What's this? Two updates in two days?
Yes, I'm trying to make it up to you. So enjoy, please! Shameless fluff is always a good excuse to read a new chapter~
And, of course, thanks ever to my marvelous beta, Lioness's Heart! She's ever so patient and supportive, and really helped me with this story.
Red: True love; devotion
It had been half a year since the Prince had been stolen, and the fame Beka and Tunstall had gained had yet to fade. People still stared at them with awe and respect, the word 'Mastiff' floating after her with reverence. It did come in handy, she thought, since Rats gave up rather than fight her, and whenever she bought something, the vendor or merchant that was doing business with her happily reduced the price by half or a quarter. Though she resented 'robbing' them, she didn't complain overmuch. Sometimes it came in handy, especially on birthdays; most of the time it was something she simply tolerated.
Three months ago she moved into the Dove officially. Mistress Trout's lodgings simply weren't adequate for her anymore- even the kindly landlady agreed. City folk constantly mobbed her as she exited, no matter what door she came out of- blessing her, asking her to protect them, or simply trying to get a look at her. Though they didn't harm her, it constantly made her late to muster, and the mob outside the door was bad for business. Being at the Dove not only offered her protection from the people's inquisitive nature, she was also closer to Rosto. They had been involved ever since that fateful night when she had come back to Corus- and though only their closest friends knew of it, they didn't want to risk having someone notice Rosto exiting her lodgings in the wee hours of the morning, or vice versa. While some of the Rats were uneasy at living with a Dog right above their heads, they were assured that Beka and the Rouge had an understanding. So long as they did nothing to provoke her (and they all knew that they dare not ignore the Rouge's warning), she would ignore them. It was a risky system, but so far, Rosto's Court had not gotten in her way, and she had not gotten in theirs. Sometimes, she even stopped to chat if she knew the individual that happened across her- most of the time, though, they simply ignored each other.
Beka and Rosto could not have been happier. They liked the fact that when they came home at night, they could forget their duties and enjoy each other's company, shedding the identity of 'Rouge' and 'Dog' and simply be Rosto and Beka. They used every excuse to be together. Beka even wrote her reports while in his presence, and though he sometimes looked over her shoulder, she didn't mind. By then she would have told him what happened anyway. She did not, however, let him read her journal- that bit was private information, and he knew better to argue with her. Still, he was curious, but he wouldn't dare peek at the pages. She trusted him, and he would never dare to ruin that trust.
One evening, as the rain poured down and Beka could hardly see, let alone chase a Rat, she chanced upon an illegal slave auction, made lazy because they thought no one would risk the weather to interrupt them. After hobbling the guards and getting reinforcements, Beka, Tunstall, Ersken, Birch, and three other patrols crashed the party. They easily stopped anyone who ran and protected the slaves as the buyers panicked, rushing about and adding to the chaos. Beka, who was sprawled on the floor after being tripped by a frantic merchant, was the only one to see the ringleader sneaking out a back door. Hauling herself up, she made sure she had all of her equipment before dashing after him.
The rain made it hard to see, but she managed to stay on him as he led her on a merry chase through the streets. She finally cornered him in an abandoned warehouse- one, she remembered, that had held another illegal slave auction a month before. Her voice echoing about her, she said, "I'd advise you to surrender. You're trapped, and I'll sit here all day if I have to."
He gave a cold laugh, turning to face her. "I won't be so sure, guardswoman. I have contacts- you see, the Rouge himself is a business partner of mine, and if he hears that I've been captured, he'll bail me free. You'll only get the satisfaction of seeing me in the cages for a few hours."
She narrowed her eyes. Rosto hadn't mentioned anything of the sort, but then again, he didn't really talk about Rouge business much. "Not if he doesn't get word that you're in there." She said, trying to buy time so she could work out the meaning behind his words. She was sure Rosto had said he had stopped associating with slavery… "We have means of making sure a message, ah, disappears."
