Please see introduction for disclaimer regarding this work.

Chapter Sixteen

…And Unexpected Aid…

The feast had continued until late in the evening, and Yahla was tired and cranky by the time it was over. No one else had approached her, so she had been given time to think about her situation. It hadn't helped her mood.

Soon, she would have to depart Windia and turn towards Shyde, which was but a short distance away. From there she would need to take passage on a sandflier to cross the desert that stretched west and was mostly impassible. It would be an unpleasant crossing, full of burning days and freezing nights. On the other side of the desert, there would be a transport to the Empire, one Fou-Lu had apparently created while she had been in a coma. According to Dalindrar, that was the quickest way from the Alliance to the Empire.

At the present, fatigued and slightly disoriented, Yahla was attempting to find her way back to her room. Her attempts were without much success, and she wandered rather pointlessly around for a brief while. The Windian Castle was too large for its own good, made to accommodate scores of guests and the servants needed to support them. Yahla had lived in the much larger palace her husband had built, but she had been in possession her powers at the time and could use them to scry out the proper direction when she got lost. In the absence, she would have been willing to settle for a guide, map, and compass.

The dragoness leaned again the nearest wall, tired of wandering through seemingly endless corridors. She let her eyes drift closed, fighting the temptation to fall asleep on the spot. She was feeling rather strange, and felt the sooner she reached her own quarters, the better.

"Hey, there!" a cheerful voice called, startling her out of her trance.

Turning quickly to face the newcomer, she brandished her claws in his direction, in case he presented any danger. Even in an evening gown, she looked threatening, and more than capable of carrying out those threats.

"Hey!" the voice exclaimed in alarm, a scuffle of footsteps sounding as the intruder quickly backed up. As he did so, he fell into one of the circles of torchlight that dotted the hallway. The warm glow of the torches revealed him to be the young man who had flirted with her over dinner. "Wait! I'm just trying to help! You look kind of lost."

Yahla relaxed slightly, though she remained wary. As her body lost much of her rigidness, she snapped, "I be that, but I needst none of thine help."

"You mean you intend to wander the castle all night just because you can't remember where your room is and are too proud to ask for directions?" He grinned impishly at her, showing even white teeth. "Gee, I thought only men did that."

Too tired to think of any stinging remark to give the impudent mortal, the goddess simply glared and swayed on her weary feet. Mayhaps I imbibed a bit of an abundance to drink… she thought after a moment of nausea. Usually, her powers kept her from getting drunk or affected by many harmful things. Now, though… 'Twill be the first I hast e'er been vinolent… It was fortunate Yahla turned out to be one of those lucky people who get sleepy and hiccup when inebriated. After all, if she had been one of the types that grew violent and angry, she could have done some serious damage to her hosts.

She managed to suppress the first fit of hiccups, but it was clear from the startled look the windian gave her that he had heard.

"Are you all right?" the youth asked in worry, seeming to have forgotten pretenses of flirtation. He stepped cautiously up to her side, looking relieved when she made no move to exenterate him. The dragoness, mind fuddled, blinked sleepily up at the taller mortal. "Hey. You okay?"

He had to catch her as she swooned.

Darnik, a young and handsome specimen of a windian male, stared at the female he cradled in his arms. Her golden eyes were closed, her brow furrowed, and there was a blush of intoxication over her pale-green features. She was beautiful, but taken, and Darnik wasn't one to steal another man's wife. He was too aware of his own mortality to face death by a jealous husband.

He couldn't just leave her in the hallway, that was for certain, and if anyone saw him carrying her around it would either make or break his reputation. Either way, it would ruin hers, for he knew what everyone would assume they had been doing. After all, why else would a young man be carrying a tipsy female around the castle? "Oh, shit," he breathed with feeling.

The youth took several of the less traveled routes to her room, intending to drop her off there. It took him a while simply to get there, since the woman had ended up on the very opposite side of the castle. Finally, he reached her chamber, which was one of the nicer guestrooms. Naturally, it was fastened shut, and though he cursed and banged on the door and attempted to pick the lock, nothing worked. The door was too thick to break down, the locksmiths were probably all drunk (and if he asked them for help the whole city would know about this!) and there wasn't even a window to break into. Whatever sorry bastard locked that sorry door will pay… he vowed as he tried to get it open again. Angry at the failure, he lashed out and kicked it hard. It hurt, and he nearly dropped the thoroughly plastered female. "Ow…ow…pain…pain!" Darnik whimpered and glared darkly at the offending door, which seemed to be laughing at him. Thwarted, he turned sharply on his heel and limped away.

"Well," he muttered irritably to the unconscious figure in his arms, "Guess you'll be staying with me tonight. Oh, goody." In life, when angry, upset, or in pain, fall back on sarcasm.

Her head felt as though it was being repeatedly savaged with a hammer, and she was even more nauseated than was usual in the morning. Feeling positively ill, Yahla staggered upright from where she had been bedded down on the floor, briefly getting tangle in the blankets that she had been wrapped in. Staggering, the dragoness threw up in the nearest receptacle, regardless of what it was. The noise of her violent retching woke the room's other occupant, who stared as she slumped miserably back to the floor.

"You know, that's lovely," the other commented sardonically. "I've always wanted to be woken to the musical sound of someone barfing in my trashcan." That said, he rolled over and put his pillow over his head. For a moment there was the rustle of sheets, then the human stilled again.

Bleary and disoriented, Yahla asked, "Of what place doth this be?" To her distress, she found herself slurring her words, to the point where it was difficult to tell what she was saying.

"You're in my room," said the muffled voice from under the pillow.

When he volunteered no further information, Yahla prompted the sleepy windian with, "How didst I comest to be here?" The last her fuzzy mind could remember was drinking too much and not being able to find her room.

"Carried you," came the incomprehensible reply. "Go 'way…'m trying to sleep…"

Slowly recovering from her indulgences of last night, Yahla got back to her feet and went over to the youth's bed. Walking in a not-quite-straight line, she yanked the blankets and pillows off the sleepy one, inducing a cry of protest.

"Hey! Stop it!" The complaint ended in a yelp as Yahla, irritable and suffering from a hangover, yanked the boy upright by his hair. She dragged him up to eye level, forcibly making him meet her gaze.

"Thou wilt be telling me for what reason I be in thy rooms…" she growled, angry because she felt like crap, and couldn't remember what she had done the prior night or what this human had to do with it.

"Ow… It isn't my fault that you got drunk and collapsed!" he protested, wincing as she tightened her grip. Clawed fingers started to dig painfully into his scalp. "I tried to get you back to your room, but the door was locked. Would you rather I'd left you in the hallway?" He muttered under his breath, "I know I would…"

Yahla let him go, eyeing his rumpled state. Like she, he had apparently gone to sleep in his clothes last night. "Then thou hast mine thanks for thine aid, and mine apologies for thy rough awakening."

"Yeah, well, I can understand your reaction. I'd be alarmed, too, if I woke up in the room of a total stranger and couldn't remember the night before." He scratched the back of his head, and grinned broadly. "Actually, that happened once with me. Only I woke up in bed without even my skivvies. And it wasn't with a member of the opposite sex."

"Thank thee for sharing," she said dryly, slightly disturbed by the mental image. "I ought be going, for I wouldst change mine dress anon." The garment was wrinkled and looked terrible in such a state. She started to head towards the door, but turned to look back at her unexpected benefactor. "What is thy name, pray tell?"

"Darnik," the windian replied after a moment's pause. "Yours?"

"Yahla. Mine name is Yahla."