Arrival
Despite the oppressive heat, a pleasant, sweetish scent lay in the Mediterranean house, thanks to various dried herbs, which almost completely covered the smell of fresh sweat of the exhausted couple. Both blankets and pillows lay carelessly crumpled on the floor next to the bed, while the sheets were soaked with sweat. Apart from the distant chirping of the crickets, all that could be heard was the lovers' intermittent breathing. The initially isolated beads of sweat had quickly turned into thick drops, which ran down the rhythmically moving bodies. Exhaling heavily and exhausted, the lanky man let himself fall into bed next to the blonde-haired woman.
"Mireille." He audibly gasped for breath before continuing in a husky voice. "You are a goddess. Your body feels indescribably good."
The woman remained lying on her back with her eyes closed and smiling contentedly while the man, with his slender hand, drove along her feminine curves.
After a while she began to loll under his touch and turned to her partner. "You're not serious, are you? We're both soaked in sweat and already panting like two exhausted, decrepit horses!"
An amused expression appeared in the man's eyes before he drew his beloved to him and kissed her gently on the lips. He ignored the thin film of sweat completely. "I don't care how we huff and puff. As long as I can touch and feel you." He spoke tenderly into the kiss and traced her lower lip with his tongue before he drove down the contours of her neck and covered one of her breasts with countless kisses, while the other was passionately embraced and caressed by his hand. A few drops of sweat were dripping from his black hair and wetting the woman's irregularly rising and falling chest. She sucked the air in sharply as he bit slightly into her sensitive nipple and shortly afterwards sucked on it.
" With Majoran! Give us a break, you love-crazed stud!" Her slightly plump thighs pressed against his sides while her hands ran across his sweaty face. "I would be more pleased if you were as powerful on the field as you are in bed." Theatrically, Mireille rolled her eyes to show her obvious exhaustion. Her cheeks were severely reddened and scattered strands of blond hair stuck to her face. "At least I won't be able to be by your side to take care of you for the next few months, that is, at least for a while."
The person addressed paused and blinked a few times. The distant chirping of crickets, his own heartbeat, the hopeless mess in their house or the field work. All these things seemed to suddenly become irrelevant and far away. His brown eyes gazed into her greens and gazed devotedly at her. "I should give "us" a rest." His voice was little more than a whisper and Mireille nodded shyly. His hand wandered from the soft breast further down to her belly and felt it with the utmost caution, causing the woman to smile softly.
"Soon there will be three of us. Next year you'll be father."
The man began to tremble before isolated tears ran down his cheeks. He lowered his head and cuddled up against her belly, stroking it continuously. "I swear by everything that is holy to me! I will protect you both for the rest of my life. I will always be there for you and watch over you. The mistake of my parents", his gaze darkened for a moment, "I will not repeat it."
Mireille stroked his dark hair, to encouraging him. "You're going to be a great father! Our child will always look up to you and love you. Just like me. Forever."
The young alchemist's expectations had subconsciously risen on a daily basis during her journey with the higher vampire. Together they experienced the strangest adventures in the past weeks, got to know many nice as well as unpleasant personalities and slowly but steadily got closer to each other with small steps. During the last stage of their travel, Livia was extremely impatient and wanted to cover the remaining distance to her destination as quickly as possible, which did not escape her attentive travel companion. A joyful excitement took over her entire body, made her cheeks blush and her green eyes light up. Novigrad! The cosmopolitan city Novigrad was right in front of them and opened its gates just for her!
In the distance the screeching of the seagulls could be heard, which almost vanished due to the constant bustle within the city. Buxom housewives gathered at the docks and washed their weekly rations of laundry, others haggled with full body effort to get the best possible price for the next lunch. An indescribable heat rose from the open windows out of the smithy, while the blacksmith masters beat tirelessly on the glowing metal, causing glaring sparks to fly into the air and extinguish shortly afterwards.
The rough sentries at the gate of the hierarch, watched with mild interest the passing passers-by and tried to suppress an occasional yawn, while the queue of those waiting for permission to enter the city increased when the guards saw the tall black-haired man and his dainty companion, their eyes narrowed for a moment. Without a word they let him and the young woman into the city and threw uncertain glances at each other. Thanks to their many years of experience in the field, they both agreed that this man was not to be trifled with and preferred to look over the newcomer.
