I drifted through the halls to my bedroom like a storm cloud off of the Abecean Sea. The staff knew I was in a mood and avoided me, I was glad of that, I'd hate to have said something uncalled for. I've done that before, I hate myself afterward and I apologize to no end to whichever poor soul was on the receiving end, but I truly can't help it. I can control myself in the most stressful situations, but once I let my guard down and let go of the reins, it's hard to get a hold of them again.
My bedroom was deep in the east wing of the house, one of the most secure rooms in the building. Personally, I would have preferred to have it in the westernmost part of the building so that I could have the sunset, but Cassie had been able to climb down from the roof, enter through my wall to wall windows and put a blade at my throat. I thought I was perfectly safe considering she would be sleeping next to me and not putting any more blades to my throat.
A tiny smirk forced its way through the dark clouds of my mood. Well, she wouldn't be putting any more blades to my throat in that way. A knife could be very fun in the bedroom if you knew what to do with it.
My bedroom was a relatively large space, designed entirely with comfort in mind. The ceilings were high, the ceiling hidden behind an illusion of the star-filled night sky, soft rugs covered every inch of the floor and a fireplace the size of a decent warhorse sat with a flame burning merrily within. A snow-bear pelt lay spread out in front of the fireplace. Various artwork covered the walls, and of course, the room was perfumed with lilies and vanilla.
Still, all of my focus was on the room's centerpiece, the bed. This, you could tell, I place a high priority on. My bed was massive, thirteen feet long and twelve feet wide, the sheets were silk, the mattress and pillows were filled with dove feathers, and the comforter was stuffed with down and an image of the Lady Dibella herself was embroidered on it.
With the door closed behind me, I strode across the room and flung myself onto the bed, burying my head in the fabric the same way I used to as a teenager. It had been a very long day, and a very long night was just around the corner.
"You have been busy." I heard the door close, I hadn't heard it open.
I turned my head so that the fabric didn't muffle my voice. "I don't know how you do that, that door squeaks like a mouse in heat when I open it." Cassie glided across the room, or she might as well have for all the sound she made.
"There was an assassination attempt." It wasn't a question, she crawled across the bed, coming to rest, straddling my thighs. Considering the feel of it, she was clothed, reminding me that I wasn't. "A high elf from the Rose, another piece of evidence at his grace's incompetence in regards to hiring assassins?"
"I doubt it, she claimed to be Thalmor, and considering her lack of skill, I'm inclined to believe her. I think she was a disposable, just a friendly reminder from our elven friends, they're watching, they can take a stab at me, and they have a whole lot more competent people to throw at me." She ran her hands up my back, tracing my tattoos. The vines running along my passion lines with lilies marking the major intersections.
"That's not what's bothering you though." Her fingers dug into the tensest of my muscles, expertly hitting the points along my passion lines to loosen them. Cassie's hands always amazed me, as delicate as a jeweler's, but strong enough to hang from buildings by her fingertips.
"No," she already knew what was bothering me.
"Your connection to the Rose is public knowledge, you yourself made it so. They planted an agent there because they knew that you would eventually be there, and they knew that someone else from the Rose was more likely to gain your trust." Her voice was steady, but firm. "They have no idea about her, this had nothing at all to do with her."
A roar burbled up my throat, and I tried to push myself up. "She was in the damn room, that high elf bitch was a few feet from my little girl."
Cassie shoved me back down without breaking stride. It was an interesting ability, to pin me to the bed while still providing an expert massage. "If they knew about Telain, they would have used used her." Her voice softened, "I'm an expert in this sort of thing in case you've forgotten."
I relaxed, fighting Cassie was probably one of the most idiotic pursuits that one could undertake, if she wanted me pinned to bed, I was going to be pinned to the bed. "Maybe so, but how much longer can we hide her. Nirus worked it out. For all their flaws, the Thalmor aren't stupid, their intelligence operatives will work it out eventually. The Temple of Mara knows or at least suspects." She knew what I was saying, four people could keep a secret as long as two of them were dead, and a lot more than four people knew or had the tools to learn this secret.
