A/N: 'Ello, guv! I'm back again with another chapter! Huzzah! Anyway, it's more of a transitional chapter, but a lot of stuff happens, too.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Shouldn't have to tell you.
Iniquity
Chapter Three:
Be A Doll And Shoot Him, Will You?
And what an ugly surprise it was. Not only did it seem to take us years rather than weeks to reach our destination, it just so happens that I tend to get violently sea-sick with even the slightest tilt of the vessel. Now I was the one complaining. Loudly.
"I hate Jinette," I slurred before upchucking some of my lunch into the ocean.
Elvric made a face at the disgusting noises that came from me. "So do I," he said, and I immediately knew that his reasons for hating the cardinal were very different from my own.
"I hate throwing up," I lamented.
"So do I."
"I hate the ocean."
"So do I."
I was glad we had at least a few things in common. At least we were finally having a real conversation. Sort of.
I heaved. "I hate Cardinal Jinette."
"You said that one already," he reminded me.
I frowned. "Did I?"
He nodded and lounged against a barrel beside the rail, arms crossed over his chest. I groaned.
"Don't worry, lass!" a crass sailor with an over-abundance of facial hair and one missing tooth laughed, giving my back a hard slap. "You'll get yer sea legs soon 'nough!"
If getting my sea legs was going to make me look or act anything like him, I'd gladly have continued to toss my cookies until all of my internal organs went with them.
However, I did my best to smile up at him, trying not to wrinkle my nose at the foul stench of his breath. "Sure, sure," I said, hoping he'd go away and leave me to my less-than-enjoyable business.
No such luck. "Why, it took me only two days before I gots me sea legs!" he boomed, breathing again on my face. The burning scent of alcohol made me whirl away from him and wretch over the rail.
"Leo," Elvric said coolly, catching the old sailor's attention. "Is there anything that could perhaps relieve Miss King of her sickness? Even for just a moment?"
"Well, I don' know," Leo the alcoholic barked. "I'll go check real quick." And with that said, he ran down below deck.
"Thanks," I breathed, wiping an arm across my mouth as I slumped back to the deck. I was spent.
Elvric shrugged and then smiled. "He was getting on my nerves, too," he admitted. "But he's right- you'll get used to it eventually. Then you'll be climbing the rigging like a spider monkey."
"Why can't I turn into a primate now?" I begged. He merely chuckled.
But they both were right. Within the first three days, I was back on my feet. Though I wasn't allowed to climb around the ship like a lemur, I was able to entertain myself in other ways. There weren't many things to do, but for three weeks, I managed to stave off the threat of boredom.
The weeks went by slowly, but we were eventually docked and on good old foreign soil. I resisted the powerful urge to jump for joy, and I could tell that Elvric was fighting a smile.
Romania was a pretty little country- there were trees and flowers of every kind I could imagine. There were purple, snow-capped peeks in the northwest, as well as the southwest. Later we would see rivers flowing through the forests and beside the gravel roads. The air was sweet and fragrant, and the summer sun shone brightly down upon our heads.
Even the horses we rented were strong and beautiful, their fur pulled tightly over their burly muscles. Power was packed into those creatures; I could tell just by looking at them. I couldn't wait to get in the saddle and feel the wind on my face while those beautiful beasts carried us deeper into the Eastern European country.
We paid the captain handsomely and then were on our way. Just as Carl had told me before we left, Transylvanian horses were the fastest creatures I'd ever ridden. The speed was unlike anything I had ever experienced, and it made the trip much more enjoyable. It also cut the time in half.
I couldn't tell if Elvric was enjoying himself or not, because his face was carefully composed into an impassive mask. As if it would kill him to show some emotion…
I imagine that he did enjoy himself, though, because when I announced that we had enough money for a carriage, he voted that we continue to ride the horses, at least until we reach our first stop. I agreed, and we raced through the countryside yet again. I imagine that the horses could go on for hours more before they grew tired, so I didn't worry.
We arrived at our stop, Brasov, at around nightfall. Under normal circumstances, we would have continued on for a few more hours, but not only Carl, but the cardinal and Van Helsing all told us to be inside before sunset, that there were dangerous things lurking about in Romania at night. I personally thought that they were just paranoid. Years upon years of monster hunting will do that to you. But what it will also do to you is prepare you for anything. I felt that we should ignore their orders and keep going, but Elvric, ever the Voice of Reason, stopped me.
"Mina, they've been here before," he had said. "They know what lurks out here in these parts. I say we trust them on this."
Of course, I didn't have any choice but to give in. Gosh, I hate it when he's right!
The inn we stayed at was a quaint little thing with just a few rooms, and it was only about as big as a small two-story cottage. It was cute, though, for lack of a better word. Cute and cozy and warm, just like a nice, soft bed.
This was going to be the safest we were going to feel for a long while. Both Elvric and I knew it. But neither of us said anything about it. Tomorrow, we would ride to Vaseria, and there the hunt would begin.
Now, originally, I said that we were monster hunters. Well, that's only a half-truth. You see, Elvric and I hunt only werewolves. That was what we had been trained for most of our lives, and it was our profession. Not only that, it took a lot of weight off of Van Helsing's shoulders. Why only werewolves, you ask? Because Europe was full of 'em. Trust me, just killing werewolves was enough of a job. The average person didn't know it, but there were more than two hundred packs spread throughout the continent. And there were only two of us werewolf hunters. That's a hundred packs a piece. Lovely life we lived, wasn't it?
But as long as we got to sleep in real beds now and then, and try to live like normal people for a day, it wasn't so bad. The few days when large balls of fur weren't trying to rip our heads off were pretty nice, and we couldn't help but be thankful for them.
Still, our job sucked.
And so there we were in our cozy, little beds in that cozy, little inn, living in the moment and dreading the hour we awoke the next day. We weren't looking forward to another fight to the death. We didn't want to throw ourselves in danger's path for a whole town full of faces we didn't know. But we had do, and we would. All because a little red birdie told us to.
Did I mention how much I hate that stupid cardinal?
