I
Said Styx didn't give a shit about the Inquisition, about Nym or any other of those assholes, he had left that behind him long ago, buried deep in the muddier bits of his mind. The Empire had been severely wounded, the Zealot was dead, the Emperor a pile of mush on the bottom of the Mire and the Orcish rebellion raged on and on. After all the trouble he had been through, Styx had departed from his buddy Arkail, promising the big guy to soon see him again, him and his family, as soon as Ark had the time. For now, the Arkail the Butcher was busy smashing palefaces to pieces for honor or Mother Earth or something, like he always did, and Styx minded his own business.
Spending his hard-earned money at a tavern, that is.
He was drinking mead with a friend of his, a red-haired Dragonelf named Sicca who was as brazen as he was short, and always fun to chat with. They talked about this and that and eventually ended up talking about Siccas numerous romances with all sorts of women, and what he had planned for tonight.
"Ahhh, Dark Elves...", Sicca said dreamily, "I can't get enough of red eyes. So damn pretty, I tell you. Hey, I've never seen you with a girl. What about you? What do you like?"
"I'm a Goblin, stupid, that doesn't really make it easy. All the other Goblins are mindless rats, not very good for reputation. Not like you Dragonelves, everybody likes you", Styx replied, sipping at his mead.
"You can pay any kind of girl to do you a favor, you know?", Sicca said, winking rakishly.
"I'm not really into that... Sure, sometimes it makes stuff easier, in hard times, but I don't like it. Besides... I can't stand the smell of humans, and most of them are humans."
Sicca thought for a second, glancing around the room. Styx didn't pay him much mind, he was busy with his mead.
"Do you like Dragonelves?"
"More than Elves and humans, so yeah, I guess..."
"In that case, you should talk to Maera."
"Who the fuck is Maera?", Styx asked. Sicca pointed.
Across the tavern room, stuffed with mixed-bloods, humans and all kinds of Elves laughing and drinking, a Dragonelf girl was sitting on a table by herself, a flask of golden wine next to her, reading in a huge dusty old book. Her long dreadlocks were silver-blond, her big eyes hazelnut brown. A barnowl was perched on her shoulder. From time to time, she reached in a pouch on her belt that held her woolen robes together, picked out a chunk of raw meat and gave it to the owl, without looking up from her book. Her left hand was clad in a leather falconry gauntlet. According to her functional, yet elegant robes dominated by shades of dark pine and ivory that reminded one of the mages' novice clothing, she belonged to the staff of the Thaumaturgan Academy, even though her own set seemed to be a little more worn and messy than the usual prim correctness of those guys. She seemed deeply concentrated, yet she was a vision of delight. Styx glanced at her for a second and decided that he shouldn't even try.
"Nope, fuck this."
"Oh, you should totally talk to her! I know Maera from the Library, she works there! You have plenty of things in common!"
"Oh yeah, totally! A distinguished Librarian bookworm talk to a Goblin like me? You must have taken a blow to the head, Sic."
"Shut up and trust me. She's different and very special! She's a Dragonelf, you know what we are like! What do you have to lose?", Sicca laughed.
"I dunno. Not feeling like it. Ouch!" Sicca had given him a punch. "Move it!"
Styx resisted for a moment, but Sicca kept pushing and teasing. Finally, Styx gave in just to make him shut up. He really didn't feel like flirting right now. In fact, he rarely felt like it, for over two hundred years of experience had show him that the vast majority of women of any race thought of Goblins as vermin (justifiably, since Styx was the only exception), and the tiny lot that would agree to not flee from his overtures requested payment. Styx did have a bunch of female friends, like Fox from the Black Hand and Arkence the Mage, but that was the point. They were friends, and any advances from his side were a guarantor for either a dagger or a lightning in his ass. This was going to be a conversation of that kind, he was pretty damn sure. He just wondered whether the Dragonelf would toss her book or her glass at him. Or her owl.
Grumpily, Styx shuffled over to Maera and sat on a free spot next to her on the bench, prepared for a short chitchat with a boring geek and to be rebuffed immediately. He already thought about a fitting insult for Sicca for his stupid ideas when coming back to him.
"Hi...", Styx started lamely, but before he could say anything else, Maera quickly rose up one finger to keep him silent. She didn't bother to look up, her eyes still flying over the letters of the old book.
A few awkward seconds passed.
"The fuck...", Styx tried again.
"Shhh!"
