Chapter 21: Bishop And Nimbrethil
Nimbrethil led the group to the stream and then grabbing her bow, told them she was going hunting. She didn't want to talk with Sand about what she had discovered, at least not until she could do it without losing her temper. Thorondor joined her as she entered the woods, riding on her arm and trying to get her to tell him what was wrong. She merely told him later and to focus on finding game.
Shandra and Grobnar got busy setting up the tents, while Khelgar and Elanee gathered wood to start a fire. Sand had not much experience camping and merely sat going over the clues to the puzzle, leaving such things as a camp fire to the experts. Bishop watched the activity for a while, contemplating following Nimbrethil. She was obviously still upset, it showed in the tense way she moved. Then again she had been upset since they left, it had just gotten worse. Deciding his time would be better spent in hunting, he followed after the elf. Maybe he could help her to ease some of the tension she was feeling. Grinning, he slipped away.
Once the fire was going Shandra sat in front of it, her head in her hands. What had been done to the people of Ember was monstrous, and every time she closed her eyes she kept seeing the corpses of friends. Nimbrethil had been right, she would have been better off without these kinds of memories, but she owed it to herself and Alaine to see what had happened with her own eyes. Then she remembered the look on the elf's face as she had returned to them. There was no surprise there, almost as if she had seen similar things before, and then she remembered what the elf had said as she left.
"Sand, do you think Nimbrethil knows something about the attackers that she hasn't shared with us?" Shandra asked.
"Yes and she told me she would tell us tonight," Sand replied. He always had an insatiable curiosity, and waiting for her to return was going to be hard.
"Those people, they didn't stand a chance," Khelgar growled. "What kind of animal slaughters innocent people like that?"
"Luskans are notorious for their cruel and inventive ways of punishing their enemies, but even I am confused about what was done here." Sand growled, once again feeling his anger beginning to boil over the mystery before him. He had been trying to come up with a rational explanation for this deed, because Luskan never would condone such action without a very important reason. However, the explanation eluded him and all he could do was wait and see if Nimbrethil's information provided enough to solve the puzzle. He hated not having all the answers.
"Shandra are you okay?" Elanee asked. She hadn't wanted to go any further into the village after getting a glimpse of the carnage. Usually the sight of dead bodies, human or otherwise, didn't bother her. However, the sheer magnitude of the slaughter was enough to make her lose her nerve.
"I don't know, I think I'm still finding it hard to believe it's real," Shandra sighed and shook her head. "Just a few months ago I was here trading with the quartermaster and other villagers. I stayed the night in Alaine's house and we made plans for her to come visit me in Highcliff this spring. Then Nimbrethil's path crossed ours and we both lost everything."
"Surely you're not going to blame the elf for your problems again?" Khelgar snapped. "She lost a friend and was driven from her home too."
"No Khelgar, I'm not blaming her," Shandra said quietly. "But you can't deny that all this bad stuff that has happened has something to do with her and those shards."
"Shandra is correct," Sand spoke up. "Everything that has happened has something to do with Nimbrethil. She is hunted by some powerful enemies who have clearly shown that they will use any means available to get at her. She has become a focal point for malevolent forces and it can only be because of the silver shards she carries. I think we will all have to accept the fact that while this matter remains unsolved then no one is safe, especially those who know her like we do."
"Oh my, I've never been hunted before," Grobnar cheerfully chimed in. "Well, not like this. I say, do you think these enemies, whoever they are, will come after us?" Unlike the others, the gnome seemed to be thrilled by the prospect, convincing them that he was not quite right in the head.
"I think that our enemy will stop at nothing to get what they want, including killing anyone who gets in the way," Sand answered him. "In fact the prudent thing to do would be to distance ourselves from Nimbrethil. She has, I believe, told everyone that they can stay or go as they please."
"What? Are you saying we should just abandon her? Leave her to face this alone?" Khelgar shouted. "I know she isn't the nicest or friendliest person, but gods man, she's just one little elf who was left to pretty much take care of herself. Left alone too much if you ask me."
"I did not say we should do it, just that it would be the prudent thing to do," Sand snapped.
