The Mark
Careful footsteps, nigh silent in their lack of footwear, kicked clods of dust into the enveloping Ogrimmar heat. It was an easy, languid gait, unrushed, as if time did not matter. A lanky, measured stride that belied a smug yet unassertive confidence. Nali permitted herself a half-formed smile, entirely focused on the footsteps approaching the house.
Slowly, the doorknob turned and the door was gently nudged open. The pungent aroma of booze, a menagerie of stale perfumes and sun-warmed skin came in a gust past Nali. She inhaled deeply, both repulsed and enamored with the scent. She sniffed again, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. There was another smell. This one faintly sweet and earthy.
"Guess de' flowa' Taji brought fah joo," Taja'ki greeted, stepping through the door and shutting it behind her.
"Mageroyal," replied Nali, confidently, smirking cheekily. "And you also have Peacebloom on you somewhere."
"An' 'ere joo go," Taji grinned, holding out the mageroyal bouquet to the younger troll. "Joo win da' prize."
Nali reached out, brushing her fingertips across the crimson petals before trailing them downward and grasping the stems. She glided across the room, rummaging through a cupboard and withdrawing an earthenware vase.
"You know, Taji, these flowers don't mask the smell of tavern wenches and liquor. It's like you bathed in a tub of perfumed whores and alcohol," said Nali, evenly, with her back to Taja'ki.
Taja'ki chuckled, unable to deny such a frank accusation. "Ah, Taji c'in nevah fool Nali's nose."
Nali did not respond, rather, busied herself with arranging the flowers in the vase. The muffled protest of constricting leather coming nearer caused Nali's heart to flutter wildly like a wounded bird, but her lips remained pursed in a displeased frown. Taja'ki paused behind the shorter trolless to tug at her ponytail playfully.
"What c'in Taji do? De' wimmen love Taji."
Nali batted the teasing hand away, muttering testily, "And therein lies the problem. The 'wimmen' love Taji… but who does Taji love?"
Taja'ki, never one to mull over or give hardly anything much thought, grabbed a handful of her own braids, squeezed tightly, then released them with an indifferent shrug.
"Taji loves ev'rybody."
Nali withheld a sigh, internalizing her frustration. She knew that she would not be able persuade the warrior to answer the question properly. Taja'ki was a chronic question dodger.
"So where's Dahj?" asked Nali, reluctantly changing subjects. "Haven't seen him all day."
"Dat worthless man? 'im be out runnin' a few errands but Dahj'll be back soon enough."
A stint of oppressive silence inundated the room.
"What kind of errands?" Nali inquired, finally turning towards Taja'ki.
The elder of the two shrugged and replied, offhandedly, "Taji no'ra be sure. Taji canna' not baby-sit Dahj ev'ryday. Taji needed some Taji time today."
Nali's lips stiffened into a tight, straight line. She maneuvered her way to the other troll, stopping half a step from Taja'ki. "Taji, I can tell when you're lying. I can hear it in your voice."
At first, Taja'ki attempted to avert her eyes, but, like a guilty child, resigned herself to gaze back at the strips of violet cloth covering Nali's eyes in an 'X' shape across her face. She choked down a tangled mass of guilt, forcing it deep into the pit of her stomach.
"Taji jus' canna' not pull one ova' on Nali," the warrior chuckled, amused at Nali's perceptiveness and her own pathetic attempt at lying. "Alrigh' den. Da truth be dat Dahj be safe an' Taji will go get 'im lata'."
The blind she-troll reached out and clasped Taja'ki's arm.
"You know that's not a good enough explanation. I want to know what happened."
Taja'ki grunted in reply, but said no more, as if dismissing the topic. Nali's grip tightened around Taj's arm as she said, clearly pained, "I just want to know what's going on. I wish… I wish you didn't always feel the need to protect me from everything. When you do that, it's like you build a wall between us and all that I know is what I can make out from peeking through the cracks."
