Hi everyone, here's chapter 9. I hope you like it!

CHAPTER WARNINGS: MINOR VIOLENCE, MINOR SUGGESTIVE THEMES.

CROSSOVER REFERENCES: I do reference two other works of fiction, but this isn't a crossover fiction.

CHAPTER 9

NOT ANOTHER ONE …

Sparrow was reposing in a mountain meadow near Brightwall with Balvornen. They were sitting on a picnic mat, with a picnic basket, and a picnic feast, in the midst of wildflowers and songbirds. Balvornen wore a smart walking suit, and Sparrow a white walking dress which Balvornen had provided. 'Maybe I should twirl around with my arms out and sing about the mountains just to complete the picture,' Sparrow thought caustically as she pretended to enjoy herself. 'At least he brought good food,' she consoled herself, sampling another helping of fine cheese.

The reason that Sparrow was sitting placidly in a meadow while mentally desperate and impatient to escape was that, after managing to charm herself out of swallowing Balvornen's potion, Reaver's plan had begun to work, in a sense. Balvornen was pleased, but understandably suspicious, and allowed Sparrow autonomy under the compromise that she have no access to weapons, be heavily supervised constantly, and wear a will-subduing bracelet, that prevented her from using her power.

Sparrow was surprised that Balvornen's troops had behaved honourably in regard to Brightwall, and had not plundered the town or molested the villagers. However, this had been Balvornen's express order, which may, in turn, have been a ploy to gain Sparrow's approval. However, Balvornen himself was not entirely repulsive, being intelligent, witty, and well-travelled. Despite these qualities, his narcissism, selfishness, and sadistic nature rendered him undesirable to Sparrow in general. Nonetheless, it was not as difficult as she had expected to feign interest in his conversation, in spite of her necessarily meagre contributions. Indeed, if not for his ego, he may have been pleasant to spend time with.

There was another aspect to Sparrow's docility: Sparrow was content to bide her time in the meadow, because Reaver had arranged a surprise for Balvornen-theoretically, at least. On the day of the ill fated 'rescues', after Balvornen had fastened the enchanted bracelet around her wrist and locked her into her room, (the only place where she was not under supervision), Garth had finally emerged from his hiding place under the bed. He had snapped angrily, 'I'm sorry. If not for that idiot' (in reference to Reaver) 'I would have had you out by now. I will allow him to enact his rescue plan, as mine is somewhat redundant now.'

'Why?' Sparrow had inquired, shocked by the unexpected turn of events: she had assumed that Garth would continue with his plan.

'Because of the bracelet,' Garth replied. 'It's not the same as the collar you had at the Tattered Spire, but the release mechanism is the same in principle: I don't have the key, so I'd have to use will to remove it, and if I do, Balvornen will simply catch us both. If you try to leave the premises wearing it, he will likewise be alerted.'

Sparrow bit back a curse, and inquired curtly, 'I wonder if Reaver knows how to deactivate it?'

'I doubt it, but I'll see if he can do anything while I think of a better plan,' Garth had replied. 'In the meantime, I will remove myself to a place where I can blend in.' Without another word, the angry magician had picked the lock, left the room gently, and re-engaged the lock from the passage.

The days since had not been unenjoyable, yet Sparrow was impatient to escape, and Reaver seemed in no hurry to assist her, undoubtedly a reflection of his own interest in Balvornen's schemes. Fortunately, she was only forced to see his simpering face at dinnertime, where she learned various interesting morsels about the relationship between the two men, and their pasts: Reaver's past interested her particularly, yet he never went far back enough for her to learn about what happened in Oakvale when Reaver made his pact with the Shadow Court. 'I suppose Balvornen wasn't alive yet at the time, anyway,' she mused. To summarise: Balvornen was friendly with all manner of rogues and criminals. and managed to benefit from their enterprises by discreetly assisting their schemes, (providing that they left his own citizens alone). In this way, Balvornen strenghtened his own society through weakening neighbours. Obviously not shy of open water, Balvornen enjoyed sailing, and had voyaged as far as the unmapped islands clustered throughout the seas west of the continent. Here, he met Reaver, and a mutual exploitation disguised as friendship had evolved.

Sparrow's other meals, and teatimes in the morning and afternoon, were spent isolated with Balvornen, who insisted that she refer to him as Desmond, and organised various , ostensibly romantic, activities for them: wine tasting, parties, walks, banquets, balls, and now this picnic, where Sparrow hoped Reaver would finally do something. Undoubtedly, Reaver was taking advantage of the picnic because, unlike the other events, she and her captor would be isolated together. (Who, after all, attends a balll in a siezed town besides the conqueror's cronies?)

