Hey readers! :) Thanks everyone for reading/favoriting/following/reviewing. Lots of love to all of you for the support!
This chapter is the first relaxed one we've gotten so far. Collective sigh of relief, coming right up. :P
Responses:
Ophianara Blade: Thank you! And yeah she's certainly receiving the butt of her luck lately. That's all going to change, though! :)
CherryMountain: Lucy is the best :) She's gonna be so awesome in this story, in my opinion at least!
OnyxRing: Hahha I'm so glad you like it! It's different than my other ones, but I guess that's a good thing :D Also. Troolllssss. I love da trolls, mon.
Khaylie: Thank you! Happy you're enjoying the story as much as I am! And... I like trolls too. ;)
Warm, golden beams of sunlight filtered in through a window across a wide, open room, and Aria's eyes cracked open as she felt the comforting warmth sooth over her skin. She inhaled a deep, slow breath of fresh air, relishing the lack of pain accompanying the action. Whereas her ribs would normally be tender, there was nothing more than a dull, almost nonexistent ache, and it was a tremendous improvement.
She glanced around, taking in her surroundings. It appeared she was in some sort of infirmary, if it could be called that. It was more of a hut than anything else, much like the one she'd been in before with Lucy, but it was well-made and had no flaws in its design. She counted five beds including her own, all lined up against one thatch wall, three of which had occupants snoozing away under the covers. The atmosphere was quiet, peacefully so, and through the window drifted a warm breeze that seemed to envelop her in a blanket of security. For the first time in a long time, Aria felt her shoulders relax. She had no idea where she was, but the fact that she was no longer chained was in itself a priceless gift.
With her relaxation, however, followed the return of her most recent memories, and she felt herself tense right back up again. She absentmindedly brought one palm up, placing it to her chest just under her throat, recalling the burn of the smoke that'd suffocated her to the point of losing consciousness. She could practically feel the dry, choking smoke invading her airways still and felt thirst grip at her in response. She sat up, searching about to see if she'd be lucky enough to have a glass of water about, but didn't see one anywhere. Her mind drifted back to the fire. She wondered about the troll she had dragged up the stairs. She didn't see him here, but she knew he'd been injured. Had he survived?
She looked around again, eyes falling on a sleeping form of whoever was in the bed beside her, which was only about ten or so feet from her own. It was a man she didn't know but looked familiar, like she'd seen him before. Perhaps he'd been one of those caught by slavers.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, for the first time taking note of her clothes. She was wearing what felt like light-weight cotton, the shirt a crisp white and the pants dark grey, comfortable and soft. She wasn't even sure of the last time she'd worn clothes like this. Not that she was complaining. The clothes were clean, and she could tell someone had taken the time to at least wash her up enough to where she didn't have dirt and dust caked in every nook and cranny, but she still felt a strong urge to bathe. Perhaps she'd be fortunate enough to find a tub or something in this…wherever she was.
The floor was nothing more than smoothed, flattened dirt, covered in most areas by woven rugs, though in some areas the dirt won through. From the breeze coming through the window, Aria could pick up the aroma of cooking food, and she felt her stomach twist in hunger. She hadn't actually eaten solid food in who knows how long. She tiptoed to the end of the hut, pausing in the doorway and peeking out, and the sight that met her nearly shocked her out of her skin.
Straight ahead out of the doorway, only about fifty paces away, was a large glittering pool of an almost unreal cyanic blue. In every direction were thick tropical trees and vines and dense undergrowth like ferns and vibrant, gigantic jungle flowers standing out like gems in the greenery. A thin dirt path led out from the infirmary, winding around to the right, and Aria stepped out into the dense jungle, taking a deep breath. Lingering in the air was a mixture of verdant forest, fresh water, and a telltale scent of cooked meat. So far, she hadn't seen a single person other than the few in the beds in the infirmary, and to be honest she was sort of relieved. The less excitement and mental stimulation the better. She was still recovering.
However, as she rounded a bend in the path and broke into a central clearing through the dense jungle ferns, the world around her exploded with activity. People of various races, both Horde and Alliance, at least two dozen, were walking all about, all seeming to have some job to do or an objective. One thing she noted was that they all seemed to be the same, in a weird way. Despite their different races and obvious various backgrounds, they all appeared connected. The way they interacted with one another, the ways they spoke and carried themselves... Everyone walked with a confident, calm air, not one of them in any sort of hurry. The entire atmosphere here seemed…welcoming. Pleasant, even. It was relaxing, to say the least, not to mention weird as all hell to see something like a gnome and an orc sitting at one end of the central clearing seemingly having an intelligent conversation, both of their faces knit in concentration and intrigue.
