Zevran
I couldn't help but smile triumphantly. Alistair was angry with Kirielle, Kirielle felt belittled and betrayed by Alistair. How long could they keep this up is reality? The best part was that honestly I did nothing. I realized that regardless of me talking to Kirielle, this would have happened anyways because of Alistair. He could blame me all he wanted, but when it came down to it, this was all his doing.
I tossed on a shirt, "No need on getting everyone too excited" I muttered to myself. "I prefer to keep some secrets for later."
I took great pride in my tattoos. They symbolized who I was and where I came from. The wings on my back were for the Crows, not that I got a say in that one. All of the Crows had the same tattoo to mark us, it made body recovery easier, and not to mention everyone in Antiva new the mark and what weight it carried. When someone saw the tattoo you could feel their attitude change. They knew they were now dealing with someone superior to them and they often became scared, the fear they showed was intoxicating, to have so much power over a person was amazing and something I'd never grow tired of. The rest of the tattoos came from old elven designs I had seen, they were to honor my ancestors, and also to give my partners something to trace and play with in bed, their placement wasn't on accident. I smiled at the thought of Kirielle running her fingers, and maybe even lips, over my skin, finding the end of my tattoos. I closed my eyes and sighed.
I exited my tent and walked over to where Kirielle was playing with her Mabari hound.
"So, your warden companion paid a visit to my tent and got to see me without a shirt on. I dare say he's seen more of me than you have now. Care for me to even it out for you, or maybe give you the advantage?"
"Andruil help me if you take your pants off I will hurt you."
"Is that a promise? You know I rather like the sound of that." She was glaring at me "Oh lighten up. Can't you take a joke?"
"When it's full of unabashed advances and not a joke? No." She said without any trace of humor.
"Look, I may be only half joking when I say things, but at least with me you know what I'm after. Would I like to sleep with you? Yes. Am I going to declare my undying love for you over it? No. Am I going to act on anything I've said? No, because like I've already explained I do in fact have boundaries and I would never force myself upon someone who was unwilling. As angry as you get over stuff like this, I pose zero threat to you because even though I say things that may seem forward, I know you're still unwilling, and sometimes I just like to get a rise out of people." He finished with a shrug.
"So you're telling me that there's no sexual intention behind what you've said to me? That you just do this to get a rise out of me?"
"Sometimes I like getting a rise out of people. In your case however I'm being a bit more…sincere with my intentions."
"Why are you even bothering with telling me this?"
"Because I find you fascinating. You're strong, powerful, graceful, merciful, and one of the few people I've ever met who have shown no fear to meeting an Antivan Crow. Plus, I'm just really attracted to powerful women." I said with a shrug. "Can you blame me? I've gone through my whole life with the power to hold another person's life in my hands, to control and dominate them with their own fear of death, and then to meet you, and feel what it was like to have my life in the hands of another. It's really quite a rush and honestly I'd rather like to revisit feeling dominated by you."
"Keep talking like that and I will not spare your life next time."
"But are you not sick of feeling dominated? Wouldn't you like to dominate someone? I wouldn't put up to much of a fight you know, unless you're into that." She was scowling again, or maybe that was just her face for whenever we talked.
"I told you that Alistair paid me a visit, and it was about you." I continued "He's upset with you trying to take control of things and thinks I'm the one who told you to scratch and bite and whatnot. Aren't you tired of being pushed around by him and don't you want to know what it's like to be in control? And doesn't it upset you that he thinks that you're incapable to have those desires and that he thinks that I'm the one telling you to do these things? He seems to think that I'm corrupting you or something."
"That's not true! He doesn't push me around and he doesn't think I'm incapable of having desires, he's just not open to trying new things!"
"No, all shems are like that. They want a pretty little doll to tell them how special they are and much they're loved, then they want that doll to lay on her back and just take it so then they can leave feeling like they've done something good for you and gave you pleasure and that they're doing you a favor."
I was getting pretty upset by this point. I wanted to drive a wedge between them and truthfully Alistair was doing a fantastic job of that on his own, but either she really wanted to prove me wrong out of spite or she really did think that all of this was normal. And yeah, it was normal, for a shem. But guess what honey, you're not one of them.
"Look, Kirielle" her expression changed the moment I used her name.
"You've… never called me by my name before" she seemed frozen and confused by this.
"Yes I have."
"No, you always call me, warden, or mi dolce, or some other unwanted pet name. But I've never heard you say my name before"
"You… remember stuff like that?" For someone who acted like they could care less about me I found it odd that she remembered a detail like that, it was actually refreshing.
"Well, not on purpose, so don't get your hopes up."
"What a shame. Had I realized that I never used your name before I would have waited until it could have sounded more… passionate"
"You disgust me. Do you even realize that? That all of your flirting and advances and innuendos aren't desirable or attractive and even when I think you've actually come over out of concern it's actually just thinly veiled remarks about wanting to sleep with me. Honestly, I was beginning to think maybe you could be a decent person under all those remarks, but really, you're not. You're right, what you see is what you get with you; a man who is only out for his own desires."
I sat motionlessly, careful to keep my tone and expression flat and calm so she couldn't see that I was actually quite perturbed by her outburst.
"If you wanted to hurt my pride or anger me you'll have to try much harder, I've been called much worst. Perhaps you can ask Alistair, seeing that he is quickly becoming a master at the subject."
Kirielle snarled at me, even baring her teeth a bit. She leapt up and disappeared into the tree line of the surrounding forest. I still made sure to stare at her backside as she left.
Her words stung, even if they were true. In the Crows were we taught to take our pleasures where we could get them, and that happiness was fleeting and it was best just to get it and move on. Still, having her call me out on my intentions wasn't exactly the best feeling. I was frustrated in more than one sense of the word, and trust me, it wasn't because of a lack of trying. The alcohol in this land was vile and bitter, even the wines were bitter, there was nothing to drink. And even though towns had whorehouses, our party had a tall templar road block with a lecture on morals making it just too taxing and bothersome to have any fun.
I wasn't pleased with how our conversation ended, it would make getting her to warm up to me much more difficult, but at this point there wasn't really anything I could do about it.
I gathered myself up off the ground and noticed that Alistair had emerged from his tent to glare at me. I waved and smiled at the templar, only causing his glare to deepen. At least angering Alistair would never get old.