When the young woman stopped unexpectedly at the first crossing, the vampire looked at her with a questioning expression. The green eyes of the alchemist carefully probed every visible corner and every person, while her eyebrows narrowed in disbelief and deep lines of thought adorned her forehead. Livia plucked discontentedly at her richly decorated linen dress before she let go of it and nervously chewed on her nail. Dettlaff had now turned completely towards her and was about to cautiously start asking if she disliked something when he was suddenly interrupted by her furious stamping. Viscous brown mud splashed onto his trousers and her beige dress, while her cheeks now showed a very noticeable redness.
"Capital of the world, the center and cradle of culture, my ass!" Furiously, the blonde-haired woman snorted loudly before continuing: "If I ever meet this Dandelion, I'll tell him his books are rubbish! I can't believe that I actually trusted his descriptions! The only thing I notice in this run-down gutter is the poverty, many scantily dressed women and the constant, penetrating stench of old fish!". Defiantly, she bit her lower lip and gazed down the alleyway disappointed with slightly bloated cheeks.
Surprised by the unexpected outburst, the vampire checked his companion. At no time did his bright blue eyes avoid her gaze, while his mouth was slightly open. He bowed his head before questioning, "So you don't like this city?"
Livia's eyes narrowed noticeably: "Of course not! I have a complete book collection by the poet and free spirit Dandelion in my living room, in which the city of Novigrad is praised as a city of the world that has no equal. But when I look at this, every village in Toussaint is in a better state. I wouldn't be surprised if people here still piss on the street instead of going to the toilet. Judging by the stench, only one out of 10 washes themselves." To emphasize her last sentence, Livia turned up her nose with a disgusted look on her face. Dettlaff blinked a few times before the corners of his mouth were barely noticeably curled up into an implied smile. "Well, that makes two of us to feel not comfortable in this place."
Embarrassed, Livia stroked isolated strands of hair behind her ear. Thanks to her almost euphoric expectation to be able to enter Novigrad, she had completely missed out on Dettlaff's tense posture until then. He preferred to live in the seclusion of nature instead of having to squirm through crowds of people. "Perhaps..." her voice had now taken on a softer tone, "let's get used to the new circumstances together and enjoy our time here."
His blue eyes seemed to lose themselves in her emerald green. "Yes."
As they were about to continue their journey to the address given by Regis, Livia noticed a tattered piece of paper on the floor. Curiously, she picked it up and looked at the note written in surprisingly beautiful handwriting.
„Remember, dear people, that a fire once lit cannot be stopped, that it consumes everything in its path and only ceases to rage once all has been turned to ash. Men cannot flee this element, and if they bow before it, if they let it into their hearts, they too turn to ash. Search then your consciences and live in accordance with the Church's dictates - before the time for penance has passed.
- Concerned Citizen"
Perplexed, she looked up from the parchment and realized that the vampire had as little idea of what to do with the message as she did. With a shrug of her shoulders she threw the sermon of a worried citizen into the mud and focused on following the directions on the map. A quick glance from the side told her that they were in front of the "Chameleon" tavern.
"Strange, according to the map, this is where the "Rosemary and Thyme" should be. I wonder what century the map is from."
Dettlaff could not help but smile. " Regis is foresighted, he wouldn't give us a centuries-old map. Take a closer look at it. There are many buildings on it, and the first impression is that the image corresponds to reality. Humans are short-lived creatures and therefore take a long time to build cities of this size."
Offended, the woman frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Well, I am satisfied with my expected lifespan, not everyone wants to reach 300." Defiantly, she pushed her tongue out and walked down the alley with a confident, taut posture. However, Dettlaff's clearing his throat made her stop shortly afterwards. "We must go in the opposite direction." An uncomfortable silence prevailed between the two of them before Livia turned around with reddened cheeks and walked past Dettlaff with her head bowed.
He looked at the map again for a short moment and took large steps towards the young woman. His amusement was openly reflected in his eyes and was further strengthened by his deep, teasing voice. "Livia?" " Yes Dettlaff?" "You can't read a map, can you?" The alchemist's cheeks almost seemed to burn, while her gaze remained fixed on the muddy ground.