Maera kept reading for another half a minute. Then, so sudden that Styx flinched a little, she gazed up at him, with a wide smile on her face, her eyes glittering with excitement.
"I never knew that Raelor the Raven took alchemy lessons from Paracelsus himself! His poisons made him the most successful assassin in history! He even invented a potion that tasted like honey and made the lungs of the victim burst, so it would suffocate on its own blood after drinking a poisoned cup of tea! Isn't that amazing?"
Styx stared at her with an open mouth. Maera blinked, a sheepish look on her face, as if she just had realized her own outburst.
"Oh, I'm sorry for that... The research on the history of alchemy always makes me a little... overly enthusiastic." With an abashed sigh, she carefully closed the book. "The other researchers at the Academy sometimes think I'm creepy, being that interested in acids and poison and stuff... I'm sorry, what were you going to say?"
"I was actually trying to say hello and leave a second after that, but then you spoke about the legendary Raelor the Raven and poisons. My name is Styx", Styx said, with an amused grin on his face. This could turn out to be more interesting that he thought.
"My name is Maera." She smiled warmly, looking him over.
"You are a Goblin?"
"No, I'm an oyster. What did you think?", he said, a little too harsh, but Maera just laughed.
"I think I've heard of you."
"Nobody has heard of me. All the ones that heard of me are dead."
"We shall see. Ask me about the music of life."
"The fuck...? What do you know about that?"
"Ask me."
Styx was starting to think that this girl was a little odd in more than one way. Why did she know the secret question to open the door of the northern Dark Brotherhood sanctuary? Whispering, so nobody else could hear, he asked her.
"What is the music of life?"
"Silence, my brother."
Styx was impressed, and most curious.
"Correct. I guess you owe me an explanation. Why the fuck do you know about that? You are not even a member!"
"Have you ever been to the Old Thaumaturgan Academy? Most Academies are on the side of the rebellion, for we suffer under the Inquisition as much as most free folk. We secretly provide knowledge, spells, runes and alchemic products to lots of organizations that oppose the Empire. We help them, they help us, you know how that works. The Dark Brotherhood visits quite often to refill their stocks, and as there's some Dragonelves among them, I am quite well informed. I've heard of you, you seem to be quite successful."
"Oh, I'm just the best assassin that ever lived. I'm sure I could do better than Raelor the Raven!"
"You are just as modest as I've been told", Maera said, laughing.
"Do I owe you this?", Styx wanted to know, putting a vial of light green acid on the table. Maera took it in her delicate little hands and shook it.
"No. I'm pretty sure Master Cornix mixed this. I'm not a very advanced alchemist, I'm a literature researcher and Librarian. I'm good at knowing stuff, not dissolving stuff." She handed him the vial back with a wink.
"But you are interested in dissolving stuff?", Styx asked.
"In alchemy, yes. But also runemagic, history, scrollwriting, spellcasting, poetry... Anything written", Maera said, with a gentle tap on the book. Styx tilted his head a little to read the title and author.
"Paracelsus... I've already read something of that guy. He has written the Astronomia Magna, hasn't he?"
"You know that one?", Maera asked with wide eyes. "Most other Librarians refuse to read it due to the very explicit anatomical details. It's actually pretty nasty how vividly he describes what his poisons do to flesh..."
"I know, it's gross! And you are fine with that?", Styx wanted to know, impressed.
"Fuck those wimps. The bloody bits are not too troublesome for me, I actually think it's quite interesting... Paracelsus' formula of the venule-elixir is pure genius."
"I have a bottle of it right here."
Styx put a small vial of light-purple poison on the table, and her eyes lit up.
Maera was enchanted. She asked him everything about the poison and his experiences with it in practice, and then looked up some information on the poison for him in her book, which was some kind of almanac. She explained him how it was made and what else it could be used for. Soon, they talked about Styx's latest missions and his adventures with the Inquisition, and she wanted to know everything. Styx was captivated. Maera turned out to be most interesting and entertaining, and she didn't shy away from anything he told her. On the contrary, she asked him question after question, and he gladly answered them in all their bloody details. Surprisingly, he found himself asking her about her work and life in the Academy as well, even though he had never really cared about the bookworms there, but hearing about the secret support they offered the rebellion from somebody who was directly involved in it was more exciting than Styx would have thought. The Academy and especially the alchemy section seemed to be an even bigger string puller than he had already known, and when he dared to ask her about the more sanguinary aspects of the research done there, she didn't flinch from his gory interest. Quite the opposite, Maera shuffled closer to the Goblin until they sat shoulder to shoulder. Talking to her felt more like talking to a good buddy he's known for ages, but with a most beautiful smell and probably the most seductive eyes he had ever seen. Styx couldn't help but feel strangely attracted to her, even though they didn't actually flirt. He made her compliments from time to time, and surprisingly she did too, which was another thing hard to believe for him. He felt a little like he was dreaming, and it was not a nightmare for once. As it got later, they both sat so close together that she was almost sitting on his lap, and as she had complained about the cold he had put an arm around her shoulders. Still, they were not flirting. But somehow they were getting closer to each other. It was strange to Styx, yet he really, really liked it and he wouldn't have left the place for a ton of gold right now. He made a joke and Maera laughed, and then she turned her face to his.
