cream colored long sleeve shirt that her chest was easily visible in, rather than a dress, with a corset.
Her hair wasn't long, but ear length and dark red. Bonnie and Caroline had only known her for a few months, but the girl was known to get into trouble, and wasn't liked very well due to her refusal to dress how others thought females should. She was however, taller than Bonnie at a steady five foot nine. Bonnie was barely five foot one.
"Here." Klarie said, reaching into her satchel along the side of her breeches and pulled out a hand full of coins.
Bonnie took the gold into her hand and counted them. Six.
"Where did you even get coin?" she asked with a disapproving look.
"I know what you're thinking, but I didn't steal this time. I got a job at the fish hatchery." Klarie explained with a small smile.
Caroline chuckled, "That's good then."
"I'll see you next time I'm ill or injured." the girl half teased and made her way across the room and out of the front door, closing it behind her.
"I hope we don't see her for a long time." Bonnie shook her head and picked up the supplies, carrying them back to the drawer. She cleaned off the needle, and tossed the tag in a wash basin, setting the valerian water back in the drawer and closing it.
Bonnie moved over to the small basin full of water for their hands and washed her hands with a hard soap she'd made, before drying them.
"I'm going to sleep." she said after a second and Caroline nodded at her from the place at the table she'd taken again.
"Goodnight." they said to each other.
Their small home consisted of one main room, that served as the dining/sitting and kitchen room, which they were in; and then two small bedrooms, with single person beds, night tables, a wall shelve for books.
Bonnie walked into her room, closing the door behind her and stepped over to the window, pushing the thin linen curtains to the wide so the moonlight shone in.
She pulled the ribbon out of her curly hair, and what wasn't on her shoulder, fell downwards along the sides of her face. Reaching behind her, she undid the ties on the back of her dress, pulled her arms from the sleeves and it fell to the floor. Next she took her thin cheap underbust corset off, and underskirt off. Bonnie changed into her white nightgown that only reached her knees. She set her clothing on top of her chest against one of the walls and climbed into bed, pulling the blanket over top of her.
Bonnie stared at the ceiling, wondering if she actually liked Rowland. Sure, he was attractive and she wouldn't mind sharing the bed with him once or twice but over all. Was Rowland someone she wanted to be in a relationship with?
Shaking her head, she remembered the next day, was just a simple meeting. They'd drink, eat, talk. No need to get ahead of herself. She'd avoided being courted for years, it wasn't that difficult. Most men are happy with being your bedmate, without having to be permanently tied to you.
In fact, more men than not, were married and had a mistress. The amount of people who grew bored of their marriages within the first month, was staggering.
Bonnie chuckled.
If she ever got married, it wouldn't be to a man who had a mistress, or ever would. She was not the kind to fall hard, but was positive that when she did, she wasn't going to be sharing.
The next day, around the evening, with the sun low in the sky, Bonnie and Caroline were making their way down the street, carrying a basket with mead, apples and bread in it.
Bonnie was wearing her only date worthy dress. It was a little more full at the skirt, even without a crinoline, which neither of them would afford. Hoopskirts were a middle to upper class commodity. The skirt was a dull but pretty blue, with white detailing along the hem. While the bodess was a slightly darker, greyish blue, squaring off at the bust, with wrist length sleeves.
Caroline was wearing a similar style gown, expect it was red, with white lace along the cuffs.
"My hair looks alright, doesn't it?" Bonnie asked.
Her hair was dark, natural curly, setting around in head in slightly frizzy ringlets. She hadn't washed her hair in quite a while, since you only had as much water as you could carry from the well, or the river in buckets. It was pulled back at the sides with pins.
"It looks fine." Caroline chuckled, her hair was in a complete updo, her long slender neck was like a porcelain dolls.
"Good morrow, Ladies." Charles said as the girls made it to the small clearing near the woods, where a path led up to a larger clearing. He was leaning against a tree.
"Good morrow." Bonnie smiled, "Where's Rowland?"
Charles stepped over near Caroline, "He's with the picnic, wouldn't want to have our things stolen would we?" he asked with a chuckle.
Charles was tall, lanky, but built fine. He had light blonde hair that was near shoulder length, tucked behind his ears, and hazel eyes. He was eight years Caroline's senior.
Most of all, he was kind, and very gentlemanly. However, Caroline was eying him like a piece of meat.
"May I take your basket?" he asked Bonnie who smiled.
"Yes, thank you." she handed him the basket and the three of them stepped into the forest, walking down the path.
As they walked Bonnie lifted her hem up a bit, to avoid brushing it in the dirt.
"You look very beautiful, Caroline." Charles smiled at her, looking to the side.
Caroline smiled back, "Thank you."
Once they made it to the larger clearing, Rowland was sitting on the large blanket spread out along the grass. There were goblets, and another basket the men had brought with them.
"Bonnie!" Rowland smile up at her, and she chuckled, stepping over onto the blanket and sitting down.
"Hello, Rowland." she said slowly as Caroline and Charles sat down in front of them.
Rowland looked at Bonnie, with a slight guilty look on his face, obviously from the last time they had met.
"How do you fare?" he asked her as she reached over, grabbing the mead from her basket and poured some into a goblet.
"Well, and you?" she replied, taking a drink and passing the bottle over to Caroline who poured herself some, then handed it to Charles.
Rowland took the bottle once it was finally passed to him, and poured some in his goblet.
"I am, well, as well." he chuckled nervously.
Rowland was just two years Bonnie's senior, average height, with light brown hair that was combed neatly, just barely ear length. He had a small amount of stubble as well.
"Better than the last time we met?" she asked, pulling a apple from the basket and biting into it.