Aria knew neutral locations that existed, but she'd never seen anything like this. There's a difference between tolerating the opposite faction, as is done in places such as Booty Bay or the like, and fusing with it. She wondered how she'd gotten here. Last she could remember, she'd passed out in that fortress inferno. She had a strange pattern of passing out and waking up in odd places, and at this point, she didn't even begin to ask where she was.
As she walked through the clearing, for some reason nearly everyone there took at least a few seconds to look at her, and it was weird having so many eyes on her. They all didn't seem to be in any way uninviting, just observing, so she kept exploring the area, doing her best at ignoring all the observers.
Her eyes fell upon a campfire in the exact center of the clearing, which was being tended to by a human man dressed in clothes similar to her own. He was somewhat small-built and lean-muscled, with medium-length jet black hair and equally-dark, angular monolid eyes, high cheekbones and a smooth, olive complexion. As she approached, he glanced up at her and immediately sent her a wide smile, standing up straight from where he'd been hunched over the fire.
"Look who's awake!" he exclaimed, "the revered hero herself!"
Aria managed a subtle smile at one corner of her mouth, feeling a little awkward. Seemed people here knew who she was, but she knew none of them.
"Aria, right?" He waltzed right up to her and, though he didn't touch her, he did coax her over to the fire. "Come!" he said excitedly. "You must be quite hungry."
She hugged her arms around herself and walked over to the fire, sitting down in a bench beside it. He quickly retrieved a tin plate and filled it with cooked, flaky meat, then took a large dipper into a pot above the fire and poured a few scoops of steaming liquid into a cup, handing them both to her. She set the plate in her lap and caught a subtle whiff of whatever was in the cup. It smelled fresh and herbal.
"Deviate fillets and green tea," he said simply. "Eat up!"
With no regards to any manners, Aria immediately devoured the meat, downing her food within just a few minutes as she let the tea cool enough to drink. Once she'd finished her fish, she gulped down the tea in one swift movement, then set the cup down on the plate, feeling much better, though still quite thirsty. She glanced back up to see the man sitting there next to the fire, staring at her with an entertained expression. He had his elbows braced on his knees in a very relaxed stature.
"More?" he offered, and she shook her head. She'd eaten so fast that her food hadn't had time to settle. Once it did, she wouldn't be remotely as hungry as she was now, and then maybe she'd eat later.
"Thank you," she finally said gratefully, and he noted her drink was empty, so he filled it again.
He sent her a genial smile. "I can tell a hungry girl when I see one. Must've drained everything out of you the other night, with everything that happened. We're quite sorry you had to get caught up in all of that."
"You were there?" she asked him. Did that mean she was back with the troll's people?
"I was. My name's Nathan Liu, part-time cook, part-time outlaw," he tipped his head, "at your service."
"Outlaw?" she lifted her brows skeptically.
Nathan hesitated. "Do you not know where you are? What this is?"
"Some sort of rain forest," Aria replied, "but other than that, I haven't a clue."
"You're in an oasis, actually," he replied, holding his arms out to the sides and glancing up into the lush trees. "Barrens area, approximately twenty miles west of Ratchet port."
She blinked. "Oh." A pause as she glanced around, drinking her tea. "What is this place?"
"Operative headquarters!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Seriously, has no one told you anything?"
She just stared at him blankly. "Headquarters for what?"
He clarified. "For our guild."
"Guild?"
"Do you know anything about us at all?"
She shook her head, and he then nodded. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "That explains a lot." A second passed, and he reached out and took her glass, refilling it again with the green tea, then smirked at her as she took it thankfully.
He cleared his throat. "We're pirates."
She nearly choked on her drink. "Pirates?" she asked humorously. "You're joking, right?"
He shook his head, looking smug. "Nope. Given, we generally aren't out 'scouring the seas for booty,'" he said that last part with a strong pirate-like slang, "or anything ridiculous, but yeah, you could call us pirates. Our guild has so many different names, though, that I don't know which to call it by. We're more of an intermediary group than a single band. We all belong to different organizations, but altogether, we're pretty much a bunch of pirates. Though... Zu'Kalox prefers 'corsairs'."