"Nice try, girlie, but I have ways of making sure my messages arrive. My contacts are skilled in the art of sneaking about." He meant Rats, no doubt. Rats that, quite possibly, also worked for Rosto. "I also have information that may just sway your mind. If you put me in the cages and the Rouge doesn't bail me out, the whole of Corus will know that he and a certain Guardswoman have been canoodling. What about that? Will you sacrifice one of your own to that humiliation?"
So, he didn't know who she was- or, he didn't recognize her, since she had her full armor on and a cloak to ward off the rain. Grateful for that cover, at least, she snorted. "Why should I care how they spend their time? So long as I'm not the one on the chopping block, I don't care." Still, if he was telling the truth, then she would still be found out. What it really all depended on was if people would believe it…
"Ah, I see. So that's where your loyalties lie," He smiled, pulling out a purse. "I can pay you quite handsomely, of course, if you let me go. You'll never have need of anything again." The smile would have fooled an innocent, but Beka had learned how to sniff out a lie, and it was obvious he was deceiving her. "I don't care about money," She said, her voice ripe with contempt. "And I will see you in the cages by the end of the day." She began to pace toward him, making sure her baton was resting comfortably in her hand.
She was two strides away when he struck. A knife she hadn't known about whipped out, and she had to dive to the side to avoid it. He lunged toward her, and for a single, terrible instant, she thought that he would stab her. Then somehow she stopped him, and they grappled, Beka avoiding the knife and swinging with her baton, he blocking the baton with the knife and trying to stab her when she wasn't attacking.
She knew that his weight would make a difference in the struggle, and he knew it, too- Beka wasn't good at wrestling, for all that Rosto was trying to teach her. As he began to pin her down, she tried a few tricks Rosto had taught her, but apparently he was expecting them. Easily avoiding them, he trapped her arms between them, and soon the knife found its way to her neck. She froze, breathing heavily, glaring at him.
Though he shuddered at her eyes, he didn't budge. "Now, who's got who trapped?" He said. She didn't answer, only continued to glare at him. He was forced to avert his gaze. "Since we've come to an understanding, I'll just leave. I trust you won't come after me?" No answer. Shrugging, he said, "Oh well. You're just a Dog, after all. There are more than enough of them crawling about. Now, if you'll just let me be…"
His head did a funny thing then. It suddenly disappeared.
At least, that's what it looked like from her angle. As she scrambled up, she saw that it was still attached to his body, but not for long. There was a reason she stayed on Rosto's good side- he was not one to cross, and when he was angry, you either got out of his way, or paid the price.
And Rosto was not happy at the moment.
"Berret," he said, his voice dangerously low. "I should have known. As if the missing rushers weren't enough, the fact that two of them were murdered painted a clear target on your back. And when I get here, what do I find? You were trying to murder a Dog. And not just any Dog, at that. You were trying to murder my Dog, who protects me as well as those under my care. I don't like pretty coin wasted because you decide to steal my throne in an underhanded way." Beka knew that Rosto was close to bursting, and was close to doing something he would regret. Slowly, she stood, noticing with relief that Aniki, Kora, and Bold Brian were there as well. "Rogue business, Beka," Kora said softly. "Berret murdered Reed Katie and Coralina, a runner who was in the wrong place at the wrong time." There was pain in her eyes- Coralina was a gixie of only twelve years, and had only just joined Aniki's coterie of female Rats. Due to her small size, she had happily agreed to run messages for the Queen of the Rogue, and Beka knew from first-hand experience that the girl would never harm a fly. Nodding, Beka stepped aside. "Be my guest." Her voice was hard. "Just wait until I leave the building."
"Of course," Kora assured as they stepped up behind Rosto. "We'll take it from here."
As they interrogated the man, Rosto dragged Beka to a secluded section of the warehouse, and promptly pulled her close. "Don't ever give me a fright like that again," He gasped, kissing her face repeatedly. She made no move to stop him. "He was bigger than me," She pointed out. "And he knew the tricks you taught me. If you hadn't arrived, he may be gone by now, and I'd quite possibly be dead." They both shuddered at that thought.
