6/15/09
A/N: Sorry if that last part seemed a bit rushed. I'm experimenting with longer chapters and having less of them at the same time. As always, I'm sure certain things in my plotline must seem like a major 'duh' to you but it must be this way. I know I really should have them finding certain things out a lot faster. There will be a few more dreams and poems from Kitana's notebooks. I made those up myself and if you would like to borrow them for whatever reason please feel free, just ask me first.
Disclaimer: I do not own Drizzt and Co. they belong to R.A. Salvatore. I do not wish to steal them and I'm only borrowing them for a little bit because I am seriously messed up in the head. Kitana, her grandmother, Hitori and anyone else you do not recognize are (or should be) my own creation.
Warning: Excessive use of foul language, violent ideas. violence, most likely inappropriate subjects and inappropriate subjects (I put both to be on the safe side), mush and later on, sexual situations. Please do not continue reading this if you do not like or approve of the aforementioned. (That was meant to cover the entire story)
Chapter Six: First Night Out In How Long?
"Where the hell have you been?" Entreri demanded. Jarlaxle merely grinned happily in the face of the irate assassin.
"My friend, do you doubt that I have been useful? Why not ask what I have been doing instead." Jarlaxle's smile widened a little more. To everyone else in the room it looked like if his grin went any wider, the top half of his head would fell back as though on a hinge. Entertaining as the idea was, the companions did not have time to think on the image.
"Do I want to know what you have been doing?" Entreri asked not bothering to hide his disgust. Knowing Jarlaxle it involved a number of undoubtedly beautiful and well endowed women.
"Ah my friend," Jarlaxle started with a knowing expression. "How could you think so low of me? I was out gathering information." He paused in place of the assassins still doubting expression. "I am being quite honest with you Artemis, and I have learned some things that will interest even you."
"And what would that be?" Entreri asked sarcastically.
"Do you recall what Kitana told you about one of her dreams that you relayed to me?"
"Do elaborate," The assassin scowled, why did Jarlaxle have to turn everything into a game? Was it even possible for him to be serious?
"About the men in the long robes," Jarlaxle specified. Entreri remembered now and bade the mercenary to continue. "There are two wizards in this town that match the description and one of Kitana's drawings. I think they are the lesser wizards of the ones she mentioned. I saw them at the party her grandmother went to last night."
"Does her grandmother know them?" Entreri was now highly suspicious. This was starting to become far too convenient.
"It appears to me that they know each other on strictly business terms." The drow paused again to watch Entreri. When he received no answer he continued. "I did not get terribly close to them I'm afraid. I did not want to look like I was up to something."
Entreri let out a disgusted snort. His earlier thoughts about where the drow had been were just proven correct. "You mean there were too many women for you to stare at and try to get into your bed," he said to Jarlaxle before he turned away.
"Oh and one more thing Artemis," Jarlaxle called. Entreri turned to face the drow again with an annoyed expression clear on his face. "Tell Kitana that her grandmother is going to another formal party tonight and wants to bring her along. She needs to get ready, her grandmother plans to try to humiliate her tonight. She needs a proper dress."
The assassin raised an eyebrow but nodded. Once again he wondered what the hell was going on here.
Kitana was not happy about the news at all but did not make as much of a big deal of it as Entreri thought she would have. Instead, she calmly sat down and thought of what she could do. She didn't have any dresses. Her grandmother had taken them all way a while ago for just the purpose of humiliating her in public. Kitana was still sure that there were a few around the house somewhere but she could not afford to look or even worse, ask her grandmother for one. She refused to sink to that level. On a whim she pulled out a catalog and flipped through it. She had marked a few pages with dressed she had thought were nice one night while she had been drinking with Hitori. Hitori had provided the magazine. Kitana drummed her fingers on her desk idly, wondering what she was going to do. She had no way to call the half drow and ask him the favor.
She lazily turned the page to the dress she had chosen as her favorite. It was a burgundy red, floor-length gown that was halter style on top with a cut in the front that would end a quarter of the way down her belly. The pieces that would cover her breasts were separate and joined by two thin strips of fabric one over her sternum and the other just below her breasts. There was a long split in the left side that would be half way up her thigh. It wasn't that expensive either, only one hundred gold pieces. All of the other gowns in the magazine were three hundred at least. Kitana let out an irritated sigh. How the hell was she going to find a way out of this one?