There was that name again. Zu'Kalox. Aria exhaled a short breath.
"Zu'Kalox? So he's your...your captain?"
Nathan sent her a sly smirk. "He's not just our captain. He leads the entire operation."
"Which organizations make it up?" she questioned. He didn't seem to mind all of her questions, which was good, because she had many.
"Everything from pirates to thieves to assassins. We've got bigger guilds, like Mystic and Shrouded Serpent Syndicate and Bloodmoon Raiders, and then the smaller ones like Oculus and Crow. Occasionally, we even involve ourselves with names like the Blackwater Raiders, but they're questionable at their best."
She had absolutely no idea what any of that was. None of those names were familiar.
"What sort of 'operations' do you do?" she asked hesitantly.
He shrugged. "Believe it or not, we're actually not exactly...criminals, per se. I mean, we are, but... We're the good type. At least, we like to think we are."
She noted how he'd indirectly dodged her question, but she just rolled with it and chewed her lip in contemplation. Good criminals? Was there such a thing? What did that mean?
Nathan spoke up again.
"We're lucky you were there that night, though. With the slavers, I mean. Everything was going according to plan, if not for that fluke fire. Brave move you pulled, dragging Zu'Kalox out of there. We all owe you a great debt. We'd be lost without our captain."
So the troll lived, then. Aria felt slightly guilty knowing she'd almost left him there. She still wasn't sure she'd do it again if given the chance. She took a sip of her tea quietly. "Why are you answering all of my questions?" she asked him. "When Lucy talked to me, she wouldn't give me any information."
Nathan cocked his head. "Take it as a leap of faith. You saved our leader. It's the least I can do." He watched her a moment. "Where are you from, if I may ask?"
"I don't have any direct roots," she said, feeling at ease enough with this guy to at least reveal something. He seemed friendly enough and didn't appear to have any ulterior motives to his questions, just curiosity, which she understood. "Been moving around my whole life. Military, mostly. Where my unit goes, I go."
"And how in the world did you get involved with slavers, then?" he cocked his head at her, his near-black eyes regarding her with interest.
She furrowed her brows. "I'm not entirely sure myself, to be honest. My team and I were sent to clear out a Horde arsenal, and that all went fine. But on our way back, we were ambushed, and..." she trailed off, mind flashing of images of Tommy's death.
Nathan seemed to tune into her hesitation and changed the point. "Where was the ambush?"
"Arathi," she replied, willing her mind to alter its course.
"All the way in the Highlands?" he lifted his dark brows, and then nodded as if remembering something. "Ah, yes. Southshore is still crawling with pockets of those slavers. It's not so far-fetched that they'd spread into Arathi. They have ports set up in the cliffs and direct connections to the Burning Blade clan."
"Burning Blade?" Aria lifted her brows. "As in the orcs?"
"The very ones."
"I didn't know they dealt in slave trades," Aria blinked, shocked. As far as she knew of the Burning Blade orcs, their sole purpose was to wreak havoc on Azeroth itself through means of destruction and flame. They were mostly on Horde turf; Alliance generally steered clear. Then again, it'd make sense for them to deal in enslaving the races of this world. Just the icing on the cake.
Nathan chewed his lip. "As far as we know, they're the leaders of the trade."
"Are there many of them left, though?" she asked. "I thought they were wiped out."
"It depends on how you look at it. Compared to their full might? Not even close. But there are still pockets of them set up all over, especially here in Durotar and the Barrens area. We've been trying to get this area's leader, Kurosh Baneshadow, crossed off the list. You may have seen him during your time in their stocks. Big scarred face... Can't miss it."
Aria shifted in her seat. "About that," she began, "how long has it been since then?"
"Since when? Since you were in the enemy keep, or since you all returned?" Nathan paused, then cut in. "And...sorry about that, by the way: you getting caught up in our plan. It was a mix-up of schedules. We were supposed to have moved you here to the main camp before the slavers raided our other camp, but they caught us by surprise. Came a little earlier than we'd expected. I guess we're lucky you were there though, with the stunt you pulled."
Other camp? she thought to herself. Half the stuff this man was saying made no sense to her. Did this mean that when she was being tended to by Lucy, she was at a different place than she was now? A...spoof camp? So the slavers couldn't find them here, then?