She raised off of me slightly, letting me roll over. She stared down at me with those penetrating brown eyes. "Babe," she said in that 'I love you, but you're being slightly insane,' tone that only she could manage. "I know your heart's in the right place, but I think that you are over worrying about Telain."
I let out a long exasperated sigh, "I know, but I don't want this life for her. I don't want her to grow up worrying about assassins, and backstabbing, and false friends." It was what I lived for, but it wasn't what Telain deserved.
Cassie rolled off and dropped onto the bed beside me, propping her head up on her elbow. "Bella, I know that's what you're trying to do, and I get that neither of us had a typical upbrining, but our little girl doesn't want a normal life either."
That actually made me laugh, small and cynical, but still a laugh. "She's living in a brothel surrounded by clerics of Dibella. I'd hardly call that normal."
I could almost feel her rolling her eyes. "Bella, you know what I mean. Telain is bored out of her mind, and she wants a chance to use what I've taught her." Of course she did, just seeing her working Isabur had reminded me that Telain had inherited Cassie's darker attributes.
It probably didn't help that Cassie spent more time with her. I can't say anything about her trying to be a bigger part of our daughter's life though. "Cassie, I love you, but if I don't want our daughter following in my footsteps, I really don't want her having an upbringing like yours." Assassin was about three rungs beneath political mastermind on the list of things I wanted my daughter to be. Oddly enough, prostitute was probably far higher on the list than on most parents.
That earned me smack on my thigh. "You know that's not what I meant. Esme and I have been talking."
I wasn't sure how I felt about where this was going. Esme was a Knight of the Lily, a very good one actually, extremely competent in combat and very devoted to the Goddess, but Telain wasn't old enough to squire. "And what have you been talking about?" I asked suspiciously.
"Your father is putting a new unit together." And this is where it was going.
"For Valenwood operations, I know." She couldn't be suggesting what I thought she was.
"Esme and I were talking about it, she's planning on signing on, and she wants to bring Telain with her." And she was suggesting what I thought she was.
"No," I sat up, locking eyes with her.
"Bella…" That patient tone vexed me.
"No," I climbed off of the bed, heading for the small table by the door where a servant had left a tea set.
"Bella," Cassie was two steps behind me. "You know this is the best solution, you can see the angles, but you don't want to see them. As long as she's in the Imperial City, she's guaranteed to be outed eventually. She's bored to tears with her life right now. This gets her out of the city, makes sure that the enemies are clear and in front of her, and gives us all a chance to see if this bloodlust is just a passing phase. It's the best possible solution."
Damn it, I knew all of that, I didn't want to, but I did. A thousand arguments came to my tongue, and died there as I realized they were all rhetoric. Good for tricking people into agreeing with me, but not actually based in logic. I angrily poured myself a cup of tea from the enchanted tea pot, unsure whether I was angry at myself, Cassie, the priesthood of Mara, or just reality in general. "I hate when you use logic to beat me," I grumbled in surrender.
"I know, but now I can beat you in far more pleasurable ways if you want." I could hear the smile in her voice as she wrapped her arms around my waist. She wasn't actually tall enough to look over my shoulder, so she just leaned around me and rested her head on my upper arm.
"Eh, fine." I certainly could use something to take my mind off of things.
...
And that's it for this week. We're getting close to the end here guys, I've got two different endings planned out, one is quick, leaving only about two chapters more to go, the other is much longer, with four or five more chapters.
I'm really considering the short version because I want to move on to another project, but I feel like the longer version shows more and is more satisfying. The ending is pretty much the same, just the long version includes more content.
Also, and I cannot stress this enough, the next chapter is hardcore sexual content. Harder than pretty much anything else I've ever written. If this stuff makes you uncomfortable, just skip it.
Seriously, it adds more characterization to Cassie and Bella, but nothing you need to see to understand the story. If you aren't sure if it's for you, play it safe and skip it. If you made it this far into the story, I feel like I can trust you guys to handle yourselves at your discretion.
Either way, give me opinons, long ending, short ending, what should my next project be? Tell me what you guys think.
R&R people.