"She was left alone much of the time growing up and she did not associate with too many of the other people in West Harbor," Elanee spoke up and saw the others give her questioning looks. "I told her that I had been observing her for some time, but I did not tell her it had been since she was little more than a babe. I used to see her, even as a child, walking through the woods and the mere alone. Sometimes Daeghun would be with her, but much less often as she got older. I was told to watch, not to interfere, but I ignored that directive once. I came upon her cornered by a pack of wolves when she was barely out of childhood. All she had for weapons was her bow and a knife, not exactly ideal for dealing with such a situation. I could see by the look on her face that she expected to die and so I arranged a distraction for the pack. It was enough to allow her to get away from them. That is just a small example of what her life was like. She had to learn to take care of herself, to survive on her own, so I can understand how she became as she is."
"That is so sad," Grobnar exclaimed. "Nothing like that would be allowed to happen in gnomish society. Children are important, they are the future and are treated like precious gifts, not some unwanted puppy."
"Dwarves wouldn't treat any child that way either, we take care of our own," Khelgar added.
"Yes, but no one knows how they will deal with loss until they experience it," Elanee said mildly. "Sometimes too much pain or loss can make people change and not for the better. We should not condemn Daeghun without knowing the events of his life leading up to this. Daeghun is much older than any of us, except maybe for Sand, so who knows how much he has had to deal with in his lifetime. Raising a child is not easy for anyone, even under the best circumstances. I am sure he did the best he could."
"Well, still he could have done better," Shandra huffed, still of the opinion that there was no excuse for raising a child the way he had.
"I have not met a single parent that did not have doubts about how they raised their children," Sand said. "Every one of them said they did the best they could and after a while they had to let the children go and become adults. I have seen children raised in nice homes, by law abiding citizens, become criminals and vice versa. It is not just the parent who influences the child, but also the child's friends and environment. You canot lay all the blame for the way she is on Daeghun's doorstep."
No one could think of a response to that so they let the conversation drop. Shandra decided that even if everyone else left, she would stay by Nimbrethil's side. To her that seemed to be the biggest problem. No one had cared enough to stand by her before and the elf certainly didn't expect anyone to do so now. Being a friend meant sticking together through the good and the bad, and that was what she intended to do.
*****
Nimbrethil waited behind a tree for him, her keen senses having alerted her to being followed. Of course, if he hadn't wanted her to know he was there, he was certainly skilled enough to make sure of it. So she had to wonder what it was he wanted, for he certainly knew that she didn't need his help hunting dinner. She saw a flicker of movement and placed an arrow to the string and pulled. She saw him clearly, despite the darkness of the woods, and let fly the arrow to thud into a tree right next to his head.
Bishop heard the whistle of the arrow and froze just as it thudded into the tree. He peered in the direction it came from but could see nothing, not surprising since he knew she could make a shot like that beyond the range of his vision. All elves had superior night vision.
"Why are you following me Bishop?" she called out to him.
"I didn't want you to have all the fun hunting," he replied, straining both eyes and ears to determine her location.
"I don't hunt for fun ranger," Nimbrethil snarled, angry at being disturbed. "I hunt for food, for survival. So I ask you again, why are you following me?"
My she's still in a rather pissy mood, he thought. "You know what I mean elf," Bishop snapped back. "It's more fun hunting than sitting in camp listening to that idiot gnome and the rest of that rabble you picked up."
"Well go find another area to hunt in then," Nimbrethil told him. She could see he was trying to discover her location and decided to move around behind him.
Bishop strained his eyes trying to pinpoint where her voice came from. As he held his breath, he heard the faintest rustle, almost like a whisper in the trees, coming from his right and knew she was moving around him. He pretended like he didn't know what she was doing and decided to follow her when she left. To his surprise, a minute later he felt the cold steel tip of an arrow point at the base of his neck and froze where he was, hardly daring to breath. Damn, she was good.
"I don't suppose I could get you to put down your bow and talk to me for a bit," he asked as casually as he could.
"Is that really why you followed me, to talk?" she snorted, amused despite herself. He had never seemed to be much of a conversationalist to her.
"It just seemed to me that you needed to vent a little," Bishop started breathing easier as he realized she was now amused. "I know the feeling all too well." When he felt the arrow move away he let himself relax a bit, but he didn't let down his guard. She was as unpredictable as a wild animal sometimes.
"Hmph, and just what do you think you know about how I'm feeling?" Nimbrethil asked as she moved in front of him.
"I know what it's like to have to do things and deal with things you don't want to just because someone tells you to do so," he stated flatly. "I know that you didn't want to be a squire but they left you no choice. They told you to prove your innocence or be hanged, all because a treacherous viper from a city with no sense of morality or ethics said you were guilty. It didn't matter that you had accomplished in a couple of months what they hadn't in a whole year. They don't want any trouble with Luskan and you're just a sacrificial lamb. That's really why you're so pissed off right now."
