"I don't know how people here wander around for a week or so and not bathe," Carolyn grumbled in annoyance after bumping her head on the wooden tub as she bent over to slip off her dark blue skirt. "I smell like a damn horse."
"Stop your whining. This will be your last bath for a while, I imagine," Entreri retorted grumpily back. Perfectly balanced on only the two back legs of the chair, he rested his head against the wall and glared at the low ceiling. They had a room to themselves adjoining Jaraxle and Arthrogate's on the top floor of the tavern, overlooking the quiet, darkened side street. After dinner, her incessant thoughts of showering annoyed him into going upstairs.
On the other side of the wooden stand up screen, he heard her struggle to remove her blouse. Since it could not be removed all the way with their hands shackled, she moved it down to her wrist to hang there. She flung the filthy skirt over the top, intending to drape it there. Instead it slipped off onto his propped leg which he kicked off in annoyance immediately. His arm stretched around the edge of the screen, cutting it off to the elbow, allowing her movement and some privacy. It was not comfortable and the man was eager for her to finish.
"Are you going to take one after me?" Carolyn asked curiously. Entreri heard her step into the water, making it ripple as she settled in.
"No, I do not need to. Now, hurry up," he snapped impatiently.
'Asshole. I'll go as fast as I want.' It seemed as if the name calling was to become a regular thing. Not many people dared to insult him so a part of him was entertained by gumption she showed in doing so.
'Not if I rip the screen down.'
There was a stunned silence.
'You wouldn't dare.'
'I am sure Jaraxle would appreciate the show.'
She snorted at that and let it be, splashing water up onto her bare arms and onto her back. They both knew that she had forced the drow to vacate both rooms and go downstairs before the bath was even filled. Content that the little spat was settled in his favor Entreri closed his eyes and sighed, listening to her move quietly in the water.
After a moment or so, the light outside his eyelids grew brighter and he opened them again. The lantern she had with her on the other side had been turned up, making the rooms shadows deeper. Little slivers of gold light fell through onto the creaky floorboards, revealing dusty footprints and floating particles in the warm late summer air.
The strange silence both within and outside of his cranium quickly grew unsettling after having been so loud for so long. Perhaps she had drowned without his notice. Surely he would have heard her die though. Half against his will, Entreri turned his head just enough to glance through one of the cracks to see the wooden tub and the steam from the water rising up. Fortunately all he could see was her legs, the knees crooked up and together, white against the dark oak of the tub.
Never in all of his life and in all the times he had seen a woman naked, had Entreri felt like a voyeur but at the moment he did. And yet he also could not look away. It wasn't that she was beautifully formed or that he found her striking. In fact, her pale form was oddly soft, too vulnerable for this country, and full formed with dainty features like articulate ankles and tiny toes. He could not imagine her unscarred fingers holding the hilt to a sword and he had never been attracted to helpless women.
What it was he could only speculate but he had a feeling it was the depth to which she knew him. True, before she knew only what Salvatore wrote but now that their minds were connected, they had been learning the dark corners of each other's soul, albeit unwillingly. It intrigued him that she was not afraid or disturbed by him as he had suspected someone would be if they truly got past the walls of his stony countenance. Despite how he resented her for being bound like this to him, he was also surprisingly coming to enjoy the strange intimacy they shared. More surprisingly, was the apparent lack in modesty it was inducing. The woman knew he was there but was not afraid or ashamed that he was looking at her as she bathed.
Carolyn moved, suddenly disturbed by the shared thought. Sitting up, she leaned against her knees, wrapping her free arm about her thighs. Due to the way her bound arm remained stretched behind her, the side swell of a generous breast, white as cream, came to view. His eyes traveled over it and up to the mess of short curled wet hair, the gentle slope of her shoulders and the line of her spine as she rested her forehead on her knees.
When his gaze began to wander back down again, Entreri caught himself and turned back to the uninteresting ceiling. Looking once was bad enough.