Rolling her eyes skyward, Taja'ki shut them, briefly, taking a rare moment to let her words lay idle on her tongue before spouting them out. "Fine. Dahj got 'imself into a bit 'a trouble. 'im tried to quit working fah Rai'zen, so Rai'zen told Taji to kill 'im."
Nali inhaled once, deeply, taking Taja'ki's words in as calmly as she could muster.
"Well? What did you do?"
Taja'ki couldn't resist the tug of a small smile. "Taji decked 'im an' lef' 'im in da' midda' 'a da' Barrens, ja!"
"You did what?! Why?!"
Though Nali could not see it, she could hear Taja'ki's roguish grin break out across her face.
"'im deserved it. Dahj was provokin' Taji de entiyah way, prolly hopin' Taji would really do 'im in tah save 'erself. But, as worthless as Dahj be, Taji no'ra kill 'im. When Taji kill Dahj one day, it no'ra will be by anybody's ordahs. Taji'll do it jes' 'cause Taji feel like it."
This said, Taja'ki gently slide her arm out of Nali's grip and maneuvered her way to a large, wooden chair cushioned with firm, but soft pillows. With a weary sigh, the troll collapsed into the chair, letting her muscles slowly uncoil and relax.
"So where's Dahj now?" Nali asked, shuffling towards Taji's chair.
"'im prolly be at 'im an Taji's house out dere in da Barrens. Da one we built when we left de orphanage."
Closing her eyes, Taji placed both hands comfortably behind her head. "Taji needs to tie up some loose ends 'ere, den she go an' fetch Dahj. 'im should be alrigh' until den."
Nali seated herself on the arm of the chair, inquiring, quietly, "And what about me?"
"Taji got Korot to look after joo while Taji an' Dahj hide out fah 'a bit. 'im should be 'ere to get joo befah da' sun come up."
After that, Taji said no more. Nali sat silently, her mind swimming in emotions that threatened to spill over and drown her. But she said nothing, having already troubled Taji enough and guilted her into talking against her better judgment. For an indeterminate amount of time, Nali merely listened to Taja'ki's shallow breathing, lulled by the sound.
It was always a rare occurrence to be in Taja'ki's presence while she was asleep. The troll warrior hardly slept for more than three or four hours and never around people, save for Dahj and Nali. Sleep was the only time when Taji allowed herself to be vulnerable and off her guard. Secretly, Nali loved this Taja'ki; the one only she and one other were privileged enough to see.
Nali lightly brushed her fingertips over the contours of Taji's face, wishing to engrave the feeling and memory of it in her mind's eye. Carefully, Nali slipped into the chair, straddling Taji. She could feel the warrior's muscles tense, but quickly relax, though Taji did not seem to wake.
"I love you, Taja'ki," she whispered, breath tickling the other's ear.
"Taji loves joo too," came the mumbled, drowsy reply as Taja'ki surfaced into consciousness.
"Don't. Don't say that if you don't mean it."
Nali tried to mask her hurt with anger to numb the pain threatening to crush her heart.
"Taji do mean it. Taji always does," the trolless replied encouragingly, arms snaking around and hugging Nali at the waist.
"No, you don't mean it," Nali lamented, despite resigning herself to Taj's embrace. "Not like I do."
Choosing not to reply, Taja'ki merely pulled the smaller troll close, castling her in her arms. However, Nali, not to be deterred, continued, adding, "Taja'ki, you know I've loved you ever since we first met at the orphanage. And when you and Dahj came back to the orphanage to get me and offered to look after me, I vowed that I would do anything for you. Even if it meant giving my life for yours."
Taja'ki squeezed the young troll tighter, trying to make it harder for her to breathe, and thus, less likely to continue speaking. "Hush dere now, Nali. Donna' be talkin' about tings like dat. S'bad voodoo."
"But it's true!" Nali protested, resolved not to be brushed off so lightly. "I would die for you! That day those thugs came here looking for you, I knew that they would most likely kill me when I said that I was you. But they only took my eyes by the time you showed up. And I've never regretted what I did or becoming blind. I've never blamed you. And I never will."