She kissed him.
Styx was so surprised he forgot to breathe. For a few heartbeats he froze, utterly stunned, but she smelled so wonderful and her lips felt so sweet on his that he couldn't help but return the kiss. When they stopped, she opened her eyes and gazed at him. He made a completely baffled face, his long ears pricked up and wide-eyed with surprise, but Maera just looked as if stopping was the most stupid idea he could possibly have come up with. She inclined her head, her eyes closing slowly, and brought her face closer to his once more. Styx agreed by tilting his head a little and leaned in to kiss her again. He felt her warm tongue brush against his lips and he opened his mouth slightly, taking her in and answering the same way. Her sharp, pointy teeth tickled against his tongue. The taste of her mouth was so sweet and heady that he felt like savoring some expensive wine, making his head swim. This was definitely better than drinking mead with Sicca.
Styx couldn't have said for how long they kept kissing, but it must have been quite a while, for somehow she got her hands under his hood and stroked the stringy muscles on his greenish mottled chest, while he was holding her by her waist, running his hands up and down her slender back. Typical for Dragonelves, her green skin had an unusually high temperature and her warm hands drove pleasant chills up his spine. Styx started to feel a certain tension in the abdomen area, and by her quick breathing he could tell that she liked it just as much. As if she had read his mind, Maera pushed away from him and stared him deeply in the eyes, her dark irises glittering.
"I'm tired of this place. Let's get somewhere else, with less people around. What do you think?"
"Good plan", Styx said with a wide smile. She grinned, stuffed her book in a bag and carried the owl on her gauntlet. She took Styx by the arm and led the way up the stairs to the guestrooms. As Styx glanced about the room one last time, he noticed Sicca at the bar, with a sassy wide grin on his face, raising him a toast with his cup. Styx quickly made a mental note to pay his friend some rounds of whatever drink he wanted if this night was going to continue like it did.
Maera lead him to the guest room at the very end of the wooden corridor. The room was dimly lit with some candles and a small lantern. There was a large narrow bed draped with blankets, with a small table next to it. The windows were closed but for one, and the moonlight shone through the glass. The barnowl, which was named Bryn, as Styx had learned, flew through an open window outside into the night to hunt. Styx and Maera staggered to the bed, took place on the edge and continued kissing. She helped him remove some of the harder parts of his leather armor, the gauntlets, scratchy shinpads and shoulder armor, scattering them on the floor. Watching her subtle little hands undo the belt buckles and toss away his armor bit by bit made him feel dizzy. The good way. All the while, he caressed the area behind her long, pointy ears with his fingers, running them along the ridge. It made her purr. He liked that sound. Styx's head swam and he still couldn't quite believe how lucky he was, when suddenly Maera pushed him away.
"I'm thirsty. Would you be so kind and fetch us a flagon of mead from downstairs?"
"As you wish, beautiful."
Flashing her a dirty grin before he turned to the door, Styx went downstairs. He was slightly disappointed to be sent away like that, but eager to keep her in a good mood and almost nervously excited about what the night might bring. When he came back in the room, all he could do was stand there and stare confused.
Maera was standing in the middle of the place, with a big dark-green cloak covering all of her body. "Close the door", she said softly, her eyes never leaving his.
"What..."
"Shhhh."
Some instinct told Styx that it might be a good idea to hold his tongue and obediently locked the door behind him. When he turned around again, Maera let the cloak drop to the floor. Under it she wore a sash that covered the lower part of her belly and her hips.
Apart from that, she was all naked.
