Disclaimer: Drow not mine same as always…

C

Out of the city

C

"You don't have to be condescending you know. At least I have never needed to steal anything before." An arrogant look flits across his face "My Master has always taken very good care of me."

"Ooh great. I'd rather be free and a thief than depend on somebody who sees me as his property and won't let me have any fun at all."

"…"

Wonderful I said the wrong thing and now he's sulking again, behaving like a three year old when he should be busy helping me.

"I never said that I didn't have fun."

"Aw, stop being so childish. We don't have time for this."

"I'm only thirty, which means I'm basically still seen as little more than a child, at least by my people." After an appraising glance he adds: "And you don't seem to be such a lot older than me, so maybe you should stop behaving like you know everything."

"I'm still nearly twice your age." I grumble softly. Plus I do know a lot more, but I decide not to elaborate on this point to prevent further useless discussion. We're not getting anywhere and I'm beginning to think that it would probably be better if I went and got the horses without Andy accompanying me. Judging by the way he behaved earlier in the cell I would have taken him to be at least forty, but it's hard to tell with elves once we've stopped growing, so actually I wasn't that far off.

"So about the…" But he interrupts me. "I think I should tell you this before we start. Um, well I've lived indoors most of the time because I wasn't allowed to leave the rooms without my Master and he didn't take me out very often. He was very suspicious and convinced his enemies would try to get me to spill all his precious secrets, so he kept me locked away."

I wonder where he's going with this. But the thought of being forced to stay inside a limited set of rooms for more than two weeks at a time sends shivers down my back.

"Because of his ah… overly protective attitude I never got to see much of the city you see, which also means that I never got to ride a horse. So before we go through all the trouble and steal one tell me, is it difficult? Riding I mean."

I know I should concentrate on the more important matter of him not being able to ride, but curiosity gets the better of me and I ask: "What in the nine bloody hells did you do all the time you had to stay indoors? It must have been mind numbingly boring to be alone without anybody to talk to!"

My passionate outburst is rewarded with the raising of one elegant white eyebrow.

"Talking isn't exactly what was expected of me you know."

That shut me up nicely. I'm beginning to think that Andy actually enjoys making me feel uncomfortable, because when he sees that this time I'm the one who is blushing he goes on.

"As I said before you would probably call me his…yes I think fuck toy or plaything is very fitting." And with a casual glance at his nails he adds: "I was told I give the best blowjobs in the whole city."

What am I supposed to say now? Great, go on then and give me one too? I get the feeling that my life is very fast becoming very complicated and I'm not sure how to react. Poor me!

"Really?" I enquire weakly. No time, no time, you have nooo time, a terribly persistent voice chants somewhere at the back of my head.

"Yes."

I'm quite certain he's not supposed to be so close to me. I can't concentrate, but I have to say something, anything. Either that or I'll soon lose all my dignity. Not that I had terribly much to begin with, but I have to try anyway.

"Riding!" I choke out desperately before I notice my unlucky choice of words. To my great relief this seems to remind him of the real issue at hand and he steps back without making any perky remarks.

"Don't worry about it, you'll manage." I continue hurriedly determined to say something before he can change his mind. "I'll get a calm horse and we can ride together." Better that than walking, which would be even slower. Andy frowns.

"You will get a horse? So that means I'm supposed to wait here? Alone?"

I nod and expect him to protest, but to my great surprise he suddenly seems to change his mind just shrugs.

"Fine, how long will it take?"

Not prepared for such an easy surrender I need a few seconds to reflect. At this time of the day the city is still busy, which will make the whole undertaking a lot riskier. Of course there's always the risk to run into those dwarfs again, but I can't help it. And I mustn't forget about a suitable disguise for Andy's rather exotic looks. Now that I think about it, maybe we should wait until night time, despite the ever increasing feeling of urgency which makes me more nervous by the second. It's like sitting on an anthill! The sun will set in a few hours though and under the cover of darkness it will be so much easier to escape unnoticed. I'm not used to traveling with someone who'll be noticed at every corner.

At this time of the year there are always caravans camped outside the city gates, so hopefully we'll be able to steal anything we still need for traveling.

When I ask Andy about this change in plans he agrees that the delay is worth the increased secrecy and we decide to use the remaining time to try and get some rest before we start our journey.

Trying to sleep in a cramped, smelly backyard is not something I would not recommend to anybody. The rats tend to wake you every five minutes and a constantly complaining Drow doesn't do much to improve the general mood. I'm very much relieved when the sun finally sets and we can start our careful way from shadow to shadow.

For someone who has spent most of his life indoors Andy is remarkably skilled in the matters of stealth and silence. He would certainly make a good thief and I find myself wondering where he learned to move like this.

After we have managed to narrowly bypass the city watch a few times and climb down the wall undetected, the two of us are now crouching in the sparse shadows of a few scraggly bushes trying to see where we might possibly slip through the vigilant chain of lookouts who are stationed around the caravan I have deemed to be the most promising one for our needs.

While I'm still nervous and jumpy Andy seems to be aglow with excitement and has forgotten about our predicament for the time being. He's even grinning and I don't have the heart to remind him of the reason for our presence here! To be honest, I would like to forget it myself and just enjoy the warm night with all its promises and opportunities. But no, I've got to be the realistic and responsible one. This really sucks. I can understand now how my mother must have felt sometimes, always having to remind me to be careful and look after my wellbeing.

After years of aimless wandering, doing whatever I felt like without worrying too much about consequences this thought is somewhat strange and sounds far to "adult" for my taste. So I decide that we need to have some fun and action immediately, to get these disturbing musings out of my head.

I grab a stone and throw it into a puddle some meters to the right, trusting that Andy will catch on in time, and when the men are distracted for a few moments we actually manage to worm out way past them without being seen. Their eyes are not as good as those of an elf so their sight is limited in the darkness while we can still see quite well. That is not to say they're helpless. Not by far, we'd be in deep shit if they had seen us. Seems like luck is on my side for once and I fervently hope it stays that way.

We duck into the relatively safe shadows between scattered tents to catch our breath and I can see a flash of gleaming teeth against black skin. Yes, that reminds me. We need to get a bigger cloak, one that will cover Andy's white hair completely, so it doesn't stand out against the dark.

We're still very vulnerable, but I feel a lot better now. At least we are finally doing something and the waiting is over. The notion of passively accepting anything has never appealed to me, I hate having to wait for things to happen to me.

Despite the late hour the whole camp is full of sounds. The quiet conversation at the fires, rustling of blankets and even snoring can be heard. The snoring is actually quite noisy and irritating. I'm suddenly very glad that I don't have to sleep next to this guy! I would probably kill him after five minutes of this.

Carefully we creep through the camp. To find the horses I only have to follow my nose. Now the tricky part is picking one that will come with us without freaking or producing anything remotely resembling loud noises. If I get my hands on the wrong animal and draw attention to our presence we'll probably have to kill many guards rather than stun one discreetly, which is something I would very much like to avoid. Being hunted by that bastard mage is bad enough without having the entire caravan on our heels especially when Andy can not ride properly.

I've never been what you could call a "horsy-person", although I'm quite capable compared to some humans I have seen. So I just have to hope my unpredictable luck will remain with me through this.

"Watch out." I whisper to Andy and as he nods I cautiously begin to approach the guard from behind, always careful to tread soundlessly. Please don't let him turn around and spoil what little chance we have to get through this alive! If he does though, I think I might kill him after all out of sheer frustration.

Yes, things are getting terribly frustrating and I'm writing again while I should actually be studying for something called "Abfallbelastung der Landschaft", so I'm frustrated too.

Anybody there who wants to cheer me up by reviewing?