Nali's grip on Taja'ki's shoulders tightened. "The only thing I regret is no longer being able to see your face."
Taja'ki was silent, but Nali didn't need to hear words or see a face to know that the warrior was writhing in mental anguish. Nali knew she had gone too far. She was well aware that it pained Taja'ki to be reminded of the day that she had come home to Nali screaming, weeping streams of bloody tears as thugs from a rival drug syndicate stood over her and laughed.
It had taken months to remove all visible signs of blood splatters and entrails from the room. Even to that day, every now and again Taji or Dahj would find evidence of Taja'ki's unmerciful wrath.
"Sorry," Nali mumbled, resting her head on Taja'ki's shoulder.
"It be fine. Let Taji sleep now, ja? It won't be long befah Taji has tah go an' fetch dat worthless man."
Sinking deeper into the chair, Taja'ki relaxed her arms around Nali, letting one arm drop and holding her loosely with the other.
"Taji?" Nali whispered into Taja'ki's shoulder. "Promise me… that you won't mess around with other women anymore."
There was no hesitation in the reply. "Taji promises."
This time, Nali did not point out that Taja'ki was lying. No matter how many times she made Taji promise, she always returned home wearing someone else's scent. No matter how many times she professed her love to Taja'ki, she would never give her heart solely to Nali. Without any warning or indication, Nali suddenly hooked her arm around Taji's neck for leverage and sank her teeth into Taja'ki's shoulder.
She felt Taji flinch in surprise, but the warrior made no other movement nor did she say a word. Instead, she remained stock still as Nali's teeth pierced deeper into her flesh, the tip of her tusks burrowing into either side. Finally, when her teeth could puncture no further, Nali slowly extracted herself from Taji's shoulder.
Tenderly, she lapped up the blood that began to sluice down Taji's arm, savoring the bitter red wine pooling in her mouth. When the flow of blood stemmed and clotted, Nali licked the bruised and punctured skin, explaining, headily, "Now everyone will know you belong to me."
She knew it was childishly selfish to mark Taja'ki thusly against her will, but somehow the bleeding, marred flesh which mimicked the scars on her own heart eased some of the addictive torture of her unrequited love. The mark, a lovebite, was an old Trollish custom in which a couple would mark one another to stave off potential suitors and to claim them as their monogamous lover.
It was an expression of love and possession, of enduring pain and affection. Nali knew well that Taji, who followed old customs with unwavering devotion, would not give her a lovebite in return. But, for now, it was enough just to know that she had left her mark on Taja'ki. It was enough to know that, at least in appearance only, Taja'ki was hers.
"Don't let this mark heal for awhile, okay, Taji?" beseeched Nali, rising off of the other woman and snuggling into the chair beside her. "Be only mine… even if it's just for a little while."
However, there was no reply from the other troll. The steady rise and fall of Taja'ki's chest told Nali that she had lapsed back into a shallow slumber. Nestling in close to Taja'ki, Nali smiled, bitterly sweet, and drifted into a dreamless sleep, the taste of blood and love still lingering on her tongue.
When Taji awoke, it was almost morning. Slowly, she slipped out of the chair, trying not to wake Nali. The young troll sighed and stirred in the seat, but did not wake. Taja'ki, borrowing a solemn mask she could only affix awkwardly to her face, leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Nali's forehead. Gingerly, she fingered the still tender bite on her shoulder, saying, uncharacteristically somber, "Taji loves joo, Nali. An' dis time, Taji means it."
Eyes lingering on Nali's sleeping form a minute longer, Taja'ki grabbed her knapsack, stuffed it full of some food from the kitchen, and then left Nali slumbering soundly in the protective cushioning of the chair. As she put distance between herself and the house, she could have sworn she heard the word "liar" accusing her on an evanescent breeze, but when she turned back to look, all she could see was the mark on her shoulder and nothing more.