"There are dresses in that?" Entreri asked casually. She nodded slightly without looking up at him. He wondered for a moment why she did that so often. "Which one do you want?"
Now she did look up at him. She could not hide her surprise. "Why would you even-" she started to say but he cut her off.
"You need a dress but have no way to get one on your own. Let me get it for you."
Kitana started to protest but he silenced her with a firm look. "But why?" she finally managed to get out. No one ever did anything nice for her.
"You need it. I hate your grandmother. You do not need anymore to deal with. Pick one, they are all good reasons."
"But I can't pay you back." She frowned deeply. What was he up to?
"Do not worry about it," he said to her unwavering. He lifted her face gingerly so she would look him in the eye. "If it is upsetting you that much, then let it be my paying you back for this morning." His face softened as he saw her start to smile. She was still confused though, it was plain enough for him to see. "Don't worry about paying me back," he said again, this time more gently. "I want to do this for you. Now which one do you want?" She pulled her face out of his hand and held up the magazine pointing to the picture of her favorite dress.
Sure enough, after Entreri left to go get her the dress, Kitana's grandmother barged into her room. "You are going to a formal party with me tonight," she stated. Kitana did not give away the fact that she already knew this and she stared blankly at the stupid bitch. "You will behave and you will dress properly. If you do not, I will beat you again." She left the room ending on that note.
The threat of a beating sounded hollow to Kitana even though she knew that her grandmother was serious about it. She didn't care. She was used to it. Likely, her grandmother would beat her anyway, even if she did do as she was told. After all, there was always something she did wrong. Or so her grandmother said.
For the moment, she had other things to deal with. For example, Kitana always wore her hair in a long braid down her back. It was both comfortable and practical. What was she supposed to do with her hair for the event of the formal party? She knew that her usual braid would work with the dress, but if she left it the way it was there would be people harping on her about it. While she wasn't looking forward to being stuck with her grandmother in a place full of people she hated, she didn't want to ruin her first night out in a long time. By default that meant she had to do something different with her hair. And then she had to by some random miracle find a pair of shoes...
"Wow," she said to no one in particular. " I never thought I'd be sitting here worrying about my looks for something." She laughed out loud and the others joined her.
"Would you like some help deciding on what to do?" Jarlaxle teased good naturedly.
"Actually yes, and since you seem to be a master of looks yourself, I'm going to ask you." Kitana smiled and Jarlaxle took the jibe in good stride. "What should I do with my hair? I don't usually wear it a different way."
"Why not wear it down then?" The mercenary suggested.
"You know, that just might work. Simple yet effective." She laughed again. "I'm stealing that idea."
"It is all yours," Jarlaxle conceded. He bowed deeply playing along in mock defeat. "What else did you need assistance with?"
"Ah... I need some kind of dress shoes. I don't have any." Her brow furrowed as she thought about what she was going to do. She knew she had a pair of boots somewhere that would look nice with the dress but she doubted it would be a good idea to wear that particular pair.
Jarlaxle tapped a finger against his lips. "I do not believe I have any women's shoes on me," he said wistfully.
"Are you sure about that?" came a sarcastic reply from the doorway. Entreri was back. In one arm he carried a medium sized, flat box. In the other there was a small bag. He handed both to Kitana who opened the box first to look at her new dress. Entreri almost let himself smile as she gawked at the thing. Almost. He wasn't going to show his pleasure to Jarlaxle. This was just going to appear to be one of the many things that he had been forced to do out of necessity. She opened the bag and pulled out a pair of shoes. Black with three inch heels, cross laced and would buckle at her ankle. Kitana looked up at him curiously. "Hitori ran into me on the street," the assassin explained. "It seems that he knew of your grandmother's plan to take you out tonight too and he handed those to me. He said that he got them from one of the women he works with at the bar and you don't have to pay him back."
"Did he really run into you?" Kitana asked trying to hide her amusement.
"Just as I was passing in front of the bar on my way back here," His head unconsciously tilted to the side. "Why, does that happen often?"