Within another ten minutes she had finished. Turning off the lamp, she shifted the screen over and stepped out, her cheeks reddened from the hot water. The innkeeper's wife had been kind enough to sell them a clean, unremarkable brown skirt to replace the dirty blue one. There wasn't much to be done for her blouse however without cutting it off. Entreri watched her as she stood silently beside where he sat, staring down at her bare feet and struggling to keep her mind blank.
Still not speaking or thinking clear thoughts, Carolyn shifted her gaze up to him, brown eyes studying him. She stared at his firm, defiant jaw with its dark, clean goatee and moustache, then his raven black hair tied back against the base of his skull. He could hear her reluctant appreciation of him ringing as she mesmerized the sharp angles of his frowning brows and the high cheekbones that hid depthless, calculating black eyes.
After a moment, Entreri cleared his throat irritably and brought her back to reality. Flushing slightly the woman looked away and waited for him to stand. As one they approached the single bed in the room, the moonlight from outside spilling on the woolen blankets. Sitting on the edge, Carolyn watched him as he undid his weapons belt and set it on the floor by the wall.
"We will be leaving at dawn," Entreri said shortly, ignoring her nod. If he had been a younger man, the way her gaze ran down the muscled length of his torso and belly, studying the whitened scars and sparse trail of hair that was exposed from his black shirt to his belt line, would have made him uncomfortable as he stretched his aging back. Without much bravado, the assassin nudged off his worn boots and sat next to her, dark black eyes fixed on her stare challengingly.
"If I wasn't sure of myself, I would think that your eyes were stuck to me," he commented bluntly yet succinctly. The tension of being watched faded away immediately when she turned away and brought her legs up on the bed, embarrassed. Scooting over to the other side and having him follow suite was the most effective method of climbing in with the cord.
"It's just that you're so ugly," she returned in a mumbling joke. Entreri felt a smirk climb up on him at that as they simultaneously lay back on the soft mattress, fixedly not looking nor touching the other. It was too hot to bother with the blankets so they both rested stiffly on top of them.
The sounds of the tavern crept up through the wooden floor, loud and rowdy despite the muffling barrier. Outside no noise drifted in through the open window but the scents from the bakery across the way and the blacksmith further up the lane did. Sugar and charcoal mixed in the warm, lucid wind as it drafted in, ruffling the hem of Carolyn's skirt and Entreri's hair. Out of the corner of his eyes, Entreri watched the steady fall and rise of her chest as she breathed, aware that she was just as awake as he was.
"Do you miss her?" the whisper startled him. He tensed, unwilling to speak to her of such things. He knew exactly of whom she was speaking and it was a woman he wanted to forget as much as she wanted to forget her past lover. Concern and a desire for commonality with him radiated from her, trying to persuade him to speak however. At least she was asking and not just plumbing the answer free from his brain.
It wasn't her intention but the probing annoyed and angered him quickly. Sitting up sharply, Entreri swung his legs off the bed and glared at the closed door to the hall. He couldn't get away from the source of his aggravation however. Behind him, he heard Carolyn inhale hesitantly and felt her sudden wariness of him. Her question prompted memories of the other woman quickly and he growled as they swamped him.
For a few moments, they sat in silence; Entreri fighting back the unwanted emotions that damn flute had produced and Carolyn mutely praying that he didn't kill her for her question. Finally, the assassin gave in to an extent, if only to help drain the stress of withholding it. He could not focus with this strain and, as they had discovered earlier in the day, it made him vulnerable physically.
"I do miss her at times," he admitted slowly, having to force the words out like a lump of twisted barbed wire.
"Why?"
Entreri inhaled deeply through his nose, knowing that if he didn't disclose willingly, she would find out anyway. It was almost a sure thing that one day Calihye would pass through his thoughts again when he was unawares. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and eyed the door again angrily. His movement had shifted Caroyln's hand to rest against his outer thigh but she didn't resist and he did not care. For a moment, he thought of her previous statement: 'Fuck, I hate this stupid connection but I'm glad I just explained it rather than have you draw your own conclusions from scattered memories. The whole thing is pathetic enough without trying to hide it in shame, I suppose.' It was fitting to an extent for him as well.
