The Romancer Onyxbane

Episode Fifteen:

It turned out that another great way to keep Opalbane from reverting to her cultist self was to keep her drunk. Onyxbane was the one who thought of it. Priestess Feathershine appeared very disappointed and accused him of taking the situation too lightly, but he just snickered, and used a lot of her gold to purchase rum from the goblins in Gadgetztan before they continued on to Feralas, and eventually met the boat at Feathermoon Stronghold. Once again, traveling to Theramore Isle and from there to Menethil Harbor would have been faster, but Priestess Feathershine did not want to take any extra risks by going through Horde lands.

It took some time to water down the rum enough so that Opalbane wasn't a violent drunk, and more of the novices than not could sleep through the night. Once through Thousand Needles and Feralas, however, Priestess Feathershine insisted that Opalbane be allowed to sober up.

"There's already enough against her. She can't be allowed to smell like rum before the authorities in Stormwind a second time." She said.

Dutifully, and without incident, the novice priestesses went back to controlling her mind in shifts. That amazed Onyxbane. He'd fought in all kinds of battles, but never had he imagined that priestesses could be as disciplined as soldiers. Of course, Sentinels were the shining example of this, but well… they were Sentinels, and everyone knew how long they trained. Onyxbane didn't remember being half as focused when he was a young man, and the novices were content to watch Opalbane like clockwork, and never complained.

This set Onyxbane's curiosity on fire, and one night on the ship he decided at last that he wanted to get to know Priestess Feathershine better, no matter what.

"Priestess Feathershine? I don't mean to wake you, but I must talk to you."

Wordlessly, Priestess Feathershine opened the door for him. She was in her long white sleeping gown again. Normally, she wore a light mooncloth robe, but this garment was made of heavy white silk that clung to her generous curves. It had a strange quality of looking like it was always slick and wet. Onyxbane blinked, at the suggestion of a body that was clearly naked underneath then forced his eyes up the length of her, and settled on Feathershine's face.

"Yes dear?" she asked. The priestess sounded tired.

"You look beautiful." Onyxbane said. He was wearing simple slacks and a shirt, but in truth he always felt naked without the Reaper.

Feathershine raised her eyebrow at him. "Yes, this is a fact. I always look beautiful. That is the duty of a priestess of Elune, to reflect her grace."

"No, I mean…" how should he tell her that she was sexy? Feathershine didn't seem like someone who wanted to know that. She was an intelligent woman, and perhaps she wanted to talk about other things first, get eased into the idea.

"So how are you doing with Willypearl?" Feathershine sat down on the bed, and began to brush her long hair again. Onyxbane was dazed for a moment. The priestess' long hair was like any other woman's but the way she brushed it…

"Umm… Willypearl? Is that what you said? Well, I kind of messed things up with her."

"How? I thought you two were getting along." Feathershine frowned with her dark cherry round lips. Onyxbane ached. Was she always this alluring?

"No, she's engaged actually."

"I see. So you did the right thing. Dear, that's not your fault. She was misguided to pursue you in the first place."

Onyxbane nodded, but also started to wonder why Wisthera was the only one who'd guessed his reaction correctly: he really hadn't cared a bit that Willypearl was already taken.

"Ya, I did the right thing."

"And Wisthera's been wearing that insolent smile on her face since I captured her again in Silithus. She's never been so happy in my company, has she Onyxbane?"

Priestess Feathershine was not looking directly at him, just staring at the far wall while she pulled the delicate wooden brush through her hair.

"Huh? I guess not."

"Don't be coy, Onyxbane. I mean to ask if you slept with her."

This threw the young warrior off. "No! I mean… yes, I did."

"Why did you say no if you did, in fact sleep with her?"

"I… well, I wish I hadn't. Especially now."

"Why not now?" Priestess Feathershine finished with one lock of hair, and then pulled another from over her left shoulder and began to brush.

"I… found someone new." Onyxbane was starting to find flirting with this intelligent woman much harder than he first thought. Why wasn't she falling for him? Why was it taking so long to get right down to it?

"Did you? Don't tell me…" and at that Priestess Feathershine stopped brushing and smiled. "I have to say, the age difference—"

"Well, it's not so bad, right? I mean there's a lot you can learn from someone older than you."

"Surely, but the advantage you have really isn't fair—"

"Advantage? Well, I've had my share of romantic adventure on this trip, but I'm not… well I am pretty good I guess."

"Dear, don't be crude. I'm talking about life experience. She's not even a full priest yet."

That was when Onyxbane realized they were not talking about the same person.

"But… you are a full priestess right?" Onyxbane should not have said that. He should have just waited quietly for Feathershine to move on, but he just wasn't able to think so quickly.

"Yes…what are you getting at? Novice Windsong will be a full priestess soon enough. She has proven herself more than capable, and when this is all over, I'll see to it quickly, especially since you show an interest."

