The Romancer Onyxbane

Episode Ten:

The next morning felt to Onyxbane like one he'd seen before, about two months earlier. But, where there should have been a crude dwarven bed, not quite big enough for the both of them, there was the cold stone floor of a cave. Where dingy gray curtains should have held off most of the yellow light of morning, the eerie rusty sunlight of the Silithus desert exploded through the wide cave mouth. It was almost blinding. Onyx peered out into the world beyond, knew that Willypearl and the novice priestess were out there somewhere, perhaps immediately in front of the cave entrance, but could not be entirely sure. Whoever was out there could see everything he and Wisthera had done the night before, but for the light, he could not see them, and it was like his betrayal had been put up on a dais or a scaffold for all to see.

"Oh no…" Onyxbane groaned, and sat up covering his eyes.

The woman who had been nearly impossible to see, stealthed in the sunlight back on the ship deck, was now as carnal as anything else in the world. The sweet smell of bodies was thick in the cave, and there was no way to deny what had happened, and who it had happened with.

"Are you happy?" Wisthera asked quietly, where she lay undressed beside Onyxbane.

Onyxbane was swearing for a solid minute before he realized his recent bedmate was genuinely concerned for him, and not being sarcastic.

"I… don't know."

"You called me Sara last night."

"Ya, I remember that." But Onyxbane looked regretful.

"You used to do that when… back when we were with the dwarves and the dragons." Saying the name of the cursed region of Azeroth where they had fallen in love seemed risky now, like it would harken back the dark lies within the relationship as well as the good feelings.

"Onyxbane," Wisthera folded her hands over her stomach while she spoke. While Onyxbane looked eager to leave the bed, she dared not stir too much. "I want you to know that I didn't do this on purpose. I had a horrible time on that hippogryph. I got lost, and dragged through treetops… but that is not important. What I would like to say is that I was very angry with you. I had every intention of coming in here, and yelling at you. Stepping on that damned scorpid was truly an accident."

"Oh? So you were going to box my ears for ruining your reputation, but felt the need to sneak up on our camp?"

"Onyx! It's what rogues do. I didn't want to startle you, especially if you were keeping watch."

"That doesn't make any sense. You did it on purpose, to keep me and Willy from—" Onyx stopped himself too late.

"…What?" Wisthera's eyes went wide, and she sat up as well. "Wait, you two were about to..."

Onyxbane looked away. "You hadn't been intimate with her at all before?" Wisthera prodded further.

"No." Onyxbane tried to explain, but he wasn't sure if he was getting himself out of trouble or deeper in. "We're looking for my sister for goddess' sake! I couldn't do something like that on the boat."

"But here, without Priestess Feathershine around…" Wisthera began to laugh, "but a novice will do, won't she? You're just as bad as I am aren't you? That's how we ended up like this. We were both starved for attention, starved for love, and as soon as an opportunity presents itself—"

"It's not like that, Wisthera," Onyxbane scowled at her. "You got me at a bad time, made me worried about you. I care for Willy. You know, she's been in love with me for pretty much her entire life, and she's even engaged, but she came on this trip to—"

"Aha! So the innocent virgin isn't so purehearted afterall? She didn't come here for Opalbane, she came here for you."

"She did not!"

"She did. Whether or not she really wants to help your sister is secondary in her mind. Or, rather, she convinced herself that she came for your sister, but was really being very selfish, and seduced you as soon as she had the chance."

Onyxbane was saying that it wasn't true and was about to leave when Wisthera yanked him back down on the bed beside her.

"You two kissed didn't you? On the boat."

"How did you even know tha—"

"I listen to things. Besides, one of those snobby novices reported it back to Feathershine while she thought I was resting my eyes." Wisthera smiled, very satisfied with her roguish deceptiveness. "What did she look like when she came into your room that night?"

Onyxbane sputtered, but then said, "Well, she was wearing this nightgown thing."

"What color was it?"

"It was like, a peach."

"Oh? And how was her hair? Her eyes? You look to be enjoying the memory of it. The dress must have been very revealing."

Onyxbane tried to deny that he'd been attracted to the human mage in that moment, but failed. "Well, so what? Maybe she just made it herself, and wanted to wear it."

"She wanted to wear it for you, Onyx. She wanted you to see her in it. She probably even made it for the occasion. Believe me, it is far easier for a woman to remember to cover herself if she doesn't want the wrong attention from a man. I also wonder just whose idea it was to break away from the group and go ahead to Silithus alone with no healer!"

"There is no way that Willy would do something like that on purpose. She's too nice for that."

"Just like I'm too nice and sweet to be a con artist? You see how that works?" Wisthera smiled devilishly.

"It's different. You're a rogue, and a liar."

"And Willypearl hired me all those years ago. Willypearl got the idea to steal the ring, not her contact in Westfall, not me. Willypearl is the one who put me up to it."

"She was doing the right thing, or else they would have put my sister in shackles!"

"And when presented with the mission, I knew the risks, but I accepted. What was the ring to me back then? You act like I was in league with the Archmage, or worse, the Twilight Hammer, but I was ignorant of all this. The ring was something that could save a certain young priestess, if only someone smart could get her to wear it. I was that brilliant person who tricked her into it. I did not do this by lying to her, and sending her gifts and letters for years so that she would give in and like me. I told your sister what I believed to be the truth, that an order of mages was after her, and if she didn't wear the ring, she would be hunted down."

