I'm absolutely dead so I'm just going to thank everyone (NixxH, AndSoForeverAfter, ami. , KC DarkFire,Vardie as a start) who has fav'd/alerted this story. Y'all are why I didn't drop this thing! Especially to MissOblivion, Serendipity's tears, and that other person who I forgot for their advice. And spiritual entity of your choosing bless any who bother to read this and continue to read this story. You are truly patient people! Now read and review to tell me about all my typos and how awesome I could be if I didn't write while sleep deprived. :D
Alex shifted nervously, hunching his shoulders as a gust of wind whistled through the side street. He should have stopped gambling when his fiancée found out. Oh if she could see him now, broke and working for Arfur. Well the crook would have to forgive his debts now, after he, Alex Krane, helped to bring down a national icon. He huddled against the wall; a figure had just stepped out of the house their silhouette framed by the setting sun. Tall and lean, for a moment Alex thought it was Sparrow and his stomach dropped. How was he going to get her to the Clocktower? If he was honest with himself, Alex knew he was no good with women. He was limited to the few women who enjoyed a man who bumbled nervously through conversations unable to choose between looking at the breasts or eyes and eventually choosing his own feet. While he was being honest with himself he might as well admit that he was also a terrible gambler. Alex shook his head; it'd have to be a mix of the truth then. Sparrow was the Hero of Bowerstone after all. If he told her that he'd been challenged to a dual in which, being a peaceful man, he stood no chance she would have to help him.
The figure strode past broodingly. It was the man who had ruined Alex's attempts at drugging Sparrow the night before. Reaver's handsome face was drawn into a scowl and his hands were thrust deep into his pockets. Clearly something was bothering the pirate as he was mumbling feverishly under his breath. Alex only caught a few words as the man passed but he thought they were "bloody court", "shit bargain", and "just a mutt." Alex leaned out of his hiding spot to see if Reaver had left the lane that ran past. Seeing no sign the pirate he collected himself and limped to Sparrow's house.
An hour or so earlier, Reaver flipped idly through another of Sparrow's books. It was a carefully rebound copy of the Hero of Oakvale. It was one of many versions of the legendary tale although one of the less popular. Reaver scanned a page and then another. He'd bet a hundred gold that this Maze fellow was going to stab the Hero in the back. A name caught his attention causing Reaver to pause and reread the previous page to understand its context. The second paragraph of the previous page described the Oakvale docks in obscene detail. Skipping this, Reaver focused on the dialogue between The Hero and his will-user mentor Maze.
"Your sister, Theresa, is alive. I believe she is the Bandit King's blind seer. It would explain his recent good…fortune. If you follow the coast you'll come across his camp. She'll be at his side with her eyes covered by s"
Reaver straightened and read the line again. Theresa, blind seer, could she be the same as-?
"Have you read this one?" He asked easily hiding his interest in the answer.
Sparrow looked up from the pile of letters she was sorting through on the floor. The fireplace was littered with the smoldering remains of what she had insisted was junk mail. Sparrow instantly recognized the book's cover.
"Yeah, I grew up hearing it from Cloud the storyteller in the gypsy camp. It was one of the first tales I wrote down. I broke the binding I read it so much."
"Not a popular version though, is it?"
Sparrow thought for a moment, chewing her lower lip. "No it's not. I've only heard it once or twice outside of the camp. Why?"
"This passage here. Read it carefully and tell me what you think." He stood from his chair and crossed the short distance between himself and Sparrow. "Just there." He knelt next to her and pointed at the line he had just read.
Sparrow read the few paragraphs Reaver had indicated silently. Her lips twitched slightly as she partly mouthed the words. She was familiar with the story but it had been a longtime since she had read this part. As a child, Sparrow had badgered Cloud the storyteller into skipping to the good parts. The battle with the White Balverine, the fall of Lady Grey, The Arena, anything involving Whisper or Briar Rose(though there was little known of Whisper's exploits), Maze's betrayal, the burning of the Guild of Heroes, and the Hero's battles against Jack of Blades. Sparrow looked up at Reaver, sweeping her braid off her shoulder, and blew a puff of air in his face.
"So the Hero's sister was alive, everyone knows that. "
Reaver rolled his eyes. "Do you honestly find no similarity between this description here," he tapped the book in her lap. "And your foster mother out there?" he jerked his head in the direction of the Spire.
Sparrow frowned; there was a glint in those grey eyes of his. A very familiar and unsettling glint. She slapped the book shut only just missing Reaver's fingers. "I don't like what you're implying, Reaver."
"Sparrow, take it from one who knows. Beauty will only get you so far in this world. Well, actually, it has gotten me very far in life. It's the cheekbones really-"
"Oh shove off!" the hero punched Reaver in the shoulder overbalancing him. He fell back onto his butt and grunted. "Theresa and the Hero of Oakvale's sister are not the same person! It's a coincidence!"
"The thought has never crossed your mind? Not once? Not even for a second?" He rubbed his shoulder; the girl did not know her own strength.
Sparrow's eyebrows crunched together and she turned her eyes away from Reaver's piercing gaze.
"So it has."
"It's been 500 years since the Hero defeated Jack o'Blades. The Hero and his sister are dead."
Reaver let his mouth curl into an ironic smile.
Sparrow caught a glimpse of it from the corner of her eye and turned on him. The thought had occurred to Sparrow before, in the dead of night. She had always shied away from the thought though like she was afraid of it. Sparrow had never asked Theresa or mentioned the old seer's resemblance to her legendary counterpart. "She can't be! I lived with her for years! I would have noticed if she were sacrificing random innocents to the Shadow Court!"
"I am positive that you would have noticed, my dear, but there are other ways of gaining immortality."
Sparrow threw her hands in the air, "I'm not talking about this anymore! Theresa lives in the Spire now you know where it is so go ask her yourself!"Sparrow pinched the bridge of her nose groaning in a mixture of annoyance. "I need a drink."
Reaver took in Sparrow's bent form, she knew something. He didn't know for sure if there were other ways of gaining immortality but he didn't think it unreasonable. With a sigh, the pirate decided to let the matter go for now. It clearly unsettled Sparrow and while he found disturbing Sparrow the epitome of entertainment he could only push her so far before she began lobbing fireballs at him.
"To the Cow and Corset then?"
Sparrow shivered involuntarily, "Aye." She muttered shutting her eyes as the shiver ran its course down her spine. The fire at her back felt uncomfortably hot now and the room stifling, yet gooseflesh rose on her arms. For a brief moment, Sparrow felt the stabbing pulse of the Spire again. The pulse was everywhere, all consuming. It rattled her bones and beat inside of her skull stealing her thoughts away and forcing her breath out in a long, strained hiss. Hours seemed to drag by as the pulse pushed and pulled and beat at her. Then, as quickly as the shiver came, it was gone and Sparrow was released. She opened her eyes to find only a second or two had passed. Sparrow wondered if she had merely imagined the pulse of the Spire, but she felt her whole body trembling.
"Go get us a table. I have to…uh…go see the guard about these beetle bounties."