"Yeah, he has this weird tendency of literally running into people," Kitana shrugged indifferently then looked closely at the shoes to see if their previous owner had left some hint to her identity. Not that she knew any of the women at the bar of course. Hitori had talked to her about them a lot and even told her a few times that she would really like some of them. At the same time she also did not want to get any kind of fungus, that would not be good. Kitana settled on brushing the shoes over with a little of the vinegar she kept in her bathroom for cleaning. She rinsed them off satisfied that if there had been anything on them, it was gone now and she could wear them without worrying about catching something. Kitana knew that Hitori would never purposely give her something infected but it was better to be safe.
Now that she had both the dress and the shoes, it was time to get ready. She had a minor bit of trouble with the dress and asked one of the watchdogs to help her into it. She didn't pay attention to who had but was grateful that he was gentle and respectful of her. Too many other guys would have just grabbed her somewhere and called it a day without actually helping with the dress. She had to sit down to put the shoes on, they gave her no trouble and she knew that she would be able to walk in them just fine.
"Now the fun part," she said to herself. Kitana carefully unbraided her hair. This was not something she did frequently to go out. She brushed slowly so her hair wouldn't frizz. When she finished, it fell down her back in a silvery waterfall. She ran her fingers through it, it was strange doing so outside of the shower. "I think we should get going now," she said to the others. Jarlaxle unsealed her room and escorted her down the stairs making sure not to trip her or step on her dress.
The party turned out to be only across the street. Kitana could have laughed at the irony, this was the same house that the 'suitor' whose face she threatened to burn off with cooking oil lived. Her grandmother walked in front of her regally. Or as about as regally as someone who looked like an over-bloated pig could get, Kitana thought. The young woman herself walked behind silently, still holding onto Jarlaxle's arm, which turned out to be a demand from her grandmother. Kitana had already been told what not to do before they even left the house. Do not talk to any men, do not talk to any women, do not dance with anyone but her guards and she may only do this once as was to appear appropriate, she could dance with 'that lovely half drow' if the opportunity arose (but Kitana knew that was only to make her grandmother look better), do not speak unless spoken to and absolutely no blasphemy. The list went on to include many more things but Kitana had tuned the rest of the speech out, she knew the drill already and had not really intended to do any of those things anyway as she had absolutely no interest in anyone at the party whatsoever.
She held herself up in a dignified manner even though it would not make an difference. The people here believed that she was a monster after all. She remained perfectly silent as her grandmother drank in all the attention. Kitana even managed to hold in a laugh as her watchdogs were complimented on how they had managed to discipline the girl into something respectable. The four companions and Kitana drifted off into the crowd to one of the tables in the back after fifteen minutes of the torturous conversation. The companions did not want to be a part of this anymore than Kitana. She was allowed one glass of wine (it was never specified which type) and she decided to take it now settling on a sweet red sangria. No doubt she would be able to get more as the night wore on and her grandmother partook in more and more of the wide selection. She shared her wine with Drizzt who had chosen a drier zinfandel. They agreed that both were good but the fruity sangria went down easier and was more suitable to their taste for the evening. Jarlaxle turned up with a small glass of peach flavored chardonnay which was slightly sweeter than the zinfandel but nowhere near the level of the sangria.
"I had no idea you were such a wine connoisseur Kitana," Jarlaxle commented happily.
Kitana gave him what was now her patented shrug. "It helps having to serve a bunch of these idiots all the time. You pick up on these things."
They did not exchange many words for a little while. They merely sipped at their (and each other's) wine and watched the night pass. A few young men came over to the table to 'talk to' Kitana who promptly glared at them and scared them away before they could say anything to harass her as they had planned. She knew them all too well, most of them had been to her house before having been called by her grandmother. She also did not miss the leering looks thrown at her by the other women. Kitana chose to ignore them like she always did. It wasn't her problem if they had inferiority issues. They were jealous no doubt that the young men went to out of their way to talk to the one they saw as an ungrateful threat.
Dinner was served an hour after arrival. Kitana's grandmother joined them at the table for the meal and complimented Jarlaxle for the fine job he and the others were doing on Kitana. The mercenary leader only smiled charmingly at her in return, giving off the air of one who was exceptionally pleased with their work. Had they not been at the party Kitana would have commented on his acting skills. Kitana and the others ate sparingly trying not to watch her grandmother attempt to hide the fact that she was shoveling food down her fat throat. Kitana never cooked so well as this. That was what the grandmother said to one of her noble friends as they dined. It was a miracle that she had even gotten the girl out to the event tonight, obviously with great help from the new guards. She was complimented for having thought to hire them.