Onyxbane frowned but he didn't know what to say. "You're… distorting the truth."

"Am I? Or is the real possibility that I am a good person, just like Willypearl, or your sister so hard for you to accept? We all have dark sides, Onyxbane. Not one of us is one way or another. Yes, I took advantage Opalbane and Willypearl, asking them for things when I could have learned to earn money for myself. And there are tons of other people that I lied to and stole from my whole life. Yes, maybe I have a big problem with scamming people. But I am a rogue afterall. And, recently, Priestess Feathershine has helped me to see how some of the darker arts of my profession can really hurt people, especially those that I love."

Onyxbane thought for a moment, and then said, "It's too late to switch places with Willypearl. What you did was wrong, and you can't take it back."

"I know that. Onyxbane, I'm truly sorry—"

"And you can't just apologize for it either. Just because I slept with you… it's because you drive me crazy. Everything was so confusing last night, and I didn't mean it."

"I don't think so, Onyx. You slept with me because you wanted to. You could have put me out, left me with the priestess in the sands, or the far end of this cave. But you saw how hurt I was, how upset, and you were worried for me. When I cried out, you kissed me. When I was too ashamed of how I failed to come to Silithus and scream at you with at least some dignity, you held me close, and told me that I was beautiful. When I said that I still loved you, you… you remember what you said, Onyxbane."

"Yes, I do."

"Did you mean it?" Wisthera took his hand in her own, and looked into Onyxbane's shining yellow eyes.

"It's too late for us, Wisthera. You lied to me. Maybe I slipped this time, but… I just broke my friend's heart, and before that my sister went missing because I was running around with you. I just can't risk hurting another person for you, Wisthera."

Wisthera thought about his words quietly and then said, "Exactly the kind of answer a stupid warrior would give. You're an idiot Onyxbane. I see you for who you really are, a feral nightsaber. Always ready for adventure and mischief, always in heat. You think of yourself as some knight, but you aren't a human, my love. You are kaldorei. There is a part of you that will always want a woman, no matter how desperate the situation. You need to be petted, your pride and ego stroked at every available moment. Only a woman more arrogant than you are could do that for you, for she would see herself in you, and never fail to tend to herself. Furthermore, this bold, and shameless woman would do everything for you, even steal, and lie and kill for you because she would raise you above all else. You need to have someone by your side as dangerous as that.

"The humans call this selfishness, or perhaps a kind of madness, but I call it love. It is a wise woman who can see herself in her lover, and a good kaldorei man knows that his woman is very much like himself. None of us is perfect, Onyx, and in that lies the perfection. We are both light and dark, right and wrong, beasts as well as sentient beings. I accepted this about myself a long time ago, and that is why I am able to be a rogue. I don't see cheating and stealing and stealth as wrong, but they are like the talons an owl must use to kill and feed her chicks. It is my talent, just as striking foes down with exquisite heavy objects is yours. When we accept how truly blended we are, capable of great good as well as evil, we begin to truly love each other. And, I do love you.

"You can look at that human, you can touch her. You can wish you were with someone as pure and blameless as a priestess, but that will never be. You couldn't stand it. That is why, last night, when you could have had something like that, you turned it down. You had me the way you wanted me: a dangerous woman who was a thief, and a liar, and finally at your mercy. You punished me last night. You showed me what I could have had if only I'd been more of a good girl." and then, clearly recalling the passion of the night they'd spent together, Wisthera kissed Onyxbane's bare shoulder. "I think you forgave me last night, Onyx. Nor did I miss that it was also final warning. Oh, Onyx, I promise, for the rest of my life, never to hurt you again. You own me now. You've played into my arrogance, by showing me the kind of emotion I can raise within you, and now that I know, I could never forsake that sweet addiction."

Onyx looked down at Wisthera amazed. "You're wrong. The humans of Stormwind, the dwarves of Ironforge, the gnomes of Gnomeregan, even the troll, and tauren, and orcs are all right about us. We are self-riteous, arrogant fools. We love only ourselves, and that was why I was capable of hurting Willypearl last night.

Wisthera shook her head. "No. Think to your homeland, Onyx. Think to those who raised you. The priestesses love a goddess more beautiful than themselves, and she in turn bestows her beauty on them and the lands we love. The truth is, we are better than the rest of Azeroth. We know that there is nothing more profound than who we already are, and there is no need to change that. Perhaps when you can accept yourself, you can love me too. And, unlike Willypearl or the priestess, I would wait forever."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Wisthera. All Kaldorei are mortal now, and even you couldn't scheme your way into something like that."

"Then, I suggest you don't keep me waiting." Wisthera said simply, and gave Onyxbane a passionate kiss. She waited until he gave into it, then pulled back and left him lingering to prove her point. Then, in her old way, she began to purr.

"You will see. You will apologize to her, and she will reject you, because she is not one of us." The dazzling blue female elf said as she squeezed herself back into her primitive leather armor. "But then, you will not come to me and beg for forgiveness. That is beneath you, and I'll not have my Onyxbane demean himself. You are far better than that, better than all of them put together. And I will be happy to prove it to you, as soon as you are ready, love."

Then, Wisthera swept her long ivy green hair back over her shoulder and walked into the blinding morning light until it enveloped her and she was gone.