Chapter 9 - Jade
Without the other two to slow her down, Black was making extraordinarily good time. She was able to take the secret pathways through the mountains that she had not wanted to expose to the Fairy, and she did not need to stop for rest, food, or drink. She was sort of like a camel that way.
Through day and night, sun and rain, she ran tirelessly. She zoned out occasionally, having visions of her ultimate quarry, the old man, bending over his work table; strange colored liquids bubbling in flasks all around.
Black's nerves tingled with anticipation. She knew where the villain was hiding, and for some reason she felt closer to him than she had in an uncountable number of years, despite the fact an entire ocean lay between them.
She suddenly ran into something hard and fell flat on her back, jerking out of her latest trance. Slowly, Black rose to her feet. Where had this forest come from? Black paused to look around. She was at the edge of a forest, Mirkwood no doubt; behind her were the mountains she had just come from, and to her left and right were endless rolling plains. Turning to the left, Black sighed and started off again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Green sat talking to Beld the Barkeep all afternoon, until just before dusk when the Inn became extremely full, and he did not have much time to stay in one place.
Blue had come back in at some point and was sitting quietly at a table by herself in the back. Red had made her rounds around the room, paying no heed to Beld or Green's warning that any stealing would see her quickly out on the street on her butt. Currently Red sat in between two rough men with short scraggly goatees and red bandannas. Blue kept an eye on Red the whole time, noticing how swiftly her hand slipped in and out of men's pockets, into her own.
As the sun set over the water, the guests slowly trickled out, until Blue, Green, and Red were the only ones left. The three women gathered at the bar to get a room. A young girl came out from the kitchens, dressed in plain brown skirts, to show them upstairs.
"Wait one moment please, Kara," Beld said.
"Yes, Uncle Beld," she curtsied and stepped back to let Beld by.
The man fixed his eyes on Red, who stared blankly back.
"Empty yer pockets, woman," he said.
"What?" Red asked innocently. Beld raised an eyebrow, clearly not amused. "Fine," Red spat. She began to turn out her pockets, exposing mostly lint, and the occasional odd trinket or two. "Happy?" she said.
"Thank you," Beld replied, closing his big hand around the two rings and several copper coins Red had handed over.
Red snorted, and stomped upstairs to the rooms, the little girl chasing after her.
"I guess we'd better head up too," Green said. "Goodnight, Beld. Come, Blue." The two other women then followed Red and the little girl to their room.
"Is that your real name? Jade?" Blue asked once they had gotten settled in their room, which, curiously, contained only two beds.
"I'm not sharing!" Red declared, throwing herself down upon the far mattress.
"Yes, though Beld is one of the only ones who use it," Green answered quietly. "You can have the bed," she said. "I'd prefer the floor."
"Alright." Blue sat down on the other bed and pulled off her weather beaten cloak.
Green laid out a sheet and a pillow on the floor before the dresser as her bed and then laid down herself. She stayed there a few minutes on her back, gazing on the ceiling, then got up quickly. "I'll be back," she said, then left the room.
"Red?" asked Blue.
"Hm?"
"Who is that Beld fellow? He's more than a barkeeper, isn't he?"
Red rolled over on her side. "Oh, yeah," she said casually, "he's Green's lover." Blue then heard Red begin to snore and knew that the blonde woman had fallen asleep. Blue slipped underneath the covers and it was not long until she too was asleep and dreaming.
Green stepped lightly down the hall, her heart beating faster with every step. It had been years since she'd seen him. Would he still want her? she wondered. He was not married, so that gave her reason to believe that he was still waiting for her. She halted in front of the door at the end of the hall and raised her hand to knock, but then let it fall silently to her side as the door creaked open before her.
"Jade?"
Beld stood in the dark doorway, shirtless, and with a dagger in hand.
"That blade's not for me, I hope," Green whispered.
Beld looked down at his hand, shook his head, placed the knife on a dresser and waved Green in. She stepped quietly inside and disappeared behind the closing door.