"It's fine. I suppose I should be thanking you for saving me in the first place," she said, and then shrugged. "And how about since we returned."
"A day since they brought you back. It was about six in the morning when the party returned with you and Zu'Kalox both out cold. Our healers kept you under so they could tend to you fully. You were worse-off than him, so I hear."
She reached up and ran her fingers through her short blue locks, letting out a sigh. She was missing so much time between sessions of being awake and unconscious for various reasons. It was so disorienting and stressful.
She opened her mouth to ask another question, but a flash of movement to the side made her pause, and she glanced up just in time to see another human, a kid who looked like he couldn't be older than sixteen, come barreling in from the side and tackle Nathan in a gratuitous hug, laughing loudly. Nathan hugged him back, standing up and hooking his arm over the kid's shoulder, tucking one elbow around his neck, and giving him a giant noogie.
The boy tugged out of the noogie and sent an unceremonious punch against Nathan's arm. "Hey, shit-for-brains," the kid snickered. "Missed you."
"Nash," Nathan laughed, giving him a good-natured shove back. "You got taller."
"You were only gone a week," the kid replied with a snort.
"And you only grew an entire inch," Nathan retorted.
Cole straightened up and put his hands at his hips, stretching tall. "Only an inch?"
"Yep," Nathan nodded, grinning, "Or...maybe half that."
Smirking at Cole's look of indignation, Nathan turned back to Aria, introducing the boy. "This is Cole Nash, the runt of the bunch."
Cole rolled his eyes. "Hate when you call me that. I'm taller than you."
Nathan reached out and pulled Cole into an overly-affectionate, goofy hug, causing Cole to stoop as he pulled him into a headlock. "Oh you poor thing," he exclaimed in a falsetto voice, "Is big, mean Nathan picking on you?"
Cole grimaced and weaseled out of the hold, sticking his tongue out and folding his arms, though he still seemed in a good mood. "Shove it, Liu." he then looked back at Aria. "You the one who saved Kal?"
Aria didn't say anything, and Nathan spoke. "She is."
The boy grinned and suddenly threw his arms around her. He was a kid, but he was pretty lanky, already as tall as her despite her being an elf. She tensed her shoulders, keeping her arms snug against her sides while he tightened his arms in a bear hug for a good three seconds before letting her go, not skipping a beat.
"Then welcome!" he grinned at her. "We owe you big time. You have no idea."
Aria lifted one brow. "You're part of the guild? You seem a bit young for a pirate."
"I've been a part of this guild for nine years," he sniffed. "And I'm eighteen, thank you very much."
"Not eighteen yet, not for two weeks, kid," Nathan added in, chuckling and nudging Cole on the arm. "You're still our baby."
Cole threw his hands in the air. "I can't wait until you numbskulls recruit a new 'baby'. This is so old."
Aria lifted her brows. "How did you manage to join a pirate's guild at that age?"
"Kal," he replied simply.
Aria gave him a blank look.
He sniffed. "He's my dad."
Again, Aria nearly spat her drink in surprise. "The troll is your father?" How was that possible? The kid looked entirely, one hundred percent human. She blinked. "Well that apple fell far. You look absolutely nothing like him."
Cole laughed loudly and shook his head. "My real parents are dead. I'm adopted." He said this like it was nothing.
She quieted again. "How did that happen?"
The kid stretched his lanky arms out to the sides nonchalantly. "Well you see, one night while poor Kal was just wasting away all lonesome and what have you, along came little old orphan me, swooping straight out of the sky on the back of flying tortoise. Nash to save the day!"
Her expression dulled. "A flying tortoise."
The teen grinned impishly at her. "It was on fire, too."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, dodge the question."
"Dodging is my specialty," Cole smirked, turning his attention to the fried fish near the fire and helping himself to a plate.
Choosing to ignore the boy now, Aria stood, downing the remainder of her tea first before setting her dishes with what appeared to be other dirty ones near the fire. She turned to Nathan. "How do you people go about bathing here?"
Cole glanced up at her. "Soap and water. What planet are you from?"
She ignored him still, and Nathan pointed off toward the giant crystal pool. "The oasis pools here are ideal. Take the westernmost one, the smallest one closest to the edge. You'll get the most privacy there, if that's what you want. We keep our soaps in basins at the edges. They work for clothing as well, but yours is clean so no need."