Reaver had informed Sparrow what he had in mind early that morning, a week after she awoke in captivity. Sparrow had woken at the click of Reaver's 'borrowed' key in the lock of her room, and sat up, squinting sleepily in the flicker of the guttering candles. Reaver entered, locking the door behind him, and sidled up to her, gazing at her in rapture. 'Oh, but you are lovely,' he murmered into her ear, as much to avoid making a noise as to attempt a seduction, 'You have no idea the thoughts I have when I see you in that nightgown,'

'Shut up, Reaver,' Sparrow hissed, cautious to keep her voice low.

Reaver sighed, and his voice became bored, 'Alright, you escape tomorrow. I've hired some assassins. I used a middleman, (who should have hit the bottom of the riverbed by now), so they think that the mutt's right hand, er - person, Hilarion, hired them. The men are going to ambush you tomorrow, when you go on the picnic your beloved's so thoughtfully arranged. They're going to meet certain death, of course, which they don't know, but when they attack, his lordship will be distracted for at least a minute. I cut a replica of the key to the bracelet personally, while you two lovebirds were dallying in the starlight, (being a thief has its benefits), but don't use it here, because it will trigger an alarm. Only use it when he's busy dodging cleavers. The assassins will all be on horses, so by the time your betrothed is done mauling them, you'll have a head start, your magic back, and hopefully the weapons off one of the corpses. And just for future reference, the horses cost me extra.'

'The weapons won't be silver?' Sparrow inquired.

'No, my dear, I don't want him dead, do I?' Reaver replied, stroking her hair. 'So soft …' he crooned, before his hand was swatted away sharply.

'Cant you think about anything but your own agenda for once?' Sparrow snapped.

'Goodness, but why?' he replied, 'My own agenda is my personal favourite.'

'And when he works out it was you?' Sparrow questioned.

'Why should he?' Reaver replied, 'they don't know who hired them. If he let's any of them survive, the only suspect will be Hilarion.'

'This had better work, Reaver,' Sparrow threatened.

'My dear, never fear, your Reaver will free you,' he whispered, pressing the handcut key into her hand. Before he left, (much to Sparrow's irritation,) he nibbled her ear gently. 'Is that all he ever thinks about?' she wondered as the lock clicked back into place.'

Thus, Sparrow sat in the meadow, eating her fill and waiting for events to unfold. The little key was tucked safely away in her corset, where it would not be detected, and she hoped avidly that Reaver's plan would not backfire.

Balvornen was informing Sparrow on the mythology of the fearsome kraken when the ambush occurred: 'And so, the unfortunate Captain Sparrow …' he trailed off to the sound of hoofbeats, and peered towards the rise nearby, over which twenty armed horsemen charged. 'Interesting,' Balvornen said, his mouth curling into a mocking smile. 'Excuse me, my dear, but I feel a sudden need for fresh meat.' Balvornen transformed, to the obvious dismay of the assassins, who attempted to rein their horses around. However, Balvornen was too fast, and charged at them fiercely, quickly felling one before turning on the others.

As soon as Balvornen had charged, Sparrow yanked the key from within the folds of her dress. However, she had no opportunity to use it before a large figure appeared over the rise. At any other time, Sparrow would have been overjoyed to see her, but now, all she could think was, 'I don't believe it! Why NOW?'

Hammer bolted towards Sparrow, at which point Balvornen immediately lost interest in the assassins, and pounced towards Hammer, who swung her warhammer at him. Theoretically, Hammer should have been able to kill Balvornen; she was armed with a giant, silver hammer; several premium assassins had a contract on the invader; and Balvornen had no back up. However, the assassins proved eager to escape alive, and abandoned their target, leaving Hammer locked in combat with the balverine, and Hammer found that Balvornen was not eager to come close enough to be hit, but was close enough to be a danger to her. In addition, he had howled as soon as he spied Hammer, and Sparrow suspected that this had been a signal for assistance to his fellow balverines. Hammer remained in battle, hoping for a chance to strike, and Sparrow realised, 'There are no horses now, and we can't outrun a group of balverines. I'm just going to have to sit tight, and hope we get a chance again. Undoing the bracelet's no good, since then it'll be obvious I'm trying to excape. I just hope that Desmond doesn't decide to force feed me a love potion any time soon' She mentally vented her exasperation, 'Oh Hammer, what in goodness name did you think this would achieve?'

As expected, a selection of eastern soldiers appeared, many of them Balverines, led by Hilarion. Thus, Hammer's chances of success evaporated.

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