A particularly painful yell reminded them that Rosto still had a job to do, and chatting with Beka wasn't it. "I'll be late to dinner," he whispered, squeezing her hand. "Wait for me?"
"Of course," She replied, kissing him. "Just don't stay out too long."
They parted, Rosto striding to the now docile Barret with a determined look on his face, and Beka leaving through the door she had entered with. The last look she had gotten of her lover was him standing before Barret, speaking in a low voice that Beka knew meant business. She ducked out before she could see anything that would force her to arrest the lot of them, friends or no.
She wasn't sure, but she thought Bold Brian had winked at her as she left.
She found her way back to the now-demolished slave auction, where Tunstall was waiting impatiently with a rather bored and put-out Achoo. Upon seeing her handler, the scent hound perked up, wagging her tail enthusiastically. With a sting of guilt Beka realized that she had left the dog to guard a door that no one would use, and therefore tortured her by letting her see all the action, but not be a part of it. "You'll get a big meal when we're through, I swear," She said, bending down to pet her hound. Achoo barked, wriggling happily.
Tunstall let out an aggravated sight. "And where," he asked, "have you been?" She could tell that he was annoyed with her coming back empty-handed, but really, there wasn't much she could do… at least, that's what she told herself. She braced herself for his flood of admonishments. "I was chasing a Rat, only to have him escape when Rosto grabbed him before me. I didn't really get a chance to argue; he just gabbled something about Rogue business and left." She sighed. "Though I can't complain overmuch; the Rat had me by knife-point." She rubbed the red welt the blade had made.
Sure enough, Tunstall began berating her on her judgment, complaining that they were partners, and that partners needed to stick together. She didn't bother pointing out that he had been busy with his own fight at the time, and in the time it would take to drag him away, her Rat would have already gone and run away. She knew he had been worried, and was just letting out steam; he would tire in a bit.
She left him at the Mantel and Pullet, where he would, much to his dismay, be eating dinner by himself. That attitude changed when he saw Sabine waiting for him. Beka had dropped the Lady a hint earlier in the day that she was eating with other friends, and that she hated leaving Tunstall alone like that. The knight had been more than happy to play along. Seeing the two lovebirds cooing about each other, Beka grinned, then headed toward the Dove with a skip to her step. Despite the rain, she thought it had been a rather pleasant evening. After all, she had survived another day, hadn't she?
And tomorrow was Court Day- meaning that she and Rosto would be able to catch up on some lost time. Smiling, she began to change, carefully unbraiding her hair and putting it up in a practical yet stylish bun that Kora had taught her a few days before.
She was dried and wearing a loose cotton shirt and breeches when Rosto finally arrived, dripping wet but grinning. "Lovely weather, isn't it?" He said breezily, sloshing into her room and proceeding to shed his clothes. "Makes a man glad to be alive."
"Very funny," She said dryly, moving behind him to put his clothes in the washbasin, ringing them out as she did so and draping them over chairs, curtain rods, and trunks. "What happened to your cloak? That would have kept you reasonably dry."
"Love, nothing can stay dry in this weather," He replied, grinning cheekily. "I'm probably drowning inside, since I soaked up so much water." Now dressed in only a loincloth, he rooted around her clothes before finding a spare set of his. Beka tossed him a towel. "Dry off as I get a fire going," She said. He complied, and soon the room was warm, the food was good, and the company was even better. Laughing at one of Bold Brian's escapades that Rosto was retelling, she was startled to find that her door was open- and that anyone could simply pass by and see the two of them curled up together on the floor in a very non-platonic way.
He seemed to notice it, too. "I'll be right back," he promised, standing up to close the door behind him and, by the sound of his footsteps, going to his own room in the attic. Sighing, Beka traced patterns in the wooden floor, missing the warmth he had provided at her back. Snagging another slice of apple, she munched on it before he returned, toting a lovely red rose.
Her eyes lit up. "What's the occasion this time?" She asked. "I don't recall doing anything special, like getting sick, or becoming a soulless husk." Still, she accepted it with her usual reverence, her fingers softly tracing the deep red petals.