"About that…" he mumbled, "I apologize." he started, but she cut him off with a laugh.
"Don't. That was a few weeks ago, I know you didn't mean it in distaste." Bonnie assured him after swallowing the food in her mouth
Rowland smiled and scooted a bit closer to her.
The four of them spent a good hour, or so, conversing, eating, drinking and laughing. Caroline was practically throwing hints at Charles more so than a fisherman baiting his hook.
The sun was just about set, to the clearing was dim. Rowland grabbed several torches from underneath one side of the blanket and stood, staking them into the ground.
He pulled a straight piece of steel, and a flint. He struck the steel along the sharp edge of the flint until sparks ignited a glow, and he blew at it to a fire along the top of one of the torches. He then used that torch to light the other three, stuck it back in the ground and sat down on the blanket beside Bonnie.
She couldn't help but think to herself about how much easier lighting fire was when you could do it with a snap of your fingers.
"Charles, I bet you can't catch me." Caroline teased, the man smirked.
"Oh? Really?" he asked, and she grinned, standing up from the ground.
Caroline grabbed her skirt, "Really!" she said quickly before running away from the group and across the clearing.
Charles hopped up and started to chase her. They laughed, and he grabbed her up into his arms.
Caroline wiggled away from him, and ran off, into the woods, with him following behind her.
Bonnie smiled and looked over at Rowland.
"Tonight has been fun." she commented, and the man smiled back at her.
"It has." he agreed and Bonnie's eyes flickered over to the woods, where very muffled giggles and shuffling was heard.
"I don't think they'll be back for a bit." Bonnie chuckled, and placed her hands in her laps.
Rowland tilted his head to the side, "Is that such a bad thing?" he asked, and she bit at her bottom lip.
Without a single thought, Bonnie moved over put her hands on his shoulder and moved up to straddle his lap. Rowland blinked, a little taken aback, but Bonnie had never been blunt when it came to what she wanted.
Rowland was a one time thing, this was for sure. So, she had no problem getting right to what was going to happen. When you're lifespan is forty at the most, you tend to live a little more friverasy. On the bright side, Rowland was a nice man, but one with baser urges nonetheless.
"Well, hello." he smiled and she smiled back, leaning back and pressing her lips against his. His hands moved to her waist.
Rowland kissed her back deeply, breathing constantly as though he couldn't spare any breath even to kiss her. This was a bit annoying, but Bonnie ignored it, enjoying the feel of his slightly rough hands along her waist and they moved down further, cupping her ass over top her petticoat.
Bonnie exhaled, breaking their kiss and butterflying her lips along his chin, and his jawline, moaning softly when his hands squeezed at her bottom.
Muffled moans came from the forest, and in all honestly, this only further aroused both of them.
Bonnie ran her hands along his chest and untied the strings along the front, revealing part of his chest through the V shape.
Rowland moved his fingers to the back of her dress, pulling the strings free and ran his fingers in between the space there, along the back of her corset.
She responded by hiking her skirt up further and grinding against his lap, capturing his lips in hers again, this time so hard that he forced not to breath for several seconds at a time.
Rowlands erection pressed up against her thighs and she breathed into his mouth, then broke the kiss and helped him pull the top half of her dress off, revealing her bare breasts supported by her underbust corset.
His eyes flickered along them for a moment before he leaned forward laying her on her back.
Bonnie giggled and he hovered above her, moving his head downwards and running his tongue along one of her nipples. She leaned her head backwards, closing her eyes, and biting at her lip.
"Uhmm, I missed this." she breathed, her hips swaying a little at the heat between her legs.
"Been a while for you, has it?" Rowland asked with a chuckle, before swirling his tongue along her breast slowly.
Bonnie moaned a tad and reached a hand upwards to grab some of his hair, which made him grind his hips against her.
As Rowland kissed in between her breasts, he used the other hand to reach down, underneath her skirt and pressed his hands between her legs against her cotton thigh length bloomers.
Just as Bonnie was about to moan softly again, her eyes filled with a light and she was overcome with a vision. But, it was as though it wasn't happening, but was to happen. In the sky, lanterns floated, the moon shoe down and it was a peaceful scene, despite the blood on the ground, and tension in the air. Her eyes flickered over, although blurry and she could see him. His hair was pitch black, and his sea blue eyes were bright, brighter than anything Bonnie had ever seen. But they were frightened, his face was splattered with blood and despite what he had said, he was near death. "No!" Bonnie yelled, even though she knew that it wouldn't help anything. She wasn't sure why, but as she looked out upon the battle, watched the dark haired man through blurry vision, she felt a great amount of angst, and pain. As a greatsword was brought forward, the man's head was dispatched from his body.
"You will not defeat me!" a man yelled and Bonnie searched frantically in the vision, trying to figure out what was going on.
Bonnie gasped, looking above her at the sky, and Rowland was above her, looking into her face, with a worried look on his.
"Are you alright?" he asked her, and she swallowed, breathing heavily.
Rowland moved off from top of her and she sat up slowly, putting a hand on her head.
"Yeah." she lied, "I just don't think I want to go any further." she said, inhaling again and grabbing her bodice, sliding it back on from the front.
"Ay, alright." he replied, looking disappointed, but he didn't argue.
"You want some help?" Rowland asked, and she nodded, turning around a little, and he helped her tie her bodice up in the back and brushed her hair behind her shoulder.
"You sure you're alright?" the man asked, and Bonnie turned to face him again.
"I think I just drank too much." Bonnie said slowly, but she knew the truth.
Someone was going to die, and she was the only one who knew it. But who was going to be killed? And more importantly, why was it relevant to her?
"I do hope Caroline gets back soon." she mumbled, looking out at the woods.