Even though she was as tall as the Goblin, just a little more than half as tall as a human, her torso was shorter than his, with slim shoulders and small, but very beautifully shaped, firm breasts and a slim waist. He could see the muscles of her belly under her light-green skin. Her lower body was much wider than her shoulders, with wide pear-shaped hips and curvy thighs. Her long legs ended in ankles as delicate as her hands. Styx couldn't help but stare at her speechless, his glowing eyes wandering about the smooth curves of her body, admiring the elegant way her waistline descended into the voluptuous swing of her legs. The candlelight made her soft brown eyes shimmer golden. She was amazingly beautiful.
"Give me the flagon", Maera ordered softly. Styx handed it to her, still stunned with awe, his mouth turned dry. Maera made a few steps back until she reached the edge of the bed. She knelt on the bed, removed the stopper from the flagon, tilted her head back and poured the mead slowly over her chest. The golden liquid trickled down her breasts, dripping from the tips down onto her belly, down her abdomen and thighs and made her skin glisten in the candlelight.
Styx thought for a second he was going to faint.
"Are you not thirsty for some mead as well? Come and help yourself", Maera whispered. She didn't have to say that twice.
A heartbeat later Styx found himself on the bed, kneeling in front of her, kissing her neck and licking the mead from her naked skin. Maera snickered as his tongue glided across her body and poured some more mead over her, then she took a swallow herself and put the bottle aside. Styx was sure that no mead had ever tasted as sweet as the one he licked from her naked belly. She moaned softly when he hungrily traced her breasts with his tongue, swirling it around her nipples until they became stiff. His hands shook with desire when he let them wander over her burning skin, his sharp claws leaving dark traces were he grazed it in his rising tension. The two kept caressing and kissing each other, and her warm hands felt wonderful on his back and chest. Soon, he was almost naked as well, dressed only in his short, ragged pants. While he was holding her by the hips, fervently stroking her breasts with his free hand and licking her neck, Maera let her hands roam over his chest and belly.
Styx could see a hungry glitter in her eyes as she traced the pronounced edges of his abdominal muscles with her fingers, the glowing lines of his tattoo and the strong, stringy muscles of his arms under the scarred, greenish skin. She liked his body, and she let him feel that. Styx felt just the same. Maera's body, the way it moved, the way her soft lips and warm tongue felt on his muscles, all that nearly drove him insane. Her kisses didn't taste of duty, and the desire in her gaze and the way she trembled when he touched her, it was all honest. She didn't want his gold, she wanted him, his body, his hands all over her. Whatever he had done to deserve this was an enigma to Styx, but he fucking wouldn't stop it.
Then Maera slid her subtle hand into his pants without a warning, closed her fingers around his shaft and started to gently stroke him.
Styx gasped. It felt so amazing he forgot to breathe for a few seconds. Nuzzling the curve of her neck, he thankfully enjoyed her caresses for a while, ears drooping and eyes closed. He quit his blissful purring when he felt her tug at her sash. He got the hint and stripped her out of it, pulling her against him, his hands savoring her ample, firm rear. Then he slid one hand between her thighs, feeling the wetness there. Carefully probing his way, he found that sweet spot and carefully stroked it with circular motions. Styx grinned as a shuddering moan escaped Maera's throat in sudden arousal and she clutched his back with her sharp claws, shivering as he carried on.
Styx's instincts normally would tell him to get to the point as fast as possible, with as little sentimental fussing as possible. Even though he was unique in the true sense of the word and preferred to stay alone, he still had needs, and if that meant paying some girl to do him a favor, preferable turning her in a way that spared him the view of her face, that was the way it went. The fact that he couldn't really stand the smell of humans and Elves didn't make it better. Because of that, his encounters with women were scarce, usually rough and short, and afterwards he often felt worse than before.
But this… This was a gift.
Styx felt deep inside his torn heart, behind the blackened walls of anger and buried shadows, that this was an once-in-a-lifetime treat that he better not fucked up.
Make it good, Rakash, he told himself. Make it nice for her.
He gave in to Maera's hungry kisses and wet skin bucking against his, her hot breath on his neck, her hands all over him. The life as a thief and assassin had given him fingers as deft as a surgeon's, and the way he caressed her sensitive ears and the centre of her heat between her thighs made her shiver with lust. He could have done this forever, if she didn't have the most skillful hands herself. Soon, Styx had the feeling he couldn't bear the tension a mere heartbeat longer without bursting. He carefully pushed Maera to lie down on her back, and she willingly did. She glanced up at him, her eyes black with desire, signaling him to come as close to her as possible.