Aria thanked him and set off through the woods. She found the pool he'd suggested and stripped down, then quickly set to work scrubbing every inch of her skin, cleaning under her nails and massaging the spicy-scented soap through her short hair. It'd been nearly a week, possibly more, since she'd been able to properly bathe, and as the time passed, her mood began to elevate at a constant pace to the point that when she was done, she was practically smiling at absolutely nothing as she dried off and pulled her soft clothing back on.
She walked along the thin pathway that wound around the other pools and was distracted by the beauty of the forest, so she didn't see someone in front of her until she nearly ran into him. She stopped abruptly as she got a face-full of tall, navy-haired troll.
She let out a short breath and regained her nerves, staring at him hesitantly and taking a step back. He looked like he'd just come from bathing as well; his shaggy hair was slick, dripping down the sides of his face and swooping in all sorts of directions as trolls' hair tended to do. And, to top everything off, he was wearing nothing but a skimpy towel around his narrow hips.
For the first time, she took a moment to inspect him. He was a big guy in general, seeing as most trolls were, with bronzed, tribal-tattooed skin and intense red eyes. His hair was dark blue like hers, but the tips tapered into a bright teal, which she thought was possibly just a result of sun-bleaching. His demeanor was quite youthful, though she could tell he'd packed at least three or four decades behind him. However, his smooth, chiseled face showed little signs of aging. He had a wolfish chin and a straight nose, high, sharp cheekbones and full lips. In a strange way, without the tusks he could probably actually pass for a man of her own race, though maybe just a little more wild-looking, what with the tattoos on his chest and the piercings in his ears. In all honesty, she thought as she stared at him, he really wasn't so bad...
Aria tried her best to look at him without looking at him. She felt like she should be disgusted with herself for letting her mind get the best of her, but couldn't help it. She was in a great mood still, but felt caught off-guard and otherwise bewildered at the troll's absolute relaxed and non-clothed state.
He peered down at her and then sent her a slight, tusked smirk. His voice was somewhat quiet, but as always, he seemed to have a humorous glint to his tone. "Feelin' better?"
"What?" she asked immediately, and then blinked. "I mean, yes. Thank you. Much better." It felt strange speaking to a troll in any way other than maliciously. She was in too good a mood to spoil it. She made to get past him in the narrow path, but he shifted his stance and blocked her way, though she couldn't tell if it was intentional or not.
He nodded his head back toward the central camp. "We have food prepared, if ya feelin' hungry."
"Yes," she said, clearing her throat, "I ate already."
"Ya've met Nathan, then?" Zu'Kalox lifted one brow. His troll accent had gotten quite a bit stronger somehow since the other night, and when he said Nathan's name, he left out the 'h', which made him sound even more tribal.
"Nathan and Cole," she nodded, noting how when she said Cole's name, the troll's eyes softened and he gained a sideways smirk. Yeah, he was definitely the kid's father figure.
However, when he spoke, it wasn't about his son.
"Elfie, about what ya did back in the Burning Blade den... Pullin' me outta there and all." He gave her a sincere look, eyes twinkling. "I understand ya have your suspicions about me and my kind, and I am sure they are justified for some reason or another, so I know what ya did was no small task on your part. Fact is, though, I owe ya my life. If there is anything I can do in return, please allow me to help."
"Well," she hummed, "for starters, you could give me a place to stay for the time being." She almost surprised herself with the words, but knew she'd been thinking them for a while. Eventually, she would need to go back, back to Stormwind, to her station point. She was currently considered missing in action or possibly had already been counted dead; everyone else she was with during the attack had been killed, as far as she knew. She would have to go back. Soon. But before that, she needed to know that saving this man had not been a mistake on her part.
He lifted his sharp brows. If she wasn't mistaken, he seemed pleased. "Ya want tah stay? For how long?"
"As long as it takes for me to get a good idea of what's going on here," she said, ducking her chin slightly and giving him a studying look. "I want to know I made the right choice saving you."
He watched her for a moment, his eyes like deep sanguine pools. For a moment, his Zandali accent waned into almost nothing, his tone sincere and surprisingly rich. "You are welcome here for as long as you like."
Out of sudden curiosity, Aria forgot her bias and cocked her head at him. "How come your accent does that?"
