Ch 3: And Suddenly It's More
That night we stop on the side of the road. The petty criminal in me thought of how easy it would be to snag some of the unguarded riches these idiots basically pile in the road but Villiam and his companies eyes are sharp and unforgiving so I don't risk it. Seeing as we are in company, the ladies and I don't have to do much camp work and I take my given time to quickly bathe the road from my skin, watching in fascination as beads of brown rolled off from dirt I did not know was on me. Scrubbing as hard as I dared, I drop the cloth in shock as I feel a few very large, very slick bodies rub against me. It seems that a couple river fish were hanging around the nearly stagnant wading pool I was in.
I look down and see two of them, bigger than my forearms. My mouth watered at the thought of fish fillets and me hands move as fast and quietly as I can. I grabbed both of them by the gills suddenly and heaved them onto land. Uncaring for my own cleanliness in the face of fresh food, I leap onto the flopping trout, smashing its head in with a nearby rock. I almost miss the second one, a catfish, wriggling to safety while I am lost in my own moroseness when, with the nearby twang of a bow, a short arrow pinned it to the ground. It gave a few more valiant flops before stilling completely.
Eyes widening I crouch on the balls of my feet, ready to tackle the offending trespasser, when Villiam slowly side stepped into full view, hands up and bow slung across his chest. I am acutely aware of my nakedness and try to casually shift away from the light of the early evening sun. My scars are already fully visible now despite my hard work in ensuring I am more than modestly covered, claiming to be uncomfortable showing my skin.
The humans were already looking at the hairline scar on my face strangely, I didn't need them to see the full hideousness of the rest of me. But it seems all for not when his eyes widen in shock. He shifts uncomfortably, slowly walking to me and taking the towel off the boulder near the river side. Awkwardly handing it to me I mumble my thanks and ask him why he is here. Pointing to the rabbits I didn't notice slung on his hip, he shrugs.
"The company gets pissy without fresh meat after a few days. I didn't think you would be bathing here, I am sorry."
My eyes soften a bit as he shifts foot from foot, clearly upset from intruding on my privacy. Patting his arm, I wink and shoo him off with my fish strung up and over his shoulders. Then I remember him seeing me naked, more accurately what is on my body, and hurry to catch up to him.
"Ser Villiam!"
He stops and catches me barreling up to him only to trip a little on my stop. My face heats to my own anger and I quickly stand straight while clutching the large sheet around me.
"If I may, could you keep this a little secret," I wave my arm up and down my body, "just that? I'm not the most comfortable with it."
I smile bitterly.
"Was hoping to keep it a secret a little longer, especially to such a handsome man around."
I sigh dramatically and turn to dress, hiding my own disappointment. Man is so much more picky with body images, I truly have no hope with him. At least that is what I thought when he grabbed me by the shoulder, spun me around, and collided his mouth to mine. It's not explosions or butterflies, but it is nice. And sexy. Smiling I melt into his arms knowing he is not holding me tightly and is giving me the space to push back. When we finally come up for air the food is on the forest floor and I am pinned to a tree, him between my legs and keeping my sheet up in case another person comes and sees us. Laughing out of breath I finally push back, pointing to the food. Winking, I flounce back to the river to dress and nearly sprinting to make it to camp without rising suspicion.
Through the evening my eyes would be drawn back to him and he to me and the tension would rise steadily until night fell. I was completely calm when I stepped back into the familiar clearing to find him sitting back on the boulder. The air is chilly but the moon is bright so I ignore my goosebumps and untie my dress and leave it on the ground where it'll be forgotten.
)*(
As we ride into Haven, almost two and a half weeks after I started this mission, I cannot help but be disappointed. I had assumed a place where the Divine calls together all the countries leaders would be a bit...more perhaps? But it's warmer than the pass and has a place to put down our heads and grab some drinks before camping back out in the snow under the pretense of going forward. Villiam and a few others try to convince us to stay until the end of the talks but we make excuses of family waiting and brush it off.
Villiam and I didn't have to talk about it, we know what must be done. We will not actively seek each other out but if by any chance we meet again we might just try it out. Not to say our last foreseeable night together will be dry with forced friendliness. In the middle of the festivities we sneak up to the rented rooms. In the whirlwind of things I remember in the morning I can honestly say I'd be surprised if we didn't wake the entire town and from the sleepy, barely sated man smiling over at me, I can guess that we will be quite the effective wake up call.
When we are done and he kisses me for the last time, strapping his leather braces on, a companion of his comes in, pointedly not looking at my hastily covered nakedness with a sly smile. "Here captain. A missive from the guild. A raven just dropped it off."
"Thanks Tasha. Now get out of here, I'll be down in a moment." She snorts and mumbles something about how we must be so tired it would only last a moment when she winked at me and left. He opens the letter while tossing my bindings to me that somehow ended up behind a desk. His face twists a bit a roughly folds the letter. He sighs and looks over at me still struggling to get the blasted thing on. Fucking hate bindings. Much rather to go free but I'm supposed to be a proper lady. His long legs takes him to me and he slaps my hands away to redo my admittedly horrible job.