"Be gentle", she whispered. Styx just nodded, bent over her and kissed her hungrily as he entered her. Maera gave a short gasp, but then smiled against his lips and crossed her legs behind his back, pushing him in further. Styx stroked her face and breast while he was moving inside her. He could hear his blood rushing in his ears, and his vision was blurred but for Maera winding under him.
He muttered a curse under his breath, desperately biting back a loud moan. Being inside her felt so good he was close to losing his mind. For a short eternity they kept on moving, until Styx felt that he couldn't last much longer. Grinding his teeth, he held himself back. Caressing her nipples and the tips of her pointy ears with his tongue, he concentrated on Maera and her breathy yelps of delight until he felt her convulse, her hands clutching to his back. Her sharp nails scratched his skin and she wound and twisted under him, moaning with enjoyment. A heartbeat later Maera climaxed, her head tilted back and her back arched, and as she trembled with ecstasy Styx came as well, losing himself in the sensation.
Gasping for air and sweating, they lay atop each other and enjoyed the aftermath of their feelings. Finally, Maera started to snicker quietly, pushing at his shoulders. Styx rolled to the side, with a wide grin on his lips. He lay next to her, taking her in his arms to kiss her. Seeing her blissful smile made the profound satisfaction he felt even more enjoyable.
"Judging by that face of yours, I must have been pretty good", Maera said laughing.
"Hell yeah", Styx replied. "And judging by the noise you made, same goes for me."
She punched his arm. "Look who's talking. But I guess you are right. That was most amazing."
"The feeling's mutual, beautiful", Styx said. She kissed him again and pulled one of the blankets over their bodies. She was still trying to catch her breath, snuggling up to him. Styx wrapped her in his arms and deeply inhaled her scent. He was satisfied and relaxed from head to toe, and started to feel a leaden tiredness take over, but not that exhausted, blurry weariness he usually felt when he went to sleep. Maera felt like a remedy.
They talked for some time, yawning and kissing, until they both fell asleep.
When Styx woke up the next morning, his first reflex was to silently climb out of the bed without making a sound.
The sun was just about to rise, filling the room with a dim, buttery light. Early morning fog covered the meadows outside of the tavern in thick white shrouds. Styx quickly gathered his dagger and armor, dressed and made his way to the window ledge. The open window that Bryn, the owl, had used to fly out last evening was too small for him, and the other windows were locked. He nimbly picked a lock and jumped on the window ledge, ready to leave quiet as a shadow. The morning mist that covered his face in cold dampness was perfect to hide in, allowing him to leave without anyone noticing. He had slept more than well, surprisingly without any terrible nightmares haunting him, leaving him covered in sweat and with racking headaches. On the contrary, he felt fresh and well rested, ready to head for the next mission, another pathetic life to take, another stolen artifact to retrieve, another valuable knick-knack to steal, hiding in the dark from a hundred guards on his ass, chasing and cursing him as if he was a rat. Back to the Black Hand headquarter, or the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, depending on his next target. Get paid. And then, he would be on his way once more…
Styx hesitated.
He turned his head back and looked at the silhouette of Maera sleeping, the steady rise and fall of her chest, her silver dreadlocks that peeked out from the blanket. In every other occasion, Styx would hit the road as fast as he could to avoid any kind of awkward conversation that might happen after a busy night. Something like that occurred rarely enough in his life, but he still wasn't keen on embarrassing pillow talk the morning after. Besides, he had stuff to do. There was some Inquisition asshole waiting for him to be introduced to his dagger. Huffing, he peered out in the mist, but somehow he couldn't make himself jump down from the ledge.
The memory of last evening came back to his mind, the nice conversation with the Dragonelf and the sweet pleasures the two had had in bed. Styx remembered how comfortable he had felt when he was with Maera, how naturally he had talked with her, as if she was an old buddy he's known for ages. An old buddy with some smoking hot tempting curves, that is, and magical hands. That was a pretty special thing, he reflected. Maera was different from any other person he had ever known, and he had met quite a lot of persons in his long life. Only few were among them that didn't make him want to stab them in the face. Plus, Maera seemed to like him enough to give him the night of his life. She liked him enough to voluntarily jump into bed with him in the first place! He had never slept better than in this night, without any nightmares or headaches.
Now that Styx thought about it, simply running away suddenly seemed like a pretty fucking stupid idea. He considered staying, at least to say goodbye. That might lead to the awkward morning-after-talk he hated so much, with her regretting what she had done with a Goblin last night or something. On the other hand, Maera didn't seem to have been drunk last evening, and it was her idea to get down and dirty. Maybe it was worth a try.