Five grueling courses later the stupid bitch finally stopped stuffing her face, she had looked neat enough to the other nobles but she was still a pig to Kitana. The dancing would begin soon. Having no choice in the matter, she knew she would have to get up soon. She chose to dance with Drizzt who was more than happy to help her. Entreri and Kimmuriel had no interest in dancing and she really didn't want to be stuck with Jarlaxle again, he had already been assigned the escort. They danced through two songs and then sat back down. They were stuck at the party for another hour before Kitana was permitted to leave. One of the noble women gave Jarlaxle a bottle of wine as a gift, he chose the same sangria Kitana had been drinking earlier. He showed her the bottle and winked.
Once back inside the house Kimmuriel disappeared into the library while Drizzt and Jarlaxle went to fetch wine glasses in the kitchen. Finding them might take a while so Kitana told them that she would help once she got out of the dress. Entreri went upstairs with her to let her in and out.
"I like this dress, but it's turning out to be a pain in the ass," She sighed. She reached over her shoulder and attempted to unzip it that way, only managing to get the zipper down a few inches before losing it. "Will you please help me out of this thing?" she asked the assassin.
Entreri had been watching her the entire night. Seeing her in the dress had only even more to put unwanted feelings into his head. He had passed on the wine so it wouldn't cloud his mind, not that that was unusual for him. He had foregone the dancing for the same reason. He didn't want to let himself get more attracted to Kitana. And now she wanted him to undress her...
He shook off the feeling of discomfort, it wasn't like she was asking him to bed her. Entreri slid the zipper down her slender back carefully avoiding getting her hair caught. Her ivory skin went well with the deep red of the fabric. He was enjoying every inch he could see. He untied the straps of the halter for her too, they fell off her shoulders and the front of the dress fell about an inch too far before she caught it. He licked his lips at the marvelous view of her breasts. Without realizing what he was doing he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He turned her around with his other hand and planted his lips firmly on hers. Entreri knew that his hands were wandering and that he should not be kissing her. But he had to do something, she was becoming to tempting for him. He heard himself let out a sound of delight as her arms slid around his neck, his kiss became more insistent, she could feel him through his pants and the skirt of her gown. Her dress was slowly slipping off of her lithe form, only staying up because of the closeness of their bodies.
Entreri tore his lips away from Kitana's and turned away form her. He could not hide how embarrassed he was and could not face her. He knew her dress had fallen to the floor but he forced himself not to look back at her. He didn't say a word to her as he walked to the other side of the room deliberately keeping himself facing away from her. 'What the hell am I doing?' his mind screamed. For some reason he could not answer that. His thoughts inevitably turned to what would happen for the rest of the night. Would she even want to be near him at all? Maybe he should leave. But if he left, the others would wonder what caused him to. He had to stay. 'I'll apologize to her,' he told himself. 'I really should not have done that.'
He listened to her redress, most likely some kind of night clothes. She told him she was ready to go downstairs but just as they were getting ready to leave Drizzt and Jarlaxle were topping the stairs. Jarlaxle explained that they had found the glasses in the far back of one of the kitchen cabinets. Normally those were kept as spares but Kitana told them that those were fine to use. Her grandmother would never know the difference. She probably didn't even know about them. Entreri tried not to stare as he took in what she was wearing, a simple black shirt with short sleeves. It was big on her which made her look smaller, and also more attractive especially as she walked. The shirt lifted with her movement giving him teasing glances of her ass, clearly she was wearing a thong underneath. He forced himself down, he could not afford to let anyone see him like this. Especially not Jarlaxle.
Another problem presented itself in the assassin's mind. He didn't know where it came from but it was all too clear. Would she even want to be close to him again? Would she sleep next to him? Entreri let the thought slide. If she chose to not sleep next to him again there was nothing he could do about it. It had been her idea in the first place and it was her call as to when she stopped.
He sat alone on the couch watching Kitana and Jarlaxle split the bottle of wine. A few more jokes, a few more laughs. She seemed to be fine for the most part. And then she looked tired, he was already laying down on the couch. She crawled on next to him, pulling his arm over herself as she had before. He wondered how she could even want to be near him.