"When night falls and I find myself alone, I discover that I miss her despite what she did to me. That sadness is forever coupled with distrust therefore I can never bear to see her living again," he muttered softly in the hopes that he himself wouldn't hear it and allow himself to realize why it was that he longed for a warm form next to him in the dark. The woman lying beside him said nothing but he could feel the forcedly detached understanding and empathy from her.
No other questions rose to antagonize him from her and it was good thing. Anymore on this subject and he was going to snap from the strain of fighting this mental battle. It was hard to battle your own emotions and thoughts when there was an audience. Silently, Entreri shifted to lie back down, his body tense and bristled for anything.
Carolyn retained the silence and stillness for a few moments longer. Before she could regret it or think on it, she reached out a little and grasped his hard hand under hers, fingers lightly curling into his palm in comfort.
Stunned, the assassin mutely felt the cool skin against his, nervously shifting. After a moment, he grasped her hand back, silently thanking her for the touch. Relishing the strange feeling of relief for a second longer, Entreri released her fingers. She didn't let go fast enough and he shook her hand off in sudden vehemence. She rested her hand back on the mattress, humor radiating from her at his sour actions.
"Good night, Entreri."
"Good night."
"The cord grew?" Jaraxle stated incredulously, holding up the cord with one finger between their hands. A good three feet separated them now, having stretched as they slept. Standing outside the Silverymoon city limits, having ridden by the guards there and their inquiries quickly, the three of them sat astride the nightmares at the edge of the High Forest en route to Waterdeep. As it should have been, Carolyn sat behind Entreri now that the cord was long enough, lightly holding him about the waist with her free arm. Arthrogate decided to stay behind, since he wasn't a known criminal, and wait for Jethro in case he returned. That and the taverns in Silverymoon had new ale that was brewed from Mithril Hall in town. No one was displeased with the arrangement.
"We woke up and it was like that," Carolyn repeated as the drow pinched it in his fingers and pulled at it, testing the elasticity. Entreri yanked his arm back from him and kicked the nightmare to a trot down the rocky trail on the edge of the forest.
"And no, we don't know why or how it did it," he answered sharply, already knowing what the drow was bound to ask. Jaraxle's ruby gaze narrowed in glee at the new toy that was showing so many wonderful qualities.
"I cannot wait to test one of these. Think of the things we could learn. Say, if we attach ourselves to a lich-"
"Let's say we don't," Entreri cut off his excited ramble. "I imagine being stuck to the living dead, none of the less a dangerous wizard, would be an uncomfortable and detestable position."
"Still, it would be worth the attempt," Jaraxle added seriously, contemplating whom he'd test it with. Although it was pointless, he gave the assassin a hopeful, pleading look.
"No, I will not do it so do not even ask," he replied to the look, almost exasperatingly. The drow mercenary turned his look on the woman who blanched.
"Nope, won't do it. I do not think so. Nope," she denied him as well. Jaraxle heaved a dramatic, depressed sigh before brightening at an idea.
"Perhaps Arthrogate will volunteer upon our return."
"Surely, you do not expect to learn anything through the dwarf. He couldn't tell you the difference between his toes and his privates," Entreri shot down his enthusiasm. Carolyn snorted a laugh, her hands tightening around him.
"I'd like to see him eternally stuck to a dragon," she said dryly. When Entreri tossed her a strange look over his shoulder she elaborated. "I imagine a good few centuries with his damn idiotic rhymes would drive even a dragon crazy."
"Definitely," he affirmed, enjoying silently the mental image of the dwarf attached to their past associates. Jaraxle sighed theatrically from his steed, apparently feigning depression at their reluctance.