Finally, Styx made up his mind and jumped back into the room. He slipped out of the door and sneaked downstairs into the tavern's kitchen to return with a tablet, covered with hot oatbread, honey, cold deer roast and pears. He carefully placed it on the table next to the bed and the empty mead bottle, which evoked some sweet memories and made him grin. Then he bent over the sleeping Dragonelf and shook her gently to wake her up. Maera turned to him, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"Styx... You're still here?" she asked, blinking.
"Guess what, I'm most surprised about that myself. Did you hope I was gone by now?", Styx came back. He sat cross-legged on the bed in front of her, grinning widely.
"No, I'm glad you stayed. You just didn't seem like the kind of person to me to come up with a breakfast the next morning."
Then she saw the tablet, and her eyes went wide with surprise. "Alright, I didn't expect that either. I must admit, I'm impressed." Maera sat up and quickly gave him a kiss, not caring about the blanket slipping down to her waist, leaving her upper body naked. Styx swallowed heavily and concentrated on not staring at her breasts all the time. She looked adorable with her dreadlocks all messy and her big eyes still a little drowsy.
"I could eat a horse", she announced, stretching her arms and arching her back.
Dammit…
It took all of Styx's willpower not to get aroused all over again.
"Well, it's just deer, but if the noble lady will make do with that..."
"Don't you call me a lady, stupid", Maera snapped and punched his arm playfully. "It looks great, thank you. By the way, have you seen Bryn?"
As an answer, a hoot came from the rafters, and a second later the barn owl flew down to perch on Maera's raised hand. She stroked its fluffy belly and let it sit on the backdrop of the bed.
Styx and Maera had breakfast together and again talked about this and that. Her table manners were as bad as he recalled from last evening and she wolfed down the meat as if she hadn't eaten in days.
"Fwhat?", she muttered with a full mouth when she saw Styx's amused grin. "Fucking makes me hungry."
He decided that he didn't mind.
By the time they were done, Maera stood up and got dressed. Seeing her walk from the bed to her pile of clothes naked challenged Styx's self control once more, and he had to shift to prevent his belts and straps from hurting his tense abdomen area. She didn't seem to feel ashamed in his presence, not a bit. He liked that. Maera went over to tie the bird to her gauntlet and let it sit on her left hand. When she was done, she gathered up her bag with the books and walked back towards him.
Styx suddenly got a little nervous. Time to say goodbye. He would get back to his assassinations, and she would get back to her Library. Somehow, the thought made him feel uneasy.
Don't be stupid, Rakash, he told himself, after a one-night-stand you say goodbye and that's it. No big deal. That's how it goes, so get your shit together and be thankful for the great time last night.
Still, he didn't like the thought of leaving. Not at all.
As it turned out, Maera had other plans than that.
"Well... What now? Ah, don't say anything. Hear me out. I'm not sure how you think about this, but I really, really enjoyed your company. And I'm not just talking about the stuff you did in bed, though that was more than pleasant. I can imagine that a Library is probably not the place you normally spend time in, but if you're interested to take a look at the alchemy section and the books I told you of, you are welcome to visit me. If you care to see me again, that is", Maera said with one arm put on her hip. That was unexpected.
Styx had to admit he liked the idea more than he could put into words.
"Same goes for me, beautiful", he replied. "Listen Maera, I'll first have to finish another mission, and when I'm done I'll stop by. For a professional like me, it won't take longer than three days."
"Assassinating that ambassador of the Inquisition?", Maera asked.
"Just that. Not gonna be too tricky. What do you think?"
"I'm already looking forward to it", she said with a broad smile. She approached him, put her free hand on his chest and leaned in to give him one last kiss. Styx cupped her face in his hands and answered the same way, and the kiss lasted quite a while, longer than a normal farewell kiss. The two stopped when Bryn suddenly gave a loud hoot, smiling a little awkwardly at each other for a second.
"See you soon, and take care", Maera said.
"Don't worry, these fuckers don't have chance!", Styx replied, already sitting on the window ledge, ready to jump down. Then the two departed, each one back to the place they came from. Styx prowled through the mist that slowly dissolved in the rays of the morning sun, to the contact that would take him to the Inquisition Embassy. Strangely enough, he mused, even though Maera and he seemed to be totally different on the face of it, they were not so different after all. But for now he had to focus on his target – first work, then play.