A corner of his mouth twitched upward. "Does what?" It was clear he was thrown off by her random question.
"For a moment you don't have a troll accent, and then you do, and the next moment it just fades again. What's up with that?"
His eyes twinkled, and a grin spread across his face in amusement. When next he spoke, his accent became so strong that it nearly made his speech unintelligible. "What ya mean? Ya mean dis isn't how I speak all da time? Spirits, Elfie, dat be all kinds ah crazy ya be talkin'... Thinkin' I have no troll accent. . . Ha!" He nearly barked the last word as a laugh.
Half out of surprise, Aria's brows lifted while he spoke, and by the end of his little explosive charade, she couldn't help but begin laughing at how good he was at the accent. Then again, he was a troll; it was just hilarious, because until now, his accent had been so subdued that it was shocking to hear it at full force. Still laughing, she shook her head.
"What are you?" she asked humorously.
He quirked one corner of his mouth upward again in a sly smirk, sending her a playful wink. "I am a troll, ya silleh elf," he said, his voice practically dripping with Zandali overtones. "What kinda question is dat?" Even his voice had become deeper and more resonant. His playfulness threw her off entirely, his goofy demeanor catching her so off-guard that she couldn't help but laugh a little longer. Laughter was the last thing she expected to result from interaction with one of these creatures.
She just sent him a humored look, subduing her laughter, and he finally cracked a wide, tusked grin, returning to normal speech.
"I'm just kiddin'," he laughed, turning around toward the camp and beginning to walk. It appeared he expected her to join him, so she just fell into step. It was still weird being this friendly with a troll, but she buried her tense thoughts and just let herself enjoy the simplicity of the conversation.
He continued, his accent nearly gone entirely now, the same as how she remembered it from the first day she met him, "I've lost my accent over the years solely for easier communication with non-native speakers. Common is a versatile speech, but it's easiest to understand in its purest, non-accented form. And after working with so many different people with such different backgrounds, it's easier to just keep it simple." He walked a moment in paused silence. "The accent peeks through when I'm home with my guild, though."
"The safer you feel, the more at-home you can act," she nodded. "I really get it."
The troll let out a contented sigh as they neared the central clearing. "Now, lemme find Lucille, and I'll have her fix you right up with a place to stay, alright?"
"Lucy? She made it?" Aria felt more relief hearing this than anything else all day.
Zu'Kalox sent her an amused, intrigued look. "You've taken a liking to her," he stated, almost as a question.
"Of course!" Aria nodded. The woman had certainly proven her mettle, and she'd helped Aria on multiple occasions. So far, Aria hadn't found a single thing to hold against her. She seemed good inside and out.
The troll smirked, glancing off toward the clearing. "Everyone seems to love that woman. I need to uncover her secret."
With that, he took off through the clearing, so Aria walked back over to the campfire, which had now been left alone. She didn't see Nathan or Cole or anyone else sitting around the fire. She sat down on a bench, holding her arms close.
She'd be staying here in the oasis for a little while, though she didn't plan for more than just a few days at best. She just wanted to make sure she hadn't made a mistake, as she said before. Get to know this guild, its leader, and its people. Despite being assumed dead, she was technically the law, and the guild had blatantly proclaimed themselves outlaws. A little investigation could go a long way, she decided.
Her thoughts wandered back to that fateful night with the fire. What had happened afterward? Obviously she'd been discovered or at least someone had seen her drag Zu'Kalox up those stairs before she collapsed. But what had become of the slavers? Nathan had spoken of that one orc leader, Kurosh, as if he was still alive. How had he survived if he'd been down in the explosion? And how had Lucy survived?
It seemed that with every answer she'd gotten today, ten new ones surfaced.
She let out a sigh, staring at the fire. Her thoughts traveled to a different idea: Her conversation with the troll had been pleasant.
...Of all words she'd expected herself to use in such context, 'pleasant' wasn't even on the list.
This is a troll, Aria, she had to remind herself scoldingly as her mind had begun to wander, thinking back to the image of him standing there in front of her in nothing but a towel, with beads of fresh water still clinging to the smooth panes of his tattooed chest and shoulders. He was, she had to admit, beautiful in a weird way.
Not beautiful. A troll. A killer. An enemy. The words swirled in her head.
To her own surprise, though, a new question popped itself in her mind before she could douse it.
Is he really my enemy?