"So this is it?" In disbelief, Livia stared at the huge house, which was right next to the narrow passage of the Pontar. Dettlaff merely nodded as he pulled a distinctive key from his coat pocket and handed it to Livia. "For the duration of your studies, it's yours."
With a lightning-fast movement she took the key into her possession and unlocked the main entrance door with trembling hands. As she entered the house, the smell of fresh paint and new wooden furniture immediately struck her. Hand-woven carpets with elaborate patterns lay in the entrance area, while detailed pictures of landscape scenes from Velen, framed in wide wooden frames with elaborate carvings, decorated the walls. Various fruit bowls were scattered throughout the room and contained local fruits as well as exotic ones from Toussaint. "The absolute madness! Regis has outdone himself!" Without paying any further attention to the silent vampire, Livia ran up the stairs to the next floor. As she entered the bedroom, her breath was taken.
A colossal wardrobe, of which the carvings had been painted in bright colors, thus giving the piece of furniture a sculptural impression, took up almost the entire length of the room, while a curtain next to it concealed something. But the major part of the room was occupied by a huge four-poster bed that could hardly be beaten in decadence. Masses of ruffles, fabrics and pillows almost filled the bed, which led the young alchemist to the thought of how she herself should fit into the already fully laden bed.
She stopped in front of it, and stroked the high-quality cotton fabrics thoughtfully. The expression in her eyes became warm and a dreamy smile was stealing on her lips. "How can we both fit in this fully packed bed?"
Pensive, she looked out of the window and followed the hustle and bustle of the street lost in thought. The incident in Oreton was now several weeks ago, but she was still unsure about the nature of her relationship with Dettlaff. Although he preferred to clarify and discuss uncertain issues quickly, he did not do so in this context. Some issues remained unspoken until now and Livia felt that Dettlaff was uncomfortable when she tried to talk about that particular day.
Nevertheless there had been some changes between them. Quarrels and misunderstandings continued to exist between them and regularly raised the young woman's pulse, while Dettlaff tried to avoid his impulsive outbursts. His interest in people seemed to have been reawakened, which is why he insisted on asking Livia countless questions about people's feelings and thoughts. Her regular headaches as well as the buzzing, had also suddenly stopped, which was an enormous relief for the young woman. The biggest change, however, was the nightly routine. When she was tired and her eyes were burning, she put her book aside and made herself comfortable on her spread out bed, before Dettlaff lay down with her and gently pressed her body against his and warmed her.
The last thought tore her back to reality. Would the two of them sleep in this bed together or did this circumstance only apply to the journey? Suspiciously, the blonde-haired woman narrowed her eyes. Did Regis know about them thanks to the blood ties to Dettlaff? Had he deliberately put the double bed in this room? Did he perhaps even have immoral ulterior motives? Livia decided to talk to the odd vampire about this matter at the academy as quickly as possible.
Before she left the room, she turned to the mysterious object next to the wardrobe, which was covered by a thick sheet of cloth. What might be hiding behind it? A precious painting as a welcome present? With a strong jerk she pulled the fabric off the object and looked surprised into her reflection.
Amused, she folded the fabric neatly and laid it on a chair before she left the bedroom and descended the stairs to the entrance area. "Dettlaff, you won't believe wha... Are you all right?" The vampire stared menacingly down the stairs to the basement before turning away from them and looking at Livia with questioning eyes. "Have you looked at everything yet?"
"Yes. I like the layout, but Regi's taste in luxurious interiors comes a little... unexpected."
"We should check the food supplies and get what's missing from the market tomorrow."
Hesitantly, the alchemist approached the vampire. "Dettlaff, are you sure you're all right?"
Resigned, the person addressed closed his eyes while he exhaled loudly through his nose. "Yes, I just have to get used to the new surroundings, that's all."
The young woman's posture stiffened and her voice took on an uncertain undertone. "If you want to live outside the city, ... I would understand it. It must be exhausting for you to be surrounded by so many people all the time."
"I appreciate your concern, but I want to stay in this house."
A wave of relief fell upon the young woman before she turned to her rucksack and began to put away her belongings. "Okay, would you help me with the packing? After all, you and I live in this house together now."
Dettlaff flinched noticeably during her last mention, before he approached Livia with a sinister expression.