The Longest Road, Part 28


"Don't worry," you say, trying to put Khaytala at ease. The last thing you need is her nervous. "If she shows up, we'll just focus on what happened with the assassin. Don't even think of it as keeping a secret. It just... doesn't have anything to do with what we'll be talking about."

"Right..." Khaytala says, though she doesn't sound confident. "You're right. No need to worry her. We just won't mention it. That's all."

You give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, then help her get dressed. The two of you return to the caravan, to face the wary, watchful eyes of most of them. Arne, in particular, is seething at the delay this has forced on him, but Khaytala has him too cowed to say anything outright.

The caravan has already done much of the preparations to leave, and once you announce that the assassin has been "dealt with" they quickly complete the remainder. Soon you're moving out again, making your way down the old forest road. You walk leisurely beside Khaytala, who is a bundle of awkwardness, unsure of what to do next. It was one thing in the heat of the moment, but now she's trying to figure out on the fly what it means, day-to-day, to have a lover.

One thing is for certain; she isn't going to be hiding it from... well, anybody. The legendary perceptiveness of a ranger is hardly required to catch the adoring looks she sends your way. You make sure to return them, making light, idle chit-chat to calm her down as you make your way down through the forest.

It's somewhere during this time when you sense that, somewhere out there, your young assassin friend has worked up the courage to try and disobey her agreement with you, no doubt veering away from the route to Kovora to circle back around for another try. You smile, then snap your fingers, not showing any mercy, but going straight to the maximum punishment.

It may be just your imagination, but you think that you can just barely hear the distant sound of a shriek, as though someone had just been hit by an orgasm so devastating that it reduced them to a drooling, spasming wreck on the ground... yet somehow, without providing any actual release. You're pretty sure that the murderous teen now fully realizes the fate that her vendetta has brought on herself.

Nothing much happens after that, as the caravan presses onward while morning turns into afternoon. Until, finally, just as evening is falling, you hear hoofbeats from up ahead.

A few seconds later, you see a horse round a bend in the road, riding toward you bearing a familiar guard. You and Khaytala share a quick glance, then hurry up to the front of the caravan to meet him. "Tevvik!" she calls out, coming to a stop in front of the horse as the guard dismounts. "Did you find her?"

Tevvik nods. "Yeah, I found her," he says, then glances to you. "Though I guess it wasn't fast enough to be of any use in the rescue."

"Where is she?" Khaytala presses, glancing around. You also search the direction the horse came from, alert for any sign of the new arrival. But the road is clear, and there's no sign of—

"She's right here." The amused, teasing voice comes from mere inches behind the two of you, causing the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end.

With a great effort of composure, you don't react in any undignified way. But Khaytala—already more on edge—lets out a yelp as she whirls to look at the person standing directly behind you. "Dammit Verika, stop doing that!"

You turn as well, taking in the smiling figure of Verika Ravahorn. She's clad in leather armor like Khaytala, though her armor is much darker, much lighter, and much tighter. The way it grips her mouth-wateringly curvy frame leaves very little to the imagination, especially how the generous cut of the front displays her cleavage. The skin it shows is bluish-black, contrasting sharply with the long, pure white hair that frames her elfin face.

This drow has the ethereal sense of beauty about her that most elves possess, but in her case it's also tempered with a more earthy sensibility and candor. "Just think of it as practice, Khay," she says, a playful glint in her eyes. "If you ever do catch me one of these days, then no enemy will ever be able to sneak up on you."

She's not far wrong. Your senses—while average by demonic standards—are far superior to those of most mortals, giving you an inhuman ability to detect threats of any kind. Yet this woman was standing right behind you... and you didn't have even the slightest indication that she was there. Her stealth skills far surpass your own ability to either detect or match.

The drow turns away from Khaytala to you, looking you up and down. "And I assume this is the tiefling that you were so worried about?" she asks. You meet her gaze directly, a friendly smile on your face. A smile that shows no trace whatsoever of the wince you feel internally as she takes in your features.

She knows exactly what you look like now, and will be able to recognize you in the future.

"Y-yeah," says Khaytala, scratching the back of her neck nervously. "Sorry to make you come all this way. The assassin who took him tried to use him as a hostage, like we thought she would, but... we... we managed to sort it out."

She's not meeting Verika's eyes as she talks, and even though she's not actually lying about anything, it's still obvious she's holding something back. Verika frowns. "Khay?" she asks, worried. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course!" says Khaytala, entirely too quickly. "Everything's fine! Everything's... perfectly normal."

Verika turns back to you, suspicion in those piercing black eyes, and in that moment you're acutely aware of the longbow and quiver of arrows strapped across the woman's back. Still, you anticipated this. There was no way Khaytala was going to get through this without acting suspicious.

Fortunately, Khaytala has more than one thing to act suspicious about.

You meet Verika's gaze, then turn to Khaytala, giving her your very best kind smile. "I think we ought to tell her," you say. "Honestly... she'll figure out soon anyway." And with that, you reach out and take her hand in your own—in front of Verika and the entire caravan—interlinking your fingers as you hold it with a firm squeeze.

Khaytala blushes furiously, turning away even further so as not to look at the drow. But she doesn't let go, gripping your hand back even harder. Verika, for her part, is shocked, her eyes widening as she looks between the two of you. Then a smile slowly creeps across her face. "Oh," she breathes. Then her face lights up, and she laughs. "Oh Khay, that's wonderful!"

The demeanor she presents to Khaytala is happy... but you're perceptive enough to discern a hint of wariness still lurking in Verika's gaze. Although you've supplied her a perfect answer for why Khaytala was so evasive, it seems that the drow still doesn't trust you entirely. Most likely it's as Khaytala said; she's protective of her friend, and wants to make sure that you're not some rake trying to take advantage of her inexperience.

You're by no means out of the woods yet. But you are in about as good a position as you could reasonably expect, given everything that's against you. You've managed to reframe the situation so any nervousness or reticence that Khaytala displays can be written off as simple embarrassment. That's breathing room, at least.

Now the question is how you're going to steer the conversation. You could guide it in ways that will show affection between you and Khaytala, focusing on convincing Verika that you're genuine. This might spread a bit of long-term doubt through the heroine's ranks, if it spreads once they realize what has happened. Possibly making some of them question the situation, even if only a little.

On the other hand, if you wanted to try for something more concrete, you could inquire into Verika herself, shifting the conversation in her direction. It could give you a bit of a head start on her specifically, since you'll eventually need to deal with her as well, and you're operating at a disadvantage with her now.

Alternatively, you could cast your net wider, fishing for information about the heroines in general, getting the two of them talking along those lines and trying to suss out Verika's thoughts on her comrades. Who knows what tidbits that might turn up?

Either way, you're going to have to talk your way past this one last hurdle if you want to reach your goal.