"Well," He said, crouching before her, "I thought now would be a good time." He cleared his throat, and Beka noticed that he had, once again, left the door opened. Standing, she moved to close it, and behind her Rosto shifted uncomfortably. "Beka," he said, and then when she looked at him expectantly, he seemed to forget what he was going to say.
She frowned, reaching for the door handle again. "If you aren't going to tell me what's on your mind, you might as well leave. I still have reports to do, and I need to write in my journal." He blinked, and then said softly, "Wait." She did so, looking at him expectantly. He crossed over to her, kissing her sweetly, and when she was thoroughly melted a small box appeared in his hand. "Beka," he started again, "I know now's not the perfect time, but after seeing that knife at your throat…" his voice trailed off, and then he started again. "Beka, please, will you spend the rest of your life with me, so long as you desire it?"
She stared. Eyes wide, she simply stood there, completely forgetting how to speak or form words. The rose quivered in her hands- Rosto continued to hold her gaze, his free hand holding hers. "Is that another way to ask me to marry you?" She finally managed to croak out.
Rosto gave a small smile. "No. It means exactly what it says. You've told me so many times that you don't want to be with a rusher. Right now, seeing you with me, it makes me feel honored that you trust me enough to take the relationship this far. Being with you has been the best thing that's happened to me; and Beka, we work. Everyone knows it. You and I are a team. The streets have never been so peaceful, never been so safe. Together we have changed so much; just imagine what we can do in the future! I want to be with you forever, Beka, and if this is the way to do it, I will put forth everything I can to make it come true. You can still leave at any time, only this way, you and I won't be trapped in a marriage. This way, you will be free to be with me as long as you want until you decide that we can't be together. But Beka, I swear that it won't ever come to that."
"You don't have to tell me that," She said after a lengthy pause, one in which Rosto's eyes never left hers. "I know." Tears pricked at her eyes. "And yes, I want to be with you too. Whatever it takes, Rosto." She flung her arms around his neck, and with a whoop of joy he swung her around, kissing her passionately. Her heart soared- how could she have been so lucky to find the one man who understood her like this, who knew what she was feeling even when she didn't express it? Rosto was making a great sacrifice on his part for her, and she loved him even more for it. She knew that if they got married, she'd be gone within the year. This way, he had allowed her to stay with him without feeling caged, and she knew in her heart that they would stay together.
Achoo, from where she had been lounging by the fire, barked a question, tail thumping as she looked on at their rather silly show of affection. But seeing as she was being ignored, she went back to dozing, moving closer to the fire.
Rosto tucked the rose behind her ear, and then opened the box, revealing a small silver band set with diamonds and an opal in the center that sparkled with every color of the rainbow. "I know you like opals," he said, "And this just reminded me of you. Simple, yet memorable- no matter where you are, you make a statement." Blinking back tears, Beka slid it on the ring finger of her right hand, finding that it fit perfectly. "It's beautiful," She whispered. Then she kissed him again.
The next day, the Dogs and eventually the Lower City would be in an uproar, trying to figure out who their beloved Mastiff had fallen for. And only Tunstall and Goodwin, who would be told by Beka herself, would know, as well as Aniki, Phelan, Kora, and Ersken. Though many would suspect, only those few would know the truth- that Guardswoman Rebakah Cooper, the Terrier, Bloodhound, and Mastiff, was symbolically bonded to the Piper, the Scanran rusher turned Rogue of Corus. And both of them knew that it was the best decision they had made in their entire lives.
Just a small note before the confusion sets in about Beka's ring...
Yes, many people may point out that the ring should have gone on Beka's left hand, since they are engaged. But I must point out that she's only symbolically bonded- therefore, she promised to be with him, but not marry him. Thus, the ring finger of her right hand. People normally wear it on that hand if they're not certain about being engaged, but in this case it's because Beka is promising to stay with him so long as she still loves him.
I don't know if that cleared anything up, but I hope it helps.
Anyway, review please! I like hearing what you think about my stories :)