"Oh, the multitudinous knowledge that could be learned and employed if you would only open your minds," the drow lamented loudly. Carolyn snorted at that.
"If it's so damn sad to you, why don't you attach yourself to a lich?" she asked dryly. Jaraxle winced and gave a defeated, innocent grin.
"I am afraid that I love myself too much to risk it."
Entreri shook his head at his strange companion and sighed. One of these days he would escape the confines of the drow's insufferable company. When he would was another matter however. The woman behind him stifled a chuckle at his thoughts.
'Is it really so horrible, Entreri? He is amusing at times,'she asked curiously. 'Surely, I am more of a pain in the ass than he is.'
'Woman, until you have been hunted, chased down and assaulted by all manner of creatures due to that one's incessant yammering and the overactive organ in his trousers, you just cannot comprehend. I would rather deal with your inane babbling than his flirtations,'Entreri replied sardonically, keeping a keen eye out on the wooded path as he thought. Carolyn tensed at that for a moment, perplexed, before leaning more upon him. Her chest rested against his lower back as she laid her cheek on his shoulder blade.
'I think there was a compliment somewhere in there. I'm flattered,'she chuckled darkly. Entreri's mind stumbled a little over itself at the realization that he had unknowingly complimented her and he fought to cover it up. Her ample chest was also growing distracting as it was pushed up against his spine and shifting as they rode along.
'While you are being flattered, I am being flattened by your breasts. Please remove them.'
Carolyn gave an outraged cry and immediately leaned away from him. Jaraxle cast them a curious look as she flushed a bright red in embarrassment and smacked him lightly over the back of the shoulder.
"There? Better?"
"Hit me one more time and I will lodge that hand of yours into your skull," he threatened in response, more a taunt that anything solid. The drow could hear it as well; he even hid a grin at their exchange despite not knowing the spark that started the confrontation.
Silently now, they rode on towards Waterdeep as the sun followed above before passing overhead and falling to the horizon. The forest around them soon fell to silence, reflecting the deep stillness the night would soon bring to the travelers. Through the heavily leaved branches, the sky turned a silvery blue, streaked with pink stained clouds.
"Are you two more than certain that you want to end the connection once we find Jethro?" Jaraxle asked offhandedly as the silence grew dull. Apparently, he was rather enjoying the torment they were suffering at each other's minds. Entreri and Carolyn both cast him a withering look from their nightmare, each promising some sort of reprimands.
"Drow, if you keep asking that question, I am going to be inclined to believe you did this and do not want to see your little experiment end," the assassin paused to give a vile look. "In which case, I'll have to kill you."
"Yup, right there with you, Entreri," Carolyn chimed in.
Jaraxle laughed at them helplessly, putting his hands up in defense. His red eye gleamed in mirth from behind his crinkled grin.
"Ah, friends, please, there is no need for violence. I assure you, I did not do this to you. Honestly, I ask only because you both seem to enjoy this incident," he observed, purposefully planting a seed of more dispute. As one, the two spouted off indignities at his provoking statement.
"Drow! I swear I am going-"
"Screw you, you goddamn-"
"-with Charon's Claw and several daggers in your-"
"-in all my life have I ever felt so violated-"
Jaraxle blinked in surprise at their reactions before biting back a hearty laugh. Dear gods, they must really enjoy it if they protest so much. Patting his hands in the air to dissuade any more verbal abuse, he smiled soothingly, much to their combined annoyance.
"Please, now, now! No need to be volatile! T'was merely an observation," he stated defensively. Entreri harrumphed at him and glared fixedly on the darkening road, hands tightly clenching the reigns in blatant anger. He could feel her stewing in frustration behind him for the same reason. Both knew in the back of their connected minds that the cord was becoming something commonplace between them. And that in itself was a bad thing, he knew. Such a weakness was a link in Entreri's defense that could be exploited. Wordlessly, Carolyn agreed with him. One way or another, this had to end.