Onyxbane's eyes went wide. "Oh, no, no no. Not novice Windsong." Again, he should have been warned because of the earlier awkwardness, but he pushed forward.

"No? Then who else could it be?"

Onyxbane tried to answer, and then,

"Dear, I suppose I shouldn't meddle so. I'm sorry. It's just that you are like a son to me, and I worry about you and your sister so. I believe it will take a miracle for Opalbane to make friends or fall in love, but not you. You are young and sociable, so you should have no trouble. You do need to find a suitable woman though, and not Wisthera. It's a shame that Willypearl is practically already married. I so liked you two together."

"What?"

"Yes, I didn't want you to rush things, so I sent novice Windsong along. I'm sorry if my intentions were too obvious. And then that millet for brains Wisthera ran right off after you when my guard was down. I actually rushed down to Silithus to keep her away from you, but I see that I was too late for that. I'm just glad that I was able to locate and bribe those rogues in time to find you all."

"Wait, you talked to Wisthera's contacts too?"

"Yes dear. We're at the end of our little journey, so I can reveal my secret to you now. Never assume that you aren't being watched on my ship. The novices are very good at sneaking around, and enjoy gleaning gossip for me."

Onyxbane blinked. Good thing he hadn't spoken aloud to anyone about his crush on Priestess Feathershine. She didn't see him in the same way at all, and it would only end up in disaster. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Though I suppose it's my fault, you know. I never officially adopted you two, and perhaps that is why I am so protective. The other priestesses loved you and your sister just as much as I and it would have been a cruel thing to do." Then she put her brush on the dresser nearby. "You know, I don't think that matters anymore. You two are all grown up, and you need family more than anything else, don't you? I don't care what Tyrande says. I love you two like you were my own children, and it would be a great comfort—"

"No!" Onyxbane blurted out.

"No? Why not?"

"I can't… no way. That would be too weird. Woah. I almost got into trouble there, didn't I?"

Feathershine stared at Onyxbane a long time, sure that there was some deeper meaning in the confusing young man's words, and intent on fishing it out.

Then, "You… pervert!"

Onyxbane hopped up from his seat. "Now, hold on there I—"

"Never got around to putting your moves on me? Is that what you came in here to do? I should have known. Of course it wouldn't be Windsong, of course. You were talking about me the whole time, weren't you?"

Onyxbane balked, trying to find a sane answer. Of course, that was impossible.

"That's disgusting, Onyxbane, honestly! When you were little, that was one thing, but I thought you'd grown out of it when you left the temple."

"You knew about my dreams?"

"Of course! We priestesses gossip about everything, I just told you that!"

Onyxbane winced. "Well, it's not like I was hard up for you then. It was after I left, that I grew up a bit and figured out what those dreams meant—"

"Foul! Disgusting! Crude language! Directed at me? You pervert! I'm surprised at you Onyx, honestly!"

Onyxbane wanted to shadowmeld right then and there.

"So you come in here trying to romance me, is that it? Dearest, I love you like a son, so I think I can get over this with time, but… you had better keep some distance from me for a while."

"But Priestess—"

"You can't possibly have anything redeeming to say about your feelings. They have no place. I'm not even flattered by them."

"Priestess Feathershine, you're actually pretty sexy—"

"Enough! Do you want to know what I think you should do, young man?"

Onyxbane was afraid to speak.

"You should take that scoundrel Wisthera and lock yourselves in a room for as long as it takes. I thought you were different, but really, you two are cut from the same cloth. Perhaps once you get this nonsense out of your system, you can think clearly."

"But—"

"Get out! And, I'll advise the ladies to lock their doors. You have quite a lot more growing up to do, and it's a long boat ride. I hope I don't have to warn you to stay away from my novices."

Completely embarrassed, Onyxbane slammed the door behind him. Feeling pretty low, he knocked on Willypearls' door.

She opened it. "You? What do you want, Onyx?"

"Well, I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted, mind if I come in?"

"Oh, no, you get away from me. This is hardly the time of night honey, hardly the place for decent conversation between friends." Then she slammed her door.

Onyxbane passed by Wisthera's door on the way to his own cabin. He paused there, wondering if he should knock, then didn't. Just when he got to his own door, Wisthera snatched hers open and laughed at him.

"So you asked her, didn't you?" she roared with laughter.

"Leave me alone, Wisthera." Onyxbane grumbled.

"You are mine, aren't you? Don't fight it. There's no other woman left on this ship for you. We've all been warned." She said, and tapped her head with a finger. Of course, Feathershine would take his embarrassment a step further and send a mind vision to every woman on the ship.

Onyxbane went directly to bed, and drew the covers up over his head. This was unbelievable luck. But, at least now he was sure that the humans and dwarves and everyone else were wrong about one thing. God was definitely a woman.