"How do you dress yourself lass?" I smile good natured like and ask about the note.
"Our contract with this group hasn't been renewed for the stay and the escort back so it's been canceled in favor of a higher paying job. We leave immediately. I just wished they could relax a bit longer."
He sighs through his nose then kisses the side of my neck over the love nip that will be hidden by my hair soon enough and leaves the room. For the next few months I hope desperately that he and his team made it until I get a notice from his guild. Then I laugh and cry all over again.
My party leaves not long after and from the glares Opal shoots me and the nasty concoction she forces down my throat I'm not hiding my bow legged walk half as well as I thought. I smile at the bitter woman and she glares a bit harder. When we reach beyond the city limits and into the wild of the surrounding forest my smile falls away to a pursed straight line and my strides becomes more fluid and soundless. Ignoring the painful stretch of my nether regions I begin leaping onto stones and fallen logs in an effort to keep foot prints to a minimum.
The others follow after me when the trees grow dense enough for us to climb and we move in the canopy. The trees are much more brittle than the ones of my home but we only had one mishap with Grog falling straight down only to land on another branch before he could smack into the hard earth. I smile down at him as he grumbles and rolls onto the balls of his feet, shooting a cool look at my silent laughter. We make camp close to the temple that night, the lights washing out the nearby foliage to gray as night fell. We don't start a fire and set our camp up in the thick branches of an ancient sequoia.
I look over my guard while clipping my dark leather armor on and wrapping myself in a grey cloak. I feel the lack of quiet clanks of my hair beads as I twist my hair into a tight bun as I shift on the balls off my feet nervously. I know they will be safe in my pack but it's already strange without them. Grog goes over the mission information once more as I stare at the imposing temple. Something feels wrong. Something is making my gut twist as night settled and the air around the building grows tense. The others don't feel it and I shake off my nerves, convinced it's only first mission jitters. I rub my belly as I sheath blades on my thighs. Sharp enough to not feel it go in, but oh how you feel it come out. Nodding to everyone, I shrug my pack off to give to Grog and pull up my hood. It's time.
Entering by the secret entrance our contact gave us, I soldier crawl through the tight space, hearing the loud arguing of people above me. I had to muffle my screams several times as spiders crawled onto the back of my neck. I need to get out of here. I can feel the walls closing in on me every time my elbows clash against the filthy stone walls.
I'm near hyperventilating when I see the grate under the cathedral where the Divine and the main negotiations of this war are being held. I have already heard interesting things that could very much effect the trade of our business, filing it away along with useful blackmail. But I need to get to a good vantage point to get what I need.
I sidle my way into the wider part of the tunnel, only stopping when I can clearly hear the words and negotiations. I sit up and get ready for a long night, taking out one of my knives to twirl agitatedly as they go on about the plans the Divine is venimenytly trying to dissuade. I can understand why. One plan basically enslaves the mages and another could cause another mass genocide of elves by the Templars. Idiots.
My uneasy feeling I've had since I first set my eyes on this creepy place is making me a bit ill and I swallow back the nausea. It gets so bad its making me gag and while I did not know why, my knives are constantly clenched in my hands. A cold sweat breaks out as this nights meetings winds to a close with little to no success. I can smell familiar tobacco being burned in a pipe and hear the shuffle of papers as the Divine sighs and slumps in her chair.
I silently crawl away to report this nights findings. I don't make it far when my tunnel is flooded with burning light and I scream in agony at the scorching brightness. With the heavy sense of dread I thought I had been found until I heard the entire temple echoing with it and the sound of running feet. Scrabbling to the nearest grate I start to kick at it, the ill feeling making me weak with fear. I don't know why I try to leave that way, why in my panic to get out I thought it was a good idea to leave the possible only safe spot in here, but I do and did.
With a desperate sob of relief I finally kick it out and jump up, shimmying my shoulders and hips out of the narrow opening. The temple is awash with carnage, magic flying everywhere. It looks like a betrayal until I notice the disgusting and unnatural redness of the adversaries everyone is trying to hold back. But they aren't strong enough. I scream as the nearest man to me is cut down. A bad move in hindsight, just like coming out of that accursed tunnel. The monster turns to me, sword raised high, and I move on reflex. My knife flies through the air like a flash of silver to bury into his throat. A moment later I turn away to finally vomit amidst this little war. Swallowing, I leap out of my prison.
My hearing is buzzing as I slide to the body on my knees and take his sword and my dagger. I twist it every which way looking for familiar craftsmanship and, not able to find any, I hold it tighter and join the fray. As my blade crosses others and magic singes my clothes I grit my teeth and tell myself to survive another day. People around me lay dead and dying, screaming and sobbing accusations while ignoring me as I wander, lost in the vast room in my own numbness. I can't remember what happens after the last one fell to my sword. Only the sound of the Divines shrill screams.
When my world exploded in bright green lights that look so much like the memories of light I sometimes see in the corner of my eyes, and screams of agony tore the air I knew I would die...and then I didn't. And I don't know why.
(*)
Damn I'm getting better at this.