Nimbrethil just stared at him because it was the most he had ever said at one time. For some reason, this trip was bringing out strong personal feelings in him and she found it interesting that he would open up to her like he did. What was worse was he was right, she had been pissed off long before she got to Ember. Ember just happened to be the last push over the edge of a bottomless pit of frustration. "What's there to talk about? I have no other choice, as you so kindly reminded me," she said sarcastically.
"You do have other choices you know," Bishop said quietly, almost nonchalanly. "You could always try to kill the ambassador, that would send a nice message to Luskan, don't you think?"
"As appealing as that sounds right now, I somehow doubt it would get Luskan off my back," Nimbrethil snorted.
"Maybe not, but it would give you time to do something else," Bishop told her, and saw a frown cross her face. "You know, the two of us could get away from all this. Find some nice far away place to camp out for a couple of years until everything blew over."
"If I thought you were serious, I might just take you up on the offer," she snorted again and saw a strange look enter his eyes.
"What makes you think I'm not serious?" Bishop asked as he moved closer.
Nimbrethil just stared at him and saw the feral gleam in his eyes and felt her stomach flutter once again. When he moved to stand right in front of her, she stood her ground. He was serious, if she read the look in his eyes correctly, and her heart started pounding. "How exactly do you expect to make yourself useful to me for two years? I don't need a hunter or a tracker," she murmured, mesmerized by the fire burning in his eyes.
"I think we could come up with something," he whispered before his mouth closed over hers hungrily as his hand slipped behind her head. He had been waiting for this opportunity for what seemed to be forever, and now he had her right where he wanted her.
Bishop's kiss was possessive, fierce and it drew an involuntary response from Nim, taking her by surprise. She felt something ignite inside her, a hunger she had not felt before, and she kissed him back just as fiercely. She felt his arms wrap around her and lift her against his chest, the strength in them making her feel fragile, delicate. She ran her hands into his hair, gripping it tightly, holding him to her as they kissed.
Bishop groaned at the feel of her body pressed against him, his desire running rampant at her unbridled response. Pushing her against the tree he wrapped her legs around his waist so he could free his hands to roam over her. As he started unbuckling her armor, he felt her hands move to loosen his armor. He released her mouth to run his lips over her neck to her ear, biting the tip and making her gasp and arch into him. He chuckled darkly, loving the fact that elvish ears were so sensitive.
Nimbrethil felt the knot in her stomach tighten when he bit her ear and her desire burned hotter than before. She had never felt this way with Bevil. With Bevil it had been tender, hesitant and sweet. This was so different it was almost scary, and she wanted to feel more of it, more of the ranger. When she felt the cool night air on her bare skin, she realized that Bishop had removed her armor top and opened her undershirt. She moaned at the feel of his hands on her bare skin and frantically worked to remove his armor as his mouth took hers again in an almost brutul kiss. Just as she managed to get his shirt open and touch his bare skin, she heard a shrill call from Thorondor. The image her companion sent was of Grobnar wandering in their direction. Her disappointment was so sharp that she pulled back and swore viciously in elvish.
When she pulled back and started swearing, Bishop was torn between anger at being denied his prize and amusement at the variety of the swears. Then he heard the gnome's voice singing some nonesense tune and groaned as he realized they were about to be interrupted. "I swear I'm going to kill that gnome and bury him in a deep grave," he growled in frustration, as he lowered her to the ground.
Nimbrethil heard that and started laughing. She too was frustrated and found the idea very tempting. "Well, you know we could always give him an education in the ways of the wild," she snickered and suggestively ran her tongue over her lips. "But then again, he doesn't know how to keep a secret and we wouldn't want the whole world to know would we?" Still laughing she moved away and put her armor top back on. She turned to leave and then stopped and looked at Bishop just standing there with his shirt open. "While I think you look sexy like that, I'm not sure Grobnar could handle it," she smirked. "You might want to make yourself presentable."
Bishop found himself once again at a loss for words as she disappeared into the darkened forest. Deciding it would be in his best interests to not kill the gnome, he hurried to get out of sight so he wouldn't be corraled by the little nuisance. At least he could console himself with the fact that she seemed to have been just as frustrated as he was by the interruption. She wanted him as much as he